(Pre) Christmas Toys at Gigi's (More Videos)

Christmastime is a VERY big event at Papa and Gigi's house. The yard and house are both decorated and festive. Kate loves it over there!

Every time that we drive up to the house these days, Kate gets really excited when she sees the lights in the yard. She is still learning the word "Penguin" but when she sees the lights, she starts waving her hands and talking really fast.

Many of the Christmas decorations at Gigi's house have lights and sound and are powered by batteries. When Frosty sings, Kate likes to dance. Kate was so fond of Frosty the Snowman, that he now lives at our house. (And the batteries keep going, and going, and going...)

And here is another animatronic toy at Gigi and Papa's house (thankfully, still at their house):

Videos

It has been a while since we've uploaded some videos, so this post has several videos that were taken in the last month.

One of the Henry family traditions is feeding ducks and geese at Christmastime. This is something that I remember from way back--all the way back to feeding the ducks with grandparents at the park in Boise. This is the first time that Kate has ever been this close to the geese, and standing her full height, she looks them right in the eye. By the way, this was also the first time that Kim has been out to feed the geese. I think that she was a bit nervous, especially if a goose got within ten feet of her. As far as Kate, I think that she rather enjoyed the outing. This video is a bit long at almost 7:20 minutes long.

Kate is so cute! Besides being cute, she really likes to have fun and laugh. One of her favorite things lately is to play in the curtains in the kitchen. She loves playing peek-a-boo in and out of the curtains.

One of Kate's favorite things to eat is "apple." Usually for her this means applesauce. However, she does know what an apple looks like, so when Kim unpacked some apples the other day, Kate was very insistent in asking for an apple. This is what she did with it.

Baby's Best Friends

Kate loves animals. She sleeps with her froggie and often her duckie too. Her teddy bears line the shelf in her bedroom. Her turtles and ladybugs greet her on the changing table. Her giraffe is downstairs every morning waiting for her affection. Kate also loves books that have pictures of animals. She knows most of her animal sounds - she roars with the lions, moos with the cows, and quacks with the ducks on a daily baiss. Just last week, Kate informed us that she knew the word wombat! (I guess Baby Einstein's trip to the Outback was educational!)

Shayla is Kate's best playmate. And the older Kate gets, the more fun she has chasing Shayla around the house. Kate even likes to wrestle with Shayla from time to time. (Don't worry we're very close by when this happens.) Shayla often wants to find a safe hiding place from Kate, but in general she is very gentle with Kate.

Yet, my brother's dog, Maddison is a gem of a dog. This huge Saint Bernard is any child's best friend. The kids climb on her, pull her fur, ride her back, yank her tail and even nap on her. Maddie takes it all with a gentle stride. Kate and Collin played with Maddie for quite awhile the other day. Here are a few shots from their day with the dog.

Can we turn up the heat please?

I came down stairs the other morning to find Kate in her PJ's and her hat. She loves this new hat and insisted on wearing it all morning. Personally, I think it was her way of telling us it was a bit cold in the living room. She's so cute --we love her so much!

A Day in the Park

Well, Olympic National Park that is...


Since it was the first day that the rain has stopped since we arrived in Washington, we decided to hop in the car with Josh's parents and go on a little adventure for the afternoon. We thought we'd head north to a little quaint touristy town called Poulsbo. But as we reached our destination, Kate was fast asleep in the car. And since our Little One has been sick most of this trip and not sleeping well, no one wanted to wake her (especially me). So we kept driving north and ended up in Washington's northern peninsula. It was a beautiful drive, one Josh and I have taken before when we headed up to Port Townsend. But today we went farther and found ourselves in Port Angeles at the base of the Olympic Mountains. Unfortunately the main road to Hurricane Ridge was closed from the fresh snowfall. But we still managed to get close enough for some beautiful pictures.

Josh and his mom used to hike a lot together. They have visited numerous National Parks over their lifetime. Many of Josh's favorite memories involve hiking and camping. Grandma Ann bought Kate her very own National Parks Passport Book. And Kate received her first stamp from the Olympic National Park. She'll be too little to remember this trip, but this is a place we'll come back to. Breathtaking scenery...simply breathtaking.

The leaves were almost as big as Kate herself!

This tree segment was huge! It began its growth in the year 1349.

We found normal sized tress to play in too.

Round and Round we go...

Josh, Kate and I happened upon a carousel this week. I have always loved riding the carousel, and I was so excited to take Kate on her first ride. She laughed the entire time and yelled Weee over and over again! She has her daddy's adventurous spirit and loved the speed. What a fun way to spend a rainy evening. I'm not sure who had more fun...Kate or me!

Trick or Treat

Well Kate had her first taste of Trick or Treating this year. Last Sunday (the 26th of Oct.) we met up with my parents, Shaun, Debbie and the cutest nephews ever! Our church had a special event called "Trunk or Treat" where the kids go from car to car around the church parking lot. The cars are often decorated in themes. It was cute. I personally think Collin's chubby cheeks are adorable in his cow outfit. (Unfortunately, my pictures of Brenden are on my computer, and I'm using Josh's to write this post. So I'll add more photos in a few days. Sorry, Little Buddy!)

Then, on the 31st Kate got a real treat! She was able to go out with her Seattle cousins and her Uncles Joe and Bryan who gallantly dressed up with the kids. Let's see, we had a bunny rabbit with real carrots (Hannah), a cheerleader (Briella), Robin (Silas), Ironman (Kaleb), a mummy (Samuel), a Mario Brother (Alex - sorry Alex I can't remember his name!)

Oh, and Daddy even dressed up too. (The pants he's wearing are his grandfathers! And they fit (really well actually)! Mommy came too, but stayed in the background and just pushed the stroller. She let Daddy show of his little Lady Bug!