Godiva Girl...

Just like Mommy & Daddy! :)

Basketball girl...

Of all the presents that Emma was showered with this Christmas, her favorite by far is the basketball hoop that Grandpa Folkman bought for her. He had one rule: It had to stay at their house so that they can play basketball on Wednesday nights when he watches her. They been watching the basketball "guys" on TV for a couple of weeks, and Grandpa was very proud when she saw the hoop, she didn't need any instruction! She grabbed to ball, and CRAZY she went. Very fun. :) Here's a picture and a video of all the fun...



Here's an action video! :)

Merry Christmas!

We have had such a good time the last couple of weeks. What a wonderful season of the year. We've spent hours with family, and it has been so great to relax, celebrate and enjoy everyone's company.

On the 19th, we headed over to Spokane to visit Shane's sister and her family. It was so fun to visit, we played cards, went shopping and ate WAY too much food. Such a fun time. Emma love hanging out with all the cousins. She's used to being the only kid around, and I'll admit that by the time we left, Emma was ready for a little alone time. But it was so fun to play with everyone, and see how much everyone has grown.

Here's Hailey, she had stuffed her cheeks with two of those Yummy Lindor chocolates, she was a chocaholic!



Here's Anne, Emma and their cute kitty. Emma loved to follow her around.



The girls with matching jammies...

Leavenworth

We spent this last weekend in Leavenworth, and I can't put into words how fantastic it was. There was snow everywhere, but it wasn't snowing hard, so we never had to worry about chaining up the bug. There was even blue sky all day on Saturday, as we walked around Leavenworth sipping hot-chocolate. Our hotel, was a mountain retreat, and we had our own little cabin. Each time we left to eat or walk to the lodge, we had to get all bundled up, and it was so fun. Emma ran and ran through all the trails on the property, and just had a blast being outside in the cold. I think we've started a new family tradition, so anyone who wants to join us next year, Leavenworth is the place to be! Luke and Lindsey came with us, and it was so fun to spend time with them. They went skiing/ snowboarding on Saturday, and then we ate, played cards and talked late into the night. So fun! The entire time, I was wishing the whole family was there, since we were having such a good time.

My favorite little store in Leavenworth is the CheeseMonger's shop. It has a huge variety of cheeses that you can taste from all over the world, we bought some really delicious cheese to come home and snack on. So yummy. :)

Here are some photos and videos of our adventures...

Emma in the car, So ready to go. She was such a great little traveler.



Here is our little cabin, and Emma mid-flight.





A few more...







And here's a video of Emma watching Shane scrape off the snow/ice from the Bug. :)

Onion News Network

Someone at work sent this email to me, I hadn't heard of this network before, but I love it! Very interesting piece on childcare.

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/report_many_u_s_parents

Carrie :)

This never happens!

I can count the number of times that Emma has fallen asleep somewhere that is not her bed, on one hand. She ONLY sleeps in her bed, not even the car seat. She was up really early this morning, and then by 10:00, was exhausted, and fell asleep in this comfortable position on the couch while she was watching cars. Such a sleeping beauty... :)

Let it snow!

Yeah! We are taking a mini-family christmas vacation this weekend, to find some snow. We are headed to Leavenworth, WA. A cute little bavarian village, with snow and Christmas lights, and lots of shops. We are staying at a place I stayed for a work conference, with YUMMY!YUMMY! food--they have a private chef that creates a new menu for each day. :) Luke and Lindsey are coming with us, and it should be fun to play in the snow, swim in the heated pool, read books, nap and shop, shop, shop! We haven't had a break together for a while, so I'm looking forward to lots of quality downtime with Shane & Emma.

My family of Elves...

One of my mission companions had this posted on her blog, and I laughed so hard--it was adorable. So here we are, Shane Carrie & Emma, the Christmas elves...dancing away.

Click HERE, and wait for the fun... :)

The rains came down...and the floods came up!

So, this is video from behind our condos. We have a big area of grass, and then the Issaquah creek backs our property. Before today, it was literally a creek, as of this morning when we took our video, it was a full five feet higher than usual. Now a roaring river. The funny thing is that this week we just got a note from our mortgage lender, saying that we no longer need flood insurance, since we are not in a flood plain...hmmmmmm. Doesn't sound right to me. Another foot and we'd be under!