Our Christmas trip to Oregon this year was the longest spell that we've been able to spend in town around the holidays: 24 days! We were able to come early enough to somewhat peacefully put up Christmas decor and prepare for celebrations. Then the kids and I were blessed to spend an extra few days at the end at with a visitor, my dear friend Katie, who was in Portland for work.
However, even with all the extra time in Oregon, I have to say. that I'm so ready to have a holiday season where I'm not traveling home from a foreign country. The situation of coming into town for a limited time, wanting to see everyone that you haven't seen for too long, combined with the crazy preparations of gift buying and wrapping, Christmas baking, and cooking special meals is just hard. We had a span of seven days straight that we either had company or went to gatherings, which is just socially exhausting. Also, inevitably from the combination of travel and sugar, we get sick. I'm dreaming of a much quieter Christmas season next year!
Our first Christmas celebration was with my parents. We enjoyed bringing them back gives from Mexico: pottery and woven purses (and maybe some tequila and vanilla too)
They got the boys these cool hover crafts that can be controlled by your hand. There was a lot of buzzing around the house that week!
Seth and Papa playing "catch" with the hover craft
I love how my kids always insist on wearing their Santa hats around the house during Christmas
Josh and Papa have a special bond, especially after he helped Josh during the stomach flu last summer.
My mom was gracious enough to have everything prepared for gingerbread house making. We love this tradition!
Sam
Josh working hard on his abstract creation (I love his non-rule following art)
Seth
Josh's finished creation
Our next celebration was with Ben's family in The Dalles. These gathering are always filled with lots of laughter and games. We just all love being together. One highlight of this time was all choosing a house to spend a week together this summer in Hawaii.
An intense game of Uno
We've been very blessed to see how much Levi has grown up this past year; he and Ben share a very special bond.
Token grandparent picture (notice how Piglet is making it into all the family photos)
Annual "kid" picture: I love how we keep expanding (Joelle's first Christmas with us!)
Grandkids smothering Uncle Levi
The boys all got scooters from their grandparents
Annual Josh and Ellie photo; this year, we got the younger cousins stuffed animals from a store in Mexico that we just love, Miniso
The grandkids adore their grandpa
Hug time (I love the seal flying through this picture)
Getting ready to play "the name game" (our family favorite...this year Josh won with the word "sushi")
Christmas morning we drove to Estacada for the Morris extended family gathering. This year's play was produced and acted out only by kids...there were 17 kids ages 10 and under there this year
Sam was the Angel Gabriel
The onlookers, including the newest set of twins in the family (Josh decided not to participate)
I think Ellie was also Angel Gabriel (speaking to Joseph this time)
Seth was the Innkeeper
Seth and Sam were also camels for the Wise Men; they were bummed to have graduated from being the riders to being the actual animals.
I think this picture's so sweet of Joelle, Josh, Madison and Haily
The kids all enjoyed playing basketball and baseball despite the cold weather.
We left Tani and Glenn's mid-afternoon which meant that we were able to go home and spend Christmas evening with just us five. It was such a gift. We had a humble dinner of soup, opened a few gifts, and watched a movie together. We also woke up the next morning and did our own little Christmas celebration.
They are getting so big!
Goofy pics are their favorite
The night of the 26th we celebrated at Jeff and Diane's with the Luscombe family. It had been a long time since we'd all been together, so it was nice to catch up with everyone.
This is by far my favorite family picture. I love the chaos of it.
But this one is pretty good for a looking at the camera group pic.
We were able to spend New Year's Eve with my sister's family. The kids couldn't have been more excited about staying up until midnight with each other and having a sleep over (a very little sleep sleepover).
We played lots of games and ate lots of food
The boys have so much fun together and spent the whole night shooting laser guns and being under foot in the kitchen racing cars
She's such a good mama
We gave little Henry (who's just the sweetest, most mild mannered little boy) a new panda bear. Oh my goodness! May I always remember his excitement about having TWO pandas.
Josh and Edmund enjoying Oreo balls for dessert
Counting down to midnight together with our sparkling cider with gummy bears at the bottom
Sam and Seth were obviously very thrilled to still be up at midnight
My boys were the last to sleep...at 2 am (after bothering me about not being able to fall sleep at 1:30 am). I then heard every making a "mass exodus" (as Katie put it) to the bathroom at 6:30 am. The kids were setting up to play a board game at 7:30 am, to which evil Auntie Jamie told them to try to go back to sleep. Let's just say I'm not quite ready to talk about the next sleepover yet.
Other enjoyable, but not pictured, things throughout these weeks were meeting up with the Smith, Willard, and Carrier families, spending New Year's Day with Ben's family while celebrating Joelle's birthday, a date afternoon for Ben and I, and shopping at the outlets with my sister. On our final weekend in town, Ben drove to the The Dalles to spend the night at Nate's with some other childhood guy friends, while Holly and the girls came to stay with us. We were able to go visit Grandma Luscombe together. Afterwords, we went to zoo lights...another of our favorite traditions.
Diane joined us; it's always great to have a grandparent's helping hand.
We always go early, so as to beat the crowds and see some of the animals in the light. The bald eagle was a wonderful surprise...sitting right by the viewing deck.
The cougars were also right by the window
Holly and her girls
Lighting is always tricky for photos with the zoo lights
Moving kids while trying to take a picture in the dark is not a good equation
Sam
Seth
The moms were unwilling to pay for the carousel, but Grandma was (Seth)
Sam
Hailey was thrilled!
Josh
Double trouble
Holding it together before dinner for one more picture in the tunnel of lights
Me and my boys
In the midst of all the Christmas celebrating, we managed to get up to Mt. Hood to ski. This was my first time ever to try skiing (the kids' second time). I'm still not quite sure what I think of the experience (is it worth the driving, money, equipment, uncomfortableness, etc?), but the rest of the family seems to think that were now a "skiing family."
On our way up the mountain; the boys sporting their new traveling pillows named Mark, Fred and Frank.
On the shuttle up to the mountain; the kids were so excited to go again!
I hate taking selfies
It was a beautiful day on the mountain; I love this picture of the boys
In the reflection of the lodge windows; I love this picture too!
Thankfully the tow up to the bunny hill was pretty easy to navigate. If only getting up after wrecking was so easy...
Poor Ben had to spend his time between picking me and Josh up off the hill. The twins on the other hand are really catching onto skiing and were tucking it down the bunny hill by the end of the day
Later in the day, Ben and the twins went on the chair lift to Buttercup.
Meanwhile Josh and I were hanging out at the lodge, as he had a little fever. Poor kid kept falling asleep on his arms. Thankfully with a little Tylenol and rest, he was able to make it back out to the hill for some successful runs. I, too, was able to make it down the bunny hill a couple times without falling. It was nice to end on a high note.
Do we look like. a skiing family? (I'm still not quite sure!)
Finally some pictures with my amiga, Katie Leonard. She traveled to Portland to help give a Trauma Competent Care training for Back2Back. I miss her dearly and being able to sit in the evenings and have long conversations with her was definitely a highlight of our trip to Oregon. It was also just so special to share with her our beloved Pacific NW with her.
Unfortunately it was very rainy the entire time she was in town. However, we did have a little weather reprieve to take her out to the Columbia Gorge on Sunday afternoon. (Picture at Crown Point)
Latourell Falls (we had actually never stopped there before)
We kept telling Katie, "If you think this is big, wait until you get to Multnomah Falls!"
It was so fun to see the area through Katie's eyes; she found all the moss and greenness beautiful and intriguing (truth be told: I do too!)
Multnomah Falls (one of my favorite places in the world with one of my favorite people!)
Katie and I had a wonderful time. It was so fun to show her own home, go for walks in our neighborhood, and take her to Rock Creek Tavern. We can't wait until the whole Leonard family can visit us in Oregon someday!
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