1st Dusting of SNOW

Last week it was cold... not just cold... but downright fridged!! The only good thing about it being in single digits was that we got a tiny dusting of SNOW!! When you're 2 years old snow is pretty much amazing... like liquid gold amazing. He was so excited to see it and to play in it, even if it was such a little amount. One of these weekends we are heading to the mountain and I'm so excited to see his reaction up there :) 

Adventures in the Zoo Lights

Last week we went to zoo lights! You should know by now this family never misses the opportunity to head to the zoo... and an excuse like zoo lights was perfect for a mid-week adventure! It's been very chilly here lately so we bundled up tight and headed for the lights. We sure were bummed this year that the choo choo train wasn't running because there is so much new construction going on (which we are sooo excited about!) But... even without the train ride our little family had so much fun hanging out with the millions of lights and seeing some sleepy animals. 

  

You can check out last years trip and see how much our 'not-so-little' guy has grown! HERE

Santa Visit and Our Toddler Negotiation

Being 2 years old comes with some challenges... like "stranger danger" and random fit throwing. I had been trying to prep Brayden all day about how we were going to see Santa and he would sit on my lap and practice telling me what he wanted for Christmas... He was so excited to see Santa. Buuuuut of course when we get there, he decides he's deathly afraid of him, didn't want to talk to him and just wanted to cry and freak out. Thankfully we were the only ones there so we took our time and tried everything... Santa even left so Brayden could sit in his chair without him! After a lot of "toddler negotiating" he agreed to sit on my lap while I sat on Santa's lap... after a few minutes I decided to make a dash and "throw/set him quickly" on Santa's lap (at this point, I just wanted a picture and didn't care what it looked like). After he was sitting on his lap for a while (not crying) he refused to crack any smile whatsoever... We finally got him to crack a few towards the end with some tickling and funny faces. He loves the thumbs up and it turned out to be my favorite. While we were choosing our pictures, he just sat and talked with Santa and finally told him he wanted a Choo Choo Train for Christmas. Our "toddler negotiating" involved frozen yogurt before dinner so when we got our perfect shot it was off to frozen yogurt (which was right across the way) and in true toddler form, when we were finished he had to run over and tell Santa all about how yummy it was :) I love this boy so much... even if he keeps us on our toes at all times! 

Flashback to last years Santa visit... 2012

Double flashback to our first Santa visit 2011

Giving Thanks 2013

Awwww Thanksgiving. A time to give thanks, reflect on what is really important in your life and a time to celebrate all the things that make you happy and have gotten you to that place. I feel like the speed of life sometimes gets away from us and we need to slow down... appreciate what we have and be thankful for it. Sometimes I think it's crazy that we have to have an excuse like a holiday to stop and take a moment to reflect and give thanks. This year I'm thankful for so many things. For the love and support of family and friends... having a healthy and happy, crazy 2 year old running around like a crazy person... being married to my best friend and partner in everything... I'm thankful that I get to spend each day watching Brayden grow into an amazing, smart, handsome, funny little boy... I'm thankful and so blessed to live this amazing life of mine. So with that, here's a snapshot of our Thanksgiving weekend. 

I woke up pretty early Thanksgiving morning to this amazing sunrise from my parents living room (I'm also thankful for God's creations... like this magnificent image)

I headed to the Mosier Tunnels for an early "Turkey Trot" 5k with one of my favorites! It was suppose to be a group effort, but it turned into just the 2 of us... but I was ok with that. Alyssa and I have been such good friends for so long, sometimes it's fun just to hang out the 2 of us and catch up... our conversations always pick up right where they left off... it's like we never skip a beat. She is one friend that I'm so thankful for. There is no one else I would have rather done this cool, crisp Thanksgiving morning 5k with. Alyssa posted about our Turkey Trot Fun too! I think next year we'll be dressing like turkeys :) 

After the run we enjoyed some quality family time and a yummy dinner with picture perfect apple pie thanks to my wonderful mamma. I also got a very funny snapchat from my cousin Matt. It looks like the Ogawa's had a perfect Thanksgiving too. Being so close to the Ogawa's makes me so thankful that even though my dad has been gone for so many years, they are still a big part of my life... and Brayden's too. I'm also thankful that my mom did such an amazing job raising me... Maybe at the time I didn't appreciate it, but now as a mom myself I'm so grateful for her (and her cooking too :)! 

It looks like someone had a fun day and a full belly! 

I hope your thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours and I'm going to try and be a little more thankful each day. 

Brayden's Blazer Game Extravaganza

Friday we did something Jarrod and I both have been looking forward to since the day we found out we were having a boy almost 3 years ago... We took Brayden to his first Blazer game!! He had so much fun and was so excited. I think it was everything Jarrod dreamed of and more... Brayden was so good and was no doubtably the cutest Blazer fan EVER. 

Earlier that day we went shopping and he got to pick out his first jersey and we couldn't leave the store without his new Blazer hat he had to have. We had an extra ticket so we decided to invite our super cool and longtime friend Kyle to go with us. Brayden loves his uncle Kyle! Between the hotdogs and popcorn the cheering and the jumbotron Brayden made friends with our whole section... Waiving and cheering, laughing and putting on the charm with everyone around. It was so fun to watch and everyone loved him! We even made a sign and our section helped us get on the jumbotron during one of the timeouts. It was truly an unforgettable night. The icing on the cake? The Blazers blew the Utah Jazz out of the water of course!

BLAZERS : 130

UTAH JAZZ : 98

I almost forgot... one of the cutest moments was when we were all standing during the National Anthem and Brayden put his hand over his heart and was silent during the whole thing (and if you know Brayden... that doesn't happen often). I'm so proud of the little boy he is becoming and it's crazy the amount of unconditional love we have for this kid. This was the first Blazer game... but I have a feeling there is many more in this little guys future! GO RIP CITY! 

Brayden was the cutest thing ever during the National Anthem... photo credit to Uncle Kyle! 

Brayden even got this cool certificate as a keepsake of his first game! He was so happy!