Christmas Tree Farm

Every year growing up my family would go to Snowshoe Evergreen Christmas Tree Farm in Orting to cut down our tree. It was always such a fun thing I looked forward to every year. Living in Tri-Cities now, there aren't any tree farms close by, so we have had a fake tree the last couple of years (YUCK). Don't worry, that will change next year! Anyway, we started a new family tradition with Hadley to go with Grandpa & Grandma after Thanksgiving to get their tree at Snowshoe. It was so much fun! It was the first time Hadley was looking outward in the Bjorn carrier and she was squealing with excitement - it was so cute! We helped my parents pick out a 12 footer - NOW THAT'S A TREE! :)

Here is a video (don't ask why we started doing this - just my fam!) & some fun pics from the day...

Hadley's "Seasonal Size"

So happy at the tree farm! Hadley loves real trees too! :)

The Bjorn tastes yummy

I love those cheeks!

Grandpa Johnny cutting down the tree...

A Haddy size tree!

THE TREE WE PICKED!!

Grandma Holly giving her approval of the find...

The tree crew!

A great family day!

Recent Videos!

I've gotten some really cute videos of Hadley lately that I wanted to share.

The first one is of Hadley laughing at Koda. On Tuesday I was waiting for Chris to get home from his last day of practicum (YEAH!) and was trying to entertain the girls (Hadley & Koda).  I had Hadley in her exersaucer that she loves and Koda dropped her toy in my lap to play fetch - when I threw it for her she freaked out (a little attention deprived) and went nuts after the toy and Hadley just started laughing!  It was so cute!  Now I can entertain both girls at the same time!!!

The second video is of Hadley waving! This is a new trick that my mom thinks she taught her! ;) When we were home for Thanksgiving she started doing it when my mom would walk in the room and wave at her, and now she does it all the time! What a smart girl!!

Thanksgiving Firsts

Thanks to my bro, J, for his comment on my previous post - he told me to take my own advice and "persevere" on my blogging, so here I go! :) We were with my side of the fam for Thanksgiving this year and it was a lot of fun, although we were a smaller group than normal - it was fun celebrating Hadley's 1st Thanksgiving and MY 1st Thanksgiving preparing the turkey!!! I really wanted to make the bird this year, and my parents were thrilled, so they coached me through it all. I don't know why I felt compelled to do this...maybe being a "mom" my first Thanksgiving or something...I felt a little extra need to amp up my home-maker skills. My dad coached me on the 26 lb bird and my mom coached me on the stuffing. I made the green bean casserole myself (without any coaching). It all turned out AWESOME!!! I told Chris to watch out cause one day he will come home from work and I will have a turkey dinner on the table, the house sparkling, the laundry folded and put away, Hadley sleeping, and wearing a dress....ok, that would never happen, I would be in sweats! :)

As always we ate too much and had some amazing pies thanks to my Aunt Suzzy...and also as always, I took lots of pics of our little turkey in her 2 different Thanksgiving outfits (2 thanks to an early afternoon blow-out - and Grandma Holly for providing both). ;) Thanksgiving outfits aren't very "girly," but Hads pulled them off!

Outfit #1

Mommy with her 2 turkeys!

Great-Grandma Donna reading to Haddy...so precious!

Hadley with Great-Grandpa Frosty in their PLU stocking hats -
CLASSIC FROSTY

Outfit #2 (post blow-out)

Don't you love that she blew out the off-white onesie? NICE!

Haddy with my other turkey ;)

Got Any Grapes?!?

A duck walked into a 7-11 and asked the clerk, "You got any grapes? The clerk replied, "No, we don't have any grapes." So the duck left.

The next day, the duck walked into the 7-11 again and asked the clerk, "You got any grapes?" The clerk replied, "No, we don't have any grapes!" So the duck left.

The next day, the duck walked into the 7-11 again and asked the clerk, "You got any grapes?" The clerk replied, "NO! We don't have any grapes and if you ask me again I'm going to nail your feet to the floor!" So the duck left.

The next day, the duck walked into the 7-11 again and asked the clerk, "You got any nails?" The clerk replied, "No." So the duck asked, "You got any grapes?"

WE GOT GRAPES! :) My Grandpa Frosty has been telling this story lately as a lesson in perseverance, so there you go. Be like the duck and find some grapes! ;)

Our Lil' LUTE

I have to admit that I have been completely unmotivated to blog lately, but I got a new computer (a MAC!) and the motivation is coming back so it's time for me to play catch-up! I haven't had my own computer since college so I'm pretty stoked...it's my early one and only Christmas present!

On Halloween, we took a little trek up to Spokane for the PLU-Whitworth football game. If you know anything about me, you know I come from a football family, and even more so a LUTE family. My grandpa, Frosty Westering, was the football coach at PLU for 32 years and my uncle, Scott, is now the head coach. My Aunt Susan (Scott's wife) also teaches there, my 2 uncles and 3 aunts went there, my oldest bro, Chad, played there and led the Lutes to a National Championship in '99, and I went there as well and played volleyball. OH yeah, and Chris and I met there and he played football for my grandpa & uncle (and was a 2-time captain might I add). ;)

FUN FACT - When I was at PLU, in 1 semester I was taking classes from my Grandpa Frosty, Uncle Scott, and Aunt Susan all at the same time!!! (For the record, my uncle was the hardest grader - but I won't get into that!)

Anyway, I grew up going to PLU football games with my family, so any chance we get, we go to games! We love our Lutes and were so glad to bring Hadley to her first game! Here are some pics of our cutest lil' Lute!

With her stocking hat like Grandpa Frosty wears...

With Grandpa Jim after the game

A jersey of our dear friend, Nellie, hung on the sidelines. Nellie passed away in August and it was so strange that he wasn't there at the game....it was the first game I can remember that he wasn't there. He was such an amazing and inspirational man. He was born in Singapore with a disease called arthogryposis, which locked all his joints from the neck down. He was released by his family as a child and adopted by a family in Orting, WA. He grew up battling his disease and depression and eventually ended up at PLU, where his life was changed by getting involved with the football program - which ironically changed the lives of COUNTLESS others, including Chris and I.

A documentary was made some years ago about him that I recommend everyone to watch if they can. It's called, "Nellie, A Life Worth Living." Chris and I have a copy we would love to share with anyone interested. Below is a link to the documentary info. If you click on the "REVIEWS/TRAILER" link, you can see the preview and get a glimpse into who Nellie was...

http://www.penumbrafilms.com/nellie/

Strawberries, Pumpkins & Lady Bugs

Lots of pics to post - of Hadley in the cutest little knit hat that looks like a strawberry (thanks to Chris' Uncle Jeff's sister-in-law, Robin!), of our time at the pumpkin patch, and Hadley in her lady bug Halloween costume! We aren't huge fans of Halloween and will actually be in Spokane for the PLU/Whitworth football game on Halloween, but I had to get a cute costume for her to wear at least for some pictures!

I got her hair in her first fountain-top/pebbles hair-do!

Daddy is always kissing Haddy

Picking out Hadley's 1st pumpkin....so many to choose from!

Daddy's Girl...

Not so sure about the pumpkin patch!

Just 2 lady bugs hangin' out!

4 Month Stats

Hadley had her 4 month check-up on Thursday so I wanted to share her latest stats!

Height: 25.5" ~ 85-90th percentile
Weight: 14lbs 5 oz ~60-70th percentile

She is perfectly healthy and only cried a little for her shots. Looks like she is turning out to be long and lean!:)

Doggies are a Girl's Best Friend

Hadley discovered Koda for the first time the other day and we discovered what a good dog we have. She has been great with Hadley so far, but we didn't know how she would respond when Hadley started bugging her. Koda is such a friendly dog, so we know she would never hurt Hadley (maybe just cover her with licks), but we were interested to see how she responded when Hadley started the discovery process. Koda just sat there so calm letting Hadley pull her ear, hair, and whiskers. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

4 Months Old!

Hadley is officially 4 months old - I can't believe it! It definitely seems like she's graduating into the "infant" stage instead of the "newborn." We are so thankful for her in our lives...she brings us so much joy. She is jabbering all the time, giggling and smiling (at her crazy parents always trying to make her giggle and smile), rolling from stomach to back (hasn't quite mastered back to stomach yet), playing with her hands and sucking on them all the time, and has such a strong neck now....seems like she is growing every day! Here are some fun pics we took about a month ago on a little photoshoot we did for ourselves down by the Columbia River just a few minutes from our house. Isn't that hat adorable?! Thanks Grandma Holly! She has her 4 month check-up on Thursday, so I'll let you know her latest stats after that...