Glenn singing Silent Night

I'm trying this youtube upload stuff... we'll see if it works. This is Glenn singing Silent Night for MawMaw. Hope you enjoy! Sorry if you can't! Let me know if it works, if you could. Thanks!

Merry Chistmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and for those of you far away, we missed you!

I just wanted to share a few pictures with you... I do have a few more that I'll share later. But for today, this is what I wanted to show:

Picture #1: There is something about the magic that Santa brings. Such excitement, such love, such happiness in the air. My kids haven't grown out of this yet, and I hope they never do. Santa's spirit is real... the spirit of giving. And it is a wonderful spirit to share. We've had SO much fun trying to give more than receive this year with Secret Santa, Giving Tree, caroling, etc. We've had a great time! Christ has given us so much, and it was nice to give of ourselves to others. Todd, the kids, and I all enjoyed sharing more with others! And we appreciate others being receptive to our giving! Look at the smile on their faces... pure joy!

This is our family breakfast with Todd's family tradition of an egg casserole and orange julius. If you look closely at Alex, you can see his mustache... he LOVED the julius! Christmas morning..... ALL SMILES!


Picture #2, 3: There is something about homemade gifts, isn't there? Todd and I came up with this contraption for a belt holder, for their karate. As they earn their belts, they can display them. One rung for each of the boys... if you've ever seen them at karate, yes, even little Alex, they ALL love it, and will be in it for quite a while, I'm sure! Todd was so excited for the kids to open up the present, as was I! We KNEW they would LOVE it! Sure enough, we saved it for last, and it was a hit! And Todd commented how much fun he had building it! Homemade gifts are always special cause they are made with love! Now, we just need to hang it up!

Picture #4: Todd was planning on going for a little ride, but ended up with Ellie sleeping on his arm. So, he took time to just cuddle with his little girl, even if it meant delaying his ride... at least he got to read his book :-) How cute is this picture!

And last but not least, here's Picture #5: Alex in seventh heaven. He has a hat on, and cars. This kid went to sleep with all this gear as well!

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and know how much you are all missed by the Oregonians!

Reminders of Growing Up

We started this snow about a week ago, and first signs, the kids were out there like a flash. The first snowfall is always so exciting, no matter where you live. Everyone is just a little more happier, a little more giddier, a little more colder that a little more hot cocoa can't help. Life is wonderful. When the kids woke up to snow, it reminded me of when I woke up to snow. It didn't matter if we got 375 inches of it in the U.P., we were still excited as ever, even knowing it would be a LONG haul till it left! In Oregon, it's always short lived, but it actually is still snowing today, and yes, the kids are already out there! The picture above, is of Glenn saying "Wow, look how deep the snow is!" No, we're not in the U.P. anymore!

So, the kids built a snowman... of course! Glenn told me that we can build light bulbs in the snow, too. Clever. Anyway, they were so happy to put this guy together, but were sad to not have a pipe... sorry boys!
As the days started to get warmer, and it was apparent that the snow was going to melt, James decided to roll his snowman into the shade. Ok, so we have NO shade in our front yard... completely south facing with no trees! So, I asked him where he was going to find shade... in front of our car! So, we now have remnants of a snowman greeting us whenever we pull into the driveway!

The kids have had a blast: rolling, sledding, snowball fights, snow angels, light bulbs, and creating snow facial hair. Oh what fun... it is to play... in snow! And with things being closed, we've had some good home time, too. And when we do venture out, it's been fun remembering how much fun it is to drive on the snow.... then one night I was out driving in the hills, and it was quite icy... good feeling went away, and I was happy to be home in a warm house again! I don't know if I could handle 30 below weather again! Although I was laughing with someone how really it's not that bad, because it's such a dry cold. Cold is cold! I thought it was funny. But it is true. A wet cold is so much more cold than a crisp dry cold! Yeah, maybe we could handle it. But for now, we'll let you midwesterners handle it :-) I hope you're all staying warm out there!

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone! We wish you all a safe and healthy holiday... may it be filled with love, joy, and peace! Let it snow!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Oh happy girl!

Oh happy boys!
And happy trains!!

I was complaining to Todd that I still, in all the years that I have been married, not found a star that I have liked for the top of our tree. I have seen other people's stars, but by the time I find the one I like, the store where they purchased it is totally out of stars. So, yet again, we were starless at Christmas. Todd disappeared out into the garage, and came out with this tiny chain ring... my eyes lit up... do you have anything bigger?? He left... came back again... cool! "Give it to me..." I looked at it... maybe we could put string in the holes... there happened to be 5... and make a star... Todd disappears again... and low and behold comes back with this beauty! I love it!!!! It's simple, and I'm keeping it forever!

Here's Alex showing Papa the in's and out's of trains in snow :-)

The tree was a resounding hit this year! Everyone was TOTALLY into it... I sat back and fed Ellie... it was bliss! The kids took out all the ornaments, and although putting them away won't be as easy, since obviously the taking the ornaments out was not done nearly as neatly as Mama would have done it. But I was happy to let them have control. So, even though it may take more effort on my part taking down... it was worth it watching them in pure delight! Todd had the step ladder out for them, and they proudly hung all the ornaments up, via the step ladder.

So, this picture is basically ALL the ornaments. Everyone wanted to hang via the step ladder, hence ALL the ornaments got hung at step ladder level. A few above, a few below, but 90% right smack dab in the middle of the tree. Did I lift a finger?? Naaahhh.....

This is Todd and 2 of his boys in the morning... all cuddly and warm. Todd was in 7th heaven, and so were the boys!

And here is the final product! This is why they were up till 11PM! This is the bottom half of the Christmas tree... notice the lack of ornaments! But do notice the elaborate train tracks going all the way around the tree with a few branches of the side. And don't forget the batting they found to be snow! It took a lot of patience! I told them that when people come over, it'll get messed up... trying to convince them not to use quite so much snow.... James said, "Oh, that's ok... it'll be fun putting it back together!" Ok, well then, like I said before, should I lift a finger, Naaaa. Christmas trees are so magical! And I'm glad my boys are enjoying it as much as Todd and I do! Glenn even gave a talk today, and he only wanted to talk about our Christmas tree! So, we related the Evergreen tree to our Savior loving us forever and ever (even in winter, as Glenn says), the Christmas lights to the light of the Savior within each of us, and the star to represent Baby Jesus. How wonderful to see Christmas through the eyes of a child! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to do so!

Merry Christmas everyone! May we all remember the true meaning of this wonderful holiday!

A hodge podge....

Maybe my sons will have a better eye for photography than me! James and Glenn both LOVE to take pictures, and James took this cute color schemed picture. I was quite skeptical, but he assured me that it would look good, and I love it! Great work James!

Ellie is now sitting up, and LOVING it! Here she is, sitting in the only mudless area of the field, but definitely still wet. She is such the trooper, and a wonderful example to us all... she loves life, especially when she is surrounded by those she loves. She helps us all take a moment to stop to enjoy the moment, and not rush off to the less important things. We are so blessed to have her in our family!

This last week, we were asked to be part of a live creche exhibit for our local community creche exhibit. I so hemmed and hawed over whether to bring Alex. I love that child, but he can be crazy. But he can also be a dream. I only wish I could predict which he would be more frequently! Well, I wanted him to be a part of our family, and wanted him to share in this experience. So, though I had many offers for people to watch him, I decided he needed to come.... hoping in the back of my mind that I wasn't going to regret it! So, we all took a deep breath, dressed up, and sat for a half hour. Alex was a dream. He loved it, and just sat watching all that was going on around him.... ahhh.... how wonderful it was for all of us to be up there, and for "Joseph" not needing to talk sternly to the "shepherds" :-) We loved the experience, and the boys TOTALLY got into it, getting their own costumes, including the watch dog for the sheep, and Papa helped their excitement by making shepherd crooks out of PVC... classic :-)

Ok, so it IS actually supposed to snow this weekend, but I am a little abashed to say that in this picture, it was maybe 45 outside, 65 in the house, and Todd was cold... in the house..., so he put on his big down coat to stay warm. Boy, we'd have to have coats twice this size if we ever decided to move back to the midwest! We are definitely 'pansified.' Ellie LOVED it, though.

James and Glenn have both loved studying China! They can't get enough of it. So, when we invited someone to come over to talk to the kids about China, he taught them some Chinese words. We had no idea how much this would stick! James asked every day if he could learn more. So, we found a website with free Chinese words, but we also ended up buying a Chinese language program. This is James learning intently on the computer. Alex is completely enthralled, and went to get his own earphones.... no, they were not plugged into the computer, but he didn't care! And Glenn was watching, patiently waiting his turn! Although they are seeing that is a difficult language to learn, they LOVE it, and look forward to their Chinese language lessons!

Well, I guess that's about it for us! We finished our last cross races last weekend, so we're relaxing this weekend with tree cutting festivities! Todd did awesome on his last race, and I felt more like a pinball machine getting knocked down left and right by flying pinballs! But we all had a GREAT time regardless, and do look forward to next year! As do our kids!!!!! Here's a link to a news clip that was done on the race in Eugene. Todd's the first frozen person before you press play, and he's in one other shot in there. And the kids and I are in background shots, but you would have no idea, unless you were us! Anyway, enjoy if you want. Take care everyone!

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