Laura

Just before we moved to Chicago the Hardy kids, Eve, Oak and me went with a friend of mine who is an artist to see her do a painting of the Potomac. She just put it up on her website. That's Oak and me in the right hand corner.

http://lauraerekson.com/artwork/2028471_Potomac.html

220 pounds on the deadlift

At least he won't get mistaken for a girl anymore

Oak has a new hair cut. After looking at his baby pictures, Eve decided Oak looked cuter bald.

I found them in the bathroom yesterday evening. Oak was completely naked while Eve trimmed off his beautiful blonde curls. So sad. Though in the moment I had to put my hand over my mouth so they wouldn't see me laughing.

Thanksgiving Week

Sting rays and turtles and the Shed Aquarium

Kellogg Thanksgiving Dinner; our tuition dollars hard at work

Eve took this one

Forget the pie, they had soft serve!

Celebrated First Advent and the beginning of the Christmas season last night.

For Kim and Dan

This post is dedicated to trying to convince our good friends Kim and Dan that they should move to Seattle. Here we go ...

Knowing Dan, first we have proof that there is good food to be had in Seattle. Boom Noodle. A favorite, as my empty bowl in the foreground testifies.

San Juan Island, Puget Sound

This picture was taken at the park by our house on January 1st. Need I say more? I think not.

Harbor on Puget Sound with Olympic Mountains in the distance. March 6th.

Bridle Trails park in Kirkland very near the Microsoft campus. Good schools, affordable homes.....end of October.

Another picture from the San Juan Islands.

Seward Park with Mercer Island in the background. 15 minutes from downtown Bellevue, 15 minutes from downtown Seattle.

Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake, Utah. Just for kicks.

Crescent Lake, Olympic National Park. 1 hour 15 minutes from downtown Seattle.

Base of Mount Rainier. 2 hours from downtown Seattle.

San Juan Island, Pugent Sound. 2.5 hours from Seattle.

Another picture from San Juan Island.

Rialto Beach, Olympic National Park.

Ho Rain Forest, Olympic National Park.

Cougar Mountain, Issaquah. 25 minutes to Microsoft.

Cascade National Park

Just outside Leavenworth, an old Bavarian town in the Cascades. And look how happy we are!? Convinced?

Thing One

Eve just informed me that she is a flying unicorn by the name of "Hermineca Honeycomb Goldfeather Rainbow Rose .... Rose is my last name but you can call me Hermineca."

Harry Potter and Dobby

Kellogg had a kids costume parade tonight. I don't know where Eve and Oak were but the two stars of the night were Harry Potter and Dobby. Luckily I was able to get some pictures of them.

Cat Tails

Weekend with Grandma

This is Eve's sign that she made for Grandma when we picked her up from the airport. She could only stay for a few days on her way back to Moscow but we made the most of it.

Eve freaked out when she saw the beaver at the zoo. After practically memorizing The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe beavers had achieved mystical status equal to unicorns, dragons and hippogriffs.

Oak and Grandma bonded ... mostly over food.

Like I said, food. In this case enormous chocolate chip cookies.

The weather couldn't have been better. Chicago in the fall is beautiful!

Lucky Grandma.

here's Scott helping Mom with her resume. And it's a pretty good one at that.

Thank you Mom for making the time to come visit us. We loved every minute we had with you.

Love you.

Oak enjoying his "honey dude"

This Week

Yesterday we had a surprise visit from Scott's younger brother Austin. he runs cross-country for Utah State and had a meet at Notre Dame which is fairly close to us. Fortunately he was able to spend the night and all this morning with us. he was an immediate favorite with the kids.

Building the Sears Tower on a rainy morning.

Eve's make-believe family.
From left to right: Betsy, Sam, Jane, Eliza, Mitsy and Eve Crittenden.

Jungyoon, a Korean friend of ours who also happens to be an artist invited Eve over to do an art project: Under the Sea. Eve was in heaven.

Yesterday we had a surprise visit from Scott's younger brother Austin. he runs cross-country for Utah State and had a meet at Notre Dame which is fairly close to us. Fortunately he was able to spend the night and all this morning with us. he was an immediate favorite with the kids.