Christmas in Caldwell

Merry Christmas! This year we drove down to Caldwell, ID to spend the holiday with my family.  Everyone was there so it was a full house and a great weekend!

 This picture was taken the Sunday before Christmas.  Cole is always so happy to sit still and let me take his picture...

On Christmas Eve all of the grand kids performed a live nativity while my dad read from Luke 2.  

 Riley was an excellent angel.  The smallest three grand kids (including Cole) were the sheep and they never held still long enough to take a picture.

 Christmas jammies! Ready for Santa to come!  Riley was very excited to leave milk and cookies for him and to her delight Santa left a thank you note for her to find in the morning.

 New socks!

 Cole's cheese-y face

 It snowed on Christmas Eve and the kids and lots of fun playing in the backyard.

 Since everyone was able to come we had some family pictures taken.  It was a chilly 15degrees but we made it!
We did have one mishap during the shoot... Before the outside pictures were taken, we were taking some inside and while my parents were posing with the grand kids my 9 year old niece, Ava, started turning pale and complaining of a stomach ache.  She quickly sat down and then started to dry heave and my sister as quickly as she could rushed her to the bathroom.  She wasn't fast enough.  Ava threw up all over the kitchen floor.  Matt and the other dads were quick to clean up and Ava was given water and crackers and in 10 minutes she felt better.  She felt so bad that she "ruined" family pictures but we were just all worried about her!  After she got her color back she bucked up and finished the rest of the pictures.  Poor thing.  She was a trooper!

All in all it was a great Christmas!

Tyler

This one with Tyler is famous around our house.

I think this is the picture Kevin is referring to - Wren doing her best bent-head. It was just a trial run in her car seat and I have since added the donuty head rest thing back in the car seat.

 Merry Christmas week to everyone (sorry if you already saw this pic on facebook)

Riley's Turn

The best I could find on short notice.  Riley's got a bit of a head "lean" going on.

Family Picture

Lisa wanted me to post this. Taken the Sunday before her surgery.

Bent-head Babies

I saw a picture of Wren in her baby carrier with her head listing to one side. I know it's a common phenomenon. Anyone else want to post a pic?

Wren Emmeline Hill Zirker

So, we had a baby this week. Everything went well and Kelly was really happy with how things worked out at the hospital and such. Overall, everything went quick and smooth and Kelly had the baby about 3 hrs after we arrived at the hospital (she says the worst part was the 40 min car ride to the hospital). We came home yesterday and are just resting now. Kelly's mom is here and will stay for a few days before she heads back home for Christmas. Here's the details and a couple pics. She was 6 lbs 11.6 oz and 20 3/4" tall. All that weight didn't quite fill out her newborn outfit when she left the hospital.

 Marlo came along and coached Kelly through the delivery at the hospital. She was a great help and enjoyed seeing birth from a different angle.

Kelly's midwife surveying the progress

  Marlo brought the family over this morning and they all took turns holding the baby. This is Eve (4) taking her turn.

 Not sure if it's ok to mix animals on the swaddlers, but we're being a bit reckless already.

They say correlation does not equal causation, but Kelly did drop two of these bottles into a chocolate milk shake the morning of the birth. I'll let you decide what that means.

Koper's Baptism

Friday morning we drove to Covington to attend Koper's baptism.  The roads were great, not too much traffic, just a little rain on top of the pass.  Being retired has its advantages - you can travel when everyone else is at work.  Saturday morning we also attended two volleyball games.  One for Weston and one for Koper.  They both did really well.

 Seth and Lacey's family at the baptism.

 Seth, Lacey, and Koper.

 The man of the hour.

 Ready to go!

 Koy wasn't too excited. 

 Grandma and "the boys."

 Going to church Sunday morning.  It rained all the time we were there.

 Coming home just crossing Snoqualmie Pass.  It snowed over 12" while we were in Seattle.

The rest of the trip it just rained, rained, and rained some more.  We're glad we had the chance to go and we're also glad to be home.

Mom's Birthday - Zags vs. WSU

Mom said there wasn't anything she really needed/wanted for her birthday until she saw that the Gonzaga Bulldogs were playing the Washington State Cougars in Pullman.  We both enjoy watching the Zags play and have followed them on TV for the last few years.  We tried buying tickets on-line but weren't sure what we were getting so we drove to Pullman and bought tickets at the ticket outlet. 

 We had a wonderful dinner at Wendys, drove to Pullman, parked at the church, and arrived at the coliseum over an hour and a half early.  The ticket takers had compassion on the early birds and let us stand just inside the doors until 6:30 (game started at 8:00).

 We bought candy, wandered the concourse, found our seats (very good ones), visited with a fellow I work with in scouts, and thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance.

 WSU was 4-0 and Ganzaga was 3-1 and ranked 12th or 13th in the nation.

 Two of our favorite players are Kyle Wiltjer (33), and Domantas Sabonis (11).  They didn't disappoint.

 The Zags "Big Man" Przemek Karnowski (24) was suffering a lower back strain and did not suit up or play.  Big disappointment!

 There has to be a few crazies in the crowd.

 The game was close at times but Gonzaga won by nine.

Gonzaga head coach, Mark Few, in his standard pose.  We had a great time!!!

Happy 36th!

Lisa turned 36 today. As mentioned, I've delegated a lot of the household duties. Adria is now in charge of entertainment. Raya is her assistant. They put together the Princess/Rapunzel-themed party for Lisa's birthday.

 We bought the hat, streamers, and balloons at the dollar store. Lisa is the princess. Raya is the haggy witch. Kanyon made the castle out of blocks.

Another princess-themed game: Pin the lips on the frog. 

3 candles x 12 cookies = 36

Airplanes and space things

We took a quick trip to a museum that we had never been to today. They had all kinds of famous airplanes and space ships on display (Sorry Brant, no Spruce Goose). Here's a few of the highlights.

The SR-71 Blackbird. This one flew from LA to DC in just over 1 hr on its last flight.

Space Shuttle Discovery

The heat-dissipating tiles on the bottom/sides of the shuttle

I thought these directions painted on the side were pretty great

The famous Enola Gay. Most people stood around looking at it kind of somberly and a few discussed the history and memories associated with it.

The Enola Gay again.

Kelly and I thought the styling on several of the oldest planes reminded us of the front ends of tractors.