Grandma came to town!

Cabin fever

It's a thing we had not experienced since becoming parents. Stuck inside for 3 days.

Snow turned to freezing rain. We awoke to alerts on our phones from the city urging people to stay in due to ice on roads. Church cancelled. Other plans for the day cancelled. Thankfully because the tram is needed to get folks up the hill (to the hospital) it's operating when it would otherwise be closed and will allow our friends, nearest neighbors, to come down and hang out with us. Kids, bowls of chilli, and some drinks might just keep us all from going crazy.

Last night moon and I played cards late into the evening. Today we (ok, really moon) organized our CDs and began putting them on our computer. Which means we now only possess a few of those ancient things! We also built trains. Managed some rest. Read some books. And are feeling ready for some ice to melt early this week!

Snow!

We don't see snow that often here in pdx. And this is the first big snow Eli's seen here, though he seemed to remember the stuff from Korea. We had fun sledding yesterday. Today it's coming down too hard for us to go out and play. 

(And I gotta say that the patagonia snowsuit he's wearing is sure going to put in its time! Got it 50% off at a kids consignment store when Eli was a baby. It's size 12mo, but still sort of fits him! We were kind of impressed).

Lazy mornings

This is Eli's favorite spot in the morning. He sits with his guitar and listens to the music I put on. Sometimes he watches the photo stream on the computer. Boy does this kid love music.

Want my toast?

To the coast

We enjoyed a weekend away for the CMDA conference. Ah the ups and downs of trips away with our toddler. He stayed up way too late both nights, but crashed hard. He and I mostly explored while daddy went to the various sessions. Even when I think we're crazy for trying to do these sorts of getaways (pregnancy doesn't help my motivation) when I know we'll all be staying in one room, the packing that's involved, etc, we drove home and I felt grateful we had the chance to do this trip. We've now attended 3 years during these med school years (last year moons schedule didn't work out for it). First year of med school we went and I was pregnant with Eli but didn't yet know it (found out the day after we got back). Second year we went with a 3 month old. And here we were with our 1.5 kids. I know we'll remember fondly these weekends on the coast with wonderful community, worship, and every meal cooked for you (who doesn't love that from time to time!).

Eli learned that this beach has much colder water than Hawaii.

Playing in the gym with Eli's favorite word--ball!! Watching the big kids game.

Walks in the ergo! Carrying one in the front and one on the back...

Naked climber

Play time

Bath time

the aftermath

December was quite the month around here.
A big trip that took us on a tropical vacation and to the colder land of morning calm.
Eli's adventurous side was put to the test.
We all learned a lot. And made the most of a special trip. Now with a new month, a new year, and many other beginnings around the corner for us, it's good to stop and give thanks for the adventures, the memories, that were had.

taking a break with mama

on the bus headed to the airport for our flight to korea

eli was already sleepy

taking a nap in korea

playing at a korean indoor playground… eli is white sweater

on a walk 

korean parks have gym equipment for everyone's use, eli loved it! 

hanging around the house

another long flight! 

Our boy in Korea

Bath time!

Crashing in the stroller while we're out

Eli fell asleep so we parked his stroller and ate some yummy food. 

Watching tv with a snack

Temperature shift

We left a sunny, warm Hawaii for a sunny, cold, and snow- covered Korea. Certainly pictures only scratch the surface of the story these 3 weeks will be filled with. And frankly I'm purposefully not taking pictures of the less happy, cranky toddler moments (parents get cranky too when traveling and taking 12 hour flights :). But we are with family, eating kimchi, sleeping on a normal time schedule, and about to go sledding! There are many gifts and blessings along the way... even if that way is punctuated with our "less than desirable" moments as well. It's fun to look back through the pictures... even if they only tell part of the story.

Delicious fruit! Eating outside!

Eli fell in love with this little skateboard

Long flights, nobody loves them, we survived

Coffee break in Seoul (warming up!)