Christmas in Portland

Last week, a few days before Christmas, we took the boys into town to enjoy one of our favorite holiday traditions. We go to Pioneer Square, sip hot chocolate and admire the really big tree.

There's just something magical about the city being all decked out for the holidays. And sometimes there's "interesting" people watching to be found.

It was super cold the afternoon we went, but we were too happy to notice.

Plus, the hot chocolate was SO good.

One of us was so happy to be there that he couldn't stop dancing around.

The second part of this tradition is a trip to Finnegan's. The boys have generally gotten a little Christmas money in the mail by this point, and are restless to get something new and fun.

I just love looking around! Finnegan's is my very favorite toy store, so many neat things in every nook and cranny.

It's so much fun it can bring out the kid in even the most mature of middle schoolers.

The only problem is that it's so hard to decide what to get. There are just too many good choices!

Christmas Past

Seasons come and seasons pass

but we still remember

the joy we shared on Christmas last

looking forward to next December


Flowers bloom, then pumpkins grow,


then suddenly it starts to snow.



Then our hearts are young again

You know it’s Christmas time.

Christmas Cookies and Cousins

This last Saturday we had our annual pre-Christmas get together with the girl cousins. For the last several years we have made gingerbread houses together, but decided to try something new this year. I think the variety of cookies gave everyone much more room to be creative, and they tasted much better than the gingerbread houses do.

I love that this has become a tradition, and that they boys really look forward to it each year.





The boys definitely had a theme going with their cookies.

We had specific Oregon Duck foot ball players depicted.

Some even had helmets that covered their entire heads.

And of course there were lots and lots of die hard, gingerbread Duck fans.

It seems like our visits always go too fast. By the time the kids have warmed back up to each other it's time to say good bye.

Our Tree

This year we stuck with tradition, and headed to a local tree farm to pick out a Christmas tree. We went on a very chilly day with ice in the forecast, so I was determined to make a quick selection. Paul suggested that perhaps we should get a "Charlie Brown" tree this year.

And Fuller was busy entertaining us, and looking menacing. Maybe 12 year olds and saws aren't a good combination.

Grayson found a tree he liked, and refused to budge from it. Unfortunately it wasn't the prettiest tree of the bunch. Paul told him we'd look for that one next year and see if it was still there.

Rowan was much more interested in the sticks on the ground than the actual trees.

I requested that the boys all smile nicely for just one picture with their dear old mom. This is what I got:

In the end we found a lovely tree, and used some excellent team work to cut it down.

Then we brought it home to decorate. I vowed not to do any relocating, even if there are branches with 4 or 5 ornaments on them.

And voila! Another beautiful Christmas tree!

And three very cute boys!

A Little Discussion about Government

This afternoon Grayson and Rowan were happily eating their snacks and watching cartoons. Someone on the cartoon was given "the key to the city". Rowan asked Grayson who had the key to our city. Grayson replied "Obama...he has the key to the white house, and the key to our city." Rowan wondered what the key opened. Grayson said he didn't know, but he knew that our last president, George Washington, doesn't get to have a key to the white house anymore. Rowan corrected him saying, "George Washington was the first president." Grayson replied, "well it was George something."

Feeling Nostalgic

When I look back at the Christmases of my childhood, I find that I hardly remember any of the presents that I got. There are a few that stand out, but I sometimes wonder if I recall them just because there are pictures of me with them. I find that the main thing I remember about past Christmases is being with my family. I remember doing big jigsaw puzzles and playing games together. I remember listening to Christmas music and admiring the lights on the tree. As cliche as it sounds, the simple things really were the most important.

It is my wish this Christmas, that when my children grow up they will remember and treasure these same things.

The longest season

Soccer season has been over for a while now, but for some reason I haven't been able to bring myself to blog about it. Until now. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it has something to do with the hundred of pictures I took, but didn't really feel like sorting through. Or maybe it's because after dealing with the soccer schedules for three different teams for a few months, I was mentally very "done" with soccer. That's not to say it wasn't a good season, because it was. It just seemed to get very long there at the end.

The kids are at such different levels right now, that it makes their games almost seem like different sports. Rowan has a much better grasp of the game than he did last year, but he still gets distracted with wanting to talk to his friends and get silly.


He had good coaches who kept him on track and made it fun for him.



At Fuller's level everything is so much more serious. The coaches really work them hard, and have higher expectations of them, and the boys have much higher expectations of themselves and their team.

He still seems to love it, but I find myself not loving his level of play as much.

It's just too intense sometimes, and I really get tired of listening to him complain about the referees.

And then there's Grayson. As a middle child he has a very natural competitive streak, but still likes to have a good time. He seemed to be at a happy medium this year. Not as serious as Fuller, and not as silly as Rowan.

His games were some of my favorite to watch this year. They know enough about the game to make it interesting, but still have fun.


Plus Grayson has such a natural athleticism about him that is neat to watch.

The season itself was a good one. The boys ALL had good coaches this year, which was a great relief. Unfortunately our season ended on a bad note. Grayson and Rowan were both too sick to play in their last games or go to their end of season parties. And due to bad directions Fuller didn't make it to his last game until half time. Which in the end was a good thing, because they lost that one 26 to zero.

Gobble,Gobble

A week ago we made our annual trek to Missoula to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of our favorite cousins. One of the things our kids really look forward to every year is getting to play in Montana snow, but as you can see from the pictures this was a snowless year. In fact it was so warm and dry the boys never even broke out their coats.

We found plenty of other fun things to keep us busy though. Barb and Jason are wonderful hosts, and kept us all happy and well fed (maybe a little too well fed).

The kids played and played. We went to movies, the indoor water park, shopping, and to ride the carousel.

We also had time for catching up and renewing our friendships with each other.

And snuggling with our favorite Uncle.

I'm so thankful that my kids have cousins that they love and enjoy being with. They're always so excited to get together, and so sad to leave.

If only we could succeed in talking them into moving back to Oregon.