A White Christmas in Boise

This marked the last quiet Christmas for us. On Christmas morning, it was just my parents, Jackie, and myself. Luckily, it snowed heavily so we had a white Christmas. Unfortunately, it snowed a little too much, so the Spokane Van Inwegens were held up in Oregon tyring to head to Boise for a party on Saturday after Christmas. Don't worry, they safely arrived the next day and the presents were saved for Alex and Ella.

Saturday's party was centered around my cousin Matt and his wife Maria who were married in St. Lucia in October. A lot of our family couldn't make the wedding, so we all got together for a post Christmas wedding celebration bash. Welcome to the family Maria!

(well done Matt)

Ben and Nicole were all smiles as well as we played Apples to Apples.

Typically when my family gets together, we play games. Here is the rest of the clan comparing Apples to Apples.

You can't open presents without enjoying Grandma and some cookies first.

The Spokane Van's arrived on Sunday before we left, but we still had time for the kids to climb their mountain of presents.


Snow in the back yard. The next day we received 4 more inches. By the time of this posting, it has all melted away. Thankfully it was timed just right for a white Christmas.

I tried to zoom in a bit as the sun was hitting Shafer Butte that overlooks Boise. The pink sunset on the white snow made for quite a scene that a camera sometimes fails to capture. But I tried my best.

Congratulations to Abells

For anyone that may know Becky and Erik Abell (one of Jackie's best friends from college), they welcomed Ryleigh Paige into the world on December 22nd. She arrived a little earlier than we expected (9 weeks to be exact) weighing in at 3 pounds 11 ounces but she's doing very well. She found herself a happy little home in the NICU for a few weeks at the hospital where Becky is a pediatrician so she is in good hands. Congratulations Becky and Erik and welcome to the world Ryleigh! I tried to post a picture of her cute little toes but it won't post so we will try later.

Ice Planet Hoth

Our winter storms continue. This time, we had both wind and snow. We had sustained winds between 50 and 60 miles per hour. A neighbor up here has one of those home weather stations and measured gusts at 87 miles per hour. The storm claimed our power and our fence. Luckily the power came back on the next morning, but the fence will take a little longer to heal.

Below is a picture of the gate once it was rescued into our garage. It measures 9 ft by 5 ft, and was flopping around in that wind like tissue paper. The rescue mission was a little hairy at 10 PM, 18 degrees, and 60 mile per hour winds. After about 30 minutes of wrestling with the wind, snow, and wood, we were able to call it a night.

Here is a close-up of the piece that was ripped from the 6 x 6 post.

The 6 x 6 post after shedding it's pesky gate.

We had a nice even 4 or so inches of snow in our backyard. After the winds, everything was whipped up into drifts.

Every window in the house has a similar look to it. The snow was blowing around so much, that on all sides of the house, there's a few inches of snow tucked in between the window and the screen like our below sliding kitchen door.

You know it's windy when your car, inside the garage for the past week, has snow on it the next morning.

Winter Arrives

Winter finally blew into Snoqualmie Ridge. We have had an occassional snow flurry, but today's storm is the first real accumulation of the season. I snapped a few photos of wintery scene outside. Inside, Baby Van's developing lungs caused a case of the hiccups. It was either that or break dancing.

9 Weeks

We've been practicing our "parent pose." Thanks to our niece, Savannah, for stepping in.

Naming a Name

It's hard to pick a name. With recent events, it's even harder. Blagojevich Van Inwegen was one of our top picks, but now, not so much. Thanks Rod. Real helpful.

10 Weeks To Go!

With only 10 weeks to go, Jackie is looking good! We've started our birthing/parenting classes put on by our hospital. There are a dozen or so other couples in the class, and just about half the class has exactly the same due date as us - 2/18/2009. Could be a full maternity ward. It's fun trying to guess the sex of the baby. We're told that heart rate can be an indication. Beats in the 140's signify a boy, and those in the 150's suggest a girl. During our last visit, the beats were between 148 and 152. Great, real helpful. As of today, I'm thinking girl and Jackie is thinking boy. That changes daily. Who knows, maybe we'll just have a green kitty.

Week 30:

Cousins

Baby Van and I talked a bit last night. He or she mentioned that he or she really looks forward to playing with his or her cousins. I thought I'd post a picture of the cousins playing from Thanksgiving as Baby Van waits in anticipation for future play dates.

Emily, Bailey, and Dillon: