Things really haven’t slowed down much after the holidays and after a couple of 60 hour work weeks I decided it was time to grab Jess and Jude and get the heck out of town. So we went northward to the land of Oregon and a wee coastal town called Brookings. It’s been a really mild winter so far and we were blessed with some nice weather so Jude had his first beach excursion. It’s still pretty cold though, and after being bundled up Jude ended up falling asleep and missing most of the trip. There’s something about the beach that centers both Jessica and myself and we had a great time exploring the tide pools and praying together as we walked. As for Jude, he’ll have more time at the beach in the future.
The two nights spent in Brookings went by too fast but it was so good to get away from the distractions of home and just chill.

Here are a few pictures from our trip!
Harris Beach
First Beach Walk
Family Outing
There’s a foosh in the sand!
Chubby Boy
Shadows
Tigger Stare Down

Here’s a few more pictures from our Washington trip of my family. It was so fun to introduce Jude to everyone and catch up with some of the family we hadn’t seen since last year. We just missed the snow- at my parents house it snowed all week and schools were closed. I remember how much fun snow days were as a kid- nothing to do but build snowmen and drink hot cocoa!:) One year it snowed so much around our house that we got out our cross country skis and skied around our neighborhood! Andrew is into down hill so I tried that with him a couple years ago and loved it, but I think cross country is still my favorite- especially taking the trails out where theres no one else around- it’s so beautiful.

Uncle Joe & Aunt Vicki
Ireland Here We Come
Great Grandpa with Austen & Alana
Jess & Cousin Siobhan
Jude & Mamaw
Jude & Great Grandma
The Family

We just got back from a road trip up to Washington to visit my (Jess) family and introduce Jude to everyone. On the way up we stayed with Mike & Adrienne & little Rosabel for a night and had fun hanging out with our babies- they weren’t very impressed with each other quite yet as you can see from the picture but we’ll give it some time!:)
We spent the rest of the week at my parents watching Jude, talking, eating, watching Jude, visiting family & friends, and watching Jude some more…it’s funny how a baby doesn’t have to do anything but we can’t take our eyes off them!! Andrew and I even got in a coffee date- alone- while the grandparents took care of Jude. We hadn’t seen my brother and sister-in-law and their kids since last Christmas so it was great to spend New Year’s eve and day with them. Little Alana was only a couple months old when we first saw her and now she’s walking! We also got to see my sister and brother-in-law who are moving to Ireland next month- we’ll miss them but it’s a good excuse to save up money for a trip to Europe someday.
Heres some new pictures from our trip and a video of Jude ‘talking’. Happy New Year!!!

Playing with Adrienne and Rosabel
I Don’t Want to Marry Him
Sleepy Monkey
Mommy and J-Bear
A Happy Little Bear
Cousin Alana Meets Jude
The Cousins Together
Grand Poppa’s Lap
Our Nephew Andrew
Reflecting on Life