Winter fun starts

The theme of this blog entry is... winter.

We had our first ski day of the year (and second... and third...)

















Marina went ice skating too.
















Daisy tried.
















Then the snow came... we got about 2 feet / 60cm in just over 24 hours. So we all went to the dog park.

Daisy running in the snow...















... and Marina trying to do the same thing.















In the end we all had a ton of fun.














We also had some indoor activities - hanging out with Daisy was a big one.






























And of course, nothing beats causing trouble!

Birthday Party!

Evan turns 1 on Monday, so yesterday we threw him a birthday party. Not sure if it qualifies as a surprise party, but he didn't seem to be expecting it. And my apologies for making this an Evan-centric blog entry, but they're mostly birthday party pics.

Marina hangs out with Daisy.














Evan's day began with quality time with Marina.





















Daisy got in on the action as well.















First we ate some vegetables - apparently Evan isn't a fan of cucumber seeds...















...and then on to cake!















Of course there was some initial confusion/skepticism.















But eventually Evan independently discovered the "I've had too much cake" face.















Smiles all around.

October in Review

I gotta start posting more often.

What have we been up to? First, an experiment with a low-frills bath. Wait, sorry. This was actually taken when Evan was first learning to pull himself up. He can now go up a flight of stairs without help (but with close supervision, of course).



















Evan and Marina spent some quality time together looking at rocks.















Evan refined his mess-making skills.















He also developed a Starbucks habit.



















On Saturday we had a lot of fun for Halloween. Marina dressed as a Ninja and Evan was a monkey.























































Sunday, we kept the excitement coming - we got a dog. Her name is Daisy. She's a little nervous at the moment, but hopefully she settles in to our family over the next week or two. The kids (both of them!) adore her.















Finally, some of the time we've just been kicking back and chewing on rubber fish.
















See you next time...

Living the Good Life

Hi everyone

We're still here and taking pictures. We've had a busy summer - something that's much easier if you don't let little things like "a job" get in the way. I'm still trying to find one, but not kicking and screaming so much.

Anyhow.. summer clearly requires baseball. Marina was selected to race against the dinosaur at an Ogden Raptors game




















Marina delivered a stirring come-from-behind victory, spurred on by a supportive crowd.

Later, we went to see the Salt Lake Bees, and Marina got her new Bees cap autographed by the Bee himself!





















We've been doing other stuff besides baseball, of course. We planted a tree..





















...took some swim classes...




















...went to the playground....




















... and started kindergarten.




















Evan has been trying new food - here he can be seen reacting skeptically to watermelon..




















... and to ice cream. What can I say? He prefers spicy foods.




















The little guy recently celebrated 10 months with some bunny ears and with a big smile.







































And when things get too hectic, we just kick back and watch some Blue's Clues. Thumbs up!

News from Park City

Hi again. OK, I haven't been the best blogger. I also can't figure out why videos no longer upload, so... still no videos.

What's news? Well.. we moved to Utah. Evan got his first ride in a shopping cart. I guess it's step one towards skiing down stairs & such.




















Evan also has been getting some practice eating...



















... although more practice is probably not a bad thing.


Then Marina came back from her summer in Moscow. It was clear that she's still a world champ.



















And her sense of style is still going strong.




















Evan's eating practice has paid off - now he'll eat anything on the table that doesn't really have to be chewed. Today he tried rice with Thai red curry and was upset when it ran out. Here he's excited for a banana. And note the vampire teeth growing in up top.



















Better view of the teeth..




















That's all for now! I'll try to be better about posting. Lord knows I've got enough free time.

Getting set for summer

Hi again

I had some video all set to go into this post but it won't upload. So after many tries, it's going to be a photo-only blog.

It's also an all-Evan blog, as Marina is still in Moscow visiting her dad & grandparents. With some time on his own, Evan has continued to work on developing new skills. Learning to eat was at the top of the list.

This seemed like an idea worth trying at first...














But Evan quickly started to wonder what, exactly, we were doing to him.















He tried some other tricks to get out of it..















But in the end, Mom always wins.














After a tough day of eating, a hot shower and a beer are a good way to relax.

































Evan also took his first trip on a sailboat. Good times!



















On Sunday, Evan's going to help us drive to Utah. I'll let you know how that goes...