To The Beach!

The first weekend in January (you can see I'm still a little behind here), we went to the beach with our good friends Hannah, Ryan, Genevieve and Everett.  We rented a house at Manzanita.  We got so lucky with the weather.  Although it was a bit windy at times, it was beautiful and sunny the whole weekend.  The boys took a hike on Saturday.  They had a lovely view of the ocean and surrounding areas.  Hannah and I enjoyed a walk through town with the two littlest boys.  We had fun playing in the sand and at the park.  I enjoyed a jog each morning on the beach.  All too soon it was time to head home.  We had a nice visit with our friends, catching up and making new memories.

a game before bed

G is not so sure

Simon is having fun

breakfast

goo sand

trailblazers

top of the mountain

stories with Uncle Ryan

Snow Play

This past New Year's Day we went up to the mountain to play in the snow with our friends Brandon, Shelley and their kids.  We had big plans to do lots of sledding.  We even bought a new sled.  We packed all of our cold weather gear.  But when we got up to where the sledding should have occurred, there was no snow.  We were told to drive a little higher, all the way to the ski resort.  But when we got there, we were told we weren't allowed to sled.  It was a little depressing.  The little snow that we did manage to find was solid ice.  We thought we'd still like to play and have some fun, so we walked up to the side of a hill.  We quickly found out that the hill was very slippery, and the boys were soon "sledding" on their own without the use of the actual sleds.  We also had lots of fun digging and playing, although our adventure was not what we expected.  It was a sunny day, and we had lots of fun!

Simon treads carefully

Sam does a dig

Daniel, the sled

Christmas 2013

This year, we spent Christmas with my family in CDA, Idaho.  We were able to spend a week there this time.  The week was filled with talks with my sister, jogs in the snow, wonderful food cooked by my Mom, seeing the bald eagles, visiting downtown CDA, and so much more!

When we first got there, they had snow on the ground.  The boys had so much fun playing in the snow, building a snow fort and making snowballs and playing with their cousins.  If only the snow had lasted, but the next day it started to melt.  The rest of the week was cold and dry. 

bundled up Simon

On Monday night we took a boat cruise on Lake CDA to see Santa.  It's about 15 minutes across the lake where Santa is waiting for us on a dock.  He says hello and reads off the names of the boys and girls on the boats.  Then the property lights up, as it is heavily decorated for Christmas!

Daniel and I on the boat

Simon and Jeff looking for Santa

the north pole

On Tuesday we got to spend time with our good friends Hannah, Ryan and their kids Genevieve and Everett.  The kids had fun playing games and playing with Grandpa's train table.  We had a nice visit.

a wild game of battleship

And of course Wednesday was Christmas!  My sister along with her family came over for presents and Christmas dinner.  It was so much fun to spend Christmas with the kids again. 

what Santa brought Sam

the cousins!

Christmas family dinner

Thursday we went to Rapter Reef, an indoor water park.  It's fun to go somewhere and suddenly have the temperature be 80 degrees rather than a frigid 25!  The boys had so much fun going on the slides.  It was a great time.

sliding Simon

Emma, Justin and Daniel enjoy the slides

On Friday we left to go back to Portland.  On our way home, our car had trouble, and the check engine light came on.  We were so surprised by this because we've only had the car for  6 months and it only has 10,000 miles on it.  This didn't seem right.  To make a long story short, we finally got home, the car did get fixed, and at least we didn't have to pay for it.  Makes me thankful for things that work!

Musical Holidays

The days leading up to Christmas were also filled with the sounds of music.  Starting in early December, Daniel had his fall piano recital.  I have been so proud of him and his musical talents.  Piano has come quite easy for him, and I'm so glad he enjoys it.  He played Canoe Song by memory, and when I asked him if he was nervous or anxious, he said no.

waiting to start

A little later in the month, one Friday evening, Daniel and Sam were both in the church children's choir.  They performed 2 songs.

Sam walking in

Daniel walking in

Then, a little later, on a Wednesday evening, both boys performed in their school choirs.  It was so much fun to hear and see them perform.

Jingle Bell Run 2013

One of my resolutions for 2013 was to run in at least 6 races.  I had one more to do as the year came to a close, and while I looked all over for something to do, I couldn't find anything that appealed to me, so I decided on the Jingle Bell 5K Run again.  I ran it in 2012, so I knew what to expect.  Although I know it gets cold and wet this time of year in Portland, I felt like I could do anything for a short amount of time.  Just get in there, run it fast and get it over with.  What came as an added surprise was that it was the coldest weekend, or even day, on record.  Once again, I thought, this is mental, I can dress warmly.  I got this.  However, it was still so cold.  I tried to plan it so that I could hop on MAX in time to ride down there, get off, check my coat, go to the bathroom, and basically start the race.  But the problem was that the MAX was late, so that plan didn't go as scheduled.  And I ended up sitting outside for an extra 30 minutes or so, with the feeling slowly seeping out of me feet and hands, as I waited for the next available train.  Fortunately I made it down there before the race started.  And I wasn't too worried if I started late because I had a chip, so I felt like I could rely on the chip to record my time.  I walked straight off the train, passed the honey hut, took no time to look for the coat check, and walked to the start line.  I wasn't sure about this, but it was too late to turn back.  I was at the back of the pack, but again, I thought that was okay since I had the chip.  It took me 3 minutes to cross the start line.  And then as I soon as I could I started running as fast as I could.  I had no feeling in my toes the entire time.  And I ran with my heavy ski coat, hat and ski mask.  I'm sure I looked like a mad lunatic.  But with the MAX running late, I just had to go for it.  And my time was good.  I think I ran it in about 25 minutes, which I was proud of.  Only my official time was not my chip time, so that made me a little irritated.  If it had been, I would have placed 3rd in my age division.  Oh well, I managed to do it, and I survived the cold.  I went straight home and took a long, hot shower.

after

Voo-Doo Donuts were waiting for us at the end...I took the chocolate bar front and center!

Pre-Christmas Fun

Since one of my resolutions for the year is to do more blogging, I am going to add a few blogs that are perhaps a little old, but I would still like to share.  This post happened in the days before Christmas.  We have started some traditions as a family of things we like to do in the days leading up to Christmas.  One thing we like to do is go see the boat lights on the river.  So, we managed to get down there one Sunday evening.  The weather was not too cold, so we were able to stay out and watch the boats circle around before they headed up the river.

a christmas boat

youker family

another boat

with the grandparents

We also added a new tradition this year.  We went to see the singing Christmas Tree.  It was in the Keller Auditorium.  There was lots of singing and dancing, and it really got us in the mood for Christmas right away!

the stage

simon gets ready to enjoy some singing

We didn't make it to the zoo lights this year.  That's another one of our favorites.  Hopefully we can make it next year.  Christmas is a busy time for us, but we had a wonderful holiday season, and we hope you did too!