Christmas Holiday to Valentines Day

The only problem with having blog is I feel perpetually behind in posting pictures. Since the last post, we headed to Tucson for Christmas- it was the Tobin Christmas this year. We had a wonderful time- spending a lot of time with lots of different family from both of our sides. It is great to have lots of relatives in the same general vicinity. Toby (Trav's brother) and Kirstan and fam still have a house down there which is really nice to escape to. We are all much more excited to spend Christmas in the warm sunshine rather than the cold or rain. Trav's parents drove out of the snow in Portland that week and escaped to the sunshine. Kirstan's parents also just recently bought a house down near Toby's and they were also down there. Lots of the relatives from Phoenix came down and my parents were there over the holidays. Mark and Kelly came after spending Christmas with Kel's family in Ohio. Our good friends Derric and Amanda also came after Christmas and spent a few days. They have moved from Portland to LA- we can't wait to go visit them.
We spent a little over two weeks in the area. It is never long enough to do everything that we wanted. But, we got in lots of visiting, Trav went golfing a few different times, we played outside a lot, I did some shopping, ate great food, and hung out.
My pictures are fairly random. There were many people taking pictures so I was counting on getting some pictures from everyone else. Will post more when I can round them up. Here is a small sampling for now.

Bill is pretty trusting of Toby's aim. The boys playing football in the street.
Riley- not so little anymore- with his favorite "Uncle T"

Kendall was the narrator in the Christmas Eve service. He did a WONDERFUL job. He is also getting to be very tall. I am sure he will pass me up very soon.

The boys loved playing together. Bristol's only cousins... What a great time they had

There are a few constants with Tobin Christmas': Beautifully decorated tree and house, lots of presents, and the constant presence of homemade Christmas cookies.

B loved getting towed around in the laundry basket. The penguin book was one of his favored Christmas presents.

I like that the laundry basket is labeled "clean." Ironic because usually that is not what he is...

Sunbathing with grandpa

Of all of the beautiful scenery to take pictures, and this one is a parking lot. Bill and Ellen were taking off to Portland. See you soon!

I am sure that he will be plenty spoiled between the grandparents

We mostly stayed at my parents place and then did day trips to the Tobins. We loved waking up to the golf course and mountains and drinking coffee in the sunshine.

The annual picture that no one is really that excited about

Even though it was warm some days got windy. We were down helping "daddy" and grandpa drive balls.

Taking a break with grandpa at the clubhouse.

We spent a day in Tubac going through the shops. Bristol found a hat.

One evening a coyote wandered onto the patio. There are quite a few that are in the desert, but this one was pretty bold. Neat to see up close.

Helping Grandma check her email.

Back at home... we have graduated to the big boy tub. After coating the whole entire kitchen with crazy splashing for two days in a row- Trav sat him in the tub and he hides behind the curtain. He got a little scared initially, but clearly is over it.

Still loves to wrestle.

With Uncle Marco's hat on- doing what we love to do- eat.

He loves to look at my phone, push the buttons, and slobber on it.

This is as close to Cabo as we got. The hat is way too small- didnt realize that I bought a newborn size. WAY to small for the boy with the very large head. Long story short. Had no idea that passports are required for babies. Apparently if you breathe, you have to have a passport. After shedding some tears, I cancelled the condo on the beach and our flights. It warmed up to 40 degrees today. Not much comfort, but at least we were able to go for a walk today with cousin Jessie. We are very sad about our trip. We were scheduled to stop in Portland also to see Grandpa and Grandma Tobin and all of our other friends which was also really disappointing. I am going to try and sneak out in March sometime. Not sure if Trav will be able to take off- well wait and see.

PARTING SHOTS

Hope everyone is having a nice Valentines Day. Trav took Bristol and I to breakfast at Snow City Cafe this morning. Bristol had mango oatmeal (his standard breakfast) and I had a crab omelet. We had a wonderful time. We went for a drive around- looking at some different houses. Trav had to be at the school most of the afternoon for basketball games and we went for a walk with Jessie. Am enjoying the quiet evening and decided that I finally needed to give this blog an update or I should give it up. Will try harder in the coming weeks.

At home this afternoon- reading Trav's magazine.