Elias is onto his sixth hour of opening presents. Not that there are a lot of presents under the tree but he is opening at his own pace and he keeps running into nap time. Travis and I opened presents from each other during Eli's first nap. Travis got some blinding bright lights for the front and back of his bike and some new goretex cycling gloves. I got a beautiful red Gaggia espresso machine! You know you have a good coffee machine when the first language in the instruction booklet is Italiano! We also got a new coffee grinder. But not just any grinder. This beast is a burr grinder with 40 different settings from powder fine grind to course grind for the french press. So we're getting all hopped up on Caffeine here today! It is a beautiful day and we just returned from a really nice walk along the gorge. This city is amazing.

Last night we welcomed Josh and Davannah home from Turkey with a fun night filled with great family times. There was also a great cause to celebrate because Josh proposed to Davannah yesterday evening in front of the Empress! We are so excited for them as they start to plan for a wonderful life together.

Yesterday we also had some terrible news that a friend of mine from University was killed on duty in Afghanistan. Please keep Andrew Nuttall and his family in your prayers and on this holiday remember to thank the heroes from our country and other countries who are making sacrifices to make this world a better place for all of us.

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday. Joy and Peace to you all. XOXOXO

Before anyone gets excited. No, I am not pregnant... Everything around us appears to be getting smaller but in actuality, Elias and Oscar are just getting bigger! Imagine that!

Here are some pictures from Elias' 7th month.

First, since Oscar has grown into his new crate, our little Subaru Impreza has become quite tight. In fact, Elias, Oscar, Mom, Dad and the stroller no longer fit into our car at the same time! So, the time has come to think about vehicular upsizing. We have looked at two possibilities so far: the VW Golf Wagon TDI Clean Diesel and the Toyota Highlander. I like the Golf because it isn't a big departure from the familiar form factor and Travis likes the Highlander because it can sit up to 7 people and will grow with us. So, we're likely going to have to find a compromise. We have just started looking so if anyone has any ideas for the perfect car for us, we'd love to hear them!

Second, and I really have to eat my shoe on this one, our house is also starting to feel a little tight. There is no nook nor cranny left uncovered by baby paraphernalia. Storage with the dog stuff and baby stuff is starting to become scarce. I know I have spouted my mantra a million times that: I don't want a big house because I don't want to have to clean and care for a big house. And that is why I am eating my shoe. It turns out this little house is pretty hard to care for anyway! So... We love our location and would love to do a renovation to add a few rooms but it feels a lot easier to just pick up and move. We'll keep you posted.