Catching up on December

To make up for being remiss in blogging I'll post lots of pictures of what we've been doing the past couple of weeks. Which is not much :) Except for all the visiting of relatives, that's been lots of fun. Other than that we finished up a lot of annoying errands and pre-move medical stuff that we needed to get wrapped up before the holidays (since we weren't exactly sure when we were shipping out).

Looks like we'll be headed out mid January...we'll keep you posted. Our shipment from Ireland has been delayed due to storms on the east coast/midwest (it's here, just stuck) and we are going to stick around until it comes to make sure it actually comes and then goes out to the right continent.

On to pictures! First up, playing baby in the laundry basket. Granny Annie remembered this trick when we were staying at her house. Finn loves this, he can see what's going on all around him while playing with his toys which don't get lost (flung on the floor). New first time moms should take note, this is a great trick. Classic Finn blank stare that he always does for the camera.
So here we are trimming the Christmas tree up at the house in the mtns. See how hard we are working.And Christmas lights are COOL. No, we do not let Finn eat lights OR Christmas trees, no matter what this picture looks like. It's just a trick of the angle. We are GOOD parentsAnd here we are playing with our toes. We like to suck on them but as soon as the camera comes out we're so interested in that we forget about our toes.Today we went to Christmas Eve service at the Beaver Creek Chapel. This is a special place for Travis and me, it's the chapel where were were married. I've been going to Christmas Eve services here for nearly 20 years. It's hard to beat. Finn watched the skiers come down off the hill as we all sang carols and enjoyed the snow in the trees. Finn really enjoyed the special music.Finally, Travis and I would like to send out warm thoughts and extra special holiday wishes to our friends and past neighbors at York St. who were recently affected by a fire in the condominium building we used to live in. We've heard from one of our friends and saw all of them on the news story (yikes!) and they are all OK but they are essentially homeless for the holidays. We hear their homes should be OK but that there is extensive smoke damage. My cousin who also lives in the building was thankfully home in Kansas and while her belongings may need some work we're happy she and her dog are both OK.

Special holiday greeting to all our friends and family that we can't be with this season, we think of you all as we enjoy this wonderful time of year.

Sun and Snow

Here's how things are in our little family these days:

This is what Travis is doing (when he's not at work) down in Brisbane:

Street Beach at South Bank Park in Brisbane, Australia.

This is what Finn and I are doing (we don't work, we just play):

Blossoms of Light, Denver Botanic Gardens, Colorado USA

Hmmm....you probably can't tell but that's snow in our picture. It's pretty easy to pick out the shorts in Travis' picture. Have to admit I'm pretty stoked about both, how lucky are we? Life is good.

Nearly Famous

Finn's professional photo:
Scroll down a few pix in the photographer's blog entry to see him, he's the baby on the red blanket. The pictures we had done were amazing, especially since he was 4.5 months old and really not doing anything (at about 6 months babies get a little more expressive for the camera we hear).
http://www.megganjacks.com/blog/?p=93

If you are ever in need of a professional photographer in the Phoenix area I can highly recommend Meggan Jacks. Stellar to work with and although we were pretty sure Finn fussed the whole time she got a pile of great shots that really capture him.

Visit with Santa

Our first visit to Santa. Finn was so busy looking at all the pretty lights that he forgot to give Santa his wish list. He enjoyed his visit, no crying or upset at all. Just the traditional Finn gaze :) Santa has a real beard, it was quite cool.

Return of photos coming soon

Camera not lost, just buried in all the mess in the basement (our guest suite)! Travis found it. Although I got my Christmas present early...a NEW IMPROVED SUPER AWESOME camera! Maybe I'll get it all figured out and you'll notice some super awesome pictures. Travis is taking the old camera to Brisbane tomorrow...he'll be gone for about three weeks :( Finn and I are getting sad already, hopefully the time will go super fast.