Packing it Away

I love decorating my house for the holidays.  What I don't love is getting all 35-40 boxes of stuff out of the attic and then putting it back again.  Especially now that there are no kids at home to help us get it down.

The last time I helped Jim do it I ended up in physical therapy for 6 months with tennis elbow in both arms so I am banned (darn!) from helping.  This year we paid a neighbor boy to help get the boxes down - WAY cheaper than 6 months of physical therapy.

So before the girls went back to school we took all the decorations down so they could help us put it all back in the attic.  They were good helpers despite a little complaining!  (I think it may have only been Tessa that complained - but just a little bit)

She's really not running away in that photo!

Cali manned the ladder, Jim was up in the attic and Tessa handed them the boxes.  What a team!  I took pictures.

 Why does it always go down so much faster than it goes up!

Happy New Year - Welcome 2012

So we were pretty much party animals on New Year's Eve. 

Logan was back in Provo, Cali and Tessa were off at parties and Jessica, Clark, Jim and I stayed home.  We played a few games, ate some food and managed to stay awake until midnight when we joined our neighbor's the Quillins out in the cul de sac for some pan banging and watching some neighbor's shoot off fireworks.

I did manage to do a little last minute New Year's decorating for the ocassion.

New Year's Eve Day, Breakfast and a New Car

Jim took Logan to the airport early Saturday morning and dropped him off.  We all drove over to the eastside to meet him at a new restaurant I had been wanting to try - Slappy Cakes.  It is a cook your own pancake restaurant. 

 They have a selection of pancake batters to choose from - we got buttermilk, whole grain and gluten free!

 You also can choose your toppings - we had blueberries, white chocolate chips, lemon curd, whip cream, peanut butter, pecans, bacon and dried apricots.  Jim's favorite was pecans and apricots

 The griddle is in the middle of the table and you just cook away!  So fun.

 My personal favorite was a buttermilk pancake with white chocolate chips inside topped with lemon curd, whip cream and more white chocolate chips!

 We even practiced our penmanship!

 We had to order a side of the chicken fried bacon just to try it - not too bad!

It was a fun adventure.

From there Clark and Jessica headed home and the rest of us headed over to Broadway Toyota to look at cars.  Unfortunately the white volvo had died a few days before.  We had just put 1,500 of repair work into it and two days later it died again.  This time we decided not to resurrect - just too much money with no guarantee it would actually be fixed.  Our mechanic has been encouraging us to buy a Toyota for several years now so we decided that was the route we would go. 

We went to look at used Toyotas but ended up with a brand new one when we discovered it was only a couple of thousand dollars more than a used one thanks to a great sale.

 So we got to take this cutie home with us!  I love it.  I get to drive it too!!!

It is a very pretty gray/green color.  The girls informed us before we got to the car dealership that we were not allowed to buy a white car since we already owned 3 white cards - boring!!

Mom's Birthday Celebration

On Friday before New Year's Clark and Jessica flew in from Arizona that evening.

We all went to pick the up from the airport and then headed over to Peacock Lane for our annual walk down the lane.

 From there we headed down Belmont to a Middle Eastern restaurant that Merrill Watts had recommended to celebrate my birthday.  My birthday wasn't for another week but Logan was headed back to Utah the next day and it was the only chance we had to all be together to celebrate.

 The kids spoiled me with lots of fun presents - a yoga mat carrier and water bottle from Cali,  Clark got me the Christmas songbook I wanted, and Tessa gave me a poster of drawings of all the Portland bridges.  Logan's present will come later.

Dinner was yummy and we had fun trying some new dishes and spices including some yummy lamb, and zatar pizza.

The food was delicious and the company excellent.  I love my family!!

Portland Food Adventures

No trip home for the kids would be complete without some Portland Food Adventures.  We love living in a city with so many fun and amazing places to eat!  Clark was down in Arizona visiting and Jim was at work so they missed out.

It was a rainy winter day but that didn't stop us!  I think food taste better when you eat it in the rain - especially Fried Chicken and Fish & Chips! 

The girls opted to eat their lunch in the car. 

After lunch we made a quick stop at Powell's Books and then went to check out a couple of bakeries.  We had found a gluten free bakery for Cali the other day but we found some gluten free treats at the bakeries we checked out today too.

At The Pearl Bakery we found some delicious peppermint macaroons - gluten free!!

From there we went to St. Honore French Bakery for an eclair and a lemon tart.  We also enjoyed a steamer to take the chill off the day.

It was fun to sit, relax, do a little people watching and Cali did some knitting!

More Christmas Day

I have some serious blog catch up work to do!!  Never did finish up Christmas!~

Since Christmas fell on a Sunday ( fortunately we had 11:00 church) we enjoyed breakfast and then got ready for church.

 

We enjoyed a yummy Christmas dinner with Prime Rib for everyone except Cali who had a roasted turkey breast.  Of course there was mash potatoes, gravy, jello, homemade rolls, asparagus and spinach salad too!

 

 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing - Clark in his new robe!

We had fun playing with the new Michael Jackson Dance game we got for the Wii.  Mom even tried it out!

Of course, we had to get the traditional photos of everyone with their gifts too.

 And yes, Clark spent the rest of the day in his robe!