The Holman's

It's been awhile since our last post. Things are going well, other than the Cougars dropping two home games last weekend.... Anyway, we're looking forward to some camping pretty soon and sunny days. It's hard to even imagine the sun with all the rain we've been having lately.

She's got this face we call the "Mean Face". She's trying to do it in this picture but it looks more like and exaggerated smile. Maybe one of these days she'll look meaner than that....

To all our friends and family we think of you often and hope all is well.

We took Payton up to Cooper Spur ski area for a day in the snow. She loved it, had a great time walking it in, but was a little unsure of it when it got a little to deep. We can't wait to take her up there again. Before you know it she'll probably be skiing.



Payton's swim classes ended so Lisa found a place to go a tumble around. The Little Gym. She loved it so much Lisa has signed her up for a few classes that they'll be attending together. Below is a video of her showing off some new tricks.


I'm learning somersaults!!!

Wow, a big toy for Daddy to put together

Zoo Lights with the Predeek's (Eric, Jenn, and baby Sienna)

There's got to be more in here!?!? I've only opened 100+ presents so far!

I got to have Christmas with my cousin Conner!

Go Cougs!!!

Last year our eyes were bigger than our house. We have vaulted ceilings but didn't think about the width, so by the time we got our 12' high, 8 ' wide tree home last year we realized we made a mistake. After multiple trips to Fred Meyer, two tree stands, and 4' feet cut off the tree fit.

This year we took it easy and were able to cut down about an 8' high and 4' wide tree that fits perfect. About a half mile down the road from us is a nice tree farm that has a lot of acreage to wade through, find your perfect tree, and cut it down. The only thing was it was raining like crazy when we first got out there, Payton pooped her pants (and we didn't bring any diapers because we thought it would be a quick trip) and it was really muddy and cold. But we shook off the Ba Humbug thoughts and made it through. When we got the tree to the house we put it up in the garage to dry and waited till Payton went to bed to put it up. The next morning we turned on the lights and let her walk into the room to see the lighted wonder. Her expression was worth a thousand words and she backed it up with a giant "WOW" while pointing at the tree. Lisa also has also put up a bunch of X-mass "items" around the house that still gives Payton enjoyment to walk around and want to touch everything.

Well, what can I say. After my beloved Chicago Bears went to the Super Bowl last year they're experiencing a horrible season. At the time I'm writing this the Bears are out of the Playoff race with no hope at making a wild card, but a few weeks ago my buddy Derek and Tami treated Lisa and I to a rare treat, a game between the Bears and the Seahawks in Seattle. This is the second time D has taken me to see the Bears and I can't tell you how special this is to me. Even though we lost it was a terrific game. The Bears fought hard but couldn't pull it out in the end.

For the Anniversary weekend Lisa's parents let us use a time share they have out at Seaside. It was a wonderful room right off the main strip where we could walk down the stairs and on to the beach in a matter of minutes. I can't believe it's already been 5 years! Time sure does fly by when your married to a wonderful wife and have a beautiful little girl. It still seems like just the other day we were planning our wedding, body surfing in Cancun, and then moving into our first home together.


Payton was unsure what sand was, how to walk in it, or how to react when she touched it. After a few whines and groans she was okay with it and became quickly distracted by chasing down a Seagull. She couldn't quite catch up to it but had a great time attempting to do so.

We took her to ride the merry-go-round and it was a perminate grin the entire time. I thought I had captured some good pictures of her to share on this blog however they didn't turn out. Oops, maybe next time.

The next weekend gave us a chance to try out the trailer we bought a couple of months ago. We've been pretty excited to give it a try and with our busy schedule the weekend of the 10th was the only one we had available. So after I got home from work on Friday we hooked up the trailer and headed back out to the Seaside/Astoria area. If you've never towed a trailer it's a new experience that takes some time to get used to. Setting the tow bars, trailer breaks, turning, etc. But once used to the feeling it's not that bad at all. The trip out there was rainy and foggy, but we just took our time and arrived safely at about 6pm at night. On the way there my wife looked over at me and said "did we remember Payton's bed?" She sleeps in a little play yard crib and guess what, we had forgot it. So once we got to the campsite in the dark I got the trailer unhitched, the heater working, and off to Fred Meyer I went to try to buy one that we could use for the weekend. No luck, they were fresh out so what we had to do was take the pads from the fold out table bed, put them on the floor, and Payton had her little area ready to go. The nice thing about the play yard is she's familiar that when she gets put in there it's bedtime, which is between 7-8pm usually. Because we didn't have this we had a little girl who was up until 9pm both nights.

On Saturday night we had Eric and Jen Predeek join us. Eric was hunting a few weeks back and still had his parent's trailer so they were able to bring out their little girl, Sienna, for her first camping trip.

We watched Finding Nemo a number of times, walked on the beach during a beautiful Saturday, and enjoyed each others company.