Pumpkin TIme!!!

On Friday we went to a pumpkin farm with Sarah, Katie and Frances - the same one Emily, Abe and I went to last year. It is down in Kent, so the corn maze was closed by the time we got there. But the free chocolate milk was still open, and all three of us enjoyed some farm-fresh brown moo-juice. We were going to buy two giant pumpkins, but they were over 110 pounds total. And at 33 cents/pound, that was way too much. So we just bought one, but it was still 50+ pounds!!!

It was raining, but we all had our boots and rain gear. Afterwards we had a tasty dinner of Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes at IKEA. Not only was it tasty, but we picked up some stuff so we can hang up Abe's artwork around the house.

Here is Abe enjoying his chocolate milk. He drank a whole carton last year too.
On Saturday night we carved our pumpkins - the one (pictured here) we bought on Friday, and the one Great-Gramu grew Abe in her garden. That's one large pumpkin, huh?

Here's Dad carving off the top so we can clear out its guts.
This is the pumpkin Great-gramu grew for Abe. She made sure everyone would know it was his.
Here is Abe hard at work cleaning out the giant pumpkin. He throws himself all-in when he tries to do something.

Abe wanted to make a happy face on the pumpkin. Emily was the expert carver and made a great happy face. I don't know why he has such a weird look on his face though.

After we carved them up, we placed our pumpkins outside and lit them up. Too bad that silly home security system sign in the picture.

We tried to get Abe and Banjo to pose next to the pumpkins, but Abe preferred to stand infront of them. Banjo didn't help out either I guess.

Spooky, spooky Halloween pumpkins being blocked by a boy and his 'Dood.

A rare visitor

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to get a text from my old college buddy Jesse Jacka. Jacka lived with me in Marcus House, and we have had many games of Pinocle, hearts, spades, and FUBAR spades together. And don't forget the drinking. He is definitely one of my best drinking buddies.

He just got out of the army (he had been stationed in Korea) and was on a month-long road trip visiting friends and family. He was in Portland visiting some college friends, and wanted to come up and visit us. So he drove up Tuesday night and had dinner with us and slept in Abe's toy room. He made quick friends with Abe and Banjo - Abe could actually say his name by the end. It was great to spend some time with Jacka, since he haven't seen him since our wedding 5 years ago.

The Zoo, a Wedding, the sculpture park, children's museum, and family!

Our Minnesota trip has been a lot fun. The weather has been spectacular, and it was so great to see Molly and Chris, and spend time with them during their wedding festivities. And it was great to see Heidi and Brad and Katie and Emma (and their dog, Lucy) too! I wish we didn't have to wake up in 7 hours to fly home. Here are some highlights:

Abe was an all-star on the plane. We had to fly to Chicago, have a 3 hour layover, and still have a 1+ hour flight to Minneapolis. He did was very entertained on the plane with this Thomas the Tank Engine DVD, Play-Doh, and Dora coloring book. He even took a little snooze on my shoulder. He only had a big cry and fuss during the last 20 minutes of the flight when we were descending into Chicago and he wanted to color on Emily's lap instead of being stuck in his carseat.
The weather was gorgeous the whole time we were in MN. On Friday we decided to take advantage by going to the Como Park Zoo (on a suggestion from Heidi). It was a really cool zoo. They had a really neat primate exhibit, and two polar bears. And I think it is really cool that it's free (and the suggested donation is only $2 for adults, and $1 for kids). Abe, Emily, and I had a great time.
Then it was off to the rehearsal dinner in downtown Minneapolis. It was on the 22nd floor of this apartment complex with nice views of the city. Here are Abe, Emily, Molly, and Chirs' cousin Max (the ring bearer and Abe's new idol). Max is 6 and Abe enjoyed following Max around during the weekend.
Abe and Mom taking in the nightime view. The blue lights on the building behind them kept moving and changing all night, kind of like a light show. It was pretty neat.
When got home the Ressler's were busy hooking up their new 55 inch TV and making their Mii's. Then Katie showed us her dance moves on Wii. Abe got so excited he danced along with her. It was super cute.
Ahhh, the day of the wedding. It was at 11 0'clock on Saturday morning. We had to get there an hour early because Emily was an usher. It was a very elegant and heart-felt ceremony. Here Molly is walking down the isle with her dad Bruce and mom Audrey. They did not 'give' Molly away as is the custom of most weddings. And during the reception during the speeches, we found out why when Bruce read a poem, and part of it went "We do not give, we will only share". I thought that was very sweet.
Molly and Chris saying their vows. You can see Abe's best-bud Max on the far right. Molly's brother John was her Man of Honor and Chris' brother Steve was his Best Man. Quick Chris story: this guy LOVES Abe. And as Molly says, he's not really a baby person, but he thinks Abe is one of the coolest people he knows. When Emily and Abe met Chris and Molly in Washington, D.C. last summer they all went to the National Zoo. And Christ pushed Abe around in the stroller all day. And at night he was feeing Abe bread on his brother's front lawn. And he was jealous that I got to be a house-husband and hang out with Abe all day. Needless to say, I think Chris is an alright guy.
The fam enjoying the reception outside on the balcony. Can't beat champagne, bacon-wrapped-goat-cheese-and-dates, and a sunny midwest day. After the ceremony and reception Molly's parents had a dinner for out of town guests and their house. That was also a lot of fun, and little more casual (of course I forgot the camera in my jacket pocket). It was really nice to be a part of Molly and Chris' wedding day, and (it seemed to me at least) that it all went by too fast. Soon enough we were saying good-bye to Molly and Chris and heading back to our hotel, while they were leaving for Aruba on a 7am (ouch!) flight. We love you Molly and Chris!
On Sunday we hit up the Sculpture Garden, which was actually pretty close to where the wedding was. Here Abe and Emily and in front of a sculpture of a giant spoon and cherry, in case you needed some help.
Abe had a blast at this sculpture. Emily would do as above, poking her head through the slit, looking for Abe. And Abe would laugh and run, and Emily would go chase him and everything would repeat. I got in on the action too.
I don't really know how to describe this sculpture, but it's basically a bunch of one-way mirrors and mesh. That is actually a reflection of Emily (I guess you could figure that out because she is holding the camera), and you can barely see me and Abe through the glass.
After the sculpture garden, we hit up the Children's Museum in St. Paul. Again, Abe had a blast. He he is cooking up a storm in the Korean restaurant. Abe also enjoying moving the dirty dishes to the kitchen on the conveyer belt. We also shopped in the grocery store, sang songs and danced in a recording studio, delivered mail, make paper medallions out of pulp, used a crane, played with blocks, and played in water tables. We might have to get a membership the Seattle Children's Museum next year (hint hint....).
We finally made it back to the Ressler's late Sunday afternoon. Abe was so tired from all of his activities he was out by the time I pulled out from the curb (seriously), so he had a nice nap while we drove. When we got back Emma, Abe, Emily and I play with Play-Doh. This was one of the few times I could actually get Abe to smile.
Here Abe is with his new best friends Emma and her dog Lucy. I don't know who Abe liked better on this trip; Max, Lucy, or Emma. I might have to go with Emma, because she would always play with him, like in the sandbox after dinner. And she would play him songs on the piano.
Emma quickly learned that Abe has an insatiable appetite. So to appease his desire for more music and her desire to stop playing, she turned on some demo songs for Abe and hooked him up to some earphones. But I prefer to think Abe is listening back to some phat tracks he just laid. Word.

Well, now I have to get up in 6 hours. Off to bed I go.

Minnesota here we come!!!

Right now we are at gate N16 at Sea-Tac waiting to board our 11:20am flight to Minneapolis (well, really to Chicago, and then to Minneapolis). Why are we flying to the MN??? For Molly's wedding!!! Molly is one of Emily's best friends from Whitman, so we're really excited to see her again and go to her wedding. Last time we saw her was in Washington DC in 2010.

Somehow we managed to pack all of our bags and get to the airport with plenty of time. And it was a good thing, because even though we got to use the express family lane to go through airport security (thanks Abe!), it took us like 20 minutes to actually have our bags scanned and get all the way through security. Abe's diaper bag was a little suspicious (that's my fault - I forgot we had sun block lotion and desitin in there), as was his Play-Doh. They had to double-check to make sure we could bring it on the plane.

One we got to our gate we decided to buy some bagels for lunch on the plane. Little did I know that three bagels would cost $17.60!!!!! I said "$17 for three bagels???" And the lady said "They're pizza bagels". I don't care if they're dipped in freakin' gold, three bagels shouldn't cost $17. These better be the best damn bagels I've ever had in my life.

We get into Minneapolis after 9PM, and then it's off to my Heidi and Brad's house. Heidi is my cousin, and we'll be staying with her family for a few days while we're in town. It will be really nice to see Heidi, Brad, and their two daughters Katie and Emma (Katie and Emma are actually my generation - we're 3rd cousins).

Should be a fun weekend. We've brought lots of distractions for Abe on the plan (i.e. Play-Doh, Thomas the Train DVDs, coloring book, regular book, snacks, etc). Hopefully everyone won't want to kill us by the time we hit Chicago!

5 years!

Five years ago today Emily and were married!!! So far it's been a wild and wonderful ride that brought us to Alaska for three years and a wonderful dog named Banjo and an even more wonderful and incredible son named Abe! Here are some pics of our wedding that I dug up. Of course I could only find two discs of our wedding pictures, and one of the discs only had like 5 pictures on it. Enjoy!

Let's toast! From left to right is Emily's brother Jacob, my friend Gil, Scott, me, Emily, Hannah, and Emily's friends from Whitman Molly and Tessa.
Don't our programs look nice.
The girls getting ready.
Calvin, Mom and Dad.
The dance with the parents.

Jacob and Jenilyn.
More toasting!

Let's eat cake!!!

Smootch!!!

Our good friend Mike Won from Whitman.
Never enough toasting!!
Hannah giving her speech.
Scott doing his best man duties.
Chap and Marta. They just got married last Saturday down in Costa Rica. Congratulations you two!!!
Emily and her Grandpa.
The Marcus House gang from Whitman: Libby, Jacka, Conrad, Joe Thayer and his wife Minna.
More Whitties: Dan, Justin, Melissa, Brown John and his date (????)
One the beach in Golden Gardens after the ceremony.
Check out the happy couple!!!

More from Abe's birthday

On Abe's actually birthday (August 26th) my parents and Scott took Abe and me out to eat for some birthday pizza at California Pizza Kitchen up in Northgate. Abe definitely enjoys his pizza. And while we were waiting for it he enjoyed walking around in the mall.

After Emily got off of work, we took Lil' Bud to the zoo. We saw some elephants, which I thought were pretty cool. Abe is cute because he can say 'elf' when we sees elephants.
Two 'efls' out for a play.
We also hit up the komodo dragon house. There are also meerkats and an anteaters, too.
This box must have been full of ants, because the anteater was absolutely going to town on it. He would only briefly take his head out of the box from time to time.
They have this temporary Dinosaur exhibit at the zoo that we went too. They have these animatronic dinosaurs that move, roar, and spit water at you. I think Abe was a little overwhelmed by it all. I thought it was pretty cool. I read the little information markers of all of the dinosaurs.
Since it was Abe's birthday we let him pic a present out for himself at the gift shop. He picked a little dinosaur cup. Emily modeled a nice dinosaur head for us as well.
After the zoo we went to El Sombrero in Columbia City (not Walla Walla). Here's Abe catching a Colt's pre-season game in the bar.
Emily made sure to tell the staff that it was Abe's birthday, and they did not disappoint. They brought out a cute little sombrero for the guy and gave him a yummy birthday treat.
"Gobble gobble yum yum....."
Dad and the birthday boy.
Since Emily's Grandpa wasn't going to Abe's big family party on Sunday, we went over there after dinner so he could celebrate with Abe. Emily made some tasty lemon cupcakes for Abe.

It's hard to believe that Abe is already two! He's growing up so quickly, and he's learning so many new things everyday. We just love him so much!!!

A boy turns Two!!!

Our little Abram SaanZai Hoff turned two almost two weeks ago, on August 26th. We had a big family Birthday BBQ for him on Sunday the 28th. It was a wonderful evening to have everyone hang out in our backyard. Abe had a bubble machine and pinata ( both thanks to Auntie Nanna). Abe had a fun time banging on the pinata, but needed a little help to crack it open. And the poor guy gets so sad when it's all over. Take a look!