THE CAKE!

My son is 2 years old!!! TWO! It came and went so quickly I hardly recognized that it was here. His actual birthday was last Wednesday, the 13th, but Jason had a test to take in Chicago so we pushed it off a bit. Actually, it was kinda weird because we opened a few presents Wednesday with Jason before he left and then a few more were spread out over the next couple of days culminating with the CAKE! Finally! On Sunday. I kept trying to work on it earlier but for me it was quite the undertaking and I just kept putting it off again and again. Finally, it was unveiled Sunday night, AND was quite well received.

I do have to give a little warning. There's going to be a lot of pictures involved. As his birthday was approaching I decided to start a scrap booking project for Zach and was going through the last year in pictures when I realized that 2 weeks from last January were missing. Just GONE! We have no idea what happened to them, but they are lost. Sadly, his 1st birthday was included in those pictures. I would have been completely depressed but I remembered that I had posted them here on the blog. There weren't a lot but there were some, so I don't feel like it's a total loss. As a result, I'm going to post a bucketload of pictures here so they are safe. ; ) Enjoy? Or ignore, I guess these are kinda more for me.

Here's the Cake! I have to say, it was a whole lot easier this time around than the last few I've done. I just might be getting the hang of it!

Zach was pretty good at blowing out the candles (video to come later)
We had to let him do it over and over again.
Then, since it was just us and a BIG cake, we just gave it to him and let him enjoy.

First he licked the edges.
Then, after he poked the frosting a bit, he started to turn the cake in circles and taste it all the way around. It was at this point that Jason and I decided we could live without cake that evening.
Ah, destruction! Such a beautiful cake. I had to pat myself on the back a little bit for being able to allow this to happen to my beautiful cake. At least I got a picture. ; )
And the AFTER shot. I think Zach enjoyed his birthday cake.

Snowed In!

Since we've been gone for so long I sort of forgot what happens around here when it snows. I mean REALLY snows. We got about 10 or 12 inches of snow yesterday. Since Jason is out of town, I went out during Zach's nap time and attempted to get some shoveling done about midway through the storm but my belly made me call it quits after I got the area around the doorway cleared off. I was still pretty proud of myself. Sadly, I woke up this morning to find that my efforts had been in vain. I actually had to push the snow out of the way to get the door open so that I could take the trash out. Our trash cans are currently sitting on top of the mountain of snow created by the neighborhood snowplow. I don't know if you can tell by the picture but it's actually well above my knee! It's days like today that I REALLY wish we had invested in a snowblower. (note: the neighbor's driveways are all perfectly cleared- I woke up to a symphony of snowblowers. I'm GREEN with jealousy!)

Haymond Cabin Trip

Sunday was a crazy day. It was the day of Norwegian Christmas but FIRST we headed up to my family's cabin in Island Park. The weather was PERFECT! The sky was super blue and I just loved the view we had as we drove into the valley. The contrast of the dark trees with the white snow and the blue sky were awesome. And then we saw this up a head. UH OH!
It looked a lot scarier than it was. It looked like a WALL of fog but it ended up just being a light fog over a river and we drove through just fine. Zach got to hand out with some of his second cousins. He was completely fascinated with one of the girl's braces.
He just couldn't figure out what those shiney things were on her teeth.
We had an antler making contest- Our team won! As we put the antlers on my cousin's head Zach decided he wanted to join in.
Here's my cousin Natalie modeling our "antlers"
And again with all the pregnant girls! Holy Moly!!! We are everywere! On the far left is my sister Shaila. She is due 3 days before me and in the middle is my dad's girlfriend's daughter Lisa. She is due about 2 weeks after me. There were giant bellies everywhere!

Norwegian Christmas

This last month has been pretty crazy and we have finally come home to our quiet little house. It's a stark contrast to all of the adventures we got to enjoy while visiting family in Idaho. We spent most of our time staying at the Gundersen house with my in-laws and Norwegian Christmas brought some great food along with ALL of Zach's Gundersen Cousins. Here's a pic of the whole gang.

Zach loved every minute he got to spend with his cousins. He was the youngest one there but he sure didn't know that and he would join in whatever fun the kids were having.
Pregnancy was in the air and I got to go to a baby shower for Jason's cousin Heather (far left) who is due mid January. (I think?) We got to take this fun pic with all the pregnant girls in order of due date. I'm next with March 13th, then Heather's friend (missed her name) Alicia, another cousin was due April 6th and Brendi, my newest sister in law who is due April 26th (day before my b-day! hooray!)
Zach joined his cousins for a sleepover (until mom took him upstairs) Here he is with his one and only boy cousin Roy, who really took him under his wing. They got along so well despite the age difference. Zach followed him around like a little puppy, copying everything he did.

Then, the BIG PARTY began...

Jason's cousin Shelly arrived with her little girl in the CUTEST Christmas dress I've ever seen. I guess it helped that it was modeled by such a doll. Believe it or not... She MADE this dress herself! No Pattern!!! She is a Crochet Genious!!!!
My pictures are a bit out of order, sorry! Zach sat on Santa's lap and didn't cry at all! I was so proud. Jason had been telling him Santa was going to bring him a train so that he would be excited. When his turn came he was all business. He sat, grabbed his gift and was out of there to open it and start to enjoy. Completely fearless, as usual. He didn't get a train but he was definitely not disappointed. What he opened instead was this totally awesome Mega Blocks Mack Truck. I can tell you, he hasn't stopped playing with it since we came home. He has been taking it apart and reassembling it over and over and over again. At first we had to help him out a lot but now he pretty much can assemble it himself.
Here's the traditional Santa pic as Zach picked up his annual Scandinavian candy bar (promptly confiscated by mom and dad). Notice, No tears! No panic! That's my boy.
Every year the highlight of Norwegian Christmas is the dance around the Christmas tree as we sing English and Norwegian Christmas carols. Again, pictures are out of order, this happens BEFORE Santa arrives and then he joins in for the last few songs. Once again Zach figured he was just as big as the other kids and he even joined in the fun. He held hands with his cousins and they skipped (or ran frantically, depending on the song) around the tree. He giggled and giggled the whole time.
Once and a while he would get scooped up by dad as he went. Obviously, you can tell by the grin that he was just loving it!
Here's the whole gang, Santa included.
Finally, a priceless pic of Zach with Aunt Brendi. I'm not sure what they spotted, but it was apparently VERY exciting. Maybe it was Santa? LOL!!