the Elf on the Shelf

The Elf came to visit our house this year… He showed up on December 2nd. Next to him sat a written note from Santa and book for Hudson to read. Since reading the book, Hudson knows not to touch the Elf and continues to remind himself and us of it. :) It's cute to watch him look for Elf each morning. Right now he calls him Elf and doesn't take any suggestions of other names from Matt or I.

Santaland

Hudson has been excited to sit on Santa's lap since we started asking him about it. After last year, I didn't get my hopes up. We met my sister and her kids at Macy's downtown to see Santa for the third year in a row. Hudson enjoyed the reindeer, the lights on the trees and even Santa. He got a little nervous when it was his turn but after I walked up with him, he sat right down. Even telling him he wanted a "DIGGER" for Christmas. :)

The best I could get of the cousins… cute anyway. 

How cute is he?!

Love him so much!

"HoHoHo"

My little man on Santa's lap

Finding the perfect Christmas tree

After Jammer's party, we headed to Helvetia to meet up with my family for our annual Christmas tree hunt. As usual, Tannenbaum Platz didn't disappoint… all four trees were found rather quickly. :) My parents cut down their all time tallest, just about 16 feet tall. Ha!

Bapa Joe, Hudson and Ramma Susie

Hitchin' a ride on his favorite spot. :)

My cute parents and their very tall but fallen tree.

We found our tree!

My boys

Our crew minus my parents

The cutest cousins

He wasn't about to take the candy cane out of his mouth. :)

We finished our successful tree hunt with a delicious dinner at Helvetia Tavern… yum!

A cellphone pic of our lighted tree before any ornaments. 

Heres a pic of all four trees… my parents, the Riders, ours and Jones.

Jameson is two!

The day after Kaden's party, we celebrated Jammer turning two! His party was at JJ Jump… Hudson loved it and I was thankful that Matt was there to keep up with our little man. :)

The Birthday boy!

He LOVED the big slides!

Kaden is two!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Hudson and I helped Kaden celebrate his second birthday at Gymboree in Tualatin! We had never been and Hudson had a great time… I wish there was a location closer to us so we could go more often. I didn't take my camera so these are all with my phone. 

The birthday boy and Hudson!

Thanksgiving!

We hosted our first holiday this year! Both families came over and enjoyed great food with a lot of love and laughs mixed in. Unfortunately I took no pictures of the food, but thankful for a husband who likes to cook. 

Snacks before everyone arrived

Love these three!

Hudson brings so much joy to our family!

Snuggles and "beos"(videos) with Grandma Susie

Cleaning the floor in their matching pj's

Being silly the next morning :)

Zoo Lights

The evening before Thanksgiving, Hudson and I, along with my sisters and their families headed to Zoo lights.  It was member night and we were told in the past it was not busy… well it was crazy!  After parking up by Sylvan, we were shuttled down on school buses (highlight for the little boys). Another bummer was the 2 hr wait to ride the train. :( Thankfully the rest of the night was a lot of fun!

Riding the "big yeyo school bus!"

 He loved walking through the tunnel of lights!

Poor Sophia was in pain after some early dental work she had done that day. :(

My little boy and I

My little sister and her husband Grant

No train ride for us, but the boys enjoyed watching it go by.

My sisters and I