Oregon

 

 The Howard family made the trek out to Oregon to Visit Marci and her family.  We kept it a secret and didn't tell the kids until we showed up at the airport very early in the morning. 

Nothing hypnotizes kids quite like a tv show consisting of people in shiny suits trying to fit through human shaped cutouts in moving foam walls while avoiding being pushed into a pool of water.

 

After landing we spent the day in Portland before heading to our hotel in Eugene.  More accurately, we spent the day in Powell's Books, a really awesome bookstore.  The next day Marci and Brandon took us out to the coast. 

Ethan and Joanna made the trek to the top of the Yaquina Head lighthouse.

Matt was on the lookout for new birds to see and mark off in his book.

The girls were very excited to see green grass and made good use of it.

Down below the lighthouse was a sheltered little cove where seals were sunbathing.

The kids did some beach combing and wave chasing.

We had dinner in Newport and saw some sea lions on the docks.   Ethan heard them barking "ohr, ohr" and came up with the joke "how does a sea lion make decisions?  He asks, should I spend my money "ohr" save it.  Clever kid.

A little farther down the coast we walked around some tide pools as the sun was setting.

 

 

more sleepy seals

 The next day we did Eugene. 

After a morning at an awesome park we headed to Voodoo Doughnuts.
Ethan got one covered in marshmallow with bubble gum, Ginny went with sprinkles, and Joanna got one the size of her head. 

Slowly but surely she nibbled away at it.

Realizing she wasn't going to stop herself we convinced her to save some for later.

We walked around the University of Oregon campus, visited parks and the library, and swam in the pool a lot.  We went to church with Marci and Brandon in the spanish speaking branch and had awesome burritos at their friends' resteraunt where there was also a lot of spanish spoken.  Add that to the fact the Brandon only speaks to Rocky in Spanish and Ethan came away from the trip thinking everyone in Oregon only speaks spanish

 It was an amazing five days.

Stories

To give Ethan a little more practice with reading out loud he's taken over the job of reading bedtime stories to the girls.

As a reward he gets a chapter of a book read out loud to him by his dad.  Right now they're reading the classic, Wayside School is Falling Down.   

Hair Cuts

 

The gal who cuts our hair has some sort of magical power over my kids.  They all sit quietly and let her do her thing with minimal complaint.  Ginny got her first official haircut to clean up the whispy ends leftover from her baby hair.  I was worried she might loose her curl but it actually made her hair curlier.

The biggest of miracles is that Joanna lets her do "fancy stuff" to her hair.  I'm not allowed within ten feet of her with just a brush let alone a ponytail holder.

Ginny however is definitely more of a girly girl.

Ginny...

The reason why I can never find a dish towel when I need one.

Christmas

We had our traditional Christmas Eve with Matt's family in Ogden a day early this year, giving us a chance to be home for Christmas.  Everyone got their new pjs.

This was the first time we'd ever been home for Christmas with our kids, and I really liked it.  We watched Charlie Brown Christmas and the Nativity and made cookies and tucked everyone into their own beds.

The kids slept in and we had a relaxing day with legos and new games and puzzles.   Matt's folks came up from Ogden to visit and see the new toys the kids got.

Christmas just keeps getting better every year.

Making Christmas

Any parent can tell you that Christmas gets about a bazillion times more exciting when you have kids.  You know what makes it a gazillion bazillion times more exciting?  Making your gifts.  For two years now we've tried to make as many of our Christmas gifts as we can, and this year we brought the kids in on it.

Joanna made snow globes for every one on her list.  I helped her with the paint and glue and she did all the rest.   For Ethan's gifts we took leaves that we had collected as a family last fall in Logan Canyon and pressed them.  Then Ethan mod-podged them to votive candle holders.

In school Joanna made a calender for us,

and Ethan made us an ornament and coupon book for doing extra chores.

I built farm house style doll beds for my girls and nieces Rocky and Daisy.  My mom made the quilts and pillows and even the mattress pads for the beds.  She put a lot of work into those blankets and they turned out so stinkin' adorable.

 

For Matt's present I had to learn a new crochet stitch and ended up with a cozy new hat for him.

That book with the cute little bird on the cover was one a several journals Marci hand bound.

Marci put a big chunk of last year into making all sorts of gifts.  Besides the journal she printed up a cookbook of recipes she collected from friends and family and bound them by hand in cake mix boxes.  (We've made Aynna's flautas just about every week since Christmas).  She also collected a bunch of wrappers and folded them and pieced them into awesome little bags.

Marci also made treasure boxes for Joanna and Ethan:

Ethan loves the idea that his is a secret treasure box made out of Treasure Island.

 

I've mentioned the wonderful books Jill made out of our blogs:

I get a little choked up every time I look through mine.

Aunt Jilly gave the kids hand painted t-shirts which my kids would wear every single day if I let them.

My artist brother Doug gave us a print of one of his best paintings of the year.   I love it.  There was an empty spot on my wall that it fit perfectly in.

Doug's wife Terresa gave me one of her beautiful hand bound journals, and Doug brought out a pile of sketches he did way back.

This is of me around age 3 or 4.  Pretty priceless.

And last of all, I crocheted.  A lot.  I made afghans for each of my siblings (which I never took pictures of), two plesiosaurus', and one beluga whale for the kiddos.

 

A lot of people put a lot of time and energy into these wonderful gifts, and all that effort and love is really what makes them so wonderful.