Christmas 2010

Koh - I like trucks.  If I get a truck for Christmas I'm really happy.  Guess what? Santa brought me and Abe a WHOLE BOX of trucks.  Boy did I like that!  
 
Abe - Nana Jo and Aunt Susan got me a new tree ornament to replace the broken one that made me cry.  Check out how excited I was when I saw that one.

Click here to see 25 pics and two movies of our day with Grandma Jan, Angela, Torrey and mom and dad, too. 

Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Abe was still stirring

This 80-second video reveals Abe's question "How does Santa do it...?" captured from Dad's reading chair a few minutes before he fell asleep tonight.  Click here.

Where are you Santa?

Abe - We're looking for you, Santa.  Are you in here?

Koh - I hauled the tree this year

Koh - I was the tough hard worker this year when we went to get our Christmas tree from the wilds on Mt Hood last week.  I had my tongue out most of this trip.  Check me out in this video.

Love letter from Koh to Abe

Note from Dad: Koh has always been quick to share, especially when his favorite brother is under duress.  Here's a great example, a story told by this short dark video.  Pay close attention to see Abe's treasure that broke when it hit the floor and what Koh offered to help make it better.  Nothing staged here, it's the real deal I happened to catch.  Careful ...you may cry like little sad Abraham.

Click here for a 36-second love story video.
  

Curb walking

Koh: We love walking on curbs 'cause daddy says sidewalks are for wimps, plus we don't have sidewalks where we live. 

So when you're around town and see some kids doing the balance beam on a curb, it's prolly me and Abe.   We take turns as leader and even do a dip step sometimes.

Face plant!

Koh: We all went to the mountain today to play in the snow and snap our Christmas card photo at the Mazama Lodge.   Boy was there a lot of snow and it was deep and fluffy.  We sledded and did snow angels then had hot chocolate by the fire.   One part I didn't like is that HEAD PLANT I did running down the hill - it made me cry and mommy just took pictures instead of wiping off this snow mustache.

Me and my chicken

Abe: I like the chickens and they like me.  I pick them up and we cuddle and they don't care 'cause I'm gentle.  We're pals.

House Fire!

Abe: We woke up to fire engines today when the house 2 doors away burned up.  We got to see the firemen at work and touch the hoses and smell the smoke.

Hawaiian birthday party

Koh - We love our Grandma so we teamed up with mom and dad and uncle Torrey and aunt Angela and took her to the Big Island for her 70th birthday.  Wow what a place that is!  No pants needed day or night 'cause it's so warm.   Geckos and snails and flowers and birds and cricket sounds all the time.   Living volcanos and lava!  And that SAND at the beach...it never ends and we just want to stay there till we drop.  

Click here and watch me and Abe dancing to the band poolside while drunk on Shirley Temples

Click here for too many pics and flicks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!  WE LOVE YOU!!

Annual Yurting

Abe and Koh:  For the third year in a row, we camped at Ft. Stevens State Park in a yurt.  Only this time we brought our friends Ethan, Aiden, Elle and their mommy and daddy.  What fun jumping off the sand dunes, eating sand, catching caterpillars, flying kites, flying airplanes from the Astoria column, exploring the Forts, smores and campfires.  We even taught Ethan and Aiden how to pee outside.

Lice ...not nice

Abe: Grandma noticed me itching my head Monday, so she washed it up.  But things were still moving in there.  Then came the special shampoo.  All for me AND Koh.

Then the bed strip, the fumigation, the lice search on Mom's head, then Dad's head (well, not really), the whole-family quarantine, the skipping school day.  Then the pillow quarantine, dipping the couch in a gasoline tub, spraying down the 4 car seats, 7 loads of hot water wash + dry everything soft in the house and LOTS of combing my hair with this really fine comb.  

Hey Mom, what's that little thing moving?

Rock Climbers

Koh:  We went to a bouldering gym today.  I was really good.  Mommy and Daddy thought Abe would be really good at it, but I was the one that was really good at it.  I scampered right up to the top and then slid down the slide on the other side.  And repeated and repeated and repeated until I got so tired I had to quit.  Click this and check out the music video Dad made. 

Catch me, Daddy!

Abe: I'm a daredevil and like to jump from high places.  We love the pools at Grandma's house and I snuck up to the balcony when they weren't looking and did this flying leap.  WOW that was scary!  But Dad saved me and Grandma was there to take this photo.   They didn't let me do that again. 

Air and Space Museum

Koh: We like planes and rockets, so today we went with our pals Ethan and Aiden to the Evergreen Museum where they have LOTS of old and new airplanes and jets and rockets and a BIG playground, too.   Look at me - I'm a pilot! 

We felt the bench shake when a rocket took off and watched a glider get towed to the sky and let go and land again.    We had a picnic, then mom and dad went to wine country on the way home while we slept in the car.   Click here for 8 pics of our day.

STRIKE!

Koh: We went bowling for the first time today and I got TWO STRIKES!   Check us out at this fancy bowling alley that had a games arcade too!

Grandma ... you OK?

Abe: We just went on a walk in the nature park near our home, the one Grandma takes us to all the time, then suddenly she wasn't there.    Where's Grandma, Koh?    Wait ...I see her ...but why is she laying on the ground holding her leg?  She said she heard a crack and fell and couldn't walk any more.  Good thing she had us to do the rescue. 

So me and Koh carried her back home, then took her to the doctor.   Seems she couldn't keep up 'cause she broke her ankle in two places!   

Oh my, Grandma.  Will you please get better fast?   We miss you on our walks. 

Hug hug, kiss kiss.

We love sand

Koh: We love beaches and sand and 'cause we can throw it, dig in it, make castles, bust castles, roll in it, eat it, bury ourselves, and put it in our pants to take home.    Sometimes we go into the water, too, but it's the sand we like best.

Abe = Shredder

Abraham:  I'm a snowboarder now.  We were waiting for Daddy to come off Mt. Hood when he came by us on his snowboard.  I jumped on and shredded the snow all the way to the parking lot.

Riding bare

Abe: Today we got to ride home from the beach naked - it was so nice we fell asleep. 

Be careful when you buckle me in, Dad!

The Final Push

Koh: I can poop on demand, so when Daddy brought these new "poopy cars" home, Abe and I beelined for the bathroom right from our sunny backyard.  Dad says he's not buying more diapers, so the pressure is on to get this program over.  BRING ME MORE POOPY PRESENTS, DAD!
 
We turn 3.5 years old today and we're too old for diapers.   Way to go!

Glad that's over

Koh & Abe (& Mommy & Daddy):  Here we are at our last gymnastics class (front row).  Don't we look excited?  Yeah, well, that's pretty much how the whole 20-some weeks went.  We were fairly naughty and insolent most classes, insisting on sitting on our parents' laps for much of the class, running around when we weren't supposed to and usually not doing what teachers Adam, Ashely or Angela asked us to do.  At least it was expensive says Mom and Dad.

Tadpoles!

Koh:  We love visiting our buddies Ethan and Aiden's house.  Mostly because they have lots of cool toys.  And now they have even cooler things, TADPOLES in their backyard! No one got wet in the making of this post and no animals were harmed.

Summer Campout #1

Can you guess ...where we camped over Memorial weekend this year?   ...how many nights Mom stayed out with us?   ...how many nights it rained?  ...which family pets wanted in our tent?    These pics have some clues.

Put me in, coach!

We are gonna play soccer one day on this field by our home.  And we're gonna keep coming back until someone let's us play on their team.   Put me in, coach!

Love letter from Dad #10

We hold hands and say grace at meals together and it's become ritual enough that you little guys sometimes call for it when we forget.   I commonly say the most words and we always close with the group chant "1,2,3 ...GRACE."   But last week to our surprise and delight, Koh led grace with "I love you Mom" and Abe immediately followed "I love you Mom and Dad."   OK fine ...we saw no need to further embellish that dinner blessing.

Best of all I hear you express these words almost daily to your favorite people as in "I love you Grandma" and even to each other.  I can tell you it's heartwarming for all to hear, and it seems like you even understand what you're saying.  At 3 years old?  Is it a stage that will fade?  Only time will tell I suppose.

It's sure a joy for me to see you feel love and affection at your age and to be able to express it so plainly, innocently, spontaneously, and for a reason at that moment only you have in mind. I think that's great, and I hope you don't outgrow it.

I love you little guys.   -Dad

Seker Gothic

Abe: Grant Wood painted this famous American Gothic portrait that we like > >

< < Only my mom and dad are crazy and like to do things different so here's our version.   It's a true-to-life view at our home and chicken farm, including actual child labor, real farm tools + old wheelbarrow, microbrew beer, and clothes we wear around town.

Mazatlan - we're back

Does this photo of our host family the Samores give any clue about the fun we had for a whole week at this big sandbox in the sun?

If not, click here for 50 more shots and a few movies of our first family adventure requiring passports for all.

Emergency...we need passports?! In 2 days?

Koh: Dad forgot that the world got dangerous recently and was advised that Abe and I needed US passports in order to get on the plane to Mexico next week.

So off to Seattle we drove for a day of adventure. BIG buildings, street crossing holding hands, lunch and snacks, chasing birds, riding the monorail, riding up the Space Needle, more snacks, and lots of time in the car. We even ate at McDonalds and got a toy and french fries.

And lots of time in this one place with cops everywhere. Clearing security to Passport Office in Federal Building, elevators, playing with paper clips while Dad talked thru the bulletproof glass, putting the paper clips in the wall socket while Dad wasn't looking, (he eventually looked), crawling on the floor under people's feet, loudly playing hide-n-seek, showing our faces to the agent to prove who we were.

Here are some pics and clips from our fun day. Dad - can we do that again?

Easter egg parties

Koh: We like Easter 'cause there are hidden prizes all over the place like in the park and at home under the sofa and even at Grandmas house under her bed. We even had the whole neighborhood over for hot KohKoh after the egg hunt in the park.

Uncle Torrey and Auntie Angela gave Abe and me these GINORMOUS solid bunny chocolates ...they were bigger than our heads, but we tried to eat them anyway.

Click here for our music video.

Chef Abraham

Abe: I like to help Mommy in the kitchen. I help put the silverware away from the dishwasher, I scoot my stool over to watch her cook and me and Koh both like to crack eggs into the bowl and we're good stirrers too.

Today I was a real chef, and made home-made croutons. I brushed the olive oil onto the bread all by myself and with great flair.

Potty Training lockdown

Koh: We haven't written lately 'cause we're in potty training lockdown. This means until we ditch the diapers there are no video games, no blogging, no tv, no visitors, no talking, no laughing, no fun and the only food we get is a reward when we go to potty. Mom and Dad are doing a full court press on us ...even Grandma is in on it, too. And of course no photos of this toilet game. Abe is doing better than me, he likes wearing those "big boy underwear."

We'll back shortly ...please stand by.

We hiked a big one today: Angel's Rest!

Koh: Mommy was away this weekend, so Uncle Jeff and Dad took us hiking in the Columbia Gorge where they have lots of waterfalls and ferns and Trilliums and steep hills. Ever since we were tiny we've come here and Mom and Dad always carried us in packs.

Look what they did to us when we were only 2 months old!

BUT NOT ANY MORE. Today they carried us up to this heavenly place in the sky then WE HIKED ALL THE WAY BACK to our car ...over 2 miles down this steep 1500 foot hill over rocks that made clinking sounds, next to dangerous cliffs and over a creek with fun waterfalls.

I'm very proud of me, can you tell?

We're so pumped we made a music video. Click here for our 100-seconds of joy (then press the HQ button below video for high quality)