Our New Secret Hiding Place

Season's Greetings from the McLains

We've decided not to mail out a Christmas card this year, one-because we figured we could put a letter in the birth announcement that we'll be mailing out in no time, and two-we're trying to save money for the birth that will be happening in no time. But if we were sending out cards, this is what they would look like:
We have had a wonderful year and feel truly blessed for all we've been able to do. Jeremy has 3 more semesters at WSU to finish his Chinese degree, and a great job that lets him work around school and family. The hospital has continued to be a blessing for me as they let me work almost at completely my own schedule. Maeli is getting so big so fast and just loves learning new things. She is flourishing at school and loves her friend and teachers there. Her favorite things are Whinny the Pooh and her baby. She loves to climb and play hide a seek.

So many amazing things have happened this year for our family. We bought our first home, which we love! We took a real vacation to Silverwood this summer, and another one to Disneyland this fall, both were with extra family which makes things so much more fun. And we are so excited to welcome another member to our family early next year. It seems to have been a year of beginnings and we can't wait to see how things continue to develop in 2009. We hope and pray that all of our friends and family know how much we love you, and how much you mean to us. To those of you we don't get to see very often we miss you. And we thank all of you for all of your thoughts and wishes over the year. Merry Christmas! Love, The McLains

ahhh...snow days

We had what I think has to be the best snow day ever. We knew it was coming, and stocked up on the stuff that we needed so that we could just relax and play... and that's what we did.
I thought our porch looked so picturesque with snow and the lights...ahhh...winter...too bad it'll still be winter in Pullman 5 months from now...
When Maeli woke up I showed her the snow and she said, "pretty." She and Daddy had fun watching the flakes fall.

Its Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas

My sweet husband has been enduring my Christmas mood since just after Halloween, but I think the bug has finally gotten a hold of him. The other weekend, of his own accord, he decided the house needed some Christmas lights...and out he went...I even heard him singing Christmas Carols while he was working.

We inherited a bunch of lights from my mom and Dad, but had never actually put any of them up. Turns out most of the worked and we only had to buy one strand to finish the look.

Maeli was quite impressed the lights, and her new coat.
On a side note, I made this cute stockings holder at Super Saturday..which I love, but caused a small bit of strife in my home. First of all, it so happened that I got a board that didn't have holes in it yet, which worked out great because I was able to buy an extra hook for the other kid we think we might want someday. However, I did get in a little trouble for bringing home "more decorations." Can't blame Jeremy, I'm a sucker for Christmas. So I drilled my own holes! Jeremy did give me a little lesson, but I'm still proud of myself. But we also have the rule that I'm not allowed to put holes in the walls...and Jeremy didn't like the hardware that I had with which to hang it (he didn't think it would hold very well if we put stuff in the stockings) so he got some other stuff which seemed more complicated, but a better solution to me. Anyway, after all was said and done, he hung my stockings with care, for which I am so grateful! Thanks honey.

Santa

Take 1

Santa is always at Jeremy's office party. I tried to prep Maeli for the whole lap business, but she would have nothing to do with it.


Take 2

As luck would have it, our church party was the next night and Santa was able to come there too...she still wouldn't sit on his lap, but at least she got close enough to get the treats.


Maybe if we'd had one more chance we could have gotten a lap shot. Oh well...there's always next year.

The Best Things About A Party...by Maeli

I went to a party because Mom's cousin got married. I got to dance with Grandpa

I saw lots of presents, but I didn't get to open any of them.
I tried to catch the bouquet, but I was shorter than the other single girls.
Then Daddy showed me how to blow petals all over the place.
It was so much fun!

Pies

Thanks to the spring form pan I got a while back but hadn't ever used, I was recently inspired...

Chocolate mint Cheesecake...So yummy delicious, but next time I'll get a helper to unwrap all 56 Andes mints


Lemon Meringue Cheesecake...A combination of two different recipes that turned out better than I thought it would...and also, so delicious.

A Weekend Wedding

We rushed to Oregon on Friday afternoon so that we could be there for my little sister's wedding on Saturday morning. Chanie wanted to include all her special little girls so she had a ton of flower girls. I was really busy trying to keep Maeli from eating her flowers, and Jeremy was filming the event, but we did manage to get a few pictures:

Mr & Mrs Scott and Chanie Brownlow

Maeli & Megan-the youngest of the special girls. The big girls actually walked down the aisle, Maeli chickened out and Megan's job was so just look cute in the pictures. Maeli thought it was pretty cool though that everyone was in polka-dots.
Not a great picture, but you can kind of see what the bigger girls' dresses looked like. Super cute.
Practicing the flower throwing. She had it down while we were waiting for the ceremony, but by the time things got started she was tired or trying to stay clean. She did throw her flowers though, but from the bench.

Trick-or-treat

Maeli figured out the candy thing VERY quickly. Our trunk or treat was planned to be inside this year because everyone was freezing last year. We went around the hallway at church where people had decorated doors and were handing out candy. Our little butterfly was pretty cute.And I came across this picture when I was uploading things, I think I'm about Maeli's Age, with my Daddy on Halloween.

Disneyland-in a not so little nut shell

Oh my gosh! We had such a great time. My doctor gave me permission to ride anything I felt okay about as long as it didn't have a lap belt that pressed on my belly, and wasn't to jerky. Jeremy test rode a few things I was iffy on, and I feel like a got an almost-full experience out of the deal (how could it be full without Indiana Jones!?) It took Maeli a little while to warm up to things, she's not much into change. But once she figured out that we were having fun, she was totally game. She loved the Carousels and swimming at the hotel. We had a great time with my family although we all missed my sister Wendy. It was just so great to get away from Pullman for a while, especially since we really won't get to have another vacation until after Tucker joins the family. Here are a bunch of pictures from Disneyland, California Adventure and Knotts Berry Farm. We'd be happy to tell you stories later, but the pictures are pretty self explanatory.


Why we love cousins oh so much! Thanks for all your help Hayden and Kennedy!


Knotts Berry Farm: The highlight--My brother getting stuck in the swings


Brian and Jeremy on the Silver Bullet.
Sheila, Hayden and me on the Perilous Plunge.

And another ride on the "horse"

Maeli was always so excited to see the characters, but really never wanted to get very close. Luckily, her Daddy was very brave so we could get some pictures.

Dumbo was probably Maeli's Favorite "ride." But I think that's because she recognized it as an elephant, one of her favorite noises to make.


Maeli did so good on the airplane. The only time our flight was full was from Las Vegas to Spokane, and she slept THE ENTIRE TIME! The people in front of us said they didn't even know there was a baby back there.