We were able to spend two weeks in Oregon for Christmas, and as always, we were thankful to be home and surrounded by friends and family. I'll keep my words to a minimum and let our pictures tell most the stories.
Breakfast our first morning back Ben wanted to try, "Slappy Cakes." It's a true Portland gem where you can cook your own pancakes and just like Portland, they had allergy friendly pancakes and a cool vibe. I love this city.
If you visit Portland, try Slappy Cakes. You won't regret it.
Not pictured: our struggle to find a Christmas tree. Yes, this was in Oregon, a place that is known for its Christmas tree farms. Granted it was December 20th, but still, there usually is a few places around with trees. By a miracle, we were able to slide into a tree farm 10 minutes before closing and select one of the few trees apparently left in the Portland area. The tree was beautiful and as a bonus, it was cheaper than our half-dead Mexico tree.
The next evening we joined my sister and her kids at Zoo lights: a Plato/Morris tradition. The boys looked so darn cute walking around in their Santa hats. (Sam, Josh, Seth)
Pacific NW beauty.
The beaver, whom we've only ever seen asleep, was out doing tricks for everyone by the window. I guess it was feeding time.
The crew!
The cousins: Clara, Seth, Sam, Aidah, Miriam, Edmund, Josh and John Henry.
I'm a huge fan of the light tunnel (and Ben)
These two were so happy to see each other again and full of mischief as always.
Isn't he the cutest?!
Weird shadows on the faces, but I sure do love my sister!
4/5 of the boy cousins
Next it was time to celebrate Christmas with our Morris side of the family. This year Nate and Holly hosted and it was such a treat to be in their beautiful home in The Dalles.
Grandparents and grandkids: Seth (9), Hailey (2), Ellie (4), Josh (5), Sam (9)
The traditional "kids" picture. This time there was even a puppy!
We were pretty excited about the star we brought for Grandma DiDi from Mexico.
Check out Josh's fist pump for the laser guns!
Ben and Nate got matching fold-able chairs for hunting season. As you can see, Ben was thrilled.
Such a great Grandpa
Morning snuggles.
Christmas Eve was with the Platos at our house. I love all these cousins together.
Josh and Edmund proudly showing off their desserts.
My handsome boys in front of the tree.
Christmas day with the Ruda Grandparents.
The boys opened rackets to represent their ping-pong table that we gave them (to be put together when we return to Mexico). Something to anticipate when we go back!
Papa and the boys with their new Tigris jerseys.
We had a lot of fun putting together gingerbread houses. Mom and I even got to do one.
Mom and I took the boys to see the new, "Mary Poppins." It was delightful and we all loved it.
One evening we were able to go to a Blazers game with Jeff and Diane thanks to Deedo's "ticket guy." Before the game, we went out to another our favorite restaurants, Mississippi Pizza.
It's always so fun to walk up to Moda Center...but especially surrounded by cool Christmas lights.
The last time Josh went to a Blazer game, he was so young that he couldn't remember it, so this was really special for him.
He had a blast, especially after they discovered dairy free Dippin' dots as a snack. (Note: the butterfly bandaid on his forehead due his forehead being slammed into a basketball hoop by an unnamed brother trying to block his shot. Thankfully, it wasn't an ER trip, although we considered it.)
Everyone at the game!
On one of our socially free days, Ben took the boys up to Mt. Hood to try skiing for the first time (I bowed out and decided to go shopping with my sister instead...a worthy choice).
The boys did awesome learning and are now convinced that we need to ski a lot in our future.
Between these pictures were a lot of visits with friends and neighbors, hours of basketball on the court in our backyard, Thai food twice, and a whole lot of fun. Before we knew it, we were cleaning up the house, trying to pack too much into too little luggage, and then boarding a plane to Mexico on New Year's Day (cheap tickets on January 1...I wonder why).
Here's looking forward to a great 2019!
Again: this is the last post I'm going announce via facebook. From now on, notifications will just be via email. No pressure to sign-up, but if you want to know when a new blog post comes out, that will be the way.
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