Thursday, December 31, 2009

Best of 2009


10. Winter camping off Archangel Road in Hatcher Pass--even though it was super cold (for Neil, not me. You have to pick the right side of the tent), it was absolutely gorgeous the next day. We skiied, sledded and snow shoed around.



9. Sarah visiting Alaska--Sarah spent her mid-winter break with us. We kept busy by skiing, snow shoeing, and other Alaskan adventures.




8. Trip to Hawaii with the Kari and Jarred--the warm sunny weather was just the way to transition from the winter snow to spring in Anchorage. We soaked up the rays, played on the beach, snorkeled, hiked, and ate shave ice. Mmmm...


7. Poker parties--Neil continued to play poker every other Thursday with his man friends. I think he won once or maybe twice.




6. Visiting TeTe, Elliot and Jude--After my conference in Buffalo I got to go meet little baby Jude. It was great seeing tessa and elliot, plus I got a crash course on babies. Who knew their poops were so loud?




5. Moving into our new house--although the home isn't much of a highlight (it has been likened to a trailer) it was nice to finally be on our own without border Matt.




4. Taking the Dood to his park--Banjo really got into playing Chuck-it at the dog park this year. And he wouldn't be the dood if he didn't run down into the lake to cool off after each throw.





3. Finishing my fellowship--I wrapped up my CSTE fellowship in August. Now, where's my fatty 15 hour/week job?




2. Start on case work--After 6 months of training Neil finally started on actual criminal cases!




1. The addition of Abram SaanZai!--After much anticipation, Abe was born on August 26, 2009. He is a sweet, happy and interactive little baby who--after a rather slow start--loves to eat! He fits into this family quite nicely.

What a great year!

Don't Mock Me!

I had my Mock Trial yesterday. It was in an actual courtroom in the Anchorage Courthouse. We had actual prosecutors as the lawyers (they played the prosecutor, defense attorney and judge). I even had a pre-trial with my prosecutor the day before the trial. Everyone from the DNA section was there to watch - even Stacey. Some other people from the lab were nice enough to come by to watch and give their evaluations and observations about how I did - even the lab director.

It was very realistic. People told me I did a good job, and I felt pretty good about it. Obviously there are a lot of places that I can improve on, but I was always calm on the stand, had a cool demeanor, spoke clearly, and didn't say a lot of 'ums'. Apparently I let the defense attorney boss me around a little, but that's a rookie mistake. All in all it was a good experience.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Reunited!

Banjo was sure happy to have all of us back at home. Here he is for Abe's 4 month shot.
Silly Banjo taking a nap on the boppy. I think he found it rather comfortable.
My dad thought it would be fun to take a picture with Sadie like the ones we take with Banjo. I don't think Sadie really appreciated it, but Abe seemed to enjoy it!


A few pictures from Abe's first christmas

We originally tried to visit santa on Monday, but the line didn't seem to move. I asked santa's little helper at the front how long she thought it would take, and she estimated 5 hours! We decided to abort mission and try again the next day. My dad dropped Neil off at 7:30, and he stood in line for an hour. He was third from the front. We later came with Abe.

The Nordstrom's santa was pretty neat! They handed out hot cider and cookies. Santa asked us to hop in the picture too.
This year we celebrated Christmas morning on Christmas eve night. It was rathe weird. Here is Abe with his grammy and grandpa.
I got a this giant stocking at a white elephant exchange this year. I knew jacob would be stoked to have it. He always had a tiny stocking that barely held anything. Jacob's favorite gift from santa--the giant bag of skittles.
Look what santa brought us this year!
Abe and Daddy at the candle light service on Christmas eve.
Grandma with santa's little helper.
Abe got an exersaucer from his grandma and grandpa. It seemed to be a real hit, although I'm not so sure about all of the noises. Batteries may need to come out!

Finally!

Over 2 months overdue, my permanent fund dividend check finally arrived! Yay oil! The first one was apparently lost in the mail, so I had to wait a month and then fill out some paperwork stating that it was lost. A new one was sent to me while we were in Seattle. Living in the AK is paying off!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Bellevue Botanical Gardens

On Monday night Emily, Abe, Scott, Hannah and myself made the trek over to the Eastside to see the Christmas lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. It's a pretty cool show - they make Christmas lights into different flowers and birds and animals. It's the third time Emily and I have seen the lights. We went back when we were dating, and then during our first Christmas as a married couple. There were a ton of people walking around and it was a little tough getting a parking spot - I made this girl who was on her cellphone mad when I found our spot. But all in all it was a fun time and put us in the holiday spirit!
There were some pretty big displays at the garden.
Emily and Abe standing next to a Christmas Cactus.
Everyone smiling for a family photo!
It looks like the Death Star is about to blow up!
Anyone want to pick some grapes and make some wine?
On Monday night Emily, Abe, Scott, Hannah and myself made the trek over to the Eastside to see the Christmas lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens.

Sports time!

On Saturday I had the annual SASC alumni game. This year it was at the Rainier Vista boys and girls club, which was a really nice new gym. I wasn't intending to play, but I ended up playing a few 20 minute games. It was fun, although I felt old playing against "alumni" who were 10 years younger than me. We really went to show off Abe (SASC newest player. He's going to be good! And they sure will be excited about the height). Abe was really interested in watching the games. He sat up on the score table and he watched as the players went up and down the court. Already a sports nut!


Here are a few more pictures of Abe and me from his swim class. Perhaps a little dark, but still cute.

Check out his cute suit from his aunties.

Play time

Here are a few pictures of little Abe playing in Seattle. His grammy is quite happy to see him taking an early interest in yarn. :)



Grammy reading Abe the new book he gave to he for an early christmas present.
Seemed to tire both of them out.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Abe the Swimmer

Emily and Abe went to the Y last week for some swims. Check out Abe getting a little private instruction from the teacher. Looks like he's already following in his Mama's footsteps. With her swimming prowess and his Daddy's length, he'll make quite the swimmer!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Holiday Party

Emily and Abe came to the Crime Lab holiday party last Wednesday, right before they left for Seattle. We had a gift exchange in the morning (I got some nice Christmas Tree decorations). Everyone made lots of yummy food for the pot luck. Emily made her steamed rice.
Everybody hanging out in the classroom eating some great food.
Check out the super-spread! We're lucky to have lots of good cooks at our Crime Lab.
Emily and The Cute One wearing his Christmas suit. He had his green one on earlier in the day, but he pooped in it.
Someone had a cake made with our lab logo. Pretty cool, huh?
Well, i'm off to the airport in 13 minutes. I'll be in Seattle later tonight. Hooray!!!



Friday, December 11, 2009

Four Generations


Abe with Mom, Grandma & Great Grandma

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Your Chariot Awaits!






Today we finally took the chariot out for a spin! It took a little while to get going, because we had to install an infant attachment for Abe to sit in, which wasn't as easy as you would think. The directions weren't clear, which caused neil to swear a lot, and for some reason some of the hardware was missing, so we had to stop at rei to get the missing pieces. But finally we made it out on the coastal trail (time is precious when the sun sets around 4pm). It was great to both be able to go skiing with Abe. Neil pulled him the way out, and then I took a turn going back. I think Abe liked it alright. He seemed to sleep most of the way.

A Cuddlers Christmas

On Saturday Abe had his first Christmas party. The cuddler group that he and I have been going to on Thursdays with other moms and babies had its annual christmas party. Santa flew in from the north pole (actually seattle). And there were yummy treats to eat (we brought Betsy's red and green finger jello).
Neil was fascinated that there were 2 sets of triplets. (Their stroller was the size of a small vehicle)
It's beginning to look a little like christmas at our house. We brought out tree inside. One of the problems with harvesting your own Christmas tree in Alaska is the large amount of snow caked onto it. Needless to say it left a large puddle of water on the ground. The finished (thawed) product looks pretty good if I do say so myself. And since it's dark for so many hours of the day we get to have the lights on a lot!

Abe got a little red reindeer outfit for his party.
In the glow of the lights.

Melting christmas tree.