Monday, January 26, 2009

Snow + freezing weather + direct sunshine = icicles

So it's been ridiculously cold the past two weeks. I mean, anytime you hear the phrase "... feels like negative..." when someone is telling you the temperature, you know you're in trouble. The weird thing is that over the past 4 our 5 days it hasn't snowed at all, and when the sun comes out, it melts the 2+ feet of snow that has accumulated everywhere, but because it's so cold out, the melted snow doesn't stay melted that long but instead forms icicles. And not just little, candy-cane sized icicles; I'm talking, the honkin' suckers that would do some serious damage if they fell on you icicles.

Keeping with tradition, I was able to grab one and we took pictures of it next to Lyla for comparison. You can see last year's version here. And now, this year's:



And a video of Lyla trying to figure out what the heck that thing is:

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Snow days

So, last year was a record year of snow fall in Grand Rapids. This year is headed toward equal (if not greater) amounts of snow. Our friend commented the other day that we've already seen the same amount of snow in November and December that GR would typically see in an entire winter (November through March)!

That, combined with the sub-frigid temperatures, combined with the fact that Katherine is 32 weeks pregnant are all forces conspiring to keep us inside. So we've been making a serious effort to get outside on days that we're able in order to take walks. We spend equal amounts of time getting ready as we do actually outside. All in all it is quite an ordeal, but it's also been a lot of fun and totally worth it.

Here's pictures of Lyla putting on her snowsuit:




Here's pictures of me and Lyla waiting for Katherine to come out:




Here we are walking in the snow! Happy winter, everyone!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Daddy's little helper

Folding laundry:



She's so cute!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Christmas, San Antonio style

We were lucky to be able to spend a few days over the holiday down in San Antonio visiting my family. We drove down from Dallas the Saturday before Christmas and spent five days down there. It was really good to see my dad and Fei and Matthew and Anna. Lyla had a lot of fun playing with Uncle Matthew and Aunt Anna, being smothered with love and attention from Fei, and cuddling with Grandpa Ring. She even learned how to say Grandpa, which sounded more like "Mmmm pah."
Here's Lyla's Ring-genes in action:
Yay Mmmm pah!
Lyla's number 1!
Hey Uncle Matthew, can I ride Flicka?
Aunt Anna is so cute!

I can walk, Dad. I just choose not to.
Matthew is growing up so big.
We left on Christmas Eve to go back to Dallas so the kids opened their gifts on the 23rd. Lyla got a cell phone.Anna got Hello Kitty stickers and gear.
Matthew got Monopoly Junior.

The night before we left we went out to dinner at Anna's favorite restaurant: Applebees.Anna, I thought you loved Applebees?
Are you sad because your daddy is busy telling all his funny stories to Lyla instead of you? (I love this picture.)
We had a wonderful time in San Antonio and were sad we couldn't stay longer. The saddest part was that my brother Jeff was supposed to fly in from Portland the same day that we arrived. But because of the huge snow storm they had, all flights were canceled for 3 days and he didn't make it. So we were sad we didn't get so see him. But we did get to eat at a yummy Thai restaurant, so it wasn't all bad. Hopefully Uncle Jeff can make it out this spring or summer to meet his niece and nephew.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Where's Waldo?





Thursday, January 8, 2009

Christmas, Dallas style

We had a wonderful time this Christmas, spending nearly two weeks in Texas split between Katherine's parents in Dallas and my family in San Antonio. All of Katherine's family was able to gather this year for Christmas and it was a real joy to spend the time with everyone, especially Emily and Allison (and Stephen). Rather than take you through the whole time we spent together, here are pictures from some of the highlights.

Taking family photos (an annual tradition that becomes more and more chaotic as 1) the little ones get bigger - a.k.a. "squirmier"; and 2) there are more little ones):







Christmas morning gift opening.







Putting gift bows on the children (also becoming a Christmas tradition):



Playing at the park at night... early evening really.






Emily hamming it up:





The guys taking the youngest girls for a walk. The weather was pretty nice. We had a double stroller. The girls had matching hats. What more could you ask for?