Good bye 2011 hello 2012!

2011 Highlights

Seth's birth!

Our Montana visit!  

Camping in Wrangell for a week.

 Discovering all the new stuff in the world

Meeting cousins.  And now he has a brand new cousin, Sage, to meet!

Spending a few days in Chicago before going to Turkey.

 Turkey!

Loving the snow!

Welcome 2012!  Looking forward to new first!

Christmas!

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us... (John 1:14)

Seth's first Christmas!

Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandma showing Seth how to play with his new toy!

This is my wrapping job on my mom's gift.  I gave her three bath bombs and I wrapped them like a snowman.

HO HO HO

Seth on Christmas morning.  Seth first Christmas!

Seth surrounded by all his Christmas presents

And off to my mom and dad's to watch the Packer game and eat ribs!  Merry Christmas!

Mendenhall Glacier

Hubby, Seth and I took a quick visit to Mendenhall Glacier.

I was going to say that this was Seth's first Glacier sighting.  But then I remembered that he has been to LeConte Glacier last summer.

inside a state room

So I thought the room that we stayed in on the ferry was pretty cool minus Jesse being in pain.  This is a four berth state room.

Playing around!

Seth loves his little space.

the unexpected

Three weeks ago hubby threw his back out.  He spent three (THREE) weeks on the couch.   He can't sit up,drive or walk for no longer then 15 or 20 min. before laying down again.  He has been in a lot of pain.  Plus laying on the couch for three weeks is driving him nuts.  On Dec. 14 we made fast plans and decided to head up to Juneau to have a specialist look at his back.  We took the 36 hour ferry ,Taku, up to Juneau. 


The ferry made three stops: Kake, Sitka, Gustdavis and then Juneau.  At 8pm we docked in Sitka for a four hour lay over.  At 8:30 pm Jesse turned very sick.  He had a major headache.  His head was pounding so bad he couldn't talk or really responded to me, asking him what we should do.  He started throwing up (due to his head hurting so bad) and was really sick to his stomach.  Finally at 10:30pm I made the decision to take him to the hospital in Sitka.  Once I got our car off the ferry we headed straight to the hospital on icy roads.  At the hospital we told the doctor that we really wanted to make it back to the ferry and continue our trip to Juneau.   One shot in the butt and an IV later he was good to go.  Turns out he had a really bad migraine headache.  YUCK.  At 11:48 pm we were pulling back on the ferry.  At 12 am the ferry was under way, Seth was back in bed and I was cleaning up the room.  Praise to Lord.    Finally, we made it to Juneau and to the appointment; turns out he has a herniated disc.  Monday he heads in for an epidural to hopefully relax his muscles which should slip his disc back into place.  Thursday (22) we head home on the ferry... this ferry ride will only take 8 hours. YAY. We will get home three days before Christmas.  I have been trying to find things that I'm thankful for about this trip and having hubby injured for so long.

1. For the last three weeks with hubby home he has been able to see Seth grow and discover new things.
2. I'm thankful we won't be in Juneau for Seth's first Christmas.
3. I'm thankful for the staff in Sitka hospital for getting us able to get back on the ferry.  (or we would have been spending Christmas in Juneau.)
4. I'm thankful for the 8 hour ferry ride home and it not being the 36 hour ferry ride.
5. I'm thankful for Costco!  So far I have been there twice and I'm seeing Costco in the future too!
6. I'm thankful that a friend is flying up from home to hang out with us and shop with me! She gets here tomorrow!
7. Seeing how God provides and takes care of us.
8. I'm thankful for this great doctor that we saw here in Juneau; if only the hospital at home could be so lucky!

As frustrating as it is to be up here ... especially being so close to Christmas I have been really focusing on the positives.  I do, however, miss sitting by my Christmas tree in the evenings.  I may have to keep it up longer this year! Prayers for hubby tomorrow as we head to the doctors for his epidural.  (pictures to come later)

About Seth:
Seth turned 11 months today!  Yay.
Here are some of the new things that he's been doing.

1. Turning in circles when standing.  He sure likes doing this:)
2. Unrolling the toilet paper in the bathroom.
3. Learning to clap his hands with momma!

Hallelujah

Finally I got a new camera! Our last one broken when we were in TURKEY; talk about a bad time to break your camera! Yay!  This one is a Canon S95 and I'm anxious to use it!
I'm patiently wanting for the battery to charge.  So excited!

I almost forgot!!!

I can't believe I almost forgot to show off Seth's first Christmas ornament.   It was a tradition in my family for my mom to buy me a new Christmas ornament every year; she stopped buying ornaments when I gotten married...  Now Jesse buys me a new ornament every year!  I always knew I wanted to do this with my children.   Here's a picture of Seth with his sock monkey ornament.

Seth insisted on holding his ornament for the picture!

Fun times

25 Days until Christmas!

What I love on pinterest this week!!

Source: pictureperfectbodywerkit.tumblr.com via Calli on Pinterest

Good to know!

Christmas tree getting!!

I love getting our Christmas tree its one of my favorite things to do every year. This year though I had to be realistic and pick a tree more quickly; due to Seth not having much patience. 

Cuddling with mama and watching daddy cut our tree down!

Seth had his first sled accident. We were planning to pull Seth in his baby sled but the snow was to deep and we ended up giving him a nice face wash in the snow.  Poor little guy was TERRIFIED after the sled tipped over in the deep snow.  Jesse ended up having to carry him.  We didn't go that far!

Here is the tree that Jesse picked.  It's defiantly going to be a Charlie Brown special.  I'll put more pictures up later when It's decorated!

Turns out trying to drag a heavy tree in deep snow with snowshoes on is a lot of hard work.  Jesse fell down and was stuck for a little bit.  Eli, our dog, kept on biting and pulling on the tree branches!

Pure genius!

Family shot!

Sitting in his sled in the shallow snow!

Seth's first's

1. First Christmas tree getting with Seth!
2. First sledding face wash! Poor guy!
3. First watching daddy cut a tree down!

Baby's first Thanksgiving!

I have a lot to be thankful for.

Seth's bib that he wore for his first Thanksgiving!

1.  A healthy family
2. Our wonderful baby, Seth!
3. Living in one of the most beautiful spots on earth
4. My hubby having a steady income
5. Our house
6. My faith in Jesus Christ
7. Going to be an Auntie again!  In January.
8. Good friends
9. Freezer full of wild game and halibut, king Salmon etc...
10. The freedom to read my Bible without hiding it; like so many brothers and sisters do in prosecuted countries.
11. The freedom and time to be able to travel like we do
12. A wonderful relationship with my Hubby

 Not necessarily in that order!

Amish bread dough rising.

  I had a busy morning bake Amish white bread, cheese dinner rolls and sweet potato bake for Thanksgiving.  This is our fourth Thanksgiving in Petersburg! Wow does the time fly by!  We have an annual Thanksgiving feed at our friends house.

Seth loved this rocking horse at our friends house! And their HUGE toy/play room!

I thought this was a cool picture; this is the snow that is on our roof.  When I look out this window all I see is a foot of snow! 

Decorating for the holidays!

We (Seth and I) have been busy decorating the house the last few days.  Yes, days... a job that use to take me one day!  But with nap times, meals, snacks, and fussiness getting in the way; things slow down.  Plus decorating is kind of hazardous with a baby.  You have Christmas light bulbs, glass bulbs,fake snow laying on the floor waiting for him to shove in the mouth! Not to mention the ladder that he wants to climb on or teeth it. Seth constantly has his little hands full!

Seth looking at the tote of new things!

I'm hoping by Saturday the house will be decorated!  We will be getting the tree on Friday! YAY!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Now off I go to find the dog; he went visiting again!

The Vistor

It wouldn't seem right if I didn't do a post about Eli, our dog.  Simply because he's a big part of mine and Seth's day.  Plus he is Seth's first dog ;)
The breeding for him is undetermined.  Some say lab, retriever, and boarder collie... and others, lab, retriever and pit bull.  We call him a mutt.  He sure is friendly for whatever he is.

Eli

I wish I could go on with how well trained he is and what not.  His biggest problem is he loves to go visiting.  He loves other dogs, children and any human willing to pet him.  We have to keep him tied if he's outside by himself.  At night he sleeps indoor and spends most of his time indoors during the day with Seth and I.  But if he gets an itch to take off to go visiting; well you just really have to watch him!  The neighbors all say the same thing about him "what a friendly dog" or "our kids love playing with him".

He has had complaints about being over at a certain neighbor's house at 2 in the morning; getting her dogs barking and waking up their baby.  I have called the police department many times looking for him; one time actually having to go down and "bail" him out of "in pound-ment".... one fine (for dog at large) and $60 later...     His running, or visiting, is his biggest down fall.  The positive is that he loves children and babies.  He's super gentle with Seth.  And Seth loves him.  He always wants to climb all over Eli and pull on his cheeks and lips and poke at his eyes.  God bless the hearts of gentle animals.

Snowman that Hubby and I built last year.  Before we went down and had Seth.

Hubby is not the biggest fan of Eli.  Although he can see the merit of how gentle and sweet he is with children and specially Seth.  Eli is only 1 1\2 years old; we are hoping he mellows out with age!

We are getting excited with Thanksgiving in a few days!  Seth's first Thanksgiving!  On Friday we are hoping to get our Christmas tree; and decorate the house on Saturday. 

first snow of the year!

Well, I can't say this is Seth's first encounter with snow, considering that he was born in January last year.  But this is his first time playing in snow, and going on his first sled ride!

Bundled up ready for the snow!

This is his first sled that a friend gave him at our baby shower!  Finally using it!

Seth and his trusty dog, Eli.

Wheee!!  He loved being pulled on his first sled ride

first time sitting in the snow!

a few first steps

Seth has been working hard on his walking.  Here is a video of some of his first steps.  Last night he walked across the living room, before falling down.

Inside a mosque. (ok more Turkey pictures!)

This is the mosque that we went to in Ankara Turkey

Empty

Beautiful ceilings

Huge empty mosque

evening time

(Philippians 2:10-11)