Happy Holidays!

We had our annual holiday party Saturday night at The Flaherty's. The snow kept falling and we kept having fun! Jamie (Gonzales) and Linzie were out rolling around in it!! CRAZY girls!!!

(I must have had my camera on a weird setting because most of the pictures from Kylah's party and the holiday party were out of focus. hhmmm...maybe if I had my new camera!?! As always, you can view all of my pictures at www.picasaweb.google.com/amberzpix)

the best part of Christmas - kids with smiles!!

Makena got this from Tracie - we all agreed that it fits her well!

We got home around 10:30pm . The drive wasn't bad - the snow was nice and powdery, not icy. But the freezing rain was making the wipers freeze up. Jamie and I went out to measure the snow - it was at over 11 inches! I don't remember the last time we've had that much snow! I am planning on getting us up to Mt. Hood sometime soon for some snowshoeing.

The snow had a thick layer of ice this morning - I had to break a path for Moxie to go outside. Here is my snowman and back deck at 9am this morning.

Girls Scouts at the Community Center

My GS Troop helped out at the Hillsboro Community Center on Saturday morning - it is called the Girl Scout Christmas Breakfast for the Homeless. We've enjoyed volunteering for this event the last 5 years. This year, the girls helped out by sorting donated clothing. Unfortunately, the toys, food and clothing donations were much less this year but it was to be expected. The Christmas Breakfast is a great thing!

After a couple hours of sorting, I took the girls outside to play in the snow for a few minutes. They got cold very quickly and were ready to go home!

Happy 5th Birthday Kylah!!!

Kylah Teagan turned 5 on December 17th!! Her birthday party was on Saturday (20th) at Safari Sams. We were a little worried that they might close up due to the weather but they didn't disappoint the kids!! : ) I think Kylah had fun at her party!! We love you Kylah!!!

The Birthday Girl getting ice cream

Why I smiled...

"Why I smiled" today, yesterday & the day before...

PRESENTS! I finally got some wrapping done and there are presents under our tree!

SNOW! It's still snowing and I'm enjoying it! We are helping out at the Community Center today and then have Kylah's bday party and a Christmas party tonight - we'll be seeing a lot of snow.

I threw a snowball at Moxie

CASA! I received a wonderful gift in the mail from the CASA program. The designs are drawn by kids...it's beautiful!

And the following in a letter:
We kids know there are a lot of ways to give and a lot of people to give to. We know that sometimes it's easy to be forgotten when you're a kids, and even easier when you're a foster kid. We all want you to know how good we feel when you remember us, because sometimes it feels like no one else does.
So here is a gift for you, made by kids like us, to remind you how much it means for you to be CASAs. We might not know what the letters stand for, and we might not know what the words mean, but to us, CASA is another word for caring.

I visited with my CASA child on Tuesday - I hadn't seen him in a while and it was a wonderful feeling to have him run out and give me a big hug!

Vegas Baby!

We made it home from Vegas yesterday (Monday)...after 6 days, we were ready! Yes, we were supposed to be home on Sunday, but Jamie had to be on-site for another job there at 2am...so we stayed an extra day and caught an extra show. We went to 7 shows in total and ate at some wonderful (wonderful) restaurants! I'll update my blog soon with photos and info...I have over 220 emails to catch up on and still need to find my desk after being gone a week. Oh...and lots of other blogs to read too!

We did miss the snow here in Oregon, but I hear there is going to be more so that's good! Our flight was only bumped 1/2 hour due to weather and the drive home wasn't too bad.

"Why I smiled today" - I woke up in my own bed with my own pillows...I love my bed and pillows!

Time for one more

I did a lot of catching up on my blog today and I have just one more...

I had to drive a part out to Jamie in Wilsonville today, so on my way back I stopped by Dylona's house to surprise them. I accidentally woke up Kallie (sorry D) and played a bit with Kylah - I didn't have much time as I had to pick up Makena from school. Dylona mentioned that it 'may' snow this weekend while we are gone...I hope we don't miss it! I know it's not going to be hot-hot in Vegas (65 is better than 30 tho) but I don't want to miss any snow that we do get. I haven't decided yet if I'm bringing my laptop to Vegas, so I'm not sure if I'll be blogging or not. I haven't even decided what I'm packing to wear...guess I'd better get some laundry done!

Jamie ended up getting to leave the job site early today...he ordered Happy Panda Chinese on the way home. I had a Girl Scout Cookie meeting tonight so that my troop will be ready for cookie sales to start in January. (Wooo-whooo!) I didn't get home until 8pm, so Jamie & Makena had dinner without me...but they waited to have cake with me.

(what more could he wish for? he has me!)

Happy Birthday Honey!

So, last week Jamie tells me not to buy him a birthday present. "Why? What did you already buy?" I ask (I know him well) "Oh nothing." he says...with a big smile on his face. I don't tend to shop 'last minute' so I had already gotten him a few things - well he only got one of them today (saving the others for Christmas now) because he bought himself a new laptop. (He ordered a laptop online...didn't have to stand outside in the freezing cold for hours to get it!!) He "says" he needed a smaller one for traveling - I teased him that he just can't stand that mine is better. : )

Oh - Can you even believe that she already finished this huge jar of pickles??? (Yuck!)

"Why I smiled today" - all kinds of things! Jamie's birthday, eating Makena's yummy cake, seeing Kylah, Kallie & Dylona, some Christmas presents arrived, listening to new songs on my ipod, getting to try the new Girl Scout cookie, not having to cook dinner and now going to pack for Vegas!

Happy Birthday Jamie!!

HAPPY 36th BIRTHDAY JAMIE!!!

Yep...he's 36 today! He was at a job site until almost 10pm last night and left again early this morning. Hopefully he'll be home earlier tonight so he can open gifts and eat cake! We hope you have a Happy Birthday - we love you!!

We leave for Vegas tomorrow - we'll be back on Sunday. He was originally going for just two days to meet a customer, but then decided to turn it into an extended trip so that we can go celebrate his birthday. Makena isn't happy that we're going out of town without her - I just remind her that she wouldn't like Vegas. (I mean, who would want to be in the sun...sitting by a pool...shopping...sight seeing...or enjoying a show??) Besides, she has school. : )

Makena made a cake for Jamie last night. It was the first time that I had let Makena do all of it by herself. (Yes, I know she's old enough...it's just one of my issues to believe so.) After breaking a couple of eggs, she decided that she needed an apron. And, while she was using the blender, she figured out why you are supposed to leave it in the bowl while it's mixing. (Just a little chocolate all over the kitchen...) Then...yes, there is more...she went a little crazy with the sprinkles as they came out faster than she thought. It all turned out tho and we can't wait to eat it tonight.

Our tree

I put on the holiday music and we decorated our tree on Sunday...

I love Hallmark ornaments...and have quite a few of them. We each get an ornament each year - something my Grandma Neena started many years ago. I've started a collection for Makena and Jamie...and try to continue with the series and add along the way. Sometimes we get more than one tho. : )

my ornament from 1986

My ornament from 1989 - #2 in the series

Makena liked mine, so I bought her this one in 2004 - #17 in the series

I bought this one for Jamie in 2005 - #18 in the series

another of my favorites - a glass blown pig

one of Makena's favorites - from Auntie Dylona in 1997

we bought this for Jamie in 2003 (for Duke)

for Jamie & I from Kylah in 2004 - Kylah laughing and Dylona talking (can't rotate the video)

I did a little research on the Hallmark ornaments (Mary's Angels specifically) and my #2 ornament is selling for over $90 w/damaged box. I would never get rid of mine, but wow! I'm glad that my step-mom saved these ornaments for me and that I've always been in the habit of carefully placing them back in their box.

Saturday

After bringing our tree home, Jamie had to head back up to the lake. He needed to secure the boat and wave runners better for the winter months. He also had a small stove to take up - it runs on our propane tank - and a neighbor was going to help him move it. Then he 'played with the boys' that were visiting.

Makena and I went to the Hillsboro Farmer's Market. There are only a couple of booths in the winter time, and we didn't see anything that we really needed. We then looked through a couple of other shops in downtown Hillsboro. Makena needed some new shoes, so we stopped by Famous Footwear for their 'buy one - get on 1/2' off sale. It doesn't seem like much of a sale when her shoes are $60+ a pair!! (yikes!) By then, we were starving, so I talked her into going to Lil' Cooperstown for lunch. She wasn't too excited...until her Oreo Milkshake came out...

Gram came over about 7pm and we were off to the Rose Garden to see Celtic Thunder. Beautiful music and singing! They searched all over Ireland for these 5 men (boys) - they were great all together as well as on their own.

Not a Charlie Brown tree

We got up early on Saturday to find our tree. I love that we live in a place where we can do that! I can't imagine not being able to find and cut down our own tree...and then enjoy the smell of the fresh tree all month long.


We tried a new tree farm this year - Hagg's out in Scholls. Very family friendly and helpful, and tons of great trees! It sometimes takes us quite a while to find and agree on the perfect tree, but it went quickly this year. I like the untrimmed Noble Firs, Makena likes the largest or the smallest one she can find, and Jamie likes the Douglas Firs (well, he used to anyways) - we usually end up with a 6 to 8ft trimmed Noble as our compromise. The tree always looks bigger and bushier when we put it up in the house! All the better for our assortment of ornaments tho.


It was only about 34 degrees, but the sun was shining so we were lucky. After we cut down the tree, we carried it to the road - where a truck came by and picked it up. It was then taken down (to where we were waiting in our nice, warm truck) to be shaken, wrapped and then loaded into our truck. Jamie loved that! Then we went to have some hot-chocolate and look at some holiday crafts, wreaths and farm animals down in a barn. We were too early to visit Santa...maybe next year.

Crochet 101

Makena and I took a crochet class on Friday night. We taught ourselves two of the stitches correctly, we just needed to learn a few more. Makena found it easier to use a larger hook, so we purchased a couple new ones. I think we may still have a while before we begin the little amigurumi animals...I'm working on a scarf right now. Maybe everyone will get one for Christmas! : ) (Lucky you huh?)

after 1 1/2 hours - mine is cream, Makena's purple

The teacher was very helpful, but the class was rather expensive ($35 each at Jo-Ann Fabrics) for a 'general' lesson. And...we had to buy all of the materials separate. We may or may not go to the 2nd class.

My thoughts exactly!

Couple 'a things

1. While at Fred Meyer last night, I was VERY excited to see that Hershey Kisses had new flavors! I bought a bag of each of the Cordial Cherry, Caramel and Peppermint. (I must like them...there aren't very many left.)
2. I put that spray snow stuff on my front windows...not sure if I like it.
3. Makena and I are taking a crochet 101 class on Friday...we need to make sure we taught ourselves to crochet correctly.
4. On Saturday, we're going to the Rose Garden with Gram to see Celtic Thunder - a Celtic dancing/singing group.
5. My damn foot is bothering me again...I think it's just the tendinitis tho.
6. The laminating machine that I ordered came in, but they were out of the actual laminating paper (of course). I placed another order online as the stores were all out too.
7. I put Christmas music on the radio in my truck, added some to my iPod and put a song on my cell phone.
8. I am a total procrastinator lately...when it comes to actual work related things that is.
9. Makena and I went shopping at Kohl's on Monday. She is much more fun to shop with now! (Her clothes are more expensive tho!)
10. A friend sent me an email with cute little pictures on it. Here is one of my favorites...I'll send more later.

"Why I smiled today" - Jamie gave me the last chocolate chip cookie.

Our Turkey Day

A little pack of pumpkins and gourds from our neighbors

Chef Richard

All the yummy food

the family

time for dessert!

taking silly pictures

Blogger has a mind of it's own sometimes...and it can drive a person with OCD crazy!!! The spacing does what it wants...not what I want...no matter how many times I change it. Oh well...one more thing for me to 'get over'. : )

The long weekend

On Saturday, we went back up to the lake just to finish 'winterizing' everything. It was the first time that Jaime had been up there. He was impressed, until Jamie put him to work.

Then we took Jaime, Rick and Gram to dinner at PF Changs. We gave Rick his laptop - birthday, Christmas and bonus gift. It was nice to spend some more time with Gram.

Jaime left on Sunday afternoon...he'll be back in a few weeks. After watching some football, Jamie put up the lights outside. He says the snowman is too much of a pain to put back up again next year...we'll see. I turned on the Christmas music and decorated the inside of the house. I still have a few more things to do, but I'm already enjoying the Holidays!

It's December!

I love the Holidays!! Jamie put the lights up outside and I decorated the inside. We will go get our tree this weekend...then I'll be ready to wrap presents! I received my first Christmas card yesterday (love those too!) - you are even more organized than I am Kathy! Seasons Greetings!