Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Happy Holidays 2009!

Dear Family and Friends!

Happy Holidays (slightly belated) to you all. We hope 2009 was as kind to you and your families as it was to ours. We can't believe Josephine will be 2 years old in less than a month. Wow, how time flies. She is now speaking in full sentences, starting to count and say her ABCs, throwing an occasional tantrum, and otherwise being a very sweat little girl. Since she has been so wonderful we decided it was time for a second, so sometime around May 10th we will have an addition to our family. Once again we have decided not to find out the gender but Josephine says she wants a sister.

Jim only has 5 months of school left. Yippee! The last 5 months will be spent at 5 different pharmacy locations around Seattle (they call them rotations). He has already done 4 rotations, two of which he really enjoyed and they both said to check back after graduation, so we will keep our fingers crossed. I think the best part of his last year has been the 2 months off. He was off all of September and all of December. That is something we will definitely miss once he joins the working world.

I continue to work weekends at Seattle Children's on the hematology/oncology unit. The schedule continues to workout perfectly for us and I plan to continue even after baby number two is born, as long as it works with Jim's new schedule, whatever that might be. I managed to do one triathlon this summer thanks to my friend Lauren. I may have to take this next summer off with the baby due in May but perhaps I will surprise myself.

Otherwise, we made 3 trips east to Idaho and Montana this last year and one trip to the Bay Area. I also managed to get away for a girl's weekend to Boulder, CO. We also took a camping trip and spent 5 days with aunt Ellen, uncle Eric and cousin Vincent on the Olympic Peninsula. Jim and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and, thanks to Grandfather and Grandzsa, were able to escape for over 24 hours and take the train to Portland, OR.

There are lots of pictures for your viewing since once again it it has been several months since the last post. We hope everyone is well and thank you for all of your holiday greetings.

Happy New Year!

Love, Browyn, Jim and Josephine



Christmas Eve just prior to attempting Christmas Mass (she made it through about half).


Every little girl needs a tea set. Thank you to uncle Devin and aunt Bridget!


Playing with cousin Graham on Christmas. Look, no tears!

Every little girl from Seattle needs an REI vest and cozy hat. It is hard to keep up with that growing head.

Another favorite Christmas gift from aunt Ellen and uncle Eric.

Who doesn't love Big Bird? Thank you uncle Mark!

Another must for a northwest girl is a warm sleeping bag given to her from Grandfather and Grandzsa.
Before Christmas we made a trip downtown to see the Christmas festivities. We visited the Teddy Bear Suite at the Fairmount Olympic which raised money for Seattle Children's.

And the Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton.

The second week of December we spent 5 days with Ellen, Eric and Vincent near Port Townsend, WA.

We made a day trip to the Dungeness Spit. The sun was out but it was freezing!

Josephine and cousin Vincent (15 months) on the beach with red noses.

For Halloween this year Josephine was a butterfly. Luckily her costume matched her red raincoat since it was of course raining. Here she is with her buddies Luca and Axel.

A better view of her butterfly.

Carving pumpkins with daddy!

In September we made our annual camping trip to Wish-Poosh.

Josephine pooped out on a rock saying "Ni, Ni"

Josephine's hiking chariot with bug shield and all.

While we were camping Kristen and Cora Shook were able to meet us for an afternoon on the beach. Too cute!



Another hike with the pack. Luckily Jim can still handle the weight.


Last day of swim lessons meant going on the big water slide. Josephine kept saying more, more!


Lauren and me after our triathlon. Too bad it rained all morning!


Sharing our big news. Josephine will be a big sister!

We can't forget about Lorelei who is now 4 yrs old. Here she is in heaven called Sandpoint, Idaho.

Playing with Grandzsa, whom she calls Zsa Zsa.


On the shore of Lake Pend Oreille. A father daughter moment.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

19 Months and Growing!

We really don't have a good excuse for taking 6 months to post another update but we have done some fun things. Josephine is almost 19 months old and a classic toddler with bumps and bruises to prove it. She did not walk until she was almost 15 1/2 months but is making up for it. She is talking up a storm saying several new words a day and even saying two words together.

It has been a record breaking hot summer in Seattle requiring plenty of diaper only time as seen below (we don't have AC in Seattle).
Josephine loves to imitate mom and dad talking on the cell phone. Luckily there is a standalone mode so she can't make any prank calls (at least we don't think so).


Josephine playing it cool at happy hour. We were excited to find a local restaurant that allows kids during happy hour. Great prices and it ends just before bedtime.

In June we made a trip to Missoula. Josephine is telling uncle Mark this it is "Ni" time.

Grandpa Tom gets a good night hug!

Sitting with mom after playing at the water park.

Enjoying "Out to Lunch" with daddy and Grandma Jennie.

Trying on Uncle Mark's slippers. Just a little too big.

Much to Josephine pleasure, Grandpa Tom bought a Costco size box of goldfish crackers for our visit. I am pretty sure the box was empty by the time we left. Of course mom did not eat any!
Classic Montana photo with a baby in the back of a pick-up truck.

Grandma Jennie got us some deals at the Book Exchange. Finally, some new books!


Josephine and her friend Cash enjoying the sand at Golden Gardens. I am pretty sure none of those toys belonged to us and they both went home wearing only a diaper. Sand is messy!

Almost all of the off-spring of mom's high school friends. Carrie & Chris's son Cameron, Josephine, Lynnea & Glenn's son Sam, Rebecca & Kyle's daughters Masie & Shelby, and Kristin & Tyson's son Oliver (missing: Max & Finn). Amazingly no one was crying!


Josephine and Cash trying to stay cool in Cash's backyard.

Josephine trying to help with our new tree in the backyard. The old tree came down on Arbor Day (oops!).

In May we made a trip to Orinda, CA to visit the great grandparents and celebrate Bob-o's 90th birthday.

And eat more goldfish!
Josephine loves rocks and at Bob-o and Gretch's she was in heaven with their huge bowl of rocks. She was nice enough to share with Grandzsa.


Josephine, Luca and Cash made their first trip to the aquarium in May.

They even got to touch a sea anemone and as far as I know it survived.
We took many trips to the zoo and one of them we spent with Kristen and Cora who were visiting from Ellensburg, WA.


For some reason I cannot figure out how to delete this photo so it is in here twice.

Mom was able to get off work early on Mother's Day so we had a picnic at Karkeek Park.



In March we made another trip to Missoula with a quick overnight stay in Sandpoint with Grandzsa.
I am happy to say dad no longer has the mustache.


Grandpa Tom showing Josephine how great it is to have a digital camera, or is Josephine showing Grandpa Tom?

Who needs real toys?!

Josephine took her first ride on the merry-go-round but it was not very merry. Maybe next year.


Josephine discovered the piano for the first time and was pretty proud of herself.

Josephine tackling Grandzsa. She just might out weigh her.

We hope our next posting is not 6 months from now but we can't promise anything!