So Much to be Thankful For

Our Turkey Day this year was one of the best! We hosted 12 people and the house was complete chaos with babies, 4 dogs, family and friends (old and new). Being a potluck celebration, it took a lot of the stress off of us and I highly recommend it to any host(ess) who wants to enjoy the holiday. In fact, Aunt Penny cooked the turkey while Justin took care of the prime rib. Having cousin Jon as a wine rep was greatly appreciated especially when he shows up with a case of complimentary wine to round off the meal.

The BIG surprise of the day was Julie and Jaimeson showing up from Canada after they recently moved back from Toronto! Being someone who is hard to surprise, I was elated beyond belief and felt that our celebration was complete with our best friends joining us. We simply couldn't ask for a better day with the gorgeous weather, amazing friends/family, wonderful food and wine plus an enlightening discussion I won't forget on Cuba of all things.

Happy Halloween In Fremont

Florence Fights Back

I guess I should title it Florence BITES Back. Coincidentally the first time we had to discipline our boy was this streak of biting that came over him. Emmett would bite mommy and daddy anytime we were wrestling around and having fun. Then it progressed to when he needed to get our attention. Needless to say, it was effective and challenged our parenting skills.

One day at daycare, Emmett was crawling all over Florence and not respecting her space. She sent a message and the picture tells the rest of the story. Interestingly enough, Emmett's biting has dramatically decreased and we have The Florence Revenge to thank.

Emmett's Second National Park

Here we are! Emmett Quin makes an appearance at the least visited National Park, Capitol Reef. This park is truly under rated. It boasts beautiful panoramas of red rocks and spectacular colors. One of our most memorable times in this park was an off road drive through Cathedral Valley to visit the Temples of the Sun and Moon.

The Temple of the Moon is on the right side of this frame with the Temple of the Sun in the background. The drive to these magnificent rock formations took us about 45 minutes on an unpaved off-road that winded its way through some rugged and beautiful terrain.

Emmett found the drive a little less interesting and decided that he would take a break from the DVD and views in favor of some much needed sleep.

Emmett's First National Park

Emmett visited his first national park in early October when his parents took him to Arches National Park in Southern Utah. Our family flew into Salt Lake City on Wednesday October 3rd to begin our trip to Telluride, CO for the wedding of Justin's cousin, CC Rocque. The drive down began in a rented 2007 Tahoe that had a built in DVD player. This turned out to be an adictive pass-time for Emmett as he enjoyed watching (over and over) The Wiggles, Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train. We spent two nights in Moab at the Rodeway Inn, which was our way of roughing it. We took the above photo on our way into Arches on Thursday the 4th. Our drive through the park was amazing and we all enjoyed a terrific 6 mile hike up to Delicate Arch.

Wiggles

Sad to say, I found myself dancing and laughing to the Wiggles today...my life has officially been taken over by this little creature. I heard other moms talking about the Wiggles and I thought I would never be into such a thing, but oh yea, that's right, it isn't about

Bathtime Beware

Bath is part of our nightly ritual and one sure way to calm Emmett down before heading off into the land of zzz's. To say it relaxes him is an understatement. Lately, we're stuck with the challenge of fishing out a floater after we have thoroughly cleaned him up.

This is not a once or twice kind of deal, but more like every other bath. Imagine Justin and/or I standing by the tub crossing our fingers for a clean get away. Sometimes it's a success and others, we have to unload every bath toy for quaratine, scrub the tub, put Emmett back in for a second round.

How do you train a one year old to stop pooping in the tub? No How-to books cover this one!

Our blog is back

This blog has not been forgotten! We've been so busy chasing Emmett and the sun these past few months.

Highlights of summer 07 have been our visit with Jill, Beth and Henry that included a trip down to Cannon Beach, OR. Our 10-day midwest bonanza that had us covering MO, IL and IN during the hottest time of the year. A wonderful day trip in July to Port Townsend with Gramma Alex and Uncle John makes the list along with a last minute trip over to Montana to celebrate Emmett's 1st birthday with Papa, Nana Peggy and cousin Dominic. Emmett's 1st birthday solstice celebration was truly amazing as we had all of our wonderful friends and family over to sing his first ever, "Happy Birthday to You!" We felt so loved being surrounded by so many incredible people.

The one sna-fu of Emmett's party was Justin throwing his back out and unable to do a thing. Daddy was laid up and fortunately, we had the Oswick train in tow to make sure the party was a success. I don't know how we would've pulled it off without Amy, Pierce and Sarah.

We squeezed in a few picnics, experienced our first outdoor ZooTunes concert and decided to join the zoo after multiple visits. It's not the animals that grab EQA's attention, but all the kids running, screaming and having a ball. His favorite words as of late are "car" and "truck"; we never knew a 14 month-old could have so much to say. Sometimes he sounds Russian, other times Japanese and his specialty is some tribal language we labeled Farsee (thanks to Holly Overman's understanding of linguistics with baby boys).

There are lots of photos to share and I promise to upload them soon. Our stories and milestones will continue as our boy grows bigger and brighter every day.

Emmett Learns to Dance

On the weekend before Emmett's birthday, we celebrated his first birthday in conjunction with the Fremont Summer Solstive Parade. Since our little boy was born on the actual summer solstice (6/21), we figured that a parade in honor of the longest day could also honor the biggest boy!

Our Friends, the Oswicks, came into town and brought with them fun gifts to help Emmett get started exploring with cool stuff. So Emmett now rides his Battery Powered 4x4 with enthusiasm and smiles.

One of the highlights leading up to his party was an impromptu performance that Emmett gave to show off his dancing skills. Daddy was quick to run upstairs and grab the camera and catch the tail end of our little star:

The Game is Afoot

Emmett took one small crawl for himself and began one giant quest for his parents last night when he figured out how to keep his knees under his big belly. Our little, baby boy inched along ever so slowly towards our chest of drawers after daycare last night around 5:30pm. We celebrated with Emmett at the Sunset Hills park with a picnic for three and watched Emmett for the first time shun his dinner in favor of exploring his new talent. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed some delicious sushi and great laughs.

The activity does take its toll, as Emmett learned: he slept until 7am this mornning. We are so thrilled for Emmett - this is going to be our best summer ever!

Family Vacation to Iron Springs

Jodi, Justin, Emmett, Ruby and Sherman traveled out to the Iron Springs Resort on the Coast of Washington just North of Ocean Shores. The weekened brought sunshine, tides, wind and fun for a family craving adventure.

The resort welcomed our dogs and provided a swimming pool for Emmett's enjoyment.

Emmett enjoyed the accomodations at Iron Springs Resort with his pal, Ruby.

Emmett's personality shines now and he thrills himself (and us) with life's simple pleasures. We celebrated Justin's 34th birthday with great meals on Friday and Saturday; Emmett's gift of sleeping from 7-7 both nights added to the good times.

Emmett's New Toy

Last night Jodi and Justin watched the Indiana/Gonzaga game in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The game went to IU decisively and not only did the Hoosiers walk away with a ticket to Saturday's game, but Emmett went home with a new toy!

Fellow PEPS parent friends, Mark and Katie, gracisouly lent out Kellen's toy now that he no longer uses it as he crawls and explores a new world on all fours. Emmett, however, carries a little extra weight and will probabaly take a little while longer to be strong enough to move on his own. The evening also marked the 10th anniversary when Jodi and Justin first met. My, my how time flies when you're having fun!

Tribute to Morgan

The body that was found down the street was in fact a black, male, no collar cat, but it wasn't Morgan! After going to the animal shelter and identifying the body, Jodi was relieved to learn it was not Morgan, but another cat with a beautiful coat and long, black whiskers. This leaves us with hope, but at the same time, lots of questions and no closure. Since it has been 3 weeks when he was last seen, we still want to pay tribute to him and his life. It helps us to move on.

Justin had him for 11 years, Jodi came into his life when he was a year old and we've been enjoying life with him ever since. Morgan was truly unique in his ability to convert dog lovers into cat lovers, his desire to follow the whole family on walks and his unforgettable laid back, social demeanor unlike any cat we know.

Thankfully, Emmett got to know Morgan and vice versa over the last 9 months. Emmett was in a Morgan trance anytime he entered the room, trying to figure out who this sweet, black creature could be and why the dogs always picked on him. This is the only photo or rememberance we have of Morgan, Emmett and Papa Ken as they hang out watching football one lazy Sunday afternoon.

We're grateful Morgan stuck with us and brought much joy throughout the last 11 years: living in 6 different houses around town, dealing with our loud 20-something parties, adjusting to parenthood and the frequent sounds of a newborn crying and overall, helping us completely settle into our city we call home. We hope that where ever you are, you're at peace. We miss you and love you so much.

Emmett Gets Down

Emmett struts his stuff around the house.

Emmett & His Posse

Emmett grows bigger, sits up, babbles, "Da Da" and learns that new teeth hurt when they come in. January introduced Emmett to daycare 3 days a week and daycare introduced Emmett to kid-cooties. He has many new friends, loves to socialize (hmmm...where does he get that from?), and jumps around in his new favorite toy - the 'Jumperoo.' We hope that you enjoy this little montage of Emmett and his people in 2006.