catch up...

Wow, so much to report.

We spent Christmas in Oakley, Idaho with Jared's side of the family. The weather cooperated nicely this year and provided for essentially uneventful travel. The two hour plane ride seemed so much easier than the three it takes to get to Colorado. There and back were Gavyn's eleventh and twelfth plane trips, if I'm not mistaken. (with so many, we've sort of lost track)

Gavyn had a great time almost-walking with Grandma and Grandpa Davis.

And found a new best friend in Aunt Temperence.

We went to Rock Creek to see a million Christmas lights.

And it was very, very cold.

Jared and I did some paintings for the Great Room in the Davis house. (to represent each of their artists) Guess which one is who's...

We went to Carino's for my birthday dinner.

And enjoyed some turtle cheesecake.

And since we were leaving early in the morning on the 29th from Boise, Grandpa Davis and Temperence joined us in a hotel for the last night and Grandpa helped us all get some sleep, because Gavyn certainly wasn't...

A couple of weeks ago, if you didn't hear, Seattle got snow.

Lots of snow.

And ice... Lots of ice.

We lost power at our apartment and had a cold day at home together on Thursday the 19th. Some friends just down the road called and invited us for some dinner and a warm place to sleep - they still had electricity. We enjoyed their company until about 10:30 that night when their's went out too. So we played a few more games by lantern and turned in.

The next morning we decided not to impose any more, since they were in the same predicament we were, and we headed out. The arterial roads were fine so we stopped by Target to get some canned soup to warm up on our camping stove and decided to go to IHop for breakfast. Apparently everyone else had the same idea and it was more crowded than I've ever seen. We really wanted a hot breakfast, though, so we toughed it out.

It was a whirlwind weekend and wouldn't want to repeat it any time soon, but we learned about the state of our emergency preparedness and will be better equipped for next time.

Gavyn is as cute as ever and has learned to say mama and dada as well as a few new sounds.

Here's a demo of his new favorite.

Last week Gavyn developed a new look. A rash started on his thigh and spread to his chest so we went to the doctor.

Unfortunately neither she nor her colleague could tell us what it is, so they referred us to a dermatologist who was just as stumped. She gave us an antihistamine and we have a follow-up appointment in a couple of weeks. It seems to be traveling out along his arms now and has almost completely disappeared from his chest. Since we can't seem to find out what it is, my only hope is that we never see it again...

Jared started his new job at Wizards of the Coast here in Renton, WA. He is technically employed by a talent agency with a year contract to work on the website for Magic, the Gathering. (it's a nerdy card game with creatures and such and the game-play reminds me of Settlers of Catan, a little)

He has a desk-mate named J in his w-shaped cubicle that he is starting to settle into and make his own. He had a Freudian slip one day when he came home and was telling me about his day; he called her his cell mate. He is really enjoying the freedom of having his supervisors trust him to do what he needs to and not have someone checking on his progress every twenty minutes because there's a deadline. And I think he is enjoying working with people again.

We are so very blessed and are excited for the adventures February will bring!