Christmas with the Family

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration with my side of the family in Bellevue. It was a true Jabbusch holiday filled with excellent gourmet food, crafts, lots of laughs & remembering Christmas's past.

Photos from Christmas Day (also on our Picassa site):

A little more belly: 6 months (27 weeks)

It is hard to believe that I am just about to start my third trimester! Here I am at 27 weeks (6 months):

I am still feeling great, and everything is moving along well. Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

A little bit of belly: 20 weeks

Week 20 ultrasound (pregnancy mid-point) - we found out we're having a boy!

I've been slow to start showing, but finally (at week 22/23), I am starting to have more of a visible bump. I suppose I shouldn't complain too much, as I am still fitting into all of my regular clothes (for now!). Here I am at 5 months (22+ weeks):

End of Summer: Camping at Deception Pass

We had one last trip of the 'summer', a weekend camping trip to Deception Pass (on Whidbey Island about 2 hours north from seattle).

We enjoyed beautiful sunny weather, with crisp mornings and evenings. We went with a group of our friends, and 3 dogs, for 2 nights. It was a very relaxing trip with lots of walks on the beach, cooking, sitting around the campfire and hiking. A few more pics on our picassa page:

camping deception pass sept 2009

Big News in the Merhar Household!

In case you haven't heard the news yet, Eric & I are expecting a little one on April 3rd!
I am almost in my second trimester, and we are just thrilled! We'll know if it's a little girl or boy in November. Here's the first ultrasound pic from August:

California Trip: August 2009

We were in California August 1-4th. On Sunday we watched the Seattle Sounders play the San Jose Earthquakes in Santa Clara (major league soccer). Then Sunday night through Tuesday we toured Sonoma County, staying in Santa Rosa. Although we were in wine country, we did more of a brewery tour. We also spent a lot of time by the pool, and enjoying new scenery. We enjoyed the ocean view at Bodega Bay and San Fransisco on our way back to the airport. A great mini-getaway!

More Picassa Photos:

California August 2009

2nd Year Anniversary

July 21, 2009 was our 2nd Year Wedding Anniversary, and we had a great celebration!

What did we do to celebrate, you ask?

Christina enjoyed lunch at Anthony's on Pier 66 with family:

(pictured is 'cousin' Emily, Christina, Barbara & Lisa)

And in the evening, we went to see the Seattle Sounders play the Houston Dynamo in Tukwilla as part of the US Cup play-offs.... they won 2-1 in overtime, and it was one of the most exciting Sounders games so far!!! It was scorching hot, but a blast! (Seattle Times Article)

Here we are:

We've been greatly enjoying the sunny summer we are having here in Seattle, and feel so fortunate to have such great family & friends nearby!!

Here is a cute one of us from last weekend at a bbq/party.

And, to top off the anniversary celebrations, we are headed to Sonoma County in a week or so to enjoy a couple nights away in Santa Rosa, CA (after a short stop in Santa Clara to see the Sounders play San Jose!). I predict views like this in our near future!

4th of July in Tricities

We had a great 4th of July Weekend in Richland, WA with Eric's parents. We spent most of the long weekend lounging by the pool, enjoying fabulous dinners and wine, and spending time with family. Lodi, our dog, just loved meeting Debi & Don; and I think the feelings were mutual :)

Here's Lodi in the car:


Don & Debi at Whitstran Brewery in Prosser, WA:

And Eric & I:


Lounging by the pool in their beautiful backyard:

Smoking Ribs! yum:


More pictures of the weekend on our picassa page (see also the link to the right).

Hiking Mount Si with Lodi

We had a great hike today at Mount Si with Lodi. He kept us moving pretty quickly, up 4 miles and up 3,700 feet of elevation! We got some great views of Mt. Rainier, and it was just a beautiful day in Seattle overall. More photos on picassa.

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

Fun, Sun, Family, Friends:

Run, Lodi, Run

Fence

We fenced in the backyard this weekend. It looks great thanks to Eric's handy work.

Getting to Know Lodi

Day 2 of Dog.

We have been having a blast playing with and getting to know our new dog, Lodi.
He continues to be affectionate, curious, playful, housebroken (yay!), and just a big lover. We still have yet to hear him bark, but the foster home said when he does bark it's a big one.


Click to view photos on picasa

Meet Lodi

Meet Lodi (Low-die), our new Doberman Puppy that we are adopting today!

He is probably 18-months to 2 years old and comes to us after being rescued by the Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue

Pictures from our initial meeting with him on April 29th.

The Hedge gets a haircut

One thing we have come to learn over the years is how wonderful our friends and family are. Especially friends that own power tools :)

This week our friend Ed came over with some snazzy gas-powered hedge cutting devices and the boys went to work. It went from a hippy look to a buzz cut.

Before/During:


look how high and uneven it is....





"After": All even and quite a bit smaller! looks great...




We also got most of the weeds/grass in the front yard cleared, and the maple tree and creeping jenny are doing great:

The Front Yard Project

We are slowly taking on the 'front yard project'.
It is slowly morphing. Here is the history:

Because of our neglect of it last summer (when we were focusing on the inside of the house), weeds had taken over. So this weekend we are working on clearing out the space again, and spend some time and resources on the yard in the next couple of months.

Today we started clearing weeds and planted a new weeping willow.

Winter Vacations & Snowboarding

Winter get-aways:
We have been lucky to have 3 weekend get-away since January:
- We celebrated Eric's 31st Birthday at a cabin near Mt. Baker with 15 of our closest friends over MLK weekend
- We headed to Whistler in February with friends for an impromptu ski weekend
- Over President's Day we visited friends Andy & Michelle in South Ogden Utah for a weekend of snowboarding & fun!

Here are photos:

Mt. Baker:


Whistler: I dont have photos uploaded yet, so coming soon!

Utah