A Grunwald Christmas!

For the first time (I want to say ever) we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the Grunwald clan. In the past, we have always split the two days between the Grunwald and Im family, but I think Bill received his Christmas wish this year to have Christmas dinner with his family.

Our tradition for Christmas Eve has been to go to Kathy and Bill's house and each household would bring a couple of appetizers and dessert and of course, the wine! This year was a little bittersweet in that Anna was out of the country in Costa Rica, so we were all missing her, but Josh flew up from San Francisco and Cousin Caryn came to visit, which was quite enjoyable. There was plenty of food and Eric made bacon wrapped scallops, which were very tasty. We played Buzz Word where the Others (those that are not Grunwald's by blood) kicked some butt! We eventually headed home so we could get ready for Santa's visit.

On Christmas day (afternoon), we loaded up the car and headed to Stacey's place to open gifts and have dinner. We watched Jae open up all his gifts and then Hannah opened up a couple. The kids are so lucky to have such great family in their lives. Opening all of the gifts must have made us hungry (or maybe just me), but I was starving and waiting for that yummy roast to be done! Hannah gave me the best gift of all this holiday, napping so I could eat my dinner in peace. It really was wonderful. I ate my meal in piece and savored every bite. Even Jae ate his food!

The next day was a repeat of loading up the car and driving to my parents for Christmas #2.

For pictures, click or cut and paste the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/patty.grunwald/ChristmasWithGrunwaldsAndIms?feat=email#

Got Starbucks?

This morning while we were getting ready (Bill and the kids drove me to work), Jae asks if we could go to Starbucks. How embarrassing that our 3.5 y/o would ask if we could go to Starbucks when neither Bill or I had even mentioned it that morning! LOL!

Needless to say, we did go to Starbucks and get coffee and a hot chocolate for him. Unfortunately, they were out of pastries (no deliveries in this weather), so Jae could not get himself a donut or a croissant. He did survive.

Hope those in Oregon and Washington are staying warm!

Winter Storm II

The snow has started again and we are stuck at home. Our car is covered in snow and ice and the roads are showerd with it as well. Bill is going to attempt to put chains on the car tomorrow so we can actually get out of the house. We have been couped in the house all weekend and I think it's starting to affect me. LOL.

They are requiring chains in the Portland Metro area, so we need to put them on if we want to venture out. I just want to get to a store or something!

I talked to my parents in WA and they are feeling the brunt of this weather as well. They've closed the store early so they could get home before the roads really froze and tomorrow they may not open at all, depending on how the conditions are.

Such a crazy time. I think I knew that we would get a nasty winter just because this whole year the weather has been a bit off. Hope it won't be too long before it all melts away.

Thank goodness we got most of our Christmas shopping done. I do need to go out and get a couple of more items.

Hope everyone is staying safe this holiday season!

Christmas is coming

Well, the kids are getting excited (I should say Jae) that Christmas is fast approaching!

We went and got our holiday photo taken and Jae wore his festive construction truck sweater! Thank goodness we did because we got our cards in the mail before this winter snow storm took a turn for the worse.

Here are some pictures of the kids just having some fun.

Winter Storm 2008

Hopefully you don't mind all the text and reading..for days! LOL

Well, it seems that snow has fallen in the Portland Metro area. There have been rumblings for several days that snow would be coming, along with ice, wind, etc..but I didn't really believe it because well, our weather guys are usually wrong! So you can imagine my surprise when Bill phones me on Sunday to tell me that Portland is covered in snow and that in order to drive on I-5, snow chains are required. I was in disbelief. Let me start from the beginning...

I went to visit my parents over the weekend (with the kids - Bill stayed home) to go shopping with my mom and dad and help them get gifts for the family. It was a long weekend to say the least. We went to the mall three separate times, with two kids. I'm going to go on a tangent about the kids...

Jae...moody! This just goes to show that boys do not like shopping or anthing that is associated with it (I'm sure there were other factors in play here too)! The entire time we were out, he sat in Hannah's stroller, he kept saying how tired he was, how he couldn't walk (he was laying and crawling on the floor while at the mall), how hungry and then how full he was. While at dinner, he started stabbing his rice with a spoon and then a fork and then a last final stab of his fork before falling onto the floor and curling into a ball undearneath the table. Then he insists that he wants to sit in the highchair that Hannah is sitting in and when told no, proceeds to wail and curl into a ball underneath the highchair. He did eventually come out from under the chair and sat on my lap as he finished his rice. This guy should be an actor for how dramatic he can get and then with a snap of a finger be back to normal.

Hannah...addicted..to me. The entire weekend was "wah wah wah..mama mama...wah wah wah". Can't a girl go to the bathroom without a baby on her lap? She just was not happy with either of my parents holding her. The moment I was out of site, made for a very unhappy baby. Jae was not like this at all when he was a baby, so I'm just not used to it. Since Jae was hogging Hannah's stroller, I had to carry her around the mall, until she fell asleep, then my mom held her. And mind you, this was three separate trips.

Anyway, so on Sunday I get a phone call from Bill saying that I will need chains if I want to come home. I'm in the middle of shopping so I tell him that I would call him later to discuss. I call him back and he proceeds to tell me that the Portland Metro area is a mess and snow chains are required. I tell him that there is no way I'm staying another day at my parents (no offense to them, but I was getting a bit tired with the kids and needed a little help with Hannah and I knew she wouldn't cry with Bill around). My dad had chains for his minivan (also a honda) and so I took those.

So I tell Bill that I'm driving down and he suggests meeting me to chain up before I get home. It is agreed and we decide to meet at Jantzen Beach and he would come with Jake and Barb (since they had chains). The drive from my parents to Jantzen Beach is a breeze. There is a little snow, but nothing compared to what I am about to see in Portland. I get to Jantzen Beach and you can see the wind blowing the snow and ice on the ground. My windows were freezing on the outside and my temperature gauge says it was 25 degrees outside! We meet and it turns out the chains that my dad had were a tad too small for the wheels on our van (after Bill and Jake tried for about 30 min in the freezing cold). So Bill and Jake go and buy new chains and although they were a bit pricey, it was worth it because it only took 10 min to get both on.

By this time, there were other couples in the parking lot doing the same thing and since Bill and Jake were done with the minivan, they decided to ask one of the guys if they needed help. After about 10+ minutes and getting nowhere, the guy tells Bill and Jake they can leave and he'd take care of it. At least they offered to help. The guy had the actual chains rather than the wire ones and those seem to be a lot harder to get on.

So we are on our way home when I get a text from Barb saying that they just lost their left chain! Bill and I pull over and wait for them to pass us so we can stay behind them in case anything else happens. We follow them to an auto parts store, but of course they are sold out of chains! We tried Les Schwab and they too were sold out. So Jake and Barb went home and called around, unfortunately by then, most places were closing for the day. So Jake had to go to work this morning with one chain on his car on some icy roads. Luckily, they did find some chains today and he is going to pick them up after work. Whew, I'm glad that worked out.

Today (Monday) is still snowy, icy, and cold. Bill and I made it to work and the kids are at school. The cold weather and snow are supposed to stick around all week and into the weekend, so we'll see how the week progresses..I'm just glad to be back home.

Hope everyone in Portland is staying warm and safe. We may have a white Christmas this year if this keeps up!

Lighting of the Tree!

We got our tree today and it ended up being a 40 minute ordeal of wandering the rows and rows of trees to find that perfect tree! This is the second year that we have gone to this farm (the name is escaping me right now), but they've got quite the variety of nobles and in the greenhouse, a wall of wreaths, a train that kids can climb (great for pictures), and Jae's favorite...complimentary candy canes!

We got the kids covered and started walking toward the field of trees. Jae was picking at all the weeds and his choices for trees were about 4 feet high, not quite the 7+ footer that Bill and I were looking for. He started whining that he was getting tired and was cold and wanted to be picked up, yadda yadda. Hannah fell asleep in my arms, so I couldn't lift Jae up and I was too busy making sure she was warm enough. So Bill had to carry him around for a little bit. It wasn't as cold as last year, but still cold.

We finally found "the one"(actually, we semi setteled) and Bill proceeded to cut it down. We walked toward the road and was hoping to be picked up (they have these guys driving around who will pick you and the tree up and take it to your car), but we didn't get lucky, so Bill hauled it to our car. We walked back to our car and Jae and I went to the greenhouse to get a candy cane and look at the train.

After we had paid, we were walking back to the car when I accidentally bumped Jae and he fell down. This would have been ok had it not been for the candy cane that he was intently holding. Since he had to catch his fall, the candy cane became a victim of mommy 'pushing' him down. Jae was in a tizzy about how I had pushed him down and his candy cane was not edible and that I needed to get him a new one, wah wah wah...after about 5 minutes of this whining and blaming me for what happened, I promised him that we would go buy more. He asked if he could eat the candy cane (which was broken in three pieces) since it was still wrapped in plastic and I said yes.

So as we were driving home, I hear this chomp chomp chomp. He's totally just breaking the candy cane in his mouth and his hands are sticky, his lips are red and he seems to be happy. As promised, we go to the store to get him another candy cane. When we get home, he sits on the counch and proceeds to eat it. He takes one bite and is done. I should have known.

Bill was attempting to get the stand into the tree when his knee joint popped out...gross! So he had to adjust himself and pop it back in. Not so great being tall. But we finally finished and started decorating the tree. Jae did a great job putting the ornaments on the tree and he loves plugging in the lights. We can't wait for next year when Hannah will be able to help!

Happy holidays everyone!

Zoolights!

Zoolights is an event at the Oregon Zoo that occurs every year. It starts after Thanksgiving and continues until the New Year. The zoo gets lit up with decorations in the shape of animals and the trees, etc get covered with christmas lights. I love seeing all the lights! I'm sure there's something similar in your neck of the woods.

This is the first time that the Grunwald clan has gone to zoolights. Mainly because Jae was a little too young to really enjoy it and it's usually wet and cold during the month of December. However, we Oregonian's have been lucky with some dry weather lately, so I made Bill go (that is how he would tell the story).

We bundled up the kids, got to the zoo early and waited in line for a good 20+ minutes for the train. Both of our kids were tired and Jae was a little whiney and impatient for the train. He stole the stroller from Hannah, so I carried her the whole time. Surprisingly Hannah was pretty happy throughout the whole evening and even 'talking' with another little boy.

We finally boarded the train and we were on our way. Jae really enjoyed it. He kept looking out the window and was very focused on everything he saw. There were all kinds of animal lights and you could even see some of the real animals in the dark. I saw antelope and elephants. Hannah sat on my lap and ate puffs the whole ride.

Jae really wasn't in the mood to do anything else, so we took a couple of pictures and then headed to our car...where we proceeded to wait about 15 minutes to get out of the parking lot! You would think that after all these years that there would be someone directing the exiting traffic.

Our little crawler

Watch out..Hannah is on the move!

Over the weekend Hannah started crawling! It's so cute to see her little tongue sticking out while she's trying to get from point a to b. She seems so much happier now that she's on the move, although now Bill and I have to move things around (for safety) since everything seems to interest her! =)

I have to say that she's a pretty good listener when I tell her to leave certain items alone. She'll turn and look at me and give me a smile and start heading back to me.

I love my little Hannah bear.

Jae Quote of the Day

"Hannah likes it when I punch her in the leg."

Picture of What I Work On All Day

See those pieces of glass the pilots are looking through? That's what I do. These are Air Force pilots looking for hurricanes in a C-130J.

Is This The Blog I Started...

I guy works a little overtime and this is what happens to the blog. I don't recognize a thing. Work was a bit crazy the last month or so. It all came to a head one day when we realized that if we were going to release our software, we would have to pull an all nighter. Myself and 5 of my colleagues worked 30 to 40 hours non-stop to get the software out the door. Now I'm editing documents and have time to view/edit the blog again.

Jason Mraz - I'm Yours!!!

A couple of Wednesday's ago..okay, last month (I know, so behind on the blogging). I was at another concert. Janet, Lynn, and I went to see Jason Mraz at the Schintzer. It was a great show!

I admit that I'm not a huge fan of Jason Mraz, but I've liked what's been playing on the radio. This guy is a great performer and really engages the audience. Janet hooked us up with pretty darn good seats, on the floor in the center aisles.

Before the show started, they had this screen up that was encouraging people to take pictures and text them to a number and it would show up on the screen. So then people started just sending text messages and they were scrolling on the screen. Some were funny, others not. That was good entertainment before the show, it definitely set the tone for the remainder of the show..fun and quirky.

An Irish artist by the name of Lissa Hannigan opened for him. Different from what I normally listen to, very mellow, perhaps a little too mellow for me, because I was getting really sleepy. She did like a 30 minute set and then it was time for Jason.

He's really cute. I would not normally say this, but I think the hat and the somewhat scruffiness really go well together. He's got a great voice and I enjoyed all the different beats that came out of his mouth. He had this brass trio with him that were very good and entertaining.

I will admit that I was not familiar with majority of the stuff he played, but it all had great beats so it was easy to just jam along with him. He played "I'm Yours" and the crowd really got into it. He sang the song "Lucky" with Lissa Hannigan (originally sung with Colbie Caillet).

Overall, it was a good show. He had a great encore performance and he really made us clap! During the encore he was taking polaroids of all the band members as he introduced them and then flinging them into the crowds. I thought that was pretty neat. He made one girl happy who got to come on stage - it was her 21st b-day!

Anyway, he was the last concert for 2008 and it was a good way to go out. posted. whew!

Fidelio

I am a lover of the Opera. Ever since freshman year in college (when we were 'forced' to see a dress rehearsal of Turandot) I've been hooked. La Traviata was at the Keller Auditorium during my b-day week, but I missed it, so going to see Fidelio was kind of a 'make up'.

I was fortunte to receive free tickets to the opera so my co-worker and I decided to make a 'date' out of it. She (Jenn) had never been to an opera and thought this would be a fun event.

We drove downtown and had pizza by the slice at this little pizza shop a couple of blocks from the Keller. It was kind of a last minute decision to go to this place and we really liked it. It was like a little hole in the wall, but the waiter was super nice and accomodated our silliness.

The opera was Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was his first and his last. And yes, there is a reason why. It was a fun performance, definitely had some laughs. The music was beautiful, as I expected it to be.

I've posted the plot for you. Please enjoy.

The Plot
ACT I — Spain, eighteenth century. In a prison, Marzelline, daughter of the jailer, Rocco, rejects the attentions of her father’s assistant, Jacquino, who hopes to marry her. Her heart is set instead on the new errand boy, Fidelio. The latter, a hardworking lad, arrives with provisions and dispatches and is distressed by Marzelline’s interest in him, especially since it has the blessing of Rocco. Fidelio is in fact Leonore, a noblewoman of Seville who has come to the jail disguised as a boy to find her husband, Florestan, a political prisoner languishing somewhere in chains. When Rocco mentions a man lying near death in the vaults below, Leonore, suspecting it might be Florestan, begs Rocco to take her on his rounds. He agrees, though the governor of the prison, Don Pizarro, allows only Rocco in the lower levels of the dungeon.

As soldiers assemble in the courtyard, Pizarro learns from the dispatches brought to him that Don Fernando, minister of state, is on his way to inspect the fortress. At this news the governor resolves to kill Florestan, his enemy, without delay and orders Rocco to dig a grave for the victim in the dungeon. Leonore, overhearing his plan, realizes Pizarro’s evil nature and the plight of his victim. After praying for strength to save her husband and keep up hope, she again begs Rocco to let her accompany him to the condemned man’s cell—and also to allow the other prisoners a few moments of air in the courtyard. The gasping men relish their glimpse of freedom but are ordered back by Pizarro, who hurries Rocco off to dig Florestan’s grave. With apprehension, Leonore follows him into the dungeon.

Act II — In one of the lowest cells of the prison, Florestan dreams he sees Leonore arrive to free him. But his vision turns to despair, and he sinks down exhausted. Rocco and Leonore arrive and begin digging the grave. Florestan awakens, not recognizing his wife, and Leonore almost loses her composure at the familiar sound of his voice. Florestan moves the jailer to offer him a drink, and Leonore gives him a bit of bread, urging him not to lose faith. Rocco then blows on his whistle to signal Pizarro that all is ready. The governor advances with dagger drawn to strike, but Leonore stops him with a pistol. At this moment a trumpet sounds from the battlements: Don Fernando has arrived. Rocco leads Pizarro out to meet him as Leonore and Florestan rejoice in each other’s arms.

In the prison courtyard, Don Fernando proclaims justice for all. He is amazed when Rocco brings his friend Florestan before him and relates the details of Leonore’s heroism. Pizarro is arrested, and Leonore herself removes Florestan’s chains. The other prisoners too are freed, and the crowd hails Leonore.

Joshua Radin and Missy Higgins

It had been a while since I've been to a show and now it seems like I'm going to several all at once. I love it! There will be a couple of other posts.

Last week my friends (Janet and Lynn) and I went to see Missy Higgins and Joshua Radin at the Crystal. It was a great show! I'm a fairly new fan of Missy (thanks to Lynn!) and I've been listening to Joshua for a bit now, but just never had the opportunity to see him live.

The three of us met at a grocery store and I drove downtown. We parked our car in the garage adjacent to the Crystal and walked to Henry's for some dinner...I just have to say, I'm not a fan of Henry's. Their bar atmosphere may be good, but their dining experience was lacking. Our server was not very attentive and kind of slow. And how does a restaurant of that size run out of soup spoons? Anyway, sorry for the tangent..we had dinner and left to get in line for the show..only to our surprise, the line was already wrapping around the corner..so much for sitting in the balcony and relaxing! We get in line and already feel out of place. Everyone looked so young and then there we were (we aren't that old tho!).

It's been a while since I've been to the Crystal and I rediscovered that I like the venue. It's a great place for an intimate show. I ended up standing for most of the night, but that was ok. The wall and I became really good friends! I also realized that by 10pm, I was really getting tired! I'm a night owl, but it's different when you're not at home in your pj's...

Onto the show.

Joshua Radin opened and did a great job. He was really funny (and cute!) and told stories about what was inspiring him when he wrote his songs. I like it when artists talk to the audience like that. That guy has had a lot of ex-girlfriends! I was hoping he would play "Closer" but the songs that he did play were still good. He did a duet with Missy Higgins which was cool. I love the fact that these performers write their own songs. Unfortunately his performance was like 30 minutes..a little too short for me! Check him out at www.joshuaradin.com

Missy Higgins was up next. She's from Australia and has a cute little accent. She let like 40 minutes pass before she made it on stage (it was the longest wait ever). But she didn't disappoint. She too is a good performer and I liked her stage presence. She played songs from her first album, so I didn't know those, but she also played a lot from her current album. She saved her current radio hit "Where I Stood" till last, but it was worth it. She explained that she was anti 'encores', so once that song was over, so was the show. Check her out at www.missyhiggins.com

Then we had this incident with the parking garage door being closed. Lame.

Anyway, it was a great show and it made me realize how much I missed going to them.

Trick-or-Treat!

As Jae would say, "trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat, if you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear!"

The usual crew gathered at the house, aunties, uncles, and grandparents. We had some corned beef and cabbage (on Halloween?) and of course, LOTS of candy!

This year, Jae was a fireman and Hannah was a bear. Pretty darn cute if you ask me.

We left the house without eating dinner (big mistake) and started on our journey of collecting candy. Halloween was shortlived this year, for two reasons.

1. A lot of homes did not have their porchlight on.

2. Hungry Jae = cranky pants Jae = I'm done

Usually, the whole street is lit with lights, but this year, half of the street was dark. We are thinking it's because Halloween fell on a Friday and most families had places to go since there was no school the next day. So we ended up skipping a lot of homes and ventured out a little farther. Along the way, there was a lot of cajoling to say "trick or treat" and "thank you" and constantly picking up the fireman hat that kept falling onto the ground, and telling Jae to go to this and that house. All the while, carrying a sleeping bear (Hannah fell asleep within 10 min of being out). At one point, Jae starts taking off his hat, his head protector, and his glow in the dark stick and starts walking back to our house. We ask him if he's done and he's like, "yes, I'm done". We were kind of surprised, but I think the lack of food and the walking made him tired and cranky.

We finally get home and take our picture at the door and go inside for some grub. Jae eats a little of the corned beef, but then wants candy! He eats a little more than I'd like, but it's once a year, he'll never get to gorge himself like this until next Halloween.

Well, now that he's in, he's the candy helper. Whenever the doorbell rings, he's right there handing out candy. The little trick or treaters must have LOVED Jae, because his idea of handing out candy was taking two FULL handfuls of candy! You should have heard some of the kids and parents..they were like "wow, that's a lot of candy!" I guess it's a good thing for us, less in our house!

We turned off our lights at 8:30 and proceeded to enjoy a somewhat quiet evening. Jae was a little jacked up on sugar, so he didn't get to sleep until 10 and Hannah ended up waking up a couple of times during the night.

Overall, it was another great halloween. It was Hannah's first and she slept through it all! Next year should be fun when she can walk.

Happy Halloween!

It's Raining, it's pouring..

Well, I think the gray season of Oregon is officially here, and just in time for Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

Jae and Hannah's Weekend!!

This blog entry is courtesy of Auntie's Barb Pollinger and Stacey Poirier...it's a loooooong post!

Thursday was a long time ago. I don’t remember anything. I met Stacey at sports class and so did Anna. Jae did good and was always looking over at the Aunties to make sure we were watching. The kids did a lot of running and stopping and some eye/hand coordination with balloons and paddles. For dinner we had hamburgers and hotdogs that Uncle Eric bbq’d and trees and mac and cheese, I think. Jae had a little bit of everything. He went back and forth between wanting a hotdog or hamburger, but decided on hamburger. I believe this is the night that Hannah literally fell asleep on the table. HI-LARIOUS. I believe Hannah woke up around midnight that night and after many attempts Auntie Stacey took her to bed with her and Eric and Bennigan. I think this was the night that after Stacey put her down in her bed on her belly Hannah propped herself up and with her “bed hair” all disheveled she looked at Eric and then turned and looked at Stacey with a funny look on her face like who are you people? Stacey tells it better but sounded pretty funny.

Friday I was able to go with Stacey to drop the kids off at school, which was nice. Not our normal routine so we had to read the “manual” several times to make sure we weren’t forgetting anything. Everyone at day care was super nice and helpful and you can tell how much they care for Hannah and Jae. Jae showed us the ropes like the good helper he was and got us situated with Hannah. Then we walked him back to his room and he sat down with the other kids and didn’t look back, even when the aunties we saying “bye Jae”. We knew he’d be fine. I was also able to go with Stacey to pick them up Friday afternoon too. Hannah was still sleeping and I think was shocked to see us and not mommy or daddy. But we scooped her up and went to get Jae who was watching baby Einstein. He gave both of his aunties a big hug. We learned that pictures were in but they wouldn’t release to the aunties or Jae, only to parents. Jae insisted that he wanted them now and was ready for a fight. He repeated several times that wanted them now. So we explained that mommy and daddy had to get them on Monday but how about if we could take a peek at them. The teacher was kind enough to indulge us and brought out Jae’s picture. We all told him how handsome he was and he said that was a new shirt he was wearing in the picture. Friday night dinner was spaghetti, Caesar salad, French bread. Auntie Barbara put too much minced garlic on the bread so Jae said it was spicy. Auntie B picked off the top to reveal only the white goodness underneath the crunchy garlic top. Problem solved. Oh I forgot to mention that Aunt Stacey told Jae that if he was a good boy that he would have some special treats/toys/surprise after school. After he hugged Stacey, and without prompting, he said did you get my special surprise? Is it trucks? Stacey had put them in the tent in her living room and as soon as we walked through the front door he knew somehow that they were in there. Did you tell him Stac? Inside awaited a brand new game of Candyland and the elephant/butterfly game. Since we had to start dinner we told him CAndyland would have to wait until after dinner but lets do the elephant. As soon as helped Auntie Barbara put the batteries in we fired that puppy up. We told Jae to get his net ready because butterflies were going to start flying out the elephant’s trunk. He was ssssssssooooooo excited about the butterflies. The first time he just loved letting them fall on his head. Then auntie Barbara showed him how to catch with the net and he caught a couple. Every time he caught one was followed by “I got one!” and he got so excited about catching one that the others gently fell around him. Hannah was very content watching big brother. Bedtime was an early night that night after the late night with Hannah and it being Friday. I think it was 9 or 10.

Saturday we woke up around 7 or 7:30 to a bowl of Lucky Charms and cartoons before getting ready for swimming class. When Uncle Jake and Aunt Anna were on their way we learned the bad news that swimming had been cancelled. No tears from anyone on that one; that just meant we could get to the pumpkin places all the sooner. Everyone got dressed and in the minivan to meet Grandma and Grandpa at the pumpkin races. No sooner than we arrived that Hannah decided to poop. Aunt Barbara got Jae out and the stroller out and getting us all situated with supplies while Aunt Stacey changed Hannah’s diaper in the front seat of the van. It was windy and cold so not a lot of options at that point in time. We almost had a poop catastrophe when said poop almost rolled out of the diaper onto the ground, but quick reflexes by Auntie Stacey saved the day. Hannahs little bottom recently dabbed with wipes to make sure she was clean wasn’t too pleased when a cool breeze happened by …ooh that was cold she screamed! We resituated and got everyone on in their strollers and purses and key possessions were confirmed and we were greeted by the grandparents. Jae gave big hugs all around. Stacey and Grandma must have called each other because they were both wearing their white shirts and pink fleece vests. We made the walk to the pumpkin races. We walked around and tried to check things out but too many people so we couldn’t see. So we found a table a bit further back and staked our claim. It was really cold and breezy that morning so we zipped up and put up the hoodies to keep the ears warm. Stacey and Hannah talked with grandma and grandpa and then Hannah took a nap in Aunt Staceys lap. We’ve got some good pictures of that. Jae, Anna, and Barb watched the ducks and Anna helped Jae throw leaves in the water. Jae liked hanging over the railing with the water on the other side. It made everyone nervous but most especially grandma. Auntie Barbara was close by at all times. The pumpkin races were fun to watch. We decided we were hungry and decided to go to Red Robin for lunch. Hannah had the best seat in the house…on top of the table. We have great pictures of that too. Hannah had a blast. After oranges, mac, and cheese and fries, we were on the road to the pumpkin popper. Jae thinks this is the coolest thing ever. He went a couple of times with Aunt Stacey and then with Aunt Barbara. The second time there were several people in line in front of us and every time the popper went off, Jae would ask, “Is it out turn?” Unfortunately for us we were behind a dad and two kids who each got four pumpkins. After some patient waiting it finally was our turn. Auntie Barbara couldn’t keep up when Jae ran from loading the popper to pushing the button. Oh the excitement! Hannah and Stacey were in the field behind us evidently Hannah was taking a nap which I don’t understand-that popper was loud! On the way home Hannah was cooing and talking. It was so cute. She was such a good girl all day. I joked who is that baby in the back? We dropped off the kids at Auntie Stacey's then Auntie Barbara went to feed Mr T and buy some caramel for the apples we bought at the pumpkin popper place, get papa murphy’s pizza and also a much needed caffeinated beverage at starbucks. It was lite frapp for auntie Stacey and an Iced TRIPLE caramel macchiato for Auntie Barbara. WE got home and attempted the caramel apples. I don’t suggest the wrapping kind. Jae and I had a hard time with it. It was fun trying though. It was an easy night for dinner. Pizza. Aunties didn’t have any energy left to cook anymore or clean up after. Lots of butterflies, candyland and movies on Saturday…oh and playtime with Uncle Jake.

Sunday was a relaxing day. It started with a nice big breakfast: mickey mouse pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. Jae ate very well.asked for more bacon, three pancakes and some eggs. And he ate it all. While we were getting breakfast ready, Uncle Jake played with Hannah and was holding her and she fell asleep. Good Job Uncle Jake! Auntie Barbara was very ripe by Sunday and badly needed a shower and fresh clothes. Reinforcements were needed so the aunties could freshen up. Enter Aunt Anna and the grandparents. Thank Heavens. As I was coming back, Anna and Jae were on their way out in the stroller (Jae all decked out in the black sunglasses) to look for leaves. They found some good ones. We got Hannah down for her 2^nd nap and were dangerously low on formula and decided to pack up and head to the Grunwald home. Kids don’t pack light people. We got home and situated and unpacked and organized. The first thing Jae noticed when getting out of the car was all the leaves….”look at all the leaves in our front yard. Our leaves are falling, our leaves are falling!” Energy levels were reaching an all time low so starbucks was needed-STAT. Once that kicked in Auntie Barbara started the welcome home sign and she and Jae went to the living room to decorate more and add the finishing touches – fall leaves. If you look close there is a letter J next to Jae’s name. Jae did that. After some playing and a little downtime, it was time to get Uncle Jake for dinner and naptime. WE had it all PLANNED out. Dinner and bath time and bedtime. While Aunt Anna made jae’s dinner, he climbed up on Uncle Jake’s lap and they started to watch a show about airplanes. In hindsight, Jae did look a little TOO relaxed sitting on Uncle Jakes lap. Dinner was ready and we called for Jae and he didn’t move. DARN IT he fell asleep on Jake! After much discussion. We let him sleep a little bit and then woke him up. BIG MISTAKE. He really needed a bath and didn’t think Bill and Patty would have time in the morning. WE learned that Jae doesn’t like to be awoke from naps. After twenty questions and bribing him with a popsicle things started to calm down. He followed the popsicle with a piece of pizza and a tiny bit of “special” juice. And then it was bath time. Before we turned the water on Jae started doing the pee pee dance, proceeds to strip down to only his shirt, grabs the red “bucket”, hands it to Auntie Barbara and hops in the tub. He says daddy holds it for me so I proceeded to do what daddy does because it seems as if Jae couldn’t wait for any more questions. He proceeded to spray pee all over the place. Some got in the bucket. I think he had his finger over it and pointing it up. It only took my hand getting sprayed once for me to suggest he point it down. Auntie Barbara loves it when Jae waits until the last minute to go potty. Finally we got both Hannah and Jae in the tub. Jae was a trooper as Anna and Jake tried to figure out how he and Hannah and hannah’s tub were all going to fit in the bath tub. Hannah was first on the agenda. Get her clean and get her out so Jae and Jake could have their special time with THE HOSE. Jae thinks it is so funny to spray uncle Jake. A few times Auntie had to remind the boys to keep the water in the tub. Stacey got Hannah down and then Barb read stories. Jae picked out three. We were doing the word book and he was spelling out the words. He was spelling a word that started with T. At the same time he said T he tooted. He thought that was ssssssssssooooooooooooooooooo funny. IN between fits of laughter, he would say T toot. While very funny I was impressed that he knew toot started with T. I could see he wasn’t very tired so I told him because he was such a good boy that I would read him another book. That didn’t work much either because he ended up on Bill and patty’s bed. He told auntie Stacey he wanted to surprise mommy and daddy. So jake and I went in there and asked him if he was excited for mommy and daddy and he said yes. I told him that when he woke up they would be there. He asked if I was going to stay. I told him I would stay until mommy and daddy got home. Jake laid there until he fell asleep, but both Jae and Jake fell asleep. I made jake come downstairs though.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:Jae was such a good boy all weekend long and was very helpful when aunties had questions or needed help with Hannah. If Hannah got a little fussy we called Jae over to make Hannah smiled and it worked almost every time. The first thing Jae did in the morning was go to the crib to check on Hannah. When she wasn’t there he’d say, “Where’s Hannah?” We went downstairs and he gave her a big kiss good morning and greeted Aunt Stacey with a cheery Good Moooorning. He also talked a lot this weekend about growing up to be an adult. Thought that was cute.

Unfortunately for Stacey, Hannah was glued to her for four days. We were hoping to take turns but she wanted nothing to do with anyone but Stac. We made it work and everything was great. She ate well and was giving out lots of smiles and played hard. When she gets excited she likes to stand and bounce.

Like I said before as exhausting as it was, I would do it again in a heartbeat to spend time with Jae and Hannah and give Bill and Patty a much deserved break.

Love all the aunties and uncles.

Hawaii and Kelcy's Wedding!

Bill and I just got back from 4 days in Maui. I know, not nearly enough time to relax and enjoy ourselves, but we were going for a wedding and without the kids, so we thought we would make it a quick trip, this time.

Maui was wonderful. We stayed in the town of Lahaina (where Kelcy's family lives)at the Royal Lahaina Resort. The views from our hotel room were amazing. We could see the islands of Lanai and Molokai from our room and the neighboring Kaanapali Resorts and just bright clear blue water that went on for miles. The weather was great everyday we were there (minus a little scare we had during Kelcy's wedding, but that's another story). We rented a mustang convertible, so the wind whipped through my hair and gave me a little bit of color. I loved Maui because of what it did to my hair! It felt so full.

Thursday, Oct 23
We arrived around noon and drove about 45 minutes to our hotel. We checked in and were starving so went out to look for some food. We ate at The Mixed Plate, a local hangout that serves teriyaki type food. It was good and the view was nice. There were a lot of birds hanging around to eat any food that may have fallen on the floor..Let's just say that they got nothing from us. This meal was the first time that Bill was introduced to Poi. He did not like it (neither do I for that matter). But he did fall in love with Lomi Lomi Salmon..who knew? Then later that evening, we headed to Kelcy's rental and had a bbq by the pool for all the folks that arrived early.

Friday, Oct 24
We decided to go and try The Gazebo, per the recommendation of one Jacob Pollinger. We finally got to the place and sure enough, the line was already started. We waited about 30 minutes before getting seated and I proceeded to order the fried rice dish (the house speciality)..holy cow it was HUGE! At least two cups of rice (measured uncooked) and portugese sausage, ham, onions, egg, green onions all mixed together. We didn't even eat half of it. Bill ordered corned beef and hash..REALLY! and then we got one order of banana macadamian pancake (since they were famous for that too). I just have to say that I was not overly impressed with the food and left the place feeling bloated and FAT! I don't recommend this place. From there, we went shopping at the Whalers Village and bought Bill a pair of slippers and some trinkets for the family.

Then we had to go and help Kelcy set up for the reception, so we drove to the Jodo Mission and Bill dropped me off while we moved tables around. We also had the wedding rehearsal that day and the sunset was beautiful. Later that evening we went to the Royal Lahaina Luau. We got to enter through the VIP side entrance and had the best view in the house..of the ocean and the stage. The food was good the show was good. But I have to say that I wasn't too overly impressed. You know how it gets whey they hype everything up for so long..But I am always amazed at how they can shake their hips the way they do. Besides, you have to see a luau at least once when visiting Hawaii! After it was over, I went to bed and crashed.

Saturday, October 24
Wedding Day!!!

The day of the wedding started out beautiful. I kept telling Bill that Saturday was by far the best day. Not just because of the wedding, but because we woke up, got coffee, headed back to the hotel, hung out by the water and looked out over the beach and just relaxed. It was the first time we were able to do this together. I wasn't supposed to be at Kelcy's until 2, so Bill and I were able to relax together for a bit.

So this whole trip I've been wanting sushi. All I hear about is the freshness of the sushi, so I wanted to compare the fish in hawaii vs oregon. Well, it turns out that most of the good places don't open until dinner or they are on another island. We decided to go find some sushi at lunch, but were unsuccessful. Instead we hit this place called The Blue Lagoon on Front Street and had some disappointing food and drinks (at least I did). Another bad food experience.

But it was wedding time so Bill dropped me off at Kelcy's so the girls could get ready together..although, Kyle Dobashi was in the room most of the time..can we call him a girl too? =)

I used a flat iron for the first time and I fell in love with it. If I didn't have two kids to get ready in the morning, I would totally do that to my hair. My hair looked great (at least to me). The dress actually looked a lot better on me once I was surrounded by the other girls too.

Kelcy looked beautiful. She had on a spaghetti strap ivory dress with a small train. She also had the cutest shoes. We all headed over to the Jodo Mission so we could get the party started. The girls were lei'd and the flowers smelled so GOOD! As we were proceeding to the alter, the wind was starting to kick it up a notch and we could see the clouds getting bigger. The sun was gone and it turned a big overcast. After the ceremony was pictures and we had a good time, except there was a nazi videographer that just wouldn't let the newlyweds get to the reception in a decent time. During this time tables were being moved to covered areas, just in case, but thank goodness the rains never came and the evening turned out to be perfect! Everyone ate (the food was amazing..courtesy of Jayson Asuncion and his crew), drank, and danced (Kyle was a great DJ, if you're looking for a DJ, check him out). The party moved to a house and unfortunately, I was tuckered out and went to the hotel and slept.

Sunday, October 26

Time to come home. We left Lahaina early because we wanted to check out the neighboring cities. We headed southwest and north and drove through Kihei and Kahului, not that exciting. We drove to Paia and Kapua and that's where we saw the surfers, para-surfers. It was exciting and definitely a highlight! We got in at 11pm and went home and found two sleeping kids. It was a cute sight.

We had a great time in Maui and at Kelcy and Ben's wedding.

Check out the pictures from our trip here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/patty.grunwald/MauiAndKelcySWedding

Pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins!

Fall is my favorite season without a doubt! I love the crispness in the air and just bundling up and getting cozy.

With Halloween only three weeks away, we decided that it was time to get ourselves some pumpkins! We went with our friends the Ly's and Arbuthnot's and also met a new family, the Vogler's (Lynn's neighbors and they are very nice). We went to The Lake View Farms in North Plains. It was the first time that we've been there and for the most part we were impressed. They didn't have a pumpkin popper, but the other activities made up for it.

They have a boat ride that takes you to the pumpkin patch and a little train that brings you back from the pumpkin patch (or you can go to the pumpkin patch by train and return by boat or use the same mode of transportation for each way - so many options)! In the water they have a shark that comes out and pirates on a boat and and on the train, they take us through a tunnel that is decorated in a fall/halloween theme.

We had to do a little searching, but we picked three pumpkins! I have to say, for being a boy, Jae was worried about getting dirty and he was complaining that it was too sunny (oh, he will learn soon enough about it being 'too sunny' in Oregon)! He seemed to like pointing out the pumpkins that were rotting more than he did the ones that weren't. LOL. After we picked our pumpkins, the kids played on the hay bales and just enjoyed the open air!

A great time was had by all. Even Hannah was very well behaved..although, I'm sure she was tired from the night before..but that's another story in itself..teething. Enough said.

If you're interested in checking out The Lake View Farms, here is their website. http://www.thelakeviewfarms.com/

The mamas..

Mommy and Hannah

Jae and his long lost brother...LOL!

The kids...

Click or cut and past URL to view the pictures from the Pumpkin patch.
http://picasaweb.google.com/patty.grunwald/PumpkinPatch2008#

Buffalo Wings...mmmm...

Check it out if you are in Portland (http://www.portlandwings.com/).


A co-worker of mine told me about this place. He's a wing lover just like I am. It is located on Interstate just by the Prescott Max Station. It's not a large place and it's kind of a self serve establishment. One great thing about this place are the array of sauces. They offer like 12 different sauces that you can choose from. They had some good music playing in the background and we saw people from all walks of life there. Men in suits, construction workers, a family, a couple, and then me and Stephanie!

We were kind of hungry so I think (I should emphasize the "I" here) we over indulged. I ordered wings with sweet potato fries (my new favorite thing are sweet potato fries). I chose two sauces, the Medium hot sauce and bbq (I won't get the bbq again, stick to the hot sauce). Stephanie got onion rings and the HOT hot sauce..she was living on the edge.

The wings were good. Not too crispy fried and not too fatty. The hot sauce had good flavor and if I didn't have my sweet potato fries, I probably could have stuffed a couple more chickens into my belly!

Writing about our experience is making me want some hot wings now..

Stephanie's visit...

This entry is a long time coming!!! It's been about 3 weeks since Stephanie visited me (she currently lives in San Diego), but I've just been so busy lately and I'm actually behind in blogging that's I'm finally getting around to it. I've got a lot of stories that I want to post, but need to find some quiet time that I can dedicate to this thing.

So let's focus again...So Stephanie had a conference in Seattle and decided to extend her visit and hang out in Portland for a while. She met me at my mom's place (this is the weekend of my momb's b-day) and then we drove down to Portland. Stephanie got to experience the first Im family meal and I'm going to say that she realized how boring and repetitive Korean meals can be. Yes, we like eating leftovers - morning, lunch, and dinner, and then again the next day! LOL!

Once we were in Portland, I took a couple of days off from work and we went shopping. It's been a couple of years since she's been in Portland, so I wanted to show her some of the new things that have popped in the City. It actually turned into a quick drive around town. We went to Fire on the Mountain for lunch (that's another post) and got our grub on some chicken wings.

The highlight of the trip was getting a quick 'makeover' at the MAC counter at Nordstrom's. Stephanie and I went in to get some 'pointers' on how best to do the eyes and we came out of that place looking like something..or rather, I should say "I" came out looking something. It just wasn't that cute at all.

The kids really enjoyed seeing Stephanie. Jae still talks about her when he sees an airplane.