Last Birthday month (February) weekend...

....so we made the most of it! Friday night, Brent and I had tickets to see Beauty and the Beast at the Paramount Theater. I loved the performance - it is my favorite Disney princess movie!

Picture taken from inside Paramount Theater....right before I got in trouble for taking a picture of "Disney copywrited material"

On Sunday, we headed to Snoqualmie Summit and Brent accepted his role as instructor for Day 2 of my snowboarding lessons. I think I actually liked it this time - more falling, but also more time staying up on the board. Here are some pictures from just 45 minutes away from our house - what a difference elevation makes!!

Saturday Fun!

We had a great Saturday! After Brent had a little target practice with his new high powered pellet rifle, we cleaned house to get ready for our company. We met my cousin Evan and his girlfriend Kali for dinner at Ram Restaurant & Big Horn Brewery at University Village near UW.

Then we gave them the keys to our house so they could go relax and we hit the town to see Big Head Todd - one of Brent's favorite bands. The venue was really cool - Neptune Theater originally opened November 16, 1921 and is the last of five movie houses standing from the silent movie era in the University District. I really only recognized two out of all the songs he played, but really enjoyed the concert. He definitely has some awesome guitar playing skills. When asked if he liked the concert, Brent Eason said this about the performance, "Todd still has it."

The next morning we woke up and made a breakfast for champions - pancakes, eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. Great Sunday breakfast before our Spokane guests had to drive back home.

Las Vegas

Brent and I went to Las Vegas for a nice relaxing vacation.... it didn't hurt that it was my birthday too while we were there! We stayed at New York, New York and had an AMAZING view of the strip.

View from our hotel room

On our first full day (my birthday), we walked down to Caesar's Palace for lunch at Rao's. Jill and Scott recommended this brand of pasta sauce to us and since we love it, we had to go to the restaurant. Look at the size of that meatball! Yum!

Meatballs!

We walked down to The Forum Shops and Brent got me a really nice birthday present. Here I am showing off my Coach bag with my Coach water bottle.

I love Coach!

That night we got dressed up and went to the Venetian for steak and mashed potatoes at Delmonico's and The Blue Man Group. The steak was amazing and the show was hilarious. We proceeded to the blackjack table where I turned $50 into $355! What an amazing birthday day!

The Year of the Dragon

The next day was spent walking around the hotels by New York, New York. We went up to dinner at Aria and gambled a little at Monte Carlo. The elevators to our room were right past Gallagher's, so we enjoyed viewing the aging steaks on display before heading up.

Brent in front of Aria

Brent admiring the aged steaks

Our favorite game of the weekend was "Wild Huskies." It looked just like Diesel!

Oscar vs. the Ducks

Almost every day, Oscar goes through the same routine. Since we live RIGHT ON the lake, ducks seem to love our yard - especially when the water rises so high it takes over our backyard.... but that's an entirely different issue. Oscar cries and cries to be let out to chase the ducks, but we don't let him out all the time. Here's one time when we did....

Ducks relaxing in our backyard

Ducks clearing OUT after they hear Oscar coming

Oscar clearing the yard of any potential enemies

Oscar reviewing his good work

Kensie Grace Eason

On December 19, 2011, our lives changed forever. We found out that the little person I was carrying in my belly for the last 20 weeks had a severe case of micrognathia. When the genetic test results came back, we would find more complications with the baby. To say that Brent and I were devastated, would be an understatement. We were so happy to be expecting. We had already found out we were having a little girl, we had already picked out her name and the baby gifts were arriving daily. After long discussions, Brent and I made the hardest decision of our lives - we would terminate the pregnancy.

Kensie Grace Eason was delivered on January 6, 2012. She will be cremated and buried above my grandmother, her Great-Grandmother Grace, who she was named after. She will always be remembered and loved - our little angel in heaven, our first baby.

Things are getting easier every day, mostly. It's hard looking down at my belly and not feeling her kick. We think about how we had planned for 2012 to be a certain way and how all that has changed. We have since received more bad news from the genetic test results which will make it difficult to have a healthy baby. Brent and I are hopeful that someday we will have a healthy baby, but to be honest, right now that seems a long way off.

We do appreciate all of our friends and family who have been there for us this last month. We appreciate all the phone calls, emails, cards, gifts and flowers. Even though we are so far away from most of you, it made it feel like you all were a lot closer. We intend on continuing this blog with our life in Seattle and hope for happier posts in the future.