It's A Girl!

Well you can't say that the Colville branch of the family tree hasn't been prolific this year.  Since my sister's twins were born in August, we have all been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Jordan's sister Maile's baby.  A few weeks ago, we attended a baby shower for her at the Lentz' home.
 
 Jordan's other sister, Abby, made the adorable cake,

and we all enjoyed watching Maile unwrap her super cute gifts.

Yesterday, Maile gave birth to our first niece.  Bailey McKenna Gray was 7 lbs. even, and she is 19 1/2" tall.  She's a cute little peanut who looks a lot like her older brother Gunnar.

Welcome to the family Bailey!  Don't tell your mommy, but we're happy that you're a little girl.

Up, Up and Away...

 

Jordan and I have only been away one night since the kids were born.  While that may not seem like much for the various home bodies we know, it is a big deal for people like us who enjoy traveling.  So we were extremely delighted when our folks agreed to watch the kids for a couple of nights.  We initially planned to go to Seattle, but decided that was a bit too far for a quick weekend getaway.  We finally settled on Leavenworth, WA, and we sure are glad that we did!  Leavenworth is a quaint Bavarian village nestled at the foot of the Cascade Mountains near the Columbia River.  Despite the fact that we found our party-pooper selves in the midst of Oktoberfest, we had a fabulous time there.  We had great ethnic food (crepes, sushi, Thai and Italian - but certainly not all at once!), did some shopping, purchased a couple of antiques and even had a great visit with Jordan's Aunt Michelle, who lives nearby. 

We stayed at a wonderful Bed & Breakfast in Cashmere, about 10 miles east of Leavenworth.  The house was built just two years ago with the express purpose of being used as a B&B.  There are four guest rooms, each with a fireplace, down comforters, and an en suite bath.  Our room also had a jacuzzi tub.  The breakfasts were delicious, and the view from our private terrace was incredible:

The inn keepers were very friendly and helpful.  They even took a photo for us before our anniversary dinner.  If you are ever in the area, we highly recommend the Cascade Valley Inn.

Two

It's hard to believe that we recently celebrated Thane's second birthday.  He is into farm animals these days (imagine that!), so we had a farm-themed breakfast party.  Thane loved all of his presents, but the cow noise machine that he got from Annabel seemed to entertain him the most:

 

I even made a barn cake with animal cupcakes.  Of course, many found it hard to believe that I made the cake.  (If you've seen any of my previous attempts at cake decorating, you would understand their suspicions!)

Thane's other passions these days are cars and trucks.  Thus he was thrilled to get numerous "trus". 

We've very much enjoyed the last two years.  Thane's a delightful 2 year old that we all enjoy - especially when he's sleeping!  Happy Birthday little man!