A Year in Review

So it's the last day of 2008 and seems like a good time to reflect on the year. We had a lot of fun and got to play more than usual because of Bryan's work schedule. In May he was laid off from Fulton Provisions (a meat processing company) where he was one of the maintenance mechanics. This gave him lots of time to spend working on the house and he was home all summer with the kids which was great for all. He did an amazing job and was able to get the downstairs pretty much completed, the yard done, and the house painted.

In September Fulton called Bryan and asked him to come back to work. The timing was perfect! The kids were going back to school and well unemployment was going to run out so he is back to work again and we are enjoying our steaks and bacon once again.

Gabriella and Nick had a good year. Both got very involved in BMX racing this year and have been doing very well. Nick has advanced to the intermediate level and Gabi has won a couple of races and is on her way to success! They were both asked at the end of the year to join a team so next year looks like a lot of BMX racing all over the state! Should be fun!

Gabriella is now in 6th grade and loves her teacher. It's her last year at elementary school, and then it's on to Jr High. She can't wait! She enjoys her friends, riding her bike and her quad, and of course her kitties.

Nick is now in the 5th grade and can't wait until Gabi goes to a different school than he does! He loves BMX, riding his bike and quad, skateboarding, playing football with his friends, and basically all things boy. He's quite an active kid!

Me, well, I've just been doing the same old thing, still working at MotoSport as the catalog production manager. That takes up a lot of my time, but I do still try to find time for knitting, playing with the kids, camping and riding quads, and helping Bryan on the house.

That pretty much sums up what we did for the year, Next we'll review the fun we had throughout the year.

Who's the boss?

Gabi was laying on the floor playing on her DS and Meow was looking for a warm place to sleep. He doesn't really care how you are sitting or laying, when he wants to sit on you he will!

On another note, that's the blanket Nick made for Gabi for Christmas. He made it all by himself, and she loves it!

My future home

Yesterday we went to The Pittock Mansion up in the hills of Portland. It's a beautiful estate built in the early 1900's that was all decorated for Christmas. The kids said they would buy it after we won the Powerball. Guess we bette buy a ticket or 2! It was absolutely beautiful and it was fun to picture what it must have been like to grow up in that house. However the clothing they wore back in the day doesn't look very comfortable, the house and views were amazing!
The Library and Music Room. The view from the window in the Music room was beautiful. On a clear day you can see all the area mountain peeks too!

Here is the view from the kitchen. I'd like to look out this window while doing my baking. Nice of them to give the help such beautiful views as well!

This is the view from my bedroom window. And also the view from the grounds. I know the city didn't look like this when the family actually lived there, but I'm sure the view was just as spectacular then!

Crab

We went to Joe's Crab Shack last night for dinner. Partly as an early birthday celebration for Dad, and partly because we spent too long playing the Wii yesterday and didn't get anything else done. Ooops!

Dad was happy to get his crab, and I was happy to not have any dinner to make, and Gabi was glad to have no clean up to do!

On another note, look how cute our kitties are cuddling together. They have not been happy cooped up in the house for all these snowy days, but they do like sleeping together!

Merry Christmas

Wow! What a Christmas we had! We had a lot of fun and it was all over too early as usual! The kids finally got that Wii they have been wanting FOREVER! We sent them on a treasure hunt to find it. Took quite a bit of time for them to finish it, but it was all worth it in the end they think. We even got to eat breakfast before they found the prize! Bryan liked watching them so much he thinks we need to do that more often, so I suggested his birthday presents from now on will be done "Treasure Hunt" style.

Everyone got really cool stuff for Christmas. Both kids got litle MP3 players and video rocker chairs which they really love. Gabi also got some games for her DS as well as Littlest Pet Shop stuff, and a whole new wardrobe I think! Nick got his own set of tools (So he won't have to keep stealing Bryan's) and some Legos as well as games for his DS. Bryan got a HD radio as well as some clothes and a digital picture frame. Me, I got some new frying pans, a Minnie Mouse watch, Tinkerbell necklace, clothes and some speakers for my iPod.

The Wii was a family gift for all of us, and it is a blast to play. Rayman 2 is the funniest game I have ever seen! We all love that one! The kids also got Outdoor Adventure which should get them into shape in no time. And we all liked playing Carnival Games.

Merry Christmas to all!

It is Christmas Eve, the great thaw has begun and we are at home watching Christmas movies, wrapping those last presents and getting ready for dinner. Cheese fondue tonight! Something a little different but fun just the same. Unfortunately pretty much all the area churches have canceled their Christmas Eve services. Would have been nice to get out for a candlelight service, but with the roads the way they are and darkness coming, maybe it's not such a good idea after all.

I think we are finally supposed to stay above freezing tonight so our beautiful snow is starting to melt. I guess I'm ready for it to go away just so everything opens again and it's easier to drive, but it sure is beautiful to look at out my windows!

So we are looking forward to Santa's visit tonight. The kids have decorated cookies for him and worked on their Gingerbread house as well. The stockings are hung, the presents are wrapped, now we just have to tuck the kids into bed and then wait for the man in the red suit to arrive. Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope it's happy and full of family, love and togetherness.
Love to you all!

Before and After

Well our weather is still cold and snowy. We might even get more of the white stuff tomorrow - as if we don't have enough already! It's supposed to be clear today so this is our chance to finish all our Christmas stuff.

Here is the progression of snow at our house. The first picture is Sunday the 14th, we got 3 inches. Then is Satuday the 20th we got 6 inches. The last was taken Monday night. We now have a total of 17 inches on the back deck!


Same thing with the view of the front yard. Sunday the 14th, Saturday the 20th, Monday the 22nd.

Winter Wonderland

OK, I'm running out of clever titles for all these snow posts, but it sounds like I better come up with more since we don't sound like we are coming out of a deep freeze any time soon. Today we were only supposed to get at most 2 inches of snow. At least that's what the weatherman said this morning before we lost satellite reception and power. I measured the snow on the BBQ when I got up around 6 and it was 3.5 inches (above the ice layer). Tonight it reads 9 inches! Which means we got over 6 inches of snow today! We now have a total of 17 inches on the back deck. It's incredible!



I did not make it into work today. We had no chains for the truck, which are a requirement around here. Plus with the snow we were getting it just didn't seem like a good idea to me. So we played in the snow, went and got boots for Mom, oh yeah, and got chains for the truck. The snow was so powdery we can't build a snowman in it, but it's still fun to trek around in and the kids enjoyed playing:




Yes, they tried to ride their bikes in over 15 inches of snow! Didn't work out so well for them. Fun to watch though!

Ginger was NOT happy about being in the snow. Bryan thought she might want to check it out, but she definitely did not!

They are now saying we might get even MORE snow for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. At least we get a break for the next day or so before the next storm comes in. Once again it depends on how it comes in, but I guess they are saying chances are it will bring more snow for us for Christmas. As nice as that would be, I'm just about done with this stuff. We have lost power 3 times today and our satellite is half buried on the roof so we won't be getting any TV reception until we thaw. At least the video store was opened!

Ice Storm

So we woke up this morning to lots of snow still and about half an inch of ice on top of it! We lost power at 6:30 this morning and finally got it back at about noon. Unfortunately we could not make it to Eugene today for Family Christmas due to the ice and freezing rain forcast, as well as the chain requirements for all highways in the Portland Area. While we do have a couple of 4x4's we do not have chains for them. Who would have thought you need chains for a 4x4?

We did make it out to Shari's to eat breakfast. Hard to cook with no power! We then snapped a couple of photos of the ice. It was so beautiful and thick!

Apparently we might be getting our white Christmas after all. Apparently with 6+ inches of snow on the ground we aren't going to be thawing out any time soon! Plus we are now supposed to get another 2-4 inches of SNOW tonight! This is crazy! As I'm writing this it is actully snowing again! Harder than it did all day yesterday. It is beautiful, but I don't see this ending anytime soon. I might actually not make it into work tomorrow. My car hasn't moved since last Saturday and doesn't look like it's going to be moving anytime in the near future either!

But at least we have heat again, we are all together and have everything we need. There are many people at the airport and bus stations and even stuck in their cars waiting for a break in the storm. We were so lucky Mom and Dad were able to get in when they did, otherwise they might not have made it until AFTER Christmas. Our hearts go out to all the stranded travellers.

Snow Snow and MORE Snow!

So it is 8:30PM on Saturday night and we have gotten over 6 inches of snow today and it is STILL snowing! No end in sight. I can't ever remember seeing this much snow in Oregon that wasn't in the mountains of course!

They say the freezing rain should start after midnight tonight, but our temperatures keep dropping and the rain doesn't seem to be getting any closer. It is 23.9 degrees outside at our house right now, it was 30 degrees this morning when I got up.

Luckily my parents were able to make it in to town this morning. The airport started cancelling flights not long after they arrived. My parents' comment when they arrived was it looks like Iowa here. But at least our snow will disappear before April! My parents will be here for the remainder of the year and go back home just before the kids go back to school. Hopefully we won't be snowbound the entire time they are here!

I'll leave you with some updated photos of the snow in our backyard taken at 8:30PM.

My favorite things about snow

Since we have so much snow here today here is my list of favorite things about the snow.

1. Watching the snow fall from the warmth and comfort of my living room.

2. Warm fires burning inside while the snow falls outside.

3. Hot Chocolate

4. Building snowmen. (Unfortunately our snow is too powdery today)

5. Sledding down the steep hills

6. Snowball fights!

7. The pure beauty of the snow on the trees and ground.

8. Catching big fat fluffy flakes in your mouth.

9. Making snow angels

10. Watching the kids enjoy the rare occasion of snow in their front yard.

It has been snowing non-stop since about 6:00 this morning. At almost 3PM we have 3 inches of snow so far. Yesterday we had no snow at all and now it's all back and then some! Unfortunately it's not supposed to last through the weekend, but who knows!