The Riley Family

We have been busy these past two weeks! The week before Christmas Grandma and Grandpa Gilson and their little dog Samantha stayed with us for a couple of days. It was great to see them and get to spend time hanging out. Kate and Jack just loved Sam doggie, but she wasn't too thrilled with Jack's hugs! Christmas was quiet and very nice. Auntie Chris, Jason, and Grandpa Bill all came up to spend the day. We had a lot of fun opening presents and eating a ton of food! Pictures at Picasa .

We went downtown this weekend and had a great time shopping, hanging out at the hotel, and going to Paul's work holiday party. Auntie Chris and Jason came down to watch the little ones while we went to the party. Some pics at Picasa .

We found out yesterday that the new baby is head down - hurray. Hopefully he/she will stay that way!

Happy 20 month birthday to Jack. Getting close to 2 finally! Maybe next month we can start saying 'he will be 2 in April' instead of the months :).

Here are a few pictures of playing in the snow from earlier this week. The kids love wearing their snow pants, but J doesn't really like getting snow on his face.

OK, so these aren't really reviews, but some book ideas that you might want to check out. Happy Reading! Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen . This has good reviews, but I just couldn't get into it. Only read the first few chapters. The View from Mount Joy by Lorna Landvik . I loved this book and easily got into the characters. Some of the radio program passages were a little long, and every once in awhile I got stuck on the idea that the author is opposite gender from main character. A fun, fast, entertaining read. Songs without Words by Ann Packer - Reading this right now, but not sure how much more I am going to read - about half way done now. When I check 'hot' books out from the library I only have 2 weeks to read them (which can be hard depending on how things are going.) I knew going in that there was going to be a 'tragedy', then figured out what was going to happen, so spent a couple of chapters on edge just waiting. I like the characters, but I am ...

We can barely keep that dog inside! He loves running and playing in the snow. It is good exercise for him. His friend Gritzy next door isn't a huge snow fan, so isn't out as much, and Bella, who loves the snow, just had knee surgery so can't play. Some pics at Picasa .

We had a bit of snow this weekend, so we broke out the sleds, but tonight it started to snow for real. The kids played outside for a few minutes, but can't wait for the morning. We'll try to take some pictures! It is early for this much snow (4+ inches expected) so we don't have snow pants yet, but I don't think that will stop K & J from playing for at least a little while.

'No' was probably one of Kate's very first words, and she used it often, but Jack just picked it up this weekend. He thinks it is so funny to say (probably because Paul and I keep laughing when he says it) and will say it over and over :).