"Mama"

The boys have recently found a magical word that will stop Mommy in her tracks and turn all attention to them. I am now hearing "Mama!!!" many many times during the day, and with each word they giggle and smile like they have their own little secret. :) They have been able to say "Mama" for quite some time now, but I think it just dawned on them how much power this one word held. Dylan is now in the habit of saying "Mama!".....Erin: "Yes honey?"......Dylan "HI!". He thinks he is hilarious. And Mom falls for it every time! :)

Both boys also LOVE dancing, and everyday they get so excited when the Ellen Show comes on so they can dance with her. They also dance every time they hear music, no matter what the tune is. It could be a song from a commercial on the television, to hymn music from church...not matter what it is, they will dance. These boys love to move!

Some other favorites right now:

-Saying "cheese" whenever they see a camera

-Clapping and stomping their feet to "If you're happy and you know it"

-Cucumbers and avocados

-Chocolate (of course)

-Tutu and Grammy (their Grandmas)

-Linnet and Carter from church :)

-And of course, Veggie Tales

Teage and I are so grateful to be the parents of such special boys. We love them tremendously, and are thankful to have them in our lives.

Water water everywhere

Last week we had some major flooding in our area, as well as many other parts of Western Washington. A combination of snow storms one week and high temps with massive rain the next was not a great one for us. Thankfully where Teage and I live we did not receive anything in the way of flooding, but there are many who live just down the road who did. After much of the water had subsided, we decided to drive down to Snoqualmie Falls and see how large the water flow was, as well as check out the damage all the flooding had done to Snoqualmie itself. We were shocked and saddened to see first hand the amount of devastation in just our little area. There were homes with all of their belongings, from mattresses to television sets, just thrown out onto their front yards because nothing was salvageable. A recycle and garbage center was set up in the middle of the city for all those who needed to dispose of their belongings, and the number of bins and trucks was just unbelievable. We are keeping those families in our thoughts and prayers continually. The falls after all of the rain and snow...I don't think that I have ever seen it so large

Teage and I with the boys after our little hike out to the falls. We are soaked....and not because it was raining, but because of the heavy mist that cascaded down on us from the water flow of the falls.

These pictures are not great, they were taken out of the window of a moving car. :) But, they give you just a taste of what these poor residents were going through during the flooding.

Snow Days

This winter we have seen a record for snow fall around Seattle. Most people in colder parts of the country think that we are such wimps around here....closing school with an inch of snow on the ground, hunkering down in our homes and not wanting to drive. :) However, our snow is a bit different then most other parts of the country. We have mainly ice on the roads as opposed to dry snow, and there are lots of nice big hills for cars to slide right down. :) This year has been a big one for the snow fall...not my favorite thing in the world. I have had a few bad experiences with cars and snow, so I tend to stay at home when there is white stuff on the roads. We actually ended up not being able to see a lot of our family on Christmas Day because we literally could not get our car out of the driveway...there was about two feet of snow all along our alley in the back of our house. So we made the best of our Christmas with just our little family, played in the snow for quite a while, then had good ol chicken nuggets for dinner (the boys' favorite). :) The missionaries from our ward walked over on Christmas Day as well, and helped Teage build a giant snow fort in the front yard. I think they all had a great time. All in all, not exacly the Christmas that we were planning on having, but definitely one to remember. :) I hope that you all had a beautiful and wonderful holiday!

The boys getting all ready to brave the snow

The missionaries building giant snowballs in their nice clothes and ties

Teage standing in the first part of the snow fort

Sweet Lucas

Sweet Dylan

The finished fort with all the "boys"

Oh Christmas Tree

We actually got our tree a bit late this year. We were going to be gone the week before Christmas a figured that it may need some water within that time, so we thought we would wait. But in the end, a really great sale at Fred Meyer won out over a week of being gone, and we went and got our tree two weeks before Christmas. Yes, we did get it at Freddies....I know I know, we live in Snoqualmie Wa where the trees are very beautiful and abundant, and we got our tree at Fred Meyer. :) Call it convenience for someone with two crazy running boys. :)

Dylan standing in front of the tree making his "cheese" face :)

The boys helping Daddy with the lights

Mr. Lucas

Mr. Dylan

The whole family in front of the finished product :)

Christmas Card

We have decided not to send out an official Christmas card this year, but we as a family still would like to wish you all a beautiful and merry Christmas, and would like to share a few little cards here instead. Thank you all for your examples and love. We hope that you all enjoy this wonderful season and remember our Savior whom we are celebrating. Merry Christmas!!

-Erin, Teage, Dylan, and Lucas

Amazing Lights

If any of you would like to go see an amazing show of lights this year, I highly recommend going to see my father's crazy house of lights. :) For almost 10 years now my Dad has been putting up upwards of 60,000 lights on his property, and having a blast the entire time. When I was younger, my Dad and I would get up at 4am every day after Christmas and buy as many lights as possible during the half off sales. Then when I got married, Dad was so excited to finally have a son-in-law to help him with all of the "high ones". :) The whole family has pitched in the past couple years and everyone is very proud of the light display fully equiped with Candy Cane Lane, a pond with drinking deer, and a gigantic snowball with snow falling. If you are interested in seeing the house, his address is:

2509 227th Pl NE in Sammamish (up on the Sammamish Plateau)

If you do come, please remember to bring some canned goods as well, as there is a basket for the food bank in the driveway. Merry Christmas everyone!

Moms for Twilight

I have been waiting for the new Twilight movie to come out for quite some time now. I know it sounds a little obsessive especially for a 20-something year old mother, but I just couldn't wait to see it depicted on the big screen. So on opening day a whole bunch of my friends from Snoqualmie (all my age and moms) and I went to the movie theater together to experience what is "Twilight the movie". And I am not sorry to say, that I saw it the next day as well with a group of friends from Bellingham. Yes, twice in one weekend. I have not been able to do that in about 3 years.....what a lovely weekend it was!

Truthfully, I was pretty disappointed after watching it on Friday, but it was my own fault. I was comparing it to the book the entire time and critiquing characters pretty severely. I was annoyed that they left out so much of what I felt made the book such a unique and intriguing piece of work. I left the theater feeling a little betrayed. The second day I tried very hard to separate the movie from the book and enjoy it as a movie in and of itself. And I am happy to say that I did like it much more that time. Yes there are a few very cheesy scenes and some corny special effects... but for what the director had to work with money wise, I think she did a pretty good job. I still feel that it could have been better, but in the end I am very grateful to have seen it at all. And I was so thrilled to have been able to experience Twilight with a bunch of mothers and friends my age, who were just as excited as I was. Thanks everyone for a wonderful time!!

This is our big group from Friday night...I think we were the oldest ones in the theater! Don't we look excited? :)

But I love you brother!

This was the scene in our house a few days ago when Dylan all of a sudden decided that his brother really needed a hug....hilarious!!! I could hardly capture it because I was laughing so hard! Poor Lucas didn't stand a chance!

Love you forever Jesse...

For the last three years, Thanksgiving Day has always been very tough, and they will be for the rest of my life. Three years ago on Thanksgiving Day, my older brother, Jesse, passed away in a car accident. I miss him so much. Although it's been three years since his passing, not a day goes by that I don't think of him. As many of you know, my family means the world to me. My siblings are my best friends and I would do anything for them. But one thing that I cannot do is bring him back. What I wouldn't give to be able to spend one more day with him.

I've always envied Jesse for many things. When we were little, Jesse, Brett and I would play basketball out in our driveway. Jesse would always beat Brett and I, and I hated that! I was determined to beat him. I know I got my competitive drive from those many games in our driveway He was meticulous in everything he did. His room was the cleanest, he dressed the sharpest, and always cared for those around him. People wanted to be around him all the time because he had a way of making you feel good about yourself. I looked up to him in so many aspects and wanted to impress him with everything that I did.

I'm so glad that I have so many great memories with my older brother. He helped me through so much, and even though he's not here with me, I still strive to impress him, to make him happy. It still hurts so much to think that he's gone. Even after three years, the pain is still there and it will always be. I feel that when you love somebody so much, it will always be there.

Thanksgiving Day will always be one in which I reflect on Jesse and what he continues to do for me. I love spending time with family, but there is one that will always be missing. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's plan and for the peace that He brings to my life. Families are forever and I know that one day I will get to be with my brother Jesse.

To all of you that read this, I challenge you to tell those that are closest to you how much you love them! I didn't have the chance to tell Jesse before he left us, and I regret not making a phone call to let him know. Do not wait!

Jesse, I love and miss you, but know that I will see you soon. Thank you for your continued example that you are to me, and for your visits in my dreams! Know that I will always look up to you, and hope that you are looking down on me with pride, happiness and love. Te quiero hermano!

Us boys in Hawaii.

Jesse and I surfing off the Oregon coast, summer, 2000.

Family campout, summer, 2004.

Save a wave for me bro! Love ya!

I want to be like Daddy...

No secret, the boys ADORE their father. And really...who wouldn't? :) Every opportunity they have they try to copy Daddy at whatever it is that he is up to at the moment. From answering his cell phone, to typing on his computer, or putting on his shoes. They love following Daddy around and mimicking his every action. I am not sure if Teage realizes how much his boys adore him, but it sure is true.

The other day Lucas got into Daddy's sock drawer and pulled out a pair of his gym socks. He came right over and handed them to me and wanted to get up on my lap so I could put the socks on his feet. So of course after Lucas had a pair of Daddy's socks on, Dylan could not be outdone. He went right over and grabbed a pair of his own. This was our end result which I just had to capture...they were having a great time!

Notice that Lucas also has his Daddy's toothbrush as well....