December 26th

Christmas No. 7

[Leslie & Adam]

The day after Christmas was busy! Nate wanted to take a look at some trailers around town, I wanted to stop by some super sales at the mall and use our gift cards, so we tried to find a balance...actually, we ended up just going to the mall. My husband loves me.

I received a phone call from Kristin (friend from Ecola Bible School, roommate at Trinity Western University) as we were driving to the mall - she asked if I would be around later in the day: Grace was in town! Grace lives in Georgia and the last time I saw her was in late 2004/early 2005 sometime. I was excited to find out she was back in town for a little while! Kristin and Grace stopped by for a couple hours; it was so good to see both of them again.




Leslie and Adam arrived for our Christmas together just as Kristin and Grace were leaving...it was a mini EBS reunion!

Leslie, Adam, Nate, and I had dinner and then played our new board game, "Scene-It," from Raymond and Tammy, Nate's aunt and uncle in Clovis, CA. It was f.u.n.! Leslie and Adam are game fiends - we always play a game when we get together with them. Nate is very much not a game person...his resistance to games is amazing. Since he so dislikes games, I don't get to play until people like Leslie and Adam come around, and then Nate's a good sport and joins in. And even has fun!






We always really enjoy getting together with Leslie and Adam - they're a blast :) Leslie is finishing up her schooling in Pendleton, and then they'll be able to move back into the area! Well, kinda. Corvalis is closer than Pendleton, so that's a start. Someday I'll get them all the way back into Portland. I will.

You've made it through my Christmas recap! Way to go!

Thanks for following along...Until later, blessings!

December 25th, #2

Christmas No. 6

[Dad's side of the family]

Dad's sister and brother who live in town came over to Mom and Dad's (along with their families) for food and a gift card exchange. It was such a nice way to celebrate together! Nate and I had to trim down our Christmas gift-buying list considerably this year, so the gift card idea fit our budget perfectly.






Pretty much the only time I really get to see or spend time with cousins on Dad's side of the family is at major gatherings, so it was fun to see everyone again. I have to say, I'm always shocked at how much older everyone is...It's amazing!

Another post about Christmas down; one more to go! Hang in there, you loyal lot.

December 25th

Christmas No. 5

[Nate's & my Christmas]

So, first off, our Christmas: Nate and I woke up and made breakfast together. We sat down and enjoyed that...and the tore into the presents! Stockings have become increasingly fun for me - I think I have the most fun picking out the little things to go into the stockings. Well, I have to mention this little story. Dad isn't a fan of Sudoku, but Nate picked out some Sudoku books for Dad's stocking this year. He tried to play a few puzzles while we were in Magone, but he got fed up with it. Nate thought it would be funny to give him some for Christmas, just to irritate Dad, I think. Well, after we were done with presents at Mom and Dad's I played a few of Dad's Sudoku games. I just thought I'd break the little books in, remind Dad how to play. Nate tried to rip them out of my hands a few times, but I was quick as a cat and ran away.

So, Nate gave me a few Sudoku books of my own for Christmas! I've never seen these books before (usually I buy the cheap little copies from the dollar store), and they're tough.


Nate was a creative gift-buying genius this year - not to say that he isn't on other years! Can you believe it, this was our fourth Christmas together. Time has flown. Rae Ann has this handy bill organizer that I'd been thinking about ever since Nate told me I was taking over paying the bills. I talked about it incessantly, even going so far as to tell Nate that I was going to take him to her house to see her bill organizer. I guess he knew exactly what I was talking about, though, since I got one for Christmas! He's so cute: He had me open everything in my stocking and the last little thing was a piece of paper literally wrapped up. I told me to check the coat closet, so I did. I'm usually pretty perceptive when it comes to presents, but I never saw this coming - I never expected he'd hide one in the coat closet.



This last picture is of my confusion when I opened a video camera. I thought we were done with the present opening and then Nate hands me this package. Never saw it coming! I was sooo excited, needless to say! We'd been talking about our desire to get a video camera since we found out we were pregnant, especially with Ricky not being around for the pregnancy or birth. We wanted to take lots of video and then send it to him so he'd feel like he was here with us. And then after losing Nathaniel, we still talked about it, although a little less. Nate needed to buy a new camera for his work, so we looked at video cameras at the same time, but I really didn't think Nate would buy one, not for awhile. This camera is such fun! I'm loving it:)


Our Christmas together ended on an unexpected climax: IT SNOWED! It's been more than ten years since it last snowed here on Christmas Day!

Christmas No. 6 took place at Mom and Dad's house with Dad's side of the family later on Christmas Day, so I'll be posting some pictures from that next...

Playing a little catch-up

DECEMBER 24th

Christmas No. 4

[Karen's parents and Ricky & Stephen, via marvelous things called phones]

Grandma and Grandpa took the train from Fresno, CA, to Portland, OR, early in December. They stayed with Rick and Karen for right around 3 weeks - it was wonderful having them so close! Nate was as excited as could be :) We had many meals over at Rick and Karen's over those 3 weeks.

On Christmas Eve, we had brunch and then Nate and I raced off to New Seasons to pick up groceries for our contribution to the evening meal. We had a Mexican theme, and, man, it tasted good! Here's the spread:


Once everything was warmed and set out on the table, both boys called, Ricky from South Korea and Stephen from Denver, CO. Karen was on the phone with one, Rick was on the phone with the other. We eventually decided to let the boys talk to each other so we nestled the phones close together - it worked for a minute.


Because I'm typing this like a month after it happened, my memory is a little fuzzy about the order of events that night. I'm pretty sure that we opened the presents from Ricky and Tiffany while we had him on the phone (Stephen did the same from Colorado).




[Ricky, that last picture is for you - Rick was trying the candy you sent and, well, I don't think he thought much of it :) I couldn't resist snapping a picture of his expression...]

The ducks are called "love ducks" and I think they're supposed to bring love into the home they sit in. I think they're darling little ducks! Before Ricky left he asked Nate what Nate wanted him to bring back from South Korea. Nate said, "A little Asian man" - this is what he got (along with the pipe pictured above):


The next set of photos are just family-friendly shots that are meant to make Stephen, Ricky, and Tiffany wish (even more fervently) that they were home right now (I'm cruel). Love to you all!






But I'm not done yet.

After we got off the phone with Ricky and Stephen, we sat down to dinner, which was still warm, imagine that! After dinner we went back to our presents. Stephen called again and we opened presents with him. (Ricky needed to go to bed as it was super late/super early his time.) So here are some pictures from that part of the evening...




We had a really fun Christmas Eve! It was super busy, but a great time. And it was so great to talk to Ricky and Stephen that day - it was sad that they couldn't be there, but we'll see them soon...I think.

Another post is written up and coming soon!

When a baby arrives,
be it for a day, a month, a year or more,
or perhaps only a sweet flickering moment-
the fragile spark of a tender soul
the secret swell of a new pregnancy
the goldfish flutter known to only you-
you are unmistakably changed...
the tiny footprints left behind on your heart
bespeak your name as Mother.




[For the mom who's lost her baby.]


labelledame.com

So sorry.

I haven't posted anything in, like, forever, I know...Please, no yelling. The camera card is somewhere with all my pictures - I will find it. Eventually.

Nate and I have been busy being wrapped up in our cars over the last two weeks. He sold his red Toyota 4x4 (goodbye to the last of our Toyota 4x4s...so sad!) and we're working on selling my Volvo right now. I haven't had a car in over a week now. Between it's random dying and time spent at the mechanics, I just haven't been driving it. It's nice that Nate's still at home working these days because otherwise I'd be completely stuck here.

Yes, so we've been preoccupied and boring. I'll let you know when we get a new car, though! Nate's been finding some good looking Volvos on the internet...I'm excited :)

When I find my camera card, I'll finish posting from Christmas time and at that point I should be up to date!

December 23

Christmas No. 3

[All of Nate's extended family on his Dad's side]

We met for dinner over at Scott and Christie's house, which has a fabulous space for family gatherings. We hung out for awhile and chatted, ate dinner, and then moved into the living room to hear the Christmas story and open presents. It was a nice evening - we enjoyed ourselves!

Below are pictures of the dining room/kitchen, another fancy self-portrait, Rick and Karen enjoying their dinner, Richard squashed between Rick and Grandma Jo, Aidan hiding in the pantry, Jeff, Tara, and Dawson listening to Linda share the Christmas story, and, finally, Aidan adding his two-cents to how the story was being acted out.
















We found out that night that two of Linda and Rudy's girls, Tara and Mendi, are both expecting - so if you guys ever check this, congratulations! We're excited for you!

Gettin' it done.

I can't remember if I mentioned this before...



Nate moved his office from the loft to the guest bedroom, which forced the guest bedroom into my office. My once-office now has three purposes: MK storage, guest bedroom, general office.


The transition was ridiculous. Nate made quick work of painting the guest bedroom, though! He picked a nice, neutral color - he has an eye for colors, I must say! So here are a few pictures from when Jeff and Necia Davis were over. They were roped into helping us move some furniture upstairs: Nate's desk and one of our dinning room tables, both ridiculously heavy items.


In case you were wondering, the loft is now what I call a general work space. The table fits nicely and it provides a wonderful area to sit and edit or scrapbook or pay bills...whatever. I keep the table cleared off so that whoever wants to use the space can do so without shuffling a bunch of stuff around. It's nice!


This is a picture of the chaos that is our hallway. When Nate moved the stuff from the guest room into the hallway to make space for his loft stuff to go into the old guest room, it all left a trail. It's improved slightly over the last week or so (as I've crammed some of it into random closets), but it's still pretty ugly. The staircase and upstairs hallway are the last to be painted...I can hardly wait!!!

December 22

Christmas No. 2:

Mom & Dad/Sister, Bro-in-Law, & Their Kids/Us

[Christmas No. 1 was at Granny Ruth's on December 14th]

We met up at Mom and Dad's for brunch in the morning - Dad always makes the tastiest breakfasts. I love his "pastries"...One year I asked him how he made them and, I have to say, they're so simple to make I was a little disappointed! But when I tried to make them, they did NOT turn out nearly as good as Dad's!

So we sat down to eat around 11am, or so. We wrapped up the meal with Dad reading the Christmas story from the inn keeper's perspective - the story was a whole lot more interesting with two little girls who were all ears as he read. When Rae Ann and I were little, we'd get together with our cousins to "perform" the story for our parents, but listening along with Stella and Ivy, the story became brand new!

Following breakfast, we opened presents. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from present time:











After presents we sat around for awhile before putting the girlies down for their naps and then eating even more food. Nate and I gave Dad some sudoku books in his stocking (mostly to torture him), so I began playing some of the games while Nate, Tom, and Dad played Halo 3. The afternoon meal was HUGE. All I contributed was a green salad, so when I walked into the dining room and saw Mom and Rae Ann's spread, I was little shocked! But it was all so tasty!

The next set of pictures are just a few that I snapped that make me think happy thoughts:





Okay, so that's the Breckenridge Christmas. It was really nice to spend some time with family! Tis the season, eh?