December 2008 in pictures...sort of

December 2008 was a great month. And I am, for the most part, horrible at taking pictures. We did a ton of stuff like everyone seems to during this time of year but my picture documentation seems to be lacking. The funny part about this is that I always, without fail have my camera with me. I just don't snap the shots.

The first part of the month was marked by holiday parties... I do have printed pictures from my holiday party but I didn't take any on my camera. The chances of getting those pictures to this blog are pretty slim to none. Oh well.

The second week of the month I was in Alaska. I have a picture that was taken by a restaurant up there when we took my coworker out for his birthday. Again, probably will not get that picture onto this website.

But then, at the middle of the month, I started to take more pictures!

Tim's birthday, December 15 and the cake I got for him. Yum!

For one of his presents, I blind folded him and drove him to it. Awesome. The blindfold was the first present he opened. Notice in the background the beginnings of the snow...

Birthday boy! With his stack of presents minus the one we had driven to earlier in the day and after a dinner out at Purple, a cool wine bar in Seattle.

And on his birthday night, the snow started to fall....

Ok, so one of his birthday presents also benefited me. That's ok, right? I bought us all stockings from pottery barn and had them embroidered. And yes, there are stockings for the cats. This might seem retarded but cats live for 20 years, people! I would hope that I will replace my stockings by then... It seemed so much more complete having stockings for our whole family rather than just Tim and I. Plus, the cats got gifts, too!

Later in the week, the snow continues to pile up. We have about 4 inches here.

I think this was on one of our many snow days (where we couldn't even leave the house unless it was by foot or sled). At this point, the wind had knocked off the previous 4 inches off the bushes, caused drifts, and then it snowed another 6 inches!

We decided to see if the cats like snow since they kept batting at it through the windows. Tyson ran the hell right back in and looked at us like we completely betrayed him. Calvin on the other hand appeared to be quite the little snow kitty.

Exploring in the snow, trying not to sink in.

Oops, he sank in. And then just kinda stayed there. Then ran as fast as he could into the house... once he got out of the sink hole.

Here are the tracks from him and us. This is relevant.

Because that night, they are completely covered. We got another 6 inches! Unbelievable.

Another shot of the massive snow. At this point, the airport is a mess, the city is a mess, and we are just crossing our fingers that we will be able to get to Kansas City in the next couple of days!

But, alas, we made it with only an hour delay in our flight! Not too bad considering people were stranded at the airport for 5 days! Here is Tim on Christmas day at my parents house... with a pile of presents and his new driver from Santa. And, lucky for us, the weather in the midwest is so quirky that while we were there we had several 60 degree days so it was perfect golfing weather for my dad and Tim. Where was I? Oh, my body just has great timing... I got the flu on the 28th. This was also the day that my parents had a reception for us to celebrate our wedding with all of our friends/their friends in Kansas City. Going to that on that day was not fun. I basically just sat there trying to be social but not breathing on anyone and getting up every two minutes to go to the bathroom. I literally lost 10 pounds in 24 hours. I know this because I weighed myself just to find out.

Tim and I on Christmas morning.

My brother and I on Christmas morning.

The day after Christmas, Tim and I made the two hour drive south to see one of my best friends from college (who was also my roomie for 4 years) and who is also 6 months preggo! It was so awesome to see her and to hang out with her for the day.

And Tim with us squatting because he is so freakin tall. That night all of my dad's side of the family came into town so we drove back and hung out with them which entailed games, games, and more games. The day after was the 27th and was my dad's family's Christmas (and also my dad's 65th birthday- happy birthday dad!) It was a great day until I didn't sleep at all that night because I had come down with the flu. At first I just thought I had food poisoning or something of the sort until my body felt like it had placed itself directly under two buses and let them run over me repeatedly. Like I said, the 28th was the reception. I spent the morning sleeping since I hadn't slept at all the night before while I was busy shedding the majority of my 10 pounds and then I had to drag myself to take a 2.5 minute shower, get dressed, and sit at the reception. Then I passed out again. But on the morning of the 29th, I felt like a champ! It was a really lousy day to get the flu and I was really disappointed because I didn't get to visit as much with everyone that came to see us. And, I wasn't much in picture mood. There were a few taken but not by my camera. Anyone that has pictures, pass them along!

BUT on the 29th, one of my great friends from high school came over and spent the morning with us. She is such a great girl and I was so happy to see her and spend time with her. Here we are sitting down taking a picture... since I was still practically dying from dehydration, standing up was still not much fun. That day was one of the days Tim went golfing with my dad.

The next day, the 30th, we saw Miss Jilly Marie and her guy Kyle for the majority of the morning. Jill is one of my other best friends... I have known her from high school but we really became inseparable during college. We have been through a lot together... it is so neat to see where she is now in her life, to catch up and to feel as though no time has really passed. The best thing about seeing her this time was meeting Kyle and seeing how genuinely happy Jill is now. Of course, I don't have pictures. I guess I had reached my max by this point.

The 31st we flew back into town. We had a couple hour delay. We ran in the door, then right back out again to the Rich and Stacie new year's eve party, where we spent the bulk of our night. It was a great time although we were both kinda jet lagged and I was still feeling a bit gross from the flu. But regardless, we got to see a bunch of friends that night and we stuck it out to bring in 2009 in style! But, guess what? Even though I had my camera, I didn't take any pictures. Maybe that should be my new years resolution... take more pictures!

And, one of the first major events of 2009- putting on Winston's new Washington plates!