Home to Seattle for Christmas

Apparently this is the first snow in several years in Sacramento. I'm not sure why but it seems like everywhere I go that area has bizarre weather that is unusual for them.

I'm just glad it was light and didn't last very long, but the kids had fun while it lasted.

It also got unusually cold in the Sacramento area this winter so the Hanson kids would come over to our place and wrap in blankets near Doak's dog bed so they could all cuddle.

Jon and I drove the 12 hours or so to Seattle for Christmas.

My birthday is the day after Christmas so we got went bowling with friends and family. David came with Jonah, he was getting very tired so he just relaxed against me.

My brother David, and his baby boy Jonah and me.

He's a great daddy.

We were so happy to get to spend some time with our friends Kelly and Erich Winkler, as well as Jon's sister Wendy.

Oh and also Jon's brother Jeff.

This is Christmas at my GrandMarie and Grandpa Bill Sessions' house.

My sister Keri and I have the same iPhone with the same pink covers, I've had mine a little longer so I was showing her what she can do with it.

Friends & Family.... and dog

We went to IHOP for our nephew, Cole's, birthday. Here shown is Isabelle, Jeff, Jon, and Wendy.

Jon's little brother, Jeff.

We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory with our friends, Erich and Kelly Winkler. The guys were watching some basketball or football game while we were waiting to be seated.

We found out from the Hanson kids that apparently Doak likes to jump on the trampoline. So we let him jump around with us.

Jon had a great time trying to bounce Doak really high.

Doak is funny :)

Hawaii for Thanksgiving

We went to Hawaii for Thanksgiving because we felt we needed a vacation after spending all summer in Canada working and not getting a chance to get out and do anything. Jon has never been to Hawaii so it was exciting for me to show him around.

We stayed several days with my old roommate from Brigham Young University-Hawaii, Ruth, and her fiance, Tim. This is the view from Tim's place in Waikiki.

We walked down the strip of Waikiki and saw this gold man. He wouldn't face us for pictures unless we paid him a tip. Fair enough.

This is just one of the beaches we visited on the North Shore of Oahu.

We had such a good time.

We stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort for a couple of nights. They had these cool parrots in the lobby.

This is the view from our hotel room, with a handsome man in the way.

It was so beautiful.

The view never gets old, especially the sunsets... I love the sunsets!

This is the beach at Turtle Bay.

Halloween in Utah

This is Jon's nephew, Max, who dressed up as a monkey for halloween. He was probably the cutest dressed kid out that night.

My husband is the one that looks like a creep, and his brother Jeff is wearing the karate kid outfit. I think Jon was going for the Robin Hood effect but he definitely ended up looking more like a pedophile.

The creepster and me, a footballer player - Lofa Tatupu actually, can't you see the resemblance?

We were visiting Jon's brother and sister-in-law, Doug and Liz, and their little boy Max and their new twin girls. I'm holding Cate and Jon is holding Ellie.

To California!

My mom drove with me in my grandparent's van so we could fit all of my stuff including our dog, Doak. He did really well all the way from Seattle to Sacramento.

This is the guest house that we had to fix up before we could move in.

It was full of junk so we had to do quite a bit of clean up.

This will be our bedroom eventually. We will paint those shelves black and use it for our clothes.

Doak and his new friends, Danny Boy and Pheonix, learned quickly the new pecking order as Doak established himself as the alpha male. But they get along great.

My mom was sooo much help while she was here. Here she is building a kitchen counter for us, well she's measuring and cutting we would have to build it.

Here is our bedroom now filled with lots of clothes and a bed.

I added some curtains to keep the bright light out.

This will be our living room once we get some more furniture like a TV.

Our dining room is in the background next to the refrigerator. Jon is lounging in the living room.

This is our kitchen/pantry full of junk right now, but we will get rid of all that. I'm just happy we have a full size fridge.

We even put Doak's dog bed inside so he could sleep in the living room rather than outside.

He is staring down a fly waiting for it to move so he can snap!

Our first baby, Doak.

We got Doak as a rescue dog when he was nine months old. We were told he is half doberman and half rottweiler.

He was very playful and a beautiful dog.

When Jon and I moved to Canada for the summer we couldn't take him with us so we left him with a lady out in the country that took very good care of him. He had Rastah to play with and 5 acres to run around.

When we got back from Canada he was so happy to see us. He's kind of a needy dog so he required a lot of attention.

The Trading Post on main street also has a museum with all kinds of stuffed animals. Jon has never seen a real life moose so this is the closest he'll get until hopefully we get to Yellowstone.