Pretty in Pink Photo Shoot

Before Christmas, Lizzy (Clark's girlfriend) called me to ask if I would take some photos of her in a vintage dress she had purchased that Clark really liked.  The photos were to be part of his Christmas present. 

Of course I said yes so the Tuesday before Christmas we met up at Saint Cupcake in NW Portland.  I thought Saint Cupcake would be the perfect location for the photo shoot because of the fun pink decor and the fact that Lizzy loves cupcakes and is wonderful baker.

The people at the bakery were great and let me climb on chairs and move the furniture around.  After the bakery we walked up the street to a Jewish Synagogue and took a few pictures there too. 

I thought the pictures turned out pretty good for an amateur.

The Case of the Missing Umbrellas

On Tuesday, Cali's good friend Kat got married.  Cali was one of the bridesmaids.

When you get married in Oregon in December you have to be prepared for rain - lots of rain.  It poured all day, the day of the wedding.

A few weeks before the wedding they decided they better order umbrellas - good thinking!  Unfortunately the umbrellas weren't scheduled to arrive until the day of the wedding but they were confident they would arrive in the morning before the afternoon ceremony at 2:00 p.m.

Well, by noon they still hadn't arrived but Cali went into action.  She contacted her old boss at the UPS store to see if he knew what driver would deliver to Cat's house - he didn't, it wasn't in his area but he suggested we contact the UPS store on 185th.  Cali did that but the man there was not helpful.

Being a resourceful girl she called UPS directly and got them to text the driver and find out where he was.  Cali and Tessa then drove to the driver who happened to be at the Rock Creek Country Club.  Mission accomplished when the UPS driver nicely handed over the box of umbrellas - with only an hour left until the ceremony.

Cali and orange umbrellas were there to meet the bride and groom when they exited the temple!.  They added such a fun touch to the photos and helped keep everyone dry!

 Tessa was the official umbrella holder for the photographer.  She was a good sport.  She even went with them down to the Pearl for more photos after the ones at the Temple. 

Christmas Day

After opening presents we enjoyed a breakfast of hot, fresh cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate and breakfast pizza.  We didn't eat breakfast to almost noon.  The kids spent the day lounging, watching movies and enjoying some of their new gifts.  I of course, was in the kitchen!

Lizzy came over to join us for Christmas dinner which included prime rib, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, spinach salad, homemade rolls, jello salad and ice cream pie for dinner.  We have now confirmed that Cali is allergic to red meat - unfortunately she didn't enjoy the prime rib!

After dinner we posed for a few family photos.

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning didn't begin until 9:30 a.m. at our house this year.  Jim and I were up earlier but the kids didn't start moving until after 9 a.m.  Jim was getting a little excited and kept threatening to go wake them up!

 After opening their stockings upstairs they were ready to go.

 Jim got a new Oregon Ducks hat and President Monson's new book from Logan

 A cute new purse for Tessa

It was the year of shoes for Cali - she got one pair of boots and 3 pairs of shoes!

 Clark got some new lawyer shoes !

 Tessa brought mom home a couple of pretty scarves from New York

 Logan got a few new scarves too for his new jacket.

 Cali made Tessa a pair of pajama bottoms in her sewing class at BYU

 We're getting ready for the big Duck game with lots of Duck apparel!

 Some new artwork for Logan's office wall

 Logan got Cali some sparkly pink Converse!

 Some new Tom's for Tessa

 The aftermath!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is all about tradition at our house. We have been doing the same thing for 30 years!  And more if you count my childhood.  I think if I tried to change anything my kids would hang me!

The kids and Jim had time for a round of  Ticket to Ride before the festivities began - I of course was in the kitchen

:Lizzy, Clark's girlfriend joined us for Christmas Eve since her family wasn't celebrating until the day after Christmas when her brothers were in town.

Of course the evening started with our fondue dinner - meat fondue and cheese as well as a lovely assortment of appetizers which of course included potato skins!

The Osbornes and Jensens joined us for the evening too.

 After dinner we did our traditional chime playing.

 And Hannah and Tessa began our musical program with their annual rendition of Chopsticks!  There was also some caroling.

 Jim got to be the narrator for our Christmas pageant this year.

 And Lizzy and Clark were Mary and Joseph.  Thanks for being a good sport Lizzy!

 Everyone else played their traditional roles!

 Although he was a little late this year Santa delivered his new pajamas for the kids.

A fun evening - ready for bed and Santa!