Go Blazers

To celebrate our friend Lyla's 1st bday we took the girls to their first Blazer game! The girls loved all the action at the Rose Garden and I'm pretty sure ate every snack they could get their hands on. The Blazers won which made it and even better night...but in the girls opinion after Lyla's bday cupcakes it couldn't get much better.

Christmas

This was the first Christmas in our new house (we've actually been able to say that about every other year based on how often we move). We are definitely staying put for a while. Grammy Bobbi, Grandpa Bill, and Uncle Cody and his family came up to Portland to celebrate with us. We had 5 kids 5 and younger in the house. Very fun and lots of excitement with all the cousins running around.

Ellery with her baby cousin

 

Daddy lifting his weights

 

All the kiddos on the night before

 



 

Hannah and Ellery showing off their new PJ's

 

 



 

More Pjs.  Ellery & Emily's had matching nightgowns for their dolls or stuffed animals.

 

Stocking time!

 

 

 



 

 

Update in Pictures 2012

Just some random pictures of the girls




 

Before Ballet Class

 

First time bowling!

Surprise!  I slipped this one in there!   We're having a new baby in 2013!!

Elf On The Shelf 2012

Our Elf on the Shelf  "Snowflake" was a busy girl this year...as long as someone (me) would remember to move her.  I forgot for the first FIVE days in a row and finally added a reminder to my outlook calendar.  I dont' know why it was so difficult to remember.  Anyway, here are some of her best poses.   The girls would get up each morning to see where she was an what kind of trouble she had gotten into overnight.  Our Elf (me) isn't as creative as some other people but she got a little adventurous eventually.

Hanukkah

I only have photos from one of the first nights of Hanukkah but they are some cute ones. Inspired by Pinterest, the girls and I made dradles out of pretzels, marshmallows, Hershey kisses, and blue sugar. They looked super cute but in my opinion were gross. Super sweet. However, we took them to Grammy Linda's party and the plate was clean. I think the kids loved them....adults...not so much. ;-)

Tree Hunt

As a kid I remember going out to tree farms with my parents and looking for the perfect Christmas tree. I couldn't wait to start that tradition with my own family but we found ourselves buying from the neighborhood lots or even having a faux tree these last few years. I decided this would be the year that we went on our first official hunt. We went to tree farm just outside of Bethany. Of course as we pulled into the lot it started raining so we knew we had to make it quick. Bundled up Emily & Ellery, found a hack saw, and we were off. The girls loved running around and looking at all the tress. They kept picking trees that were just slightly above 3' and perfect kiddo trees while we were really looking for something a lot bigger. Once we found "the one" and convinced the girls that they helped make the decision we had the lumberjack (Andy) start cutting with the help of two little assistant lumberjacks. The tree farm offered services to shake the needles our of your tree and bundle it with twine so it went from this huge awkward thing to a nice compact package that we stuck inside our car instead of tying on the roof. Not quite the memories I had as a kid but I sure can appreciate the upgrades that tree farms have implemented. Not to mention the fact that the excess needles that can go on and on for days were already removed. Can't wait to go pick out our tree next year!

Thanksgiving

This year we went down to Eugene for Thanksgiving. We had a great time at Grammy Bobbi's house. The girls were able to have a extra special visit and stayed a few days longer when Andy and I came home. Here's some pics of them modeling their turkey t shirts that I made the night before. Not too shabby for a less than crafty mom.

Trick or Treat!

The Fischer's came and joined us for Halloween again this year. Last year we went trick or treating in Tigard which was nice because the road is flat and the houses are one after another. You can hit up a bunch of places and only go a few blocks. Since we moved we decided to stick around our new neighborhood. I knew it was hilly I just forgot how much so. We all got a lot of exercise trudging up and down hills of spaced out homes. While it was a lot of work the girls were rewarded with a TON of candy since they seemed to have been the only three little trick or treaters out. We're talking the good stuff and big stuff. So to a parent it was worth it (says the one who ate most of their candy) but to a kid I think our old neighborhood would have been a little better.

The girls had been planning their costumes for months and by August Emily had settled on pink super girl and Ellery was going to be a fancy princess. We were expecting the Fischer's at 5:30 and at about 5:29 Ellery was crying her eyes out because her princess costume wasn't as fancy as Emily's. Emily had special boot and gloves. Wahhhhhh. Clearly we had limited options but I did happen to have a spare set of cat ears and tail that I bought years ago as my "back up" costume in case I ever needed to dress up. I asked Ellery if she wanted to be a cat and her tears dried up. Off she went to find a cat clothes and within minutes we were back in business. I think this was the better option than the white princess dress because that would have been covered up by some sort of a jacket...and I had yet to break the news to her yet. Crisis Averted!











Earlier in the day the Girls dressed up in their best Oregon gear. Part 1 of their costumes..

Fall Trips

We've taken a few trips so far this fall. Las Vegas, Santa Barbara, and Ocean Shores Washington. Two were work related, one Andy joined me on, and the last was family trip to the beach in Washington. We happened to go on the wettest, grayest, and stormiest weekend ever. We were essentially stuck inside the entire time. Normally that wouldn't be such a bad thing but it took almost 4 hours to drive there and we already were cutting the weekend trip short. I'm not sure I've given Ocean Shores a fair chance but there seemed to be nothing to do except go to the beach and the drive alone is enough to remind me that we have plenty of beautiful beaches with lots of fun things to do down here in Oregon. I'm pretty sure we have crossed that location off our list.



Work trip to Vegas.  Stayed at the Bellagio.  It's a beautiful hotel but there are always so many people looking at the exhibits or just walking around that it makes it hard to maneuver when you are staying there and on a mission (to find a meeting room in the endless halls of the conference center).



Apparently my dad has a casino and never told us.



The Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara.  A week of work was never so relaxing!  The resort was beautiful and the spa was to die for.  That is saying a lot from a person who doesn't like massages (or at least before bacara).  We also did a 12 mile bike tour through wine country that was so pretty and scenic.  I realized I haven't been on a bike in quite a long time and was sore for a week after.   It was fun though (as long as my hand was close to the breaks!)



And finally....the rainy weekend in Ocean Shores.  We tried to go to the beach but the girls were not big fans of the sideways ran and strong winds.  After two attempts we gave up.  Luckily we brought and easy bake oven, lots of books, and a DVD player.  The power also went out while were were there and thank goodness the townhouse had a flashlight.  Dark, unfamiliar place, facing the choppy ocean, at 7:30 pm isn't so fun.