Video: Christmas Musical

Piano, accordion, guitar, phonograph, pump organ...

Video: Luke's First Christmas

Skiing at Crystal Mountain

Skiing the day after Christmas with Nick, Steph, Caleb, and Jordan was a blast. No lines, deep powder, and beautiful weather. Here's a pic with Mt. Rainier in the background:Nobody on the slopes except this hot snow bunny...
Luke enjoyed his stay at the lodge with Stephen and Lori while his mom and dad were out on the slopes.
We "accidentally" took Natalie up an experts only chairlift to the top peak. The only way down is double black diamonds. After Natalie got over her initial shock at the incline and the deep powder, she made it down without even falling! I'm a proud husband.

Merry Christmas!

Luke's First Airplane Ride

Luke did great! He was awake and playful the first half of the flight, then slept until we were picked up at SEA-TAC.
Natalie and I decided that taking a newborn on a plane for the first time wasn't difficult enough... so we brought along all our ski gear as well. That means two pairs of skiis, boots, and poles along with Luke and all his baby gear (4 checked bags and 8 carry-ons in total).
We arrived at San Jose airport 2 hours early so we wouldn't be rushed (thanks for the ride Grant!) and all went smoothly; we didn't even have to lift a bag. A bag-carrier-guy put all our bags on a cart and took us right up to the first class check-in desk. I guess you get some special treatment when you have a baby in a stroller with a Santa suit on. Then over to security where there was NO LINE! I've never experienced that before. So Natalie and I had a whole hour to relax and drink beer before pre-boarding.

Luke's Tenth Week

Sip and See in Sacramento

Last Sunday I participated in my first "Sip and See," i.e. baby viewing party. It was a great way for a lot of people to come by and meet Luke in a short amount of time. A little over 50 people showed up, and Luke still remembers all their names!
Check out the slideshow Wednesday for pics of everyone holding Luke...

Packing up for Sactown

With the new Homeland Security regulations, Alaska Airlines no longer allows parents to bring kids under the age of 6 months as carry ons into the main cabin-- they must be secured in checked baggage. So, we decided to do a trial run with our drive to Sacramento this weekend.
All went well, so we're prepared for our flight to Seattle next week.

20s Christmas Party

This year's party was a hit and even came complete with photographer...
This is what it looks like when you try to get 3 1-year olds and a baby in a picture together:

Luke's Ninth Week

Cool Hat

Had some friends over for dinner tonight and they brought along an early Christmas gift for Luke, this cool hat:

Reliant Christmas Party

This year's Christmas party was at the Dolce Hayes Mansion in San Jose. We won a free night's stay so it was our first full night out since Luke came along (thanks to Natalie's mom for babysitting!). Here's the picture they took of us as we walked in -- we're not washed out, we're actually that pale now because we spend all our days inside taking care of Luke.

The food and drinks were great, the dancing was fun, and Natalie raked it in at the Casino. She turned our fake $1,000 into a fake $60,000 on the craps table -- hopefully she'll be able to do that in real life next time we're in Vegas! It was good to meet all my co-workers spouses; this is my boss and his wife:

Luke's Eighth Week

Lori, Ed, Carly, and Edy visited this week.