crafty andi

a co-worker of mine is vacationing in Mexico for the holidays, and he sent me this photo of a shop in town where he's staying....

(incase you can't read it, the sign identifies the store as seller of Cristaleria & Plasticos, or Kitchenware & Crafts)

christmas comes but once a year....

After a relaxing morning at the house and a leisurely walk around Green Lake, Eric and I hit the slopes at Stevens Pass (~75 miles northeast of Seattle). It was my first skiing since Karen and I went to Keystone, CO, and it was Eric's first skiing in two years. The snow was top notch (for the west coast) and we had a great time.

On Sunday, we went to the San Diego at Seattle football game -- with Eric being one of very few Chargers fans in attendance. I was very impressed at the noise level--both high and low--that the crowd produced at the beginning of each play, depending on who had possession of the ball. Funny that the intimidating man with the shaved head and tattooed scalp who was cheering right in Eric's ear while the Seahawks were winning, suddenly disappeared when the Chargers took the lead in the last 25 seconds of the 4th quarter.

I hope you all had a great holiday season and are busy working on your new years resolutions!

Zoe Anna Beth

After an extra night at the hospital, Emily and Miles brought baby Zoe home on Saturday, and got this lovely shot...


I hope to be getting down there to visit in a couple of weeks -- I cant' wait!

And for those of you who have been asking about our wet and windy status (and thank you for your concern!), Eric and I have fared just fine. We had no damage to our home, and we are one of the very lucky folks who never lost power in the whole ordeal. Earlier in the week we discovered a small leak in our roof, which we immediately patched up and have seen no problems since -- and with the 60+ mph winds and accompanying rain 36 hours later, I'd say we can safely say that our patch worked. Trees came down all around our neighborhood, including our immediate neighbor to the south, and all over town, small evergreen branches and twigs are still in the gutters and in the middle of the road -- as though someone decorated the streets themselves for the holiday season.

baby pics

move over finn, it's time for pictures of baby cricket!

oh baby!

It's a girl! Mom called me at 6:30 this morning to let me know that emily had been in labor since about 1:30am. The arrival came sometime between 8 and 10am, and was uneventful (excepting the fact that it's an event in itself!), and the baby is healthy and happy and weighs in at 7 lbs, 15 oz, with lots of browish hair and bright blonde eyelashes and brows. I will post pictures as soon as they send some. For now, the new baby, mother and father are resting comfortably. No name for the baby yet, but the new grandmother and myself have decided that we'll be calling her Cricket, no matter what.