Christmas Day

Our Christmas Day started with having to WAKE

up the kids at 9:00 a.m.!

Here they are on the stairs ready to go see what Santa brought!

We had a fun time opening gifts

The boys got Tessa just what she wanted -RED Vans!.

From mom she got an ANTIQUE LOCKET
Logan got the complete collection of ROCKY movies and a new camera since had lost his old one!

The boys bought their dad a ticket to the BLAZER/Celtic game. And then Clark gave Logan a ticket to the game and Logan gave Clark a ticket to the game! That makes a total of 4 Blazer games they will go to over the break - but I'm not counting! That is including the one they went to Christmas night. The girl's went to the movies while the boys were gone and we saw Marley & Me. The girls both cried - their dog hating mother did not!

With a little help from mom Clark picked out this darling HAT for Cali!

And the boys surprised mom with a combined Christmas and Birthday present

- a new I-POD!

As always dad was a great present hander outer!

Jim and Leigh Anne had agreed that they were not going to exchange gifts but they each cheated and got each other something.

Jim got a new set of cologne - perfect size for traveling and Jim got Leigh Anne a new GlassyBaby for her collection.

And then of course there was the traditional picture in the wrapping paper mess!

We had a nice relaxing day with visits to and from neighbors checking out what Santa had brought. Declan came for a visit - announced he was hungry so of course we had to feed him!!

Could we just KEEP him - please!?!?

We enjoyed a yummy dinner of prime rib, mashed potatoes, jello, Celestial Salad, homemade rolls, fresh sesame green beans and of course ice cream pie for dessert!

It has been a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Multnomah Falls

Just an experiment with sizing pictures but thought you might enjoy this larger pictures of Multnomah Falls!

Falls, Pizza and a Movie

The title of this post sums up our fun day!

On the front page of the Oregonian a couple of days ago was a picture of Multnomah Falls totally frozen over - no running water at all. Jim thought it would be fun to go out and see it.

Unfortunately it has warmed up a bit in the last couple of days so the falls are not totally frozen up any more but still an amazing site. We drove out this morning. There was still quite a bit of snow and slush on the roads the farther out the gorge we got. We saw numerous cars that had slide of the road including one large semi that slid off the road right at the exit of the Falls - there was barely enough room for our Suburban to get by.

This is the site that greeted us at Multnomah Falls today!

Me and my pretty girls.

I always love having my picture taken with one of my handsome boys...

until they use me as a human shield ...

because the other one is doing this!!

and then poor Tessa becomes a target!

Isn't brotherly love grand!

The walk up to the upper bridge was a little precarious - we had to hold onto the netting to avoid slipping down the cliff!

It was a beautiful site!!

On the way home from the Falls we stopped for pizza at our favorite spot in NorthWest 23rd. From there we met our neighbors the Osbornes at the movie theater where we went to see Seven Pounds. We enjoyed the movie but I won't say anything about it so I dont' spoil it for any of you who might go see it.

Dreams Do Come True!

The prime rib is roasting, the rolls are raising and I'm having fun playing on the computer while the rest of the family figures out how to play Settlers of Catan - thanks Nelson family!!


This year we didn't just have to dream about it and watch White Christmas to get a white Christmas- we actually got a White Christmas!

Christmas Eve day the kids (Logan, Cali and Tessa) went sledding with the neighbors. Clark was at home sleeping - recovering from going into work at 3:00 a.m. The boss got stuck on the freeway so he got to take an 1 1/2 nap in the car waiting for him to show up!




























Can you guess whose bum was a little sore the next day??



And then this morning - Christmas morning we got more snow! Looks like the temperatures are rising and the snowing will be leaving us soon though!

Christmas Eve Part Two

After our music program we put on our traditional Christmas pageant. This year Marsha and Larry had the "opportunity" to be Mary and Joseph - they were so excited!

Jim was the narrator and of course I was the camera man!

We had three good looking Wise Men!

And some darling shepherds...

And when the Angel of the Lord appeared they were Sore Afraid!

I am not sure there were really any rabbits at the manager scene???

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The entire cast

Of course Santa's elves delivered some new Christmas pajamas for everyone!!

and finally ...nothing was stirring...not even a mouse.....

Christmas Eve Part One

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve with our neighbors the Osbornes and our friends the Jensens. We had our traditional fondue and all the fixings! Lots of yummy food.

For dinner we had meat and cheese fondue, artichoke dip, pita chips and hummus, fried ravioli, vegetable tray, potato skins, jello, egg nog punch, Shirley Temples, and a yummy chocolate fountain for dessert.

After dinner we played our chimes and we even got Clark to play a carol on the piano and Tessa! Logan, Cali and Caitie sang together too and we all sang some Carols. Olivia and Brock Adams joined us for chime playing and the Christmas Pageant.

Hilarious!!

Someone who reads my blog sent this You Tube link to me after she read my post on our visit to Santa! It is hilarious. I laughed so hard I cried. It hit way too close to home!! Can I just say Logan and Clark!!!

Enjoy!

Visit to Santa

I shared some pictures of yesterday's visit to Santa on http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/ but thought I'd share some here too.

It was an adventure getting down to see Santa. The Portland streets are totally covered in inches of snow - no snow plows here! In fact we now have a layer of snow with a layer of ice on top and then another layer of snow! For a total of about 10-12 inches - forecast predicts another 1-3 inches tomorrow.

So we put the chains on the car and headed downtown. Earlier in the day they were requiring them for ALL vehicles. It was a little slow but we made it no problem. Our friends the Jensen's went with us - they were anxious to get out of the house and for a change of scenery.

While Jim and Logan were parking our car Larry, Matthew and Clark did their good deed for the day and helped push someone out of the snow who was stuck.

We walked right up to Santa - no line and got our photo! After that we wandered around downtown a little bit and took some photos of all the snow. Found Tessa a pair of winter boots at Nordstrom Rack. Rain boots just don't keep your feet very warm in the snow!

From there we sent over to the Pearl District and enjoyed dinner (1/2 price appetizers during Happy Hour) at PF Changs. It was a lot of fun and being downtown with the lights and all the snow really got us in the holiday mood!

Notice the guy on the bike in the picture - only in Portland!

Here's our visit with Santa. You should have seen the look on Santa's face when he asked Logan what he wanted for Christmas and Logan replied, "A wife!" Bet he doesn't get that request very often!!

Deck the Halls

We are on Day Seven of Arctic Blast 2008 - at least that is what the news is calling it. This morning we woke to 7 inches of snow with a layer of ice on top. There has been snow on the ground since last Sunday and we are enjoying Home Church again today.

Since I have some extra time on my hands you are getting some bonus blog entries this week! Today you get a tour of our holiday decorations. Enjoy!

The Living Room Tree















The Dining Room Buffet

Our nativitiy set - the one Jim and I made years ago after seeing it on the front of The Children's Friend. One of the wise men still has teeth marks on the bottom from where Clark teethed on it.

I also love my nativity sets we picked up in Chile and Argentina.

The Family Room mantle.. where the stockings were hung with care. These are not the stockings that will be filled on Christmas Eve - these are the new ones I bought because they coordinate better with the decor. The children insist on using their old ones.

The Family Room "Joy" Tree

The Living Room Mantle

The top of the piano

The entryway

This year's addition to the holiday decor - found all the fun glass pieces at Home Goods.

The banister which I hate putting up and left to the last. After it was all up and decorated I realized I had put it up backwards and the electric plug ins where all in the wrong place!!! I'm not taking it down and it just won't have any lights this year!

In addition to the two downstairs trees there is one in each of the kid's bedrooms too.

Tessa's ballet tree

The boys patriotic tree - in honor of my two Eagle Scouts

Cali's cute pink and green tree that matches her room!

Merry Christmas!