Take me home...

this is not exactly a "country road," but close enough I suppose.

You might see one of these on our Christmas cards this year, although Nick will change a lot in the next 9 months!

Do you have a favorite?

Fun with big brothers

You better believe Nathan will be bookmarking this post so he can get his fix of his wonderful little siblings who he misses so much...

Lunch...are you jealous?

Here's my lunch for today: a massive spinach salad made with grape tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, and kidney beans. Along with my choice of Tropical Mango dressing or Raspberry Merlot. Heather and I are keeping each other accountable for our food choices this week...I think that will really help me stay away from the stuff I know I shouldn't eat. After all, Heather and I are going to be on a cruise in just a couple of months and neither of us want to wear muumuus.

Tooth Fairy is coming tonight!

Late-breaking news! 5 minutes ago Patience was playing with her "wiggly" tooth, and to her astonishment, out it popped!

She has it in a tooth holder which is safely under her pillow. I bet the Tooth Fairy leaves her a looney!

Identical twins meet at 20

Sure, they might not look alot alike. But trust me, if there was EVER a set of kindred souls, it would be Nolan and Nathan.

Ever since Heather and I reconnected 5 years ago via the wonderous internet, we've been trying to have our sons meet up. Everyone in our combined families, including the Littles, have met each other, but because of one circumstance after another, Nathan and Nolan had never met.

Until yesterday! My dad took Nathan and Hailey to BART and they successfully navigated their way to Pleasanton, where Nolan and his sister, Haley, picked them up. They did some shopping and ate at Chevy's, and then played a game that Nolan had brought with him right there at the restaurant table. They stayed there until they were politely reminded by their server that his shift was almost over and could they please settle up their bill? They had a great time and I'm sure that they'll be getting together in the future now that the skids are greased.

Nathan and Haley.

Nathan and Hailey @ the Shark Tank

Nathan and his cousin, Hailey, are spending almost 1 week in California visiting friends, family, and the Shark Tank for 3 games. They flew into San Jose Tuesday afternoon and my dad picked them up and the three of them went to the hockey game. After the game Nathan and Hailey spent the night with dad and Edith and then headed east on BART for another adventure.

Nathan and Hailey at Nathan's happiest place on earth.

Nabokov and Martin Brodeur stretching before the game.

Nathan watching warm-ups.

Thornton with a slap shot.

Nathan wanted to point out how much Patience's form is like Joe's. It's uncanny!

The State of the USCG Address

Here is Nathan and his shipmates watching the Admiral's "State of the CG Address." They're on board the Sycamore.

Surviving Alaska

A few weeks ago Nathan and other shipmates got to participate in a weeklong-survival course. He had a blast! I'm getting the feeling that being in the Coast Guard in Cordova is like being in "Boy Scouts on Steroids." I borrowed these photos from the USCGC Sycamore blog.

One of the lessons was how to survive in cold water. I think the plan is to be wearing one of these orange suits. Nathan is in the middle of the pack here.

At the end of the week they got dropped off here and wished the best of luck in surviving:

And then they got "rescued." Nathan's (new Land's End) jacket still smells like smoke! But I guess the good thing is that they were able to make a fire : )

Nathan is the one wearing sunglasses.

Tower climbing

Nathan is going back to school! At the end March he's going back to Yorktown, Virginia to attend a week-long tower-climbing course. All Guardians have to be certified to climb any tower over 20 feet. Nathan might have to climb a tower as high as 150 feet in his buoy-tending career, so he's getting this special certification. It'll be a nice break from the Alaskan winter : )

Photos compliments of the USCG.

Krause Berry Farm in the winter

The farm is hibernating. Resting. Getting ready to produce the berries that we all know and love.

Nathan's oldest friends

Nathan met Alex when Nathan was in Grade 2 and Alex was in Grade 1. I think. This makes Alex Nathan's oldest friend that he still keeps in touch with.



Storm, of course, is another old friend of Nathan's.

Walking dogs

Harley and Storm had the pleasure of going for a walk today with Nathan and Naylene.

Harley loves Naylene!

Stinking cute baby

Either he's getting even cuter than before or I'm just getting more and more partial to him : )

Circus baby

We're trying to determine Nick's potential for being a trapeze artist in the circus when he's older. So far he's pretty talented. Mom, you probably don't want to look at these pictures.

Evening photos

These are from about a week ago. I wanted to see how my camera did in the evening light.

Hockey with Nathan

Nathan took the girls out today and bought them proper hockey sticks! Then he and Naylene played hockey with the Littles outside. Nathan will surely be missed when he leaves : (

Naylene and Jordyn v. Nathan and Patience



Patience looking like a pro hockey player.


Nick tries it out. After all, Nathan has HUGE plans for this little boy.

Nick decides which ball is better.

Nathan and Naylene.