Chirstmas in Lincoln City, 2008

So, for Christmas this year, instead of doing the normal bustle to buy gifts people don't need with money we don't have, my family decided to go to rent a beach house, instead! We all headed out there Wednesday morning, and after a long and eventful drive, we arrived a bit after 5pm. The house was wonderful! It had two bedrooms with comfy queen-sized beds, in which Mom and Ed, and Sandi and Tony stayed in. Paul and I and the boys got the third bedroom, a full bed bunked with a twin on top. It was quite the adventure in finding the proper setup for comfy sleeping, for the 4 of us. Alicia and Anna kindly took residence on the couches, and later Alicia borrowed our aerobed. The back deck had a beautiful view of the lake, with a huge hard for our boys and mom's two dogs to run and play in. Poor Hobie did an overzealous jump onto the mini-dock, and fell in on the first night! Paul rescued him, and he was much more careful the rest of the stay.We did not bring a tree with us, but thanks to a lighted fake plant and Alicia's ornaments and mini-lights, we had a festive enough centerpiece for our Christmas stay.
We of course gave the boys gifts, and they loved their giant chewies. They were over 2 feet long! It was a challenge to carry them around and chew on them, but they were up for it.

In addition to the giant chewies, they each got a stuffed toy. Gaius got a little stuffed green reindeer, and Hobie got a new wubba. A wubba, if you don't know, is what we call Hobie's stuffed rooster that he likes to suck and knead on. We have spares from Target, just in case!

After a good breakfast, we all sat around to open gifts. Instead of the usual assortment of gifts, everyone just gave something that was their favorite to the rest of the group. Such as the wonderful Smartwool socks Aunt Sandi gave, the Produce Saver mom gave, and Paul brought beer and Cranberry bliss bars (from Starbucks). It was a really great way to share little things we love with everyone, and was just as fun as when we do lots of big gifts! =)
On Friday, we took the boys to a beach up the way to play. It was cold and windy and rainy, but they had a blast! Gaius even still ran to the water and laid down! His favorite...

Us on the beach.

Paul fetching the boys.

Friday evening, we all sat around and read books or did crossword puzzles. It was great fun!

We even built a fire in the fireplace, which Paul and Hoban loved.

Gaius wasn't too fond of the fire, but loved the pillow mom and Ed brought!

In the end, it was a wonderful trip. Everyone had a chance to do their own thing, and we had lots of time to hang together as a family. Since it was no one's house, we didn't have anyone feeling like they had to be the hostess. We all shared cooking duties, and even had two boisterous games of Cranium! It was one of the best Christmases I remember, and even more because it had nothing to do with the presents. I love my family and thank them again for a wonderful holiday.

Let it Snow!

So, as most everyone knows, we are in the thick of the snowstorm in the Portland area, it having started late last night and hasn't stopped even as of now. If anything, it's actually picked up speed! This is a shot of the cross street by our house, at around 11am.

And this is down our cul-de-sac.

Well, with this much snow and winter weather, you know Paul couldn't stay home and just watch it. So we headed out for the day to run errands. We first tested the Subaru, which did great! Then, Paul chained up the Cherokee (for safety, and to be ready for a trip to the Airport to pick up Uncle Tony tomorrow!).
Once the Cherokee was chained up, we headed to the dog park to take the boys to play! Of course we had to get them out there. They had a ton of fun! The snow was blowing a bit, kinda stinging our faces, but it was very beautiful!

"Daddy! I lost my ball! Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?"

"I've still got mine!" Good job, Gaius. =)

Snow-covered Hoban.

"Will you throw it NOW, mama?" If you look close, you can see the frozen water/ slobber on their faces and stuck to their whiskers!

How can you not love that face??

A beautiful snow-covered tree, with pine cones in the park.

It's harder to see in the darker sky and snow coming down, but the sidewalk is completely snow-covered and level with the grass now, compared to earlier!

You can't even tell where the sidewalks, driveways, and lawns begin or end! These were taken at 4:30.My Firefighter Guy, getting ready for his 12-hour shift.

I'll be sad if so much beauty is lost so quickly overnight, with the freezing rain that's supposed to hit around midnight. I hope there's still some left to enjoy! Well, I'm off to make some hot chocolate and watch the flurries swirl around my window. And to check the back porch, since the snow is piled up to ABOVE the door frame!

4-Wheeling the V8!!

Sunday, December 14th, was our first wheeling run since Paul has swapped the engine in his Wrangler. He took his 4-banger manual Jeep engine out, and dropped in an automatic Dodge V8. I was so proud and amazed. He had to convert parts by hand, rebuilding things to make the Dodge engine work with the other Jeep parts.

So after about 11 months of work, we finally headed up to Brownscamp to stretch its legs.

We got up there at about 9:15, and hit the trail at 10am. Our first course was Firebreak Five, an easy but fun warm-up. Here's trees right before we began.

There's a rock garden part way through Firebreak Five, and here's a shot of Paul driving the Jeep through the rocks.

Next, it was on to Crushers. Which as you can see from the sign, is only for the real man-rigs. This obstacle will eat you up and spit you out if you're not built for it.Even Paul, with his bad-apple Jeep, got tossed into a small tree. No permanent damage, though Hobie does go to check on his papa.

The Wrangler, along with another rig that joined the run, up at the top of Can Opener. (The names of these runs just crack me up!)

As we drive through these trails, there were tons of snow-laden branches hanging down in our way. They would bash across the dashboard, covering the Jeep with snow. We had to keep clearing the wipers! This pic was through the windshield as we're driving!

Of course the boys came, and they had the biggest blast! Here they are, tearing along the trail.What outdoor trip would be complete without a giant stick?

We made it out safe and got home just before 8pm, Hoban having slept on my lap the whole drive. It was great fun, VERY cold, and I'm really glad I got a chance to hang with Paul and his great group of wheeling guys. I'm also extra very glad that he didn't try to take me in Kevin's rig, which had no top OR windshield! Talk about hard core!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Gaius!!

Today is Gaius' third birthday! We decided to take the boys to day care for them to celebrate, and spend a day with friends instead of cooped up at home. Their best bud Roslyn was there for the day, which was an added bonus! PLUS, the day was free for Gaius because it was his birthday! YAY!!
Of course, I had to take the opportunity to buy them toys. I got them each a stuffed animal-- their "party" favors, and Gaius's official gift was a new Kong frisbee cuz they finally chewed through their first one. As you can see by the pictures, they were pretty tired from their day of playing. =)
And what party is complete without dessert! The boys each had a Frosty Paw and of course I sang to him. (Frosty Paws are AWESOME doggy friendly ice cream. They sell them in the ice cream section at Freddy's. Really!! Aunt Sandi told us about them, and I'm SO glad she did!!)
I kinda had to wake him up to come and get one, but like his papa, I've got his full attention at the mere mention of ice cream. =)
As you can tell from his pictures, he's tired but had a great day. Happy Birthday Feefer Bear!!

Happy Birthday, Paul!

Tuesday, November 11th, was Paul's 29th birthday! He spent it at drill practice, for his volunteer firefighting. But on Sunday, we're going out to dinner to one of our favorite restaurants, and going to see a movie (thanks to his dad!). I tried my hand at making an ice cream cake for him, and let's just say luckily it tastes better than it looks. =) Happy Birthday, Babe!!

Falling Leaves!

We love fall, it's so beautiful and our neighborhood has some great trees to watch change during fall. Here's the tree we can see from our upstairs window. Just today, we had lots of wind blow through and now all the leaves are gone. It did leave a great pile of leaves along the side of our house, along with the other trees along our block.So what could I do but play fetch with the boys in them?! Here's Hobie looking around for his missing ball, and as you can see Gaius found his, and a mouthful of leaves, too!

So of course I had to make them pose for me. The leaves were really thick, and their front feet got lost!

Such a sweet boy, look at that smile!

That's my Bobo, and his tongue, too!

Send Us Your Good Karma!

So, Paul took the PAT on Saturday, Portland's physical agility test. It's a complicated, rigorous, and draining sort of firefighter obstacle course that you have to complete in under 8 min, 2 sec in order to pass. My firefighter finished in 6min 57 sec!! I'm so proud of him. So that completed step 2 of his 3-part interview process to get hired with Portland Fire.

We spent about 6 hours this weekend preparing for his interview with 4 of the higher-ups from Portland Fire, including the head of the entire department! I know he was ready, and that all they had to do was see the look in his eyes to know he was MEANT to be a firefighter. He feels pretty good about the interview, and remains very optimistic that things will go his way.

So now we wait. We hope to hear in the next couple of weeks whether he gets hired, and the first round of trainees enter the academy in December. So send us your good karma! I'll keep you posted!

Pumpkin Patch!

Sunday, our schedules actually all lined up, so the Portland part of the family (Me, Paul, Aunt Sandi, Uncle Tony, Alicia, Anna, and Trina) went to the pumpkin patch! We started with our traditional lunch at Rock Creek Tavern, a McMenamin's. Great company and great food!
After lunch, we headed over to our regular pumpkin patch. We've been going to the Plumper Pumpkin Patch for I think at least 4 years. Though this year was definitely the busiest! From now on, we'll aim for earlier or later in the season!

Paul was so mad I made him pick up this pumpkin. But I liked it, I thought it looked like a heart! ( I know, it really doesn't look that much like one now...)Among many other things, they have some amazing flowers there. They also have animals, pumpkin launching, corn maze, and all kinds of other stuff.

It was a beautiful, fun day, that was of course finished with our usual trip to Starbucks. I'm so glad everyone was able to be there!

P.S. That evening Paul and I both got a hair cut, and me a color also, from Miss Alicia. She did a great job! Thanks Lish!