New Annual Tradition (hopefully)

Last September Kristal and I hosted a baby shower out at the cabin for our friends Liz & Heather who were expecting their sons in October.  While we were at the pool we took a photo of the four of us girlfriends that were pregnant.  Coincidentally, this year Drew and I planned a weekend out at the cabin for the same group of friends and their families for the same weekend (the weekend after Labor Day).  While we were at the cabin we decided to take another photo of the four of us with our little ones.  We're really hoping to make this an annual tradition - it will be great to see all of our kids grow over the years, and it's a great excuse for us all to get together!  Maybe next year we'll have a couple more girlfriends to add to the picture ;)

Libby due in Feb., me due in Dec., Liz due in Oct. & Heather due in Oct.

Libby & Elizabeth born 2/16/12, me & Cole born 10/21/11, Liz & Cade born 10/21/11 & Heather & Oliver born 10/13/11

Cole and I were on quarantine due to our flu and weren't able to join in all the group fun - I wish I could say it did any good - it seems like almost 1/2 of everyone there that weekend ended up getting sick :(   Regardless, it was a great weekend and we can't wait to do it again next year (minus the whole being sick part of course!)!

11 months

It's hard to imagine our Little Man will be 1 year old in less than a month.  Looking back at Cole's monthly pictures, it's amazing to see how much he has grown and changed.  You'll have to pardon the pj shots - the evening got away from us and before we knew it he was ready for bed and we hadn't taken our photos :(

Sick house

We'll spare the viewing audience any evidence of illness, but know that the wrath of whatever flu Cole brought home has spread like wildfire.  Cole started showing symptoms on Wednesday night the prior week, but seemed to be better by Friday.  On Friday, Emily and I both got what he had and had a nice 12 hour bout of the flu.  The following week, Emily's friends that had been near Cole and us started getting sick on Sunday.

By the beginning of the week, Cole was still acting a little sluggish and showing minor symptoms, so we called in Grandma Pam to help him get back on track with some time at home.  She headed up to Seattle on Wednesday and had a great time with Cole, up until she got sick on Thursday night too.  All told, there were about a dozen people that got sick and who knows what that has compounded to by now.  Cole says "sorry" to everyone affected!  Now I'll share some photos of him having fun, even though the last two weeks haven't exactly been that for him :(

Here's Cole playing peek-a-boo with Teresa

And again...

Cole's first time in a swing.  Barely enjoyed it.

Lake Tahoe

For the last ~35 years, members of the Jensen family have spent the last week in August in Lake Tahoe.  Grandma & Grandpa invested in a timeshare and have since passed it on to my Uncle Randy & Aunt Mary.  This year our family gathered together to spread Grandma's ashes.  Unfortunately a lot of the family was unable to attend but I know for those of us that were there, it is a weekend we will always remember and cherish.  

We spread Grandma's ashes in the stream behind the condo.  I am grateful we will always have a place to go when we want to visit Grandma.  

Each year we take a photo of all the grandchildren on "the rock" - this year was the first great-grandchild photo.  We are very much looking forward to continuing the annual tradition as the next generation continues to grow.

Aunt Mary & Uncle Randy were kind enough to babysit Cole on Saturday evening so Grandpa, Dad, Kate, Drew and I could head into "town" to hit up the casinos.  While we didn't walk away winners, we had a great time watching Kate and Grandpa play Craps.

10 months (and now 2 weeks!)

Yes, we're about 2 weeks behind on this post, but we certainly celebrated the big 10 month mark.  Cole is doing all sorts of new fun stuff as a 10 month old.  He can crawl for about 2 steps, then switches to the army crawl which is his preferred mode of transport.  He's pulling himself up on a few things.  He's doing a great job of feeding himself cheerios and even tries to steal the spoon when he's eating baby food.

Overall he's continuing to do great and we couldn't be more proud.  Here is a pictorial of shots that help illustrate how much fun it is to photograph a 10 month old (with captions):

Who are you and how did you get in this chair?

I'm 10 months old and ready to go....

I'm ready to be 1

Wait a minute.  Where did you come from again?

Gimmie that card

Yeah!  Its over!

Cole's Cousins

We are long overdue on some postings, but wanted to get some pictures up before the summer is over!  These are some pictures from our weekend in Longview when we celebrating Grandma Dee's life.  Cole got the chance to see all of his cousins (1st and 2nd) and it was great to see all of the kids running around having fun.  Here are some pictures of the gang and some other photos from that weekend.