Fathers Day Weekend 2010

Hello and happy Fathers Day to everyone! I've been blessed with a very nice day, which included getting to chat on the phone with my own dad and spending lots of time with Karin and the kids.

Here's a shot of Nate and Ella from today -- almost 22 months old now. Below is a shot from yesterday, of them checking out the penguins at the zoo.

Lindsay gets her nurse's pin

Congrats to Lindsay, our super-nanny, who graduated this past weekend with her nursing degree! Nate and Ella were in attendance at the pinning ceremony. We love Lindsay. She has been with us since the twins were six weeks old and she is definitely part of the family. Nate and Ella are crazy about her. Not sure how much longer we'll have her as a nanny as she heads out into the post-college world. But we plan to always have her as a close friend!

Here's the whole gang:













Lindsay with Ella














Lindsay with Nate:














And in these shots, Nate and Ella chow down on pizza at the after-party:

Visit from cousin Dan, food challenges, updates & more

We had an unexpected but great visit from my nephew Dan last night. It was great to see him and I think he liked seeing Nate and Ella. They had changed quite a bit since the last time he saw them. Here's a shot of Dan with Nate:














Ella is as goofy as ever. She flirts with older neighborhood boys, uses phrases like "Are you a top banana"? and "To the mall!" Sometimes she shouts out random things like "Chickens!" or "Aunt Jayne!" Tonight was a particularly rough night on the dinner front:















Nate seems to be fighting off his latest cold. He has made up a ton of ground on Ella in terms of identifying and saying letters. He loves wearing jeans and does a little shimmy of joy whenever a treat is on its way. He also isn't exactly Emily Post yet when it comes to table manners:















Here's is a picture from cleaner times:

Peek-a-boo with Grandpa T. & more

Hello and hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day. We headed for Spokane and had a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa T.

Here the twins play peek-a-boo with "Papa T."




























A couple more shots from the weekend:

































... and a recent sticker session with Ella and Daddy:

Scenes from the spring ...

Back after a long break with lots of pictures, including some taken by Uncle Ron during our recent Oregon trip. We're having a nice spring and I can honestly say the kids have changed a ton just since the last time we posted pictures of them!

Nate hasn't hit the scales in a while, but he must be in the high 20s at least. He loves bopping up and down to music, watching Metro buses go by, getting a hold of our phones (he's called me at work on Karin's phone twice), playing outside and the occasional taste of chocolate pudding (he really likes that), and rasslin' with Daddy.

Ella has also been in a growth spurt, keeping pace with Nate on height and catching up on weight. Her speaking continues to amaze us, as she's stringing together lots of phrases as well as saying new words. She loves cuddling Stampy her stuffed elephant, watching "Super Why" (a reading show on PBS), dancing, giving hugs and going to the park.

Here's a video and a few pictures from recent weeks:

Ella gives a hip hip hooray cheer. Nate chimes in with "Hop ... hop ... hop ..."


Aunt Karen reads to Nate:













Uncle Ron reads to Ella and Nate:















Happy Nate:















Ella smiles with cousin Jess:



















Ella hits the swings:













Mommy and Ella:















Nate on one of our walks:



















Ella with a gift given to her and Nate by Uncle Kevin -- a Seattle Sounders soccer ball!

Can I have a bite of that Cwhippard bar?

Nate and Ella say some pretty funny things. The other morning I was eating a Cliff Bar and Ella shouted, "Clifford Bar! Clifford Bar!" (pronounced "Cwhippard" in her Ella dialect). Of course, it has totally stuck.

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone is doing well! We got Nate and Ella to church this morning, and though we spent most of Mass outside the church, it was nice to be there. Yesterday we attended the first birthday party of our good friend Harper, which was a great time. Nate and Ella enjoyed hunting eggs and it is always great to see all of our friends.

The best Easter portrait of the two of them together we could get:















Nate and Daddy ended up wearing the same thing to church. I will call him "Mini-Me":
















Ella dressed up for church:



















After the hunt at Harper's, Nate on the move at home:



















Ella doubles up on baskets: