A Pacific Northwest Vacation

(I apologize in advance for some of the formatting. I wasn't watching when uploading the pictures and selected the wrong format)

We started of 2010 with a 10 day vacation to the Pacific Northwest. We flew out New Years Day headed for Seattle where we spent the night downtown then headed to Anacortes for the weekend. The kids did great making the traveling much easier. The weather was another story. It managed to rain most of the time and was cold and pretty cloudy but that didn't stop us from having a good time. Here's a look at our vacation in pictures.

A view of Anacortes, WA from Cap Sante nearing sunset (4:30 pm).















Haley and Daddy





We took a Ferry ride to Friday Harbor. In the winter they do not run as many ferries so we were only able to stop long enough for lunch but Haley really enjoyed the ride on the boat





Outside on the deck with Mt. Baker in the background. It was too cold for Jackson

Haley's favorite place to hang out

Arriving at Friday Harbor

The ride back. Haley giving her baby brother kisses
The weather cleared up just enough to get a beautiful picture of Mt. Baker

We then drove up to the top of Mt. Erie. It was really cold and windy up there. Good thing the kids fell asleep in the car.

Next we went down to Deception Pass. Jackson was hungry by now...

A view of the Deception Pass bridge. It looks really small but it is huge.










And on to our trip to Whistler, British Columbia. It is about a 4 hour drive from Anacortes. Again the kids were great travelers. Haley watched movies most of the time while Jackson slept almost the entire way.

Haley outside of the hotel

One night Matt and I took Haley down the bottom of the ski slope on the sled. It was COLD but we had a blast. She kept saying "again".

Daddy and Haley built a snowman outside our window

Haley named the snowman Frosty

(oops...switched the formatting again!)

Grandma took Haley up for a ride on the gondola where she got to see all the skiers and had a snack at the top. She had a good time.

Matt and Haley at the bottom of Whistler Mountain

A closeup of Princess Haley

Jackson came along for the walk but slept out in the fresh air.

While Haley was on her adventure with Grandma, Matt, Jackson and I did some shopping in the village and had some lunch. Walking back to the hotel we took a wrong turn and ended up on a cross country skiing path. It was beautiful...

But not easy to push the stroller in the thick snow!

We finally made it back home and took a rest from all the walking :) We enjoyed our time in Whistler but by the end of the trip we were ready to get back home.

We had an early morning flight out of Seattle so we decided to hang out in Seattle Monday night to break up the trip some. We had dinner at the top of the Space Needle with the entire family (us, Grandma, John, Nathan and John's girlfriend Kendall).

A view of downtown Seattle from atop the Space Needle

A ferry coming to dock

We had a great vacation and a wonderful way to start 2010. One thing I have learned with two kids now is that it is a little harder to take pictures. My resolution for the new year is to take more pictures. The kids are growing so fast! Happy New Year!!!!

Catching up on 2009

So here is the last of 2009 in pictures. It was hard to condense a month of activities into a few pictures but hopefully this is a good representation.

Haley's school put on a Christmas music presentation. It was precious! Haley did pretty good not getting nervous in front of everyone. When she saw me at the end of the presentation she shouted "there's my mommy!". Then started to shake her bells. We were very proud of her.

Before the show

Haley and Jackson on Santa's lap prior to the show. Haley was not a happy camper while Jackson was sound asleep.

Haley shaking her bells! Way to go big girl.

Jackson at 5 weeks

The weekend before Christmas we made a trip to San Antonio. Haley wanted to see Shamu.

Feeding the dolphins

Pretty girl

Jackson and Mommy

Let the Christmas festivities begin...

Haley making Christmas cookies

Daddy making faces at Jackson

Christmas morning. Haley trying on her new purple princess dress and opening up her Cinderella doll.

Christmas evening in El Paso.

Tia and Haley in her Snow White dress

Jackson on his first playdate. Zeke is 5 weeks younger.

After we returned home we ended a wonderful 2009 with a visit from the Kirkham boys (our old neighbors.)

Alex, Haley and Ben after some Double Daves. And Haley and Ben kissing....

Now on to 2010! We started it out with a bang and have been moving full speed since then...

Happy New Year

I'll warn you now I don't have any pictures to upload yet but they will be coming soon. This last month has been crazy in our family. I guess I should start with the weekend visit to Sea World San Antonio the weekend before Christmas. Haley had a great time seeing Shamu and Jackson did a good job sleeping most of the time. Haley keeps asking to see Shamu again so I'm thinking another visit to Sea World will be fun in the Spring.
Christmas was a blast. Haley had a little bit of present overload this year but this was the best Christmas yet. After her first few presents she just wanted to play with those instead of opening the rest. She asked for a Cinderella doll, a Snow White doll and a Mermaid doll from Santa. Santa brought two of the there and "Aunt" Kendall bought the Mermaid doll. Besides the dolls I would have to say her "Christmas Tree" (which is really a counting tree) and her bouncy house from Uncle Mark are her favorites. Jackson didn't ask for anything but got tons of new clothes. He will be styling for the next few months now. After a delicious Christmas meal we headed to the airport to catch a flight to El Paso where we had Christmas with Matt's family. While in El Paso we were able to visit with family and friends. Jackson hung out with our friend's baby who is 5 weeks younger. I guess that was officially Jackson's first play date :) Haley did awesome and had lots of fun with her grandparents, Tia and Uncle Michael.
Our next highlight was a play date with the Kirkham boys. Ben made quite the impression on Haley as she is still talking about him. Too bad they live half way around the world but hopefully they will come home soon! I have some really cute pictures of the kids I'll post when we get home.
And finally on New Year's Day we headed off to Seattle for a 10 trip to Seattle, Anacortes and Whistler. This was our first trip back to Anacortes since my Step-dad passed away. We were able to meet up with old friends, go on a Ferry ride to Friday Harbor for lunch, a see the picnic table donated in his name at the baseball park. Now we are in Whistler hitting the slopes (or at least thinking about hitting the slopes). The Winter Olympics are in Vancouver this year with the skiing up at Whistler so it's neat to see all the Olympic stuff. Matt is snowboarding today with my brothers and I hope to go tomorrow while my mom watches the kids. My brother Brian and nephew Matt from California joined us yesterday so Haley is having fun with them. Her new name for Uncle Brian is Uncle Poopies. I'll leave why that is for you to figure out. Thank goodness we have our own room.
We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Looking forward to sharing pictures of our adventures soon.

Welcome Jackson

Wow, so much to catch up on I'll have to split it into a few posts. First, we would like to announce the arrival of our newest family member, Jackson Matthew Vara. Jackson was born on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 6:59am. He weighed in at 6 lbs 5 oz and 19 inches.

Our little guy made quite the entrance into the world. Here's the short version...I had been on bedrest for 2 weeks with slightly elevated blood pressure and a dilated cervix but it appeared that we were going to have to evict this baby just like his sister. We had scheduled an induction for Tuesday, Nov 17, but Jackson had other plans. At around 6 am I woke up with very mild cramps. I decided to take a shower and they would not go away. So I woke up Matt and told him I think we are going to have a baby today, thinking several hours down the road. He took a shower and my pain got a little stronger but nothing major. We called the dr. and she said to go ahead and go to the hospital since I was already dilated. Once we were in the car and outside the subdivision, I had a big contraction and my water broke. I could immediately feel the baby coming. I told Matt there was no way we were making it to the hospital and we decided to try to make it to the fire station which was just off the road on the way to the hospital. We pulled into the fire station and Matt jumped out to get help. The fireman came over expecting it to be a false alarm and to their surprise...SURPRISE...a baby is coming now! So after one push the head was out and a second the body was out. We had a baby boy! Best of all he was healthy and crying. The ambulance then arrived and cut the cord and moved me to the stretcher. My mom came by with Haley before we left and off we were to the hospital with our special delivery.

I left out all the funny conversations, calls to the dr. and panic but overall I think we did pretty good keeping it under control considering the situation. Looking back I think of all that could have gone wrong and I'm so thankful it turned out so good. The firemen were very excited as it was their first delivery at the fire station and even came by the hospital to bring Jackson some gifts. I know Jackson will always have a special place in their hearts and they will in ours.

Here are some of the first pics of Jackson.

Haley's first look at her baby brother. In the ambulance before we left for the hospital

About to leave

Jackson Matthew Vara

Daddy and Jackson

Haley, Daddy and Jackson

Proud big sister

Jackson checking out Grandma

3 of the 4 Firemen who delivered Jackson

Wonderful Weekend Weather

The weekend weather was beautiful here in Houston so we decided to take full advantage. Friday night we enjoyed a nice dinner outside watching the boaters go by on the lake. Uncle John came home from College Station and Haley was excited to see him. I was a little surprised she remembered him since he hadn't been home in more then a month but she did. Saturday we did Little Gym, looked at a few houses and enjoyed lunch at Market Street. We had found a house we liked and wouldn't you know someone beat us to it! Oh well, it just wasn't meant to be and we'll find another.
Today we headed to the pumpkin patch at the Merry Christmas Tree Farm in Spring. Uncle Mark, Grandma, Uncle John and Kendall joined us as well (Uncle Nate had to work). It was really busy, guess because it was such a beautiful day. Haley enjoyed the train ride and the hay ride best of all. She did really good for having to wait in line. Her favorite treat was the cherry snow cone Uncle Mark bought her. She wouldn't put it down and by the end her face was dyed red! Oh well, she enjoyed it. The only down side was that I had to use the bathroom 3 times, which is not fun in a stinky port-a-pot :( At least I brought my hand sanitizer. The joys of being pregnant!
Tomorrow I will be 35 weeks! I see the dr. again on Friday so I am anxious to see how it is going. When I was pregnant with Haley, it was the exact same dr. appt where I found out she was coming soon. We'll see what this one does...
Have a great week and enjoy the pics.

Haley and Daddy enjoying the weather outside


Mommy and Haley on the swing



Haley giving the baby a kiss :)


Haley resting on the baby

Pretty girl at the pumpkin patch

Trick or Treat

Evidence of the cherry snow cone on my face

Grandma, Uncle John, Kendall, Mommy, Haley and Uncle Mark waiting for the train ride

Uncle Mark, Mommy and Haley on the train (Haley wasn't too excited yet because she had a stinky! We changed it on the train and then she was happy again)

Haley and Daddy on the train (after the diaper change)

The group on the hay ride

Part 2 of 2

As promised, 2 posts in 1 week, WOW! For Labor Day we made a trip to El Paso to visit Matt's family. Haley had a good time playing in the pool and with the dogs (2 yellow labs) as well as all the cool toys Grandma and Grandpa Vara bought her. Here are a few of the photos from our fun filled weekend.

Haley with Elysia (Matt's Goddaughter and the flower girl at our wedding!) and her sister Jordin. The girls are getting so big.


Seve (Matt's good friend), Daddy and Haley at Cattleman's Steakhouse. A Vara Family tradition



Great Aunt Gloria, Grandma Vara, Grandpa Vara, Uncle Michael, Daddy, Haley and Seve in front of Cattleman's.


Haley watching over Grandpa. Why are you putting the chair in the pool Grandpa???

Grandpa and Haley at the Zoo.