Retraction

So after chipping our car out of its half inch encasement I need to retract my implications that Portlanders are wimps when it comes to snow. My winters in Utah never had the wind factor that we have here in Portland. I never had to chip thick ice off the car. Brrrrrr. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Utahns or others are wimps by any means.

14.5 inches so far and we are expecting 5 more tomorrow and Christmas day! We are pretty much snowed in here for the holidays. So from Portland we wish you all a warm Christmas.

Let it Snow

The weather has been crazy recently. First there were freezing temperatures then snow then rain and now even more snow. There are probably 7-12 inches of snow outside right now and the freezing rain has just started. It's going to be a fun week. It's funny because at BYU nothing was canceled because of the snow. I still tromped to school in 2 feet of snow, but in Portland almost everything is closed when there is an inch of snow on the ground. Sounds a little pathetic but I guess it's just not common here. The roads are very slick so it is probably good to have as few people on the road as possible.

Church was canceled last week due to snow and it will probably be canceled again this week. We just hope the roads aren't too slick so we can make it over the hills to Tillamook to visit my parents and Valerie for Christmas. We picked Valerie up from the airport on Friday. We're glad that she made it here. After she landed they have pretty much shut down the airport. Almost all flights leaving Portland have been canceled until Sunday evening or Monday.

Hobbes has been enjoying the snow for small intervals through the day. The wind makes it feel so much colder that you can only stand being outside for a few minutes. Here are a few pictures I snapped of Hobbes enjoying the snow.

Here's Hobbes', "I'm ready to got inside now Mom" look!

Santa

Santa made an appearance at our Ward Family Breakfast. Hobbes was brave and didn't cry or squirm. He just liked looking at Santa's beard. I wasn't close enough to hear their conversation so I don't know what Hobbes wished to get for Christmas. They must have been having a good conversation because he was up there for about a minute. He had had enough of Santa and wanted to get down when Santa started to hang candy canes on his ears. Silly Santa.

Little Joys of Life

Hobbes loves to draw. I finally bought him a small pack of crayons a little while ago. He absolutely loves them. Mom does too now that he doesn't have to draw with pens anymore. This picture is of Hobbes right after we got home from the store. He plopped down on the floor and was coloring and organizing his crayons. I love being able to re-experience life with my son as he discovers and grows.

Halloween

I think Hobbes is a fan of Halloween. He didn't mind dressing up like a duck. I'm sure he would have done a lot more for the candy. Here is the little cutie all dressed up and knocking on Grandpa and Grandma Nash's door.

We had to work with Hobbes for weeks in advance to make sure he could actually say "quack" on Halloween night. You see, he loves dogs and it used to be that all animals said "woof, woof" to him. Now the dog says "woof", the duck says "quack", the cow finally says "moo", the bird finally says "tweet", the cat finally says "meow", and the monkey finally says "ou ou, ee ee". We are still working on the other animals.

Carrots

I recently harvested a bunch of carrots from our garden. Hobbes had fun helping me pull them out. We encounter some strangely shaped carrots. Check out these two braided carrots. We also harvested a ball shaped carrot. After washing them off, Hobbes claimed the carrot ball and began devouring it. Yeah for fresh veggies!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Mail, markers, bubbles, and drumsticks.

Who doesn't love mail? Hobbes received his first correspondence that wasn't related to a birthday in September. It was a thank you letter from his Grandpa and Grandma Nash. Hobbes had recently spent the night at their home and they were thanking him for playing with them and being such a good boy. He thought it was awesome that he received his own letter in the mail.

A few months ago Hobbes realized he was strong enough to pull the caps off pens and markers. I think he decided to do something with that knowledge before Mom and Dad caught on and took them away. Here is the master at work.

Hobbes loves saying the word "bubble" and "pop". He says those words at least 10 times a day. But more than saying "bubble" and "pop" he loves to play with bubbles. Maybe that is why he was drawing on himself so he could take a bubble bath, hmmm.

Yum, drumsticks. Hobbes is just like his Mom and Dad, he loves ice cream. This picture was too cute to not post.

Moscow

Grandma Snyder, Hobbes and I went to visit the Kunzlers in Moscow, ID. We went to visit and help Marianne before her baby came. I enjoyed visiting with Marianne and Wesley and helping them get more settled into their home. Hobbes had so much fun playing with his cousins. In the picture above Hobbes is drinking some milk with his cousin April. He had a lot of fun learning about sharing with April. She also taught him how to go up the stairs without crawling.

Hobbes really liked going to a playground with everyone. After watching Eliza, Ammon and Jenessa go down a slide, Hobbes built up enough courage to go down by himself. Don't worry, he didn't go down head-first. He turned around at the top and went down feet-first on his tummy.

Dru and Janessa Davis

After a 3 month hiatus from blogging, it's about time I catch up. I'll just share a few highlights that happened along with some adorable pictures of Hobbes.

In September Hobbes was a ring bearer in his Aunt Janessa's wedding. He looked adorable in his tuxedo. It was a little big but he didn't seem to mind. The wedding was beautiful and it was fun to spend the day with family and friends to celebrate the union of Janessa and Dru.

Hobbes did a wonderful job walking down the aisle. After the rehearsal we were a little worried that he wouldn't make it without Cheerios or fruit snacks to help encourage him to keep walking. But thanks to Michael, the other ring bearer, he did just fine.

July's End

July was a busy, busy, busy month for the Tolivers. Every weekend we seemed to be out of town visiting family. First it was California, then Tillamook and Yakima. Don't get me wrong, we love to visit family and get out of the house to do things, but we also love just being home. So far August is off to a peaceful start. Although we are planning a trip to the zoo next week and a trip to Tillamook towards the end of the month.

We had so much fun in Tillamook visiting my Mom, Dad and oldest niece, Bethany. Hobbes had a lot of fun playing with Bethany and Misty, the dog. Mom and Bethany took us on a train ride up the coast. It was so much fun. Here is Hobbes waiting for the train:

The train went from Garibaldi to Rockaway Beach. When we got to Rockaway we briefly went to the beach (I'm embarrassed to say that this was Hobbes' first time to the beach. I know, I know...we were in Southern California and we didn't visit the beach? I blame it on the family sickness that was going around). We also visited a few candy shops and bought some munchies for the ride back to Garibaldi. There was saltwater taffy, fudge and popcorn. Hobbes liked the popcorn the best. He couldn't get enough of it.

We also went golfing in Tillamook. It was windy and cold. Hobbes liked to chase after the golf balls and dig them out of the holes when we were finished with the hole. Since the weather had been so hot before the trip, I forgot to pack Hobbes a jacket. So I had to wrap him up in my jacket. I think he looked like a Jawa from Star Wars as he hobbled around the course.

After visiting Tillamook it was off to Yakima to visit Brendan's Dad, Shayne. I was there to be trained to start doing some medical billing for his family practice. So the trip was mostly work for Mom while Dad got to hang out with Hobbes all day. On the way to Yakima we did make a little detour to visit Stonehenge! Not the one in England, but the one in Maryhill, Washington. It is just across the Oregon border on the way to Yakima. It was built by the famous Sam Hill. Hobbes thought it was pretty cool. There were lots of places to run and hide.

Since we've returned from our travels we've enjoyed sleeping in our own home, but we really miss the fun, games and conversations with family. I've started working from home doing medical billing, Brendan was called as the first counselor and teacher in the Young Men's Presidency, and Hobbes has been working on his phone etiquette. He LOVES to talk on the phone. As some of you have experienced, he doesn't usually say much when he is talking with a live person. He usually just laughs, says "hi" and pushes buttons. But when there is no one on the other line or when he is pretending a toy or other object is a phone he is quite the chatter box. His one-sided conversation usually goes something like this: "HI (said really loudly with much enthusiasm), ohhhh, ahhhh, ha, da, da, ba, ba, da, da, ohh, ahh, ha, ha, ha, bye, bye!"

We are anxious to see what fun and adventures August holds for us.

The 4th of July

We were in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo, California the week of Independence Day. Brendan's Mom's family was having a family reunion. It was so much fun to meet and catch up with his family. Hobbes got to have his first waterpark experience. He never really warmed up to the kiddie pool. Brendan or I had to hold him the whole time. He did enjoy inner tubbing down the lazy river and running away from the waves that lapped on the shore of the wave pool.

I think Hobbes loved playing in the sand the most.

We took a little walk to the park where we watched the fireworks. Hobbes got to ride on Mom and Dad's shoulders.

Dad and Hobbes are anxiously awaiting the fireworks.

Hobbes loved watching the fireworks.

Hobbes also had fun watching everyone slide on the slip-and-slide.

All in all, it was a very fun trip and we are sad that it is over.

All Boy

Hobbes has been growing up so fast. He is just over 13 months old and loves to climb and explore. When I'm working in the kitchen Hobbes is busy opening up the cupboards and playing with all the fun things he finds. He also has started hiding his toys and other things he finds around the house (Dad's cell phone) in the cupboards.

Superhero Hobbes with his strainer helmet! Now he needs a cape.

Playing with the TV remote. If you can't find the remote

it's probably in the kitchen cupboards.

Hobbes sucking on a pot handle.

Hobbes standing in the pot. Right before I took

the picture he had both of his feet in the pot.

Hobbes loves to climb up on anything and everything he sees. This file box is the perfect size for him to be able to reach the light switch. The box is actually there to stop him from opening the basement door to his right. The door knob is low enough that he can reach it and twist it open.

I've thoroughly enjoyed being the Mom of a boy thus far. Before I was pregnant I always wanted a little girl first. Probably because I grew up with so many sisters (5) so I was more comfortable with them. But now I can say I'm so happy I had a boy first. Hobbes has already introduced me to a boy's world and it looks like it will be a dirty, fun and memorable.

Blogging Debut

After reading all my friends' and family members' blogs I decided it was time to jump on the bandwagon and start my own. I like the idea of a blog. It's a great way to keep in contact with people and to quickly check up on friends and family when you don't have as much time as you would like to dedicate to those relationships. I also love the visual aspect of being able to post pictures and videos.

In this Toliver Tales blog I'll focus on our family and what we are up to. Since Hobbes consumes most of our lives the stories and photos will probably tend to focus on him. But he's cute so I don't think any of you will be complaining. I'll try to post updates from Brendan's and my life as well.

Well, here's to blogging!