My XMAS in 2 places

So, there are pictures from my first stop in San Antonio, TX with the family and of course baby Zachary! What a good looking family!! If you look closely enough at the next picture, Zachary has a wedgie!!! HAHA



Then, there are pictures in Salt Spring, Canada with Richard's brother Philip, sister-in-law Suzanne, and neice Gabrielle. It is such a great location with a great view and fun island life! We opened the XMAS poppers and of course they each have a crown that you have to wear during the day!

Merry Christmas!

Last night, we went to the Children's Mass for the first time, and it was so nice. Contrary to what you might think, Zachary was very well behaved. Here is our annual picture in front of the Christmas Tree...this time with a baby to boot!





Christmas morning brought Zachary lots of shiny packages to look at, and of course the lights on the Tree.

Unlike the Boone's, we will not be having a White Christmas this year. It's t-shirt weather.
We aren't having Naked Turkey today, but Prime Rib instead. We sure are thankful to have this blog to stay in touch and share pictures. Zachary had a wonderful first Christmas, thanks to his loving Aunts, Uncles, Mommy, Daddy, and Santa of course!

IT'S SNOWING!!!!

Just as Brandon predicted....it's snowing in Portland. Here are some views of the white stuff. First one is out of the bedroom window, then the back yard and the BBQ where you can't even read that it says Weber! They are saying we might get as much as 4" by the end of the day tomorrow. A real life White Christmas!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! We are having a quiet Christmas here in Oregon!!! Just me and Kevin and Mookie!! But we are having a nice time. Mookie had fun getting into his stocking and I made a pumpkin pie for dessert tonight. We even went out for a walk since the weather was nice enough to stop raining for a few hours!! We were laughing because our tree hasn't been this empty underneath for a few years! We usually have a bunch of stuff that we are taking up to Kevin's brothers. But I think we did alright for ourselves. I hope everyone is having a good Christmas and I will talk to you soon!!

I'll "B" Home for Christmas....

Just thought I'd share some of the holiday touches around our house this Christmas. I even made some gingerbread men today. No fruitcake though!!

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Pool Party

Zachary attended his first birthday party over the weekend. It was an indoor pool party for Kendall. The temperature that day was 81 so it could have been celebrated outdoors. Zachary had fun swimming around.


We also dunked him under the water as evidenced by the video below. He liked it the first two times.

Then we just let him float on his back.

Happy Freezing!

Happy Thanksgiving #2

We didn't get to do as many posts as in the past; due to the hoard of people and a little rugrat to tug around, but at least we go two!

Unfortunately with all the activity, we forgot to take either a naked or clothed turkey picture. But we did get one of the turkeys sun bathing.

We also got one of the Hopkins men.

Terry appeared in one as well.

We even had Samantha's Aunt Sue trying to eat like Josie.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

In true Naked Turkey tradition, here is the 2007 version as presented by the Reece household...

And here is the not so naked turkey...you figure out which is the turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving #1

This is what the kids have been up to for Thanksgiving:

• We made Turkey cookies.

I know it sounds gross, but it's actually sugar cookies decorated to look like a turkey. How fun!

• Next we showed Zachary off to Grandmother Pam.



• Here are some of the Turkey cookies in the flock. They think that there is safety in numbers. They will soon learn how wrong they are. It actually means that people will eat more of them.

All the festivities start at 3 today and we will have 22 people including a total of 5 children in our house! I guess I'll get to catch the Cowboy's game next year.

Don't forget that the average American consumes 5,000 calories on Thanksgiving. Something to be thankful for can be that you didn't help raise that number.

Enjoy!

November activities

November has arrived, and what do the locals in San Antonio do for fun? We go to the pool of course!! Here is a picture of our outing.

We also had a field trip to the Zoo, where Zachary met a Rhino. You can see how much of an impact it had on his life. But we did have fun.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and because we are not hosting this year, there is currently no plan in place. So, I can't say how often I will be able to update the blog this year. But it will be done at the beginning and end of the day.

Enjoy!

Zachary's first Halloween!

Well, everything started out as fun and games -

But, about halfway around our neighborhood, Zachary decided that enough was enough and crying would be the name of the game and Daddy's shoulder would be the place.

To his defense, it was about 45 minutes past a feeding. We had a good night visiting the Grandparents and walking around the neighborhood talking with neighbors.

We hope all is well!

Happy Halloween!!!

Don't I look nice?!?! I won second place in the office costume party!! Whoo hoo!! I got a travel coffee mug!!

I hope that Zachary got a more comfortable costume by the time he went trick-or-treating!! He didn't look particularly happy with the Great Pumpkin costume! At least it was warm enough to sit in one. We had ice on the cars this morning!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Bottle feeding

Hello all,

Zachary started bottle feeding today. I have attached some video clips so that you can see him in action. We'll try to do a little more of this as well.

The Latest

Well, Zachary lost his umbilical cord yesterday. So the last remnants of his birth have slipped away. We are having a lot of tired fun. He seems to get cranked up at around 8 pm every day and doesn't stop for good until 10. Even with the period of crying, he is still a joy and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. Here is a picture to tide you over until you can make it to San Antonio for a visit.

It's raining, it's pouring......

THE MOOKSTER IS SNORING!!!!!!!!!!!

We are getting our first major rain since we've been here. And according to the news, the first major rain of the year. It is a bit more chilly too. So I was happy for Mookie to come and cuddle up with me!

Slowly loosing sleep

Would you ever believe that someone as cute as this would be able to make your evenings so tired?

Zach has taken to wanting to eat every hour at night, so we are beginning the process to give him a pacifier in order to keep him from eating all the time. This will also allow Samantha and I to rest a little more and keep Zach from getting too big.

In the day, I am having trouble sleeping because the sun is out, but I am slowly working on getting sleep when I can.

We will send out some pictures soon.

Mootha

Martha and Mookie

Ain't technology grand?!?!?!?

Kevookie

Mookie and Kevin

Kevinartha or Kevimartha?

Richard & Brooke Morphed

I used the site and here is the picture if we were to have a boy.....hahaha

I cannot figure out how to do it for a girl, but this is fun!!!

Morphing

Thought maybe Brandon & Samantha could play with this site while they are waiting for Zachary to make his appearance. They had a write up about it in the Portland paper. I figured you could upload a couple of pictures and figure out what Zach baby might look like!! And then share with the rest of the world!?!?!......

http://www.morphthing.com/

Golf Outing in Portland

Here is a picture of Martha getting in a good stretch before she tee's off and puts the ball on the green! I went down to Portland on Sat. morning to visit with Kevin and Martha and we decided to go to a Par 3 golf course.... wow it was beautiful!!
She let's one fly!!! Get in the HOLE!! =)



Here is a picture of Martha catching some wind to cool her off. As the day went on, the hills added to the challenge of the Par 3 and Kevin needed to get some rest while Martha tried to bring down the body temperature...
The next one is of Martha trying to help Kevin putt. He was great at giving directions to us and helping us read teh slope of the green, but boy did he struggle at his putting game...thanks to Martha he kicked our A$$!

We then watched some great soccer with #6Florida State Univ. women vs #11 Univ. of Portland with Portland winnnig 2-1 in overtime.... The DAWGS took the field on Sun. at noon for their 2nd game of the weekend and won 5-1!! They stand at 1-0-1...What a good start!!

Another post from Brandon

Well, someone had a birthday this week...I know, it surprised me too. In fact, my co-workers got confused and decorated a person's desk whose birthday is on August 31 instead of decorating mine on the 30th. Quite funny actually.



We have been busy here with preparations for the baby. I have attached a photo of a bookcase that I refinished for the nursery. Keep in mind that the bookcase was originally this color until Samantha painted it pastel yellow and purple.

So, Thursday evening Samantha took me out to a really good Italian Restaurant located at The Shops of La Cantera by UTSA and the La Cantera golf course. I gorged myself on Tuscan Pork Chops and Samantha ate Chicken Parmesan; then we had Gelato and canoodled over Canoli. One of the hostesses was kind enough to take this picture.

Here is a picture of a lamp that my Dad and Linda sent. We really like it, and it works well in the Nursery.

Lastly, here is a picture of all the boys at Alamo Cafe last night.

6 days and counting!!

Nothing really going on here

No, dad is not writing a blog.


Down the stretch we come! We have been busy almost every night putting different baby things together. I tell you what, I need to invest in a battery company and a Chinese factory to just write instruction manuals. Don't these companies have anyone who can proof read what the factory says should be done to put swings, strollers, etc. together?

I don't have a picture to provide this time, but thought I would submit an update for all (read: Martha and Brooke) to see.

I have been busy at work ensuring that the various procedures we have are current and adequate for my fill ins (yes, more than one person~that's how good I am) can try and do my job.

I also have this cool website that is totally addictive (http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/yourshot/jigsaw-puzzle.html?email=Inside17Aug07).
Put a puzzle together once, and I guarantee you will want to do it again.

It's been raining here so much that I am beginning to get webbed appendages. The grass around the city is still green. Samantha has loved it though. This has definitely not been a bad summer to be pregnant.

I guess you can tell that I'm taking a little break at work. Breaks help me stay focused, and since I don't smoke I am not able to step away from my desk for five minutes every fifteen minutes.

I guess I will finish so that you can get back to work now.

Adios!

Isn't she hot?!

Here is a picture of Samantha taken on August 3 during a Prenatal Portrait Session. What a cutie!

Pregancy Pictures!

You asked for more pictures of Pregnant Samantha and here you go.

We got a call yesterday that our furniture is in. So we will go and pick that up next weekend.

On a side note, how does Trevor go to India for 2 weeks and forget to bring a camera? Should we all pitch in and buy him a lot of disposables?