Vote for Sarah

I will get on to Natalie and Angela's posts soon, but I had to post this very cute writing assignment Sarah did at school and brought home yesterday. It is in a nice, patriotic cover with a self-portrait and stars and stripes. This is what it says inside, (I'm keeping the spelling true to her writing)

"I am a great lisaner and don't want any body to be left out. i would make shore that most things are fair and care for one another. I would bring peace to all over the world. The new law would be that every one was trying to also bring peace. I am trying to make the world a better place. I would make a graet president. I think everyone (including me) could do better, but to be a good president I will help you do that and on our way to the good life we will spread joy everywere. Vote for Sarah!"

Isn't that adorable? I love the "on our way to the good life" part. Not sure where that came from, but it sounds good to me. Her slogan could be "Vote For Sarah: The Good Life". (o: Too cute. This assignment is going in the filing cabinet. And given this uncertain time, I think I'd be happy to vote for someone like her. I'm a little skeptical right now about all the near-worship that is going on presently with Obama before he has even been put in office. I am optimistic and happy with several things I see him doing, I really am, but the way he has been put on a pedastal as a hero and a savior of sorts so soon is really weird. But that's just me . . .

Deep Thoughts By Jack Handy

This one is dedicated to one of the sweetest girls ever - Kaitlin! One of my cute YW that has become a big Deep Thoughts fan! Wahooo! I'm glad to pass on some spiritual wisdom that my girls can take with them for the rest of their lives. (o: Hey, laughter is the best medicine, right?

Here's to you, Kaitlin ...

"When I found the skull in the woods, the first thing I did was call the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns."

(I tried reading this one to my sister on Christmas day and couldn't get through it because I was laughing so hard I was crying.)

Fortunately for Sarah . . .

I wanted to do a little entry for each of the girls to highlight cute things about them lately. I've been so busy writing about football, snow and Christmas that I haven't had a chance to write more specific things about the girls.

Sarah started reading the "Series of Unfortunate Events" over Christmas break and got to #6 before school started! She is HOOKED! She is gaining a larger vocabulary and surprising me with words she has learned from those books. (Some I haven't even heard of before.) It will be a sad day when she finishes #13. We'll have to find another intriguing series for her.

Sarah is also doing very well in math. She is in the highest math group at school and I have been amazed at how quickly they have whizzed through concepts. One stressful time was in November, when Sarah was learning multiplication facts. I remember learning these in 3rd grade, not 2nd. I also remember spending a whole week learning my 6's or my 9's. In Sarah's class they started times tables and by the third day she was coming home with sheets that covered multiplication facts up to 9's! Some of the kids in her class learned them already on their own so she was VERY stressed out about not knowing them as well. The perfectionist and competitive sides of her struggled in class when the teacher would hold up cards and two boys would always shout out the answers first. I talked with the teacher about it and we practiced a lot at home with Sarah. After two weeks, she knew every multiplication fact by heart. I can't believe how quickly she went from only knowing a handful to every single one! Their class is now multiplying things like 784 x 9. At this rate, what will they teach these kids in 6th grade? Calculus?? Howie* would be estatic!

Sarah is LOVING her new room all to herself. She loves reading by her lamp, getting her "desk" all organized (we moved in a little folding table) and having a place to go where she can be alone to do homework or play with her SpongeBob Legos. I will have to get a picture of her hilarious Rules she has posted on her door.

At Sarah's New Year's class party yesterday (to make up for missing the Christmas party because of the snowstorm) Sarah raised her hand when it was time for the show-and-tell at the end of school. I didn't remember her putting anything in her backpack. When it was her turn, she took Angela's hand (who came with me to help at the party) and led her to the front. Angela was her show and tell! It was pretty cute.

Speaking of school, Sarah's teacher Mrs. B. cannot say enough nice things about Sarah. She always tells me what a good parent I must be, but I seriously don't think I am that fantastic. Sarah is just a good girl at heart, always has been. She reminds me so much of how I was in school. I loved my teachers and loved being praised by them - sometimes other kids called me the teacher's pet. (o: I always wanted to do a good job - just like Sarah. She is really thriving in Mrs. B's class this year. I am proud of the young lady she is becoming. I am noticing her coming out of her shell more and more lately - Sarah's confidence is growing as she has conquered multiplication, discovered a talent in piano and has made so many new friends at a brand new school this year.

Sarah loves to invent and think of ideas for inventions and stories. She had one of her oldest and best friends, Paige, over for a playdate this week. They are two peas in a pod and took a bunch of recycled things up to Sarah's room to "invent" something. Unfortunately, several minutes later Sarah came running down to get the DustBuster. Luckily, I stopped her and found out one of the glass baby food jars broke. So Sarah and Paige spent the rest of the playdate on Sarah's bed while I cleaned up the minefield of glass fragments. I didn't mind though - next time I'll just make sure their inventing doesn't include any glass objects!

Sarah also has a best friend at school. Monica. She was invited to Monica's house two Sundays ago for a surprise birthday party. I was heart-broken because in our religion there are several things we try not to do on Sunday. They include things like shopping, eating out, watching movies or going to non-church or family events like birthday parties. Now we aren't always perfect - we sometimes give in and watch a movie or TV show together as a family. (we try to pick more uplifting shows than our usual SpongeBob episodes, however. Little House on the Prairie is a favorite) And there are some situations I would be fine with doing on Sunday - like going to a small birthday or other gathering with the whole family. The idea is we try to focus on things that help us #1 worship Christ and #2 be with our family that day. Anyway, I felt so torn, but I felt it was important to stick with the standards we have set and taught our kids. As I explained this to Eva, who is one of the sweetest people I know and has ALWAYS been so supportive of us - even coming to Sarah's baptism with Monica on a day when it was very inconvenient. I hope that she could tell how sorry I was.

I explained the situation to Sarah also. While she thought it would be so fun to be there to surprise Monica, she hardly bat an eye and agreed that doing something special with her on another day was the best choice. I was proud of her. We ended up going with Monica's family to Out of This World, a huge indoor playland, last night and we had a blast! Sarah and Monica counted the days until they got to go. They played for nearly 4 hours, minus just a few minutes to eat their pizza. And I had a great time getting to hang out with Eva. The siblings all got to run around and play too. Even Howie*, Mark and Michelle joined us later. It was such a great night and I think Sarah and Monica got some good girl bonding!

One funny side note. There were some boys from their school that happened to be there too. I didn't notice until the boys' moms pointed it out to me, but apparently the boys were making quite a game of chasing Monica and Sarah around during the night! (o: Wow - has it already come to that? (o: My baby???

Utahk About a Team!

There's been a lot of buzz about the Utes this last week - more than ever in the history of Ute football. They may have single-handedly broken the BCS bowl system (if we BCS cynics get our way), only time will tell. Last night Florida was hailed as the number one team in the country. As I watched all the hoopla after the exciting game, (it wasn't a blowout like the Sugar Bowl) and as a Ute fan through and through, I felt a little sick that Utah never had the chance to have that title. Maybe we would have won, maybe not - but it would have been an awesome game and I believe they had a pretty darn good chance. Florida was good last night, but I think it would have been awesome to watch Utah play against them. Especially considering Urban Meyer (the Florida coach) was the coach that took the Utes to the Fiesta Bowl in 2005 - the Utes first win in a BCS bowl. If only... But we didn't get that chance, so we'll settle for our #2 in the nation - as announced today. #2 is pretty dang awesome, but when you never even have a chance to get to number one it kind of stinks.

The title of my post has a link to the best article that perfectly describes how I feel - and it's hilarious too! Below are several quotes from Rick Reilly of ESPN (P.S. thanks to Aunt Danna for the great "motivational" pictures and Shannan and Dan for the link to the awesome article quoted below. (o: ) Because this is a family-friendly blog I edited one of the "posters" below. You can fill in the blank with "rear", "behind" or other words depending on how strongly you feel about it. There is, however, one swear word I left in the article quoted below because the way the swear word was used was creative and made me laugh my head off.

"Some gifts people give are pointless: Styling mousse to Dick Vitale. An all-you-can-eat card to Kate Moss. The BCS Championship given to Oklahoma or Florida. (written before last night's game)

It means nothing because the BCS has no credibility. Florida? Oklahoma? Who cares? Utah is the national champion.
The End. Roll credits.

Argue with this, please. I beg you. Find me anybody else that went undefeated. Thirteen-and-zero. Beat four ranked teams. Went to the Deep South and seal-clubbed Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The same Alabama that was ranked No. 1 for five weeks. The same Alabama that went undefeated in the regular season. The same Alabama that Florida beat in order to get INTO the BCS Championship game in the first place.

Yeah, that's how it is now in the shameful, money-grubbing world of college football. If you're Florida and you beat Alabama, you get a seat in the title game. If you're Utah, you get a seat on your sofa.

Hey, remind me: What do they give out for one of those BCS things anyway? It's been so long since I cared. Something from Sears? This is the sixth year in the past 10 that the title has been in dispute under this cash-grab, fan-dis, monopoly that the BCS has created. Which is why the title game just doesn't matter anymore. It's like being named Miss Ogallala. Or Best Amish Electrician.

Just take a look at the teams that think they're worthy of being called national champs:

USC? Great year. Wonderful. Let's all go to SkyBar and celebrate. But it lost to Oregon State, a team Utah beat.

Texas? You think beating Ohio State by a nubby three points gets you the title? The Big Ten was 1-6 in bowl games! That's like pinning David Spade!

Florida and Oklahoma? They lost. Utah never did. So that's it. Utah is the national champion. The Utes should probably have two now, actually. They went undefeated in 2004, too, and their coach still thinks they were the best team in the land. Smart fella named Urban Meyer. Coaches Florida now.

Above: Utes will always be #1 to me! We took the kids to Sherry's at 10:00 p.m. to celebrate the Sugar Bowl win on January 2nd. I have an awesome hubby - who despite his strong BYU-fan status - celebrated the huge win with me whole-heartedly. If BYU ever finds itself in the same position, I will do the same for him. (o: Thanks hon! It was fun cheering for the same team!

on with the article...

"This is not how we normally do things in America," says Utah president Michael Young. "In America, quality usually wins, not conspiracy. And there's a reason people usually enter into a conspiracy. It's money. You make money doing it. And those that are in on the conspiracy want to stay in and keep everybody else out."

Sure, BCS blowhards will hand you schlock about how the college football season is like a playoff, how it's an elimination tournament every week. Really? Well, how come Florida and Oklahoma weren't eliminated with their losses? Utah ran the table, beat everybody set in front of them, including Ala-damn-bama in no less than the Sugar Bowl, and gets the bagel.

Oh, by the way? It was Utah's eighth straight bowl win, the nation's longest streak. Among the losers during that run? Let's see USC, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, and now the legendary Houndstooth Hats.

"What else do we have to prove?" asks Utah's magical quarterback, Brian Johnson. Good question. He and the Utes essentially whipped Alabama at home. Handed Nick Saban a garlic necklace to wear the entire offseason. Stepped on his team's neck 21-0 in the first three possessions and never looked back. Let's see. Who was it that was losing to Alabama until nearly six minutes into the fourth quarter? Oh, yeah. Florida. (insert: the #1 national champions barely beat the team that Utah CREAMED)

Until all these people do the right thing, I'll be celebrating with the true national champions — the undefeated, untied Utah Utes. (Our new slogan: Utahk about a team!)

Lemonades for everybody!

Tragedy Strikes Hillsboro - Say It Ain't So!!

We've lost a dear friend . . . we may need grief counseling to work through this tremendous loss. I'll never forget where I was when I heard the tragic news. At Joann's standing in the Valentine aisle, encircled by hearts and happy, lovey dovey stuff. Kind of ironic. My cell phone rang, Tina had bad news. Someone standing nearby listening to my end of the conversation might have thought that a loved one had just passed away . . .

January 8, 2009 was a sad day for Hillsboro or at least for our family as well as many of the other "regulars" at Costa Vida. It was the day that I received the devastating news that our favorite restaurant, nay, our family's home away from home is closing indefinitely. If only there was something we could do - win the lottery, call out from the rooftops that our dear restaurant needed patrons from far and near. I wish the owner would have filled us in on his financial situation. (o: We could have helped market the best sweet pork this side of Utah! I would have stood on corners with a sign - I would have dressed up like a sweet pork salad (although I may have been kidnapped). Oh, the would have's. But by the time we got the news it was too late. The only thing we could do is join the hundreds of other regular clientele and stand with pitiful expressions on our faces in the line that rivaled Disneyland ride lines (45 minute wait to place an order) and recall the many memories we had at this establishment and our sadness at seeing it go. We mourned with the many friends we already knew and the friends we stood in line with and said things like, "We would have come more if we knew... oh wait, I guess coming more than once a week is a little much." and "Where are we going to get sweet pork?" and "It wasn't just the food, it was the laid back and fun feeling of Costa Vida" and "The only good thing I can think of is that I might lose this." (a man said as he patted his belly) "Yeah," I said in reply, "But I'd rather be fat and have my Costa Vida."
The girls were disappointed too and were so amazingly well behaved as we stood in line to order our food. It felt more like we were there to pay our respects, like everyone else. One more time to smile and greet the friendly employees. Honestly, I didn't know their names and they didn't know ours, but we knew each other. I almost asked to take their pictures, but they were in such a hurry. (And I worried they might think that was a little too weird.) I will always remember those smiling faces that asked so kindly, "Black beans or pinto?" They will be etched in my memory forever. Last night was their final night serving dinner, but today they were open for one more lunch. I thought of an excuse to go to Fred Meyer and drove by one more time at 2:00 p.m. I saw the "open" sign and just had to go in one last time. It was much quieter - I walked right up to the counter and ordered a flan and queso and chips. There was one man behind me, but I think I was one of the last people to place an order. I am keeping my receipt for my scrapbook. (o: The feeling inside was a little mixed - kind of somber and sad, but also a feeling of gratitude. We felt grateful for everything that Costa Vida represented - yummy food, a great place to hang out and really, really nice people. And the owner and all his employees seemed touched at how many people showed up for one last meal and told him how much the place meant to them.

It will be hard to move on. Hanging out at Baja Fresh or Chevy's will never be on our agenda, although we like the food there fine. And to all those locals, don't even think of "On the Border" it's decorated all cute, but the food is awful. Sigh. I guess I will have to actually cook more at home. Blah. (o;

Above: Sniff, sniff - the surfboard-looking sign welcoming us to tell the employees which delicious menu item we felt like eating that night. My last order was a sweet pork salad with cilantro lime dressing - my personal favorite. Oh, and blue Powerade with the yummy, crunchy ice. I took a picture of it below.
I told the nice lady during my last visit today (I'll call her Mary), that the thing I loved best about Costa Vida is it was kind of like the bar in "Cheers" for Hillsboro. (o: Mary laughed and had to agree (even though neither of us actually knew each others' name like they sing in the opening song). The employees knew us when we walked in, even sometimes knew what we would order, and we always ran into someone we knew there. I'm sure if they would have stayed in business just a little longer we would have reached "Norm!" status. Hillsboro will never be the same without our Costa Vida.

Will these be in heaven? In my personal heaven, the whole Costa Vida - including the employees will be there. But wait, maybe we'll all have to take turns cooking, because it wouldn't be fair for the employees to be stuck working all the time in heaven. (o:

Just a little tidbit that some people might not know. Costa Vida was owned by a nice Mormon couple, the Cochrans, from Utah. And when you are a Mormon in Oregon, everyone who is LDS is only 3 degrees away from Steve Young. (o: (You know the 7 degrees from Kevin Bacon theory?) In other words, if we don't know each other, we know someone who knows them or at the very least we know someone who knows someone who knows them. Even the Cochrans were two degrees away from us. I heard from my cousin years ago that they were leaving Logan and coming here to start a new Mexican restaurant. Anyway, that is one of the reasons why we always knew someone who was there - all those Mormons! (o:

As I have told several people while I've mourned the last two days . . . (I'm taking it pretty hard as you can tell.) My life is pretty darn good if the hardest thing I am going through right now is the loss of my beloved Costa Vida restaurant. So I'll be grateful for that!

Deep Thoughts

Kevin* and I recently rediscovered Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy - remember those? I got Kev* a Deep Thoughts book for a stocking stuffer. I forgot how much I love them. So every so often I plan to put in a Deep Thought here and there. I've tried explaining them to my young women since they were probably babies when they were so popular. This one is dedicated to Lizzy and Sarah . . .

It's funny that pirates were always going around searching for treasure and they never realized that the real treasure was the fond memories they were creating.

A Chip Off the Old Block

Angela has inherited Sarah's cute preschool camera and as you can see, it has been a new favorite toy. She is constantly taking pictures and looking at them on the camera. Good thing it's digital because she'll take about 10 pictures of the same thing. Oh wait, I guess I kind of do that too. Twilight and dollies are her favorite subjects. She took about 30 pictures of Twilight while I was taking picture of her taking them. (o:

More Reveling...

Revel (verb) to take great pleasure in something, (noun) an uproarious party or celebration

Yeah, reveling is a good word for the way I've felt since the big win on Friday. (o: Here are some fun comments and facts I gathered from the comments board on ESPN. Keep in mind that most of these people are not necessarily Ute fans. This win was big for football fans everywhere, except for the south and east coast. (o:
"Sugar Bowl Recap.... Utah dominates on both sides of the ball in a game that was not even as close as the final score. Their defense had eight sacks and two interceptions, their offense shredded Alabama like swiss cheese and their coaching staff out coached their SEC opponent big time. It's highly unlikely any SEC team would have made it through the Mountain West season undefeated."

"THANK YOU UTES, I was pullin for you guys from the start cause I'm so sick of hearing how "strong" the SEC is. Who else noticed just after the coin toss the big bama guy get up in the Utes face and try to intimidate him on national TV, hope you feel good about that now big guy with the ice pack. Just goes to show you the game is decided on the field not on the scale or how many stars you have given by the prognosticators like Switzer. Awesome seein him try to not look stupid at halftime and after the game."

"The BCS is the biggest BS around. This Ute team deserves to have a shot at #1. "

"I always looked down on all you 'lesser schools', and am still a very serious SEC fan, but Utah deserves respect. Great game Utes!"

"After watching Alabama play both Florida and Utah, there is no doubt in my mind who the number 1 team in the country is. 8 sacks. 31 rushing yards allowed. 336 yards passing. Led the game the entire time. More impressive than Florida. Also beat the team who beat USC."

"Roll Tide! Roll right into the Mississippi! So much for all of your "5 Star" recruits."

"Congrats Utah on a great game! Its great to see a "weak" (considering 90% of America picked Alabama) team beat a mighty SEC team in their own backyard. Utah was a great team all year, and this game proved that they should have at least had a chance to get into the national championship. Would they win it? Maybe, maybe not. But they should have been given a chance. I really enjoy watching non-BCS teams beating BCS teams in these games, because it makes the argument for a playoff much more convincing. Again, great win for Utah!"

Following Alabama's first loss (to Florida), Saban noted that his club still was the only team to have an undefeated regular season in a "real BCS conference." The comment wasn't aimed specifically at the Utes, but it clearly motivated them. "From my perspective, I was angry, not just because of what Saban said but everything that was out there," Johnson said. "I just felt like we were being completely disrespected."
"I apologize if anybody was offended by that. We had a tremendous amount of respect for Utah," Saban said. "I certainly misstated that. ... So if that's what gave them all their intensity, then I guess I'm responsible for the way they played and I'm responsible for the way we played."

"I don't think we gave them their due respect coming into the game," statement from Coffee - Bama receiver.

So how bad did we beat Alabama?
Alabama only lost 27 points in all of the first quarters – TOTAL, all season. Utah scored 21 points against them in the first quarter of ONE GAME.
Utah’s first three possessions resulted in touchdowns – in the first few minutes of the game Utah led by 21 points to zip; the largest deficit the “Tide” faced in any game all season.

The Crimson Tide, playing without offensive lineman Andre Smith, surrendered a season-high eight sacks and rushed for a season-low 0.9 yards per carry.

Utes quarterback Brian Johnson threw for a season-high 336 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Wilson (Bama) had 177 yards and 1 touchdown.

The Utes took charge from the start by bolting to a stunning, 21-0 first-quarter lead. When Alabama pulled to 21-17 early in the second half, the Utes refused to wilt.

They aren't BCS Busters, They're BCS Bullies!

Heather Dinich of ESPN.com wrote today (in addition to the title above) "Utah quarterback Brian Johnson deserves an explanation. After all, he has a very valid question. "What else do we have to prove?" asked Johnson, after leading his team to a stunning, convincing 31-17 win over Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The answer should be nothing. Should be."
And that is all the buzz today for anyone who knows or cares anything about college football. But forget about how we deserve to be ranked #1 in the nation, in the NATION! (giddy laughing and cheering). Last night's game was one for the ages - I believe even millenia from now I will still look on last nights game with a big smile. Some might think that by then, in the next life we won't care about things like football, but I beg to differ - I will always feel warm and fuzzy when I think of my favorite Ute players and coach Whittingham jumping up and down with huge grins. What a GAME! I have seen a lot of U of U football games in my life - ever since I can remember and before I really cared. I was born into a University of Utah Ute family and my blood runs red. That was the most incredible game I have ever or probably ever will witness. Yes, it is a good day to be a Ute fan! More favorite quotes later. For now - some favorite pictures for your viewing enjoyment...

I LOVE this guy!! Awesome!

Brian Johnson - the coolest and nicest quarterback in the nation! We will miss you!!

I love this close up of one of the TD's

Awwww... we're so sorry coach Saban. It really stinks to lose to one of those "lesser" schools.
sniff sniff

A well deserved trophy and awesome finale to Johnson's college football 'career'

Happy New Year!

This year for New Year's Freddy* and I thought it would be fun to let the girls stay up until midnight to experience New Year's celebrating. We spent the day at OMSI and came home to play games, eat Chex mix and watch movies until midnight. The girls did awesome! Freddy teased that whoever fell asleep first would find their underwear in the freezer, but no one fell asleep! They all stayed awake, in fairly decent moods, might I add. Maybe we already had such messed up sleep schedules that it didn't phase them. Natalie was very interested and confused about the whole "New Year" thing. The concept of months and years is hard to grasp when even a week seems like a long time. (o: No matter how we tried to explain it, she still didn't get it, but soon she decided she didn't care and any excuse for a party is good enough for her. (o: When the magical hour arrived, we banged pots, shot confetti poppers and watched the illegal fireworks someone behind us shot off. (o: The girls were so proud to have stayed up all the way until the next day and expected to see the sun any minute after midnight. (o: They all slept good that night and I think we woke up around 10 a.m. the next day! A great way to start the new year!
Here's a few photos from our exciting Yahtzee game!

The game of Yahtzee takes great concentration!

Some R&R at Home

I was so thankful this year to manage getting the girls in matching Christmas dresses without spending a dime. With the weather making shopping difficult and some goals to save more $$ this Christmas - it was a blessing to discover that two beautiful hand made dresses that a good friend gave me a few years ago fit Sarah and Natalie. And another dress given to me by another friend matched the color scheme and even had a little jacket for Angela that matched the other two pretty closely. Bonus - one of my Christmas-y dresses is a dark purple velvet, so we all got to be matchy the Sunday after Christmas at church. (Since church was cancelled the Sunday before.) I know it's a little silly, but I love the girls to be matchy for Christmas. It is one of the fun perks of having three little girls. (o:
This year for Christmas break we got daddy home the whole time!! Melvin* and I were so tempted to head to our favorite beach homes again at Bella Beach (we had everything reserved and just had to click one button), but at the last minute, we decided that this year we would stick close to home and play, play, play around here, try to ignore the phone (sorry if we seemed rude) and just be together. No packing, less money and we could get some things done around the house in between all the fun. We had some very fun adventures including ice skating at a place in Sherwood. I wish it was closer because we had so much fun, I'd love to go more often. I felt like a kid again remembering all the youth activities and dates with Melvin* skating in Utah. I was surprised how fast it came back to me. After more than 10 years, I still have good balance! Not grace, but I can stay up!

The girls were very unsure of this at first. The first time around the rink took us about 52 minutes. Not really, but we hugged the wall and it took a very long time. I was very impressed how quickly Sarah and Natalie let go and scooted off on their own. Sarah was quite good by the time we left and had the basic idea, mostly insisting on not holding any hands. Natalie was hilarious. She was as brave as Sarah, but didn't move as cautiously; so she ended up doing some pretty funny twirls and spins before finally falling on her rear. She had one sad, hard fall on her bum, but the rest of the time we all laughed at the very creative ways Natalie went down and nearly brought down the rest of us. Angela took almost the whole time warming up to ice skating and was laughing by the end. She insisted that both hands were holding on to someone the whole time.

The next day, we went swimming (sorry no pics) where Natalie overcame her fear of the waterslide and went down it with, daddy or mommy, 4 times! Sarah went as much as she possibly could and Angela even went down once, but was terrified the whole time. That night we went to the Zoo Lights. We usually see these before Christmas, but the weather kept us from this tradition. It was just as fun afterwards. We loved riding the train, especially Angela, and drinking hot chocolate as we walked through the lights. The picture above is my favorite "scene" of ocean life swimming around. You'll just have to use your imagination!

By the way, most of these outing shots were taken with my new, little camera. I know - Jen got a camera for Christmas?? That's the last thing she needs, right? Actually, I got two. I know - it seems kooky. But I really needed a little camera for those times when a bulky camera is cumbersome and beautiful pictures aren't as necessary as just having something to document memories. The other camera was a total surprise and was one of those bulky, but awesome, cameras. (o: Thanks hon.

Other fun outings for the week included OMSI, a quirky pizza place downtown called Eat Pizza on Burnside that had the best pizza ever, eating out a lot, playing games, watching movies, cleaning up Christmas decorations and sleeping in really late! It was a heavenly week!

One final highlight was our 12th anniversary. For my anniversary gift, Vern* told me I could post this picture of him! (o: Aww, how romantic! (o: Isn't he cute? We had a fabulous dinner date at the Portland City Grill. It's a snazzy restaurant on the 30th floor of a building downtown with fantastic views. I tried sushi, fillet Mignon and most of all enjoyed the time that we had to visit alone! We haven't been on a date since the summer date to Phantom of the Opera! That is so sad! After dinner we went to Barnes and Noble to putz around - one of our favorite things to do when we don't have the kiddos and then got a fancy hot chocolate from Starbucks on the way home. I love our fun dates and am so lucky to be married to my best friend. We have a lot of laughs together and have been blessed with a wonderful life these last 12 years. Wow - how did we get so old????

Snowed In

Well, the unusual snowstorm turned into two weeks of snow, ice, terrible roads and basically a lot of time together in the house, with no where to go. Good thing I am a bit of a home body and so are the girls, so we did just fine hanging out together most of the time. We did, however, go for drives around the neighborhood (chains on, of course) with daddy when he'd get home at night - just to get out of the house. We also went outside to play, walked to visit neighbors, hosted get togethers with friends who were willing to brave the weather and made a lot of good memories. As I write this, the rain has almost completely washed away all the snow, but we will always remember the "Deep Freeze" of 2008.

A few interesting facts (I may be repeating a bit from past posts.)

*We had our first official WHITE CHRISTMAS here in Oregon! Not only was there snow on the ground, but it snowed Christmas Day! Yeah!

*School was cancelled the entire week prior to Christmas vacation.

*I believe the highest snow depth in the two weeks was around 14" with a 1/2" layer of ice somewhere in between from the freezing rain that hit last Saturday night before Christmas.

*We found snow in our attic! We had to get the shop vac in our "Narnia" attic to vaccum snow off the Christmas presents! Apparently, very windy conditions can blow snow up and down the vents in the roof.

*We were very, very lucky/blessed to have power through the whole ordeal.

*The worst road conditions, or most annoying, were when the ice actually started melting. There was a good 6" of ice and tons of slush accumulated on the roads and the gradual melting made ruts and bumps down to the pavement. It was like 4 wheeling on horribly rocky dirt roads.

Here are a few pictures of the week before Christmas...

Twilight discovered a hidden talent! The first few times she played notes she scared herself to death. It was hilarious. Now when she feels a little musical, she'll get up every so often to play a few measures.
I hosted a appetizer Christmas party at my house on Christmas Eve Eve. I was sooo in need of some socializing after 9 days of being stuck in the house. I was so excited to have such a good turnout despite (or maybe because of) the bad weather. I think a lot of other friends were feeling the same way. I had such a fun time - I am so grateful for good friends and neighbors. We had lots of delicious food, lots of laughs and a few people that were brave enough to go to the store got socks for the Christmas sock exchange. It was such a fun night, I think it will be a new Christmas tradition. Thanks to my husband, Earl*, for being a great sport and staying upstairs with the girls. He got to come down and enjoy a few leftovers after for a reward. (o:

Here's a picture of our house in all the snow. The trunk of my rosebush "tree" by the porch is completely covered! Earl* removed huge chunks of ice from the driveway and sidewalk for my Christmas party friends. Some were three feet wide!

One afternoon, the girls and I went to visit my good friend and neighbor, Sue. Above is a picture of Natalie enjoying a snowball she made on the way over. She was enjoying eating it so much, Sue offered her a plate so she could bring it inside and eat. Below is a picture of Sue's little villiage and train she put together. It was so cute!

The girls got the idea to take our swimming boards and "sled" down the slide. It was pretty funny. As you can see below, there was plenty of snow on the slide to make it work. Sarah and Natalie stayed out in the backyard playing for 45 minutes or so - until their feet started hurting. (Their gollashes are not warm at all.) Then I discovered that Natalie hadn't even put on socks when she went out! They all got in a nice warm bath to warm their freezing toes. Angela lasted about 2 minutes in the backyard. It was too hard for her to even walk - the frozen layer of ice made it really tricky. It took me 15 minutes to get her bundled up! Oh well.

On the 22nd, we hosted a friend Christmas craft party and lunch for a few of Sarah and Natalie's friends! This has been a tradition with Sarah's friends the last two years and I thought it was only fair to let Natalie invite a couple friends this year too. Natalie got to have Lydia, Sage and Jayda and Sarah invited Monica and Taylor. (Two other good friends couldn't make it in the bad weather - even Monica, who lives across the street had to get in total snow gear just to walk over!) Their friends are all so cute - we had a fabulous time - 8 girls in all, including Angela - making cards, ornaments, jingle bell jewelry and eating PB & J's. Good times!

Here's another view of the house looking out the front door as people left the party. I couldn't stop taking pictures of it all - it was just so unbelievable!

One afternoon, Angela and Natalie and I made cinnamon rolls. Christmas Eve, Billy Bob* made over 80 cinnamon rolls that we took around to neighbors and home teaching families! Our house smelled so good! This has been a tradition for the last 3 or 4 Christmases. My job is to make the icing and get them wrapped up.

More Playing - The Day After

We continued to play and hang out the day after Christmas, but we did get dressed. Here are some cute pics of the girls in their new clothes and playing with the new toys...

I've been meaning to get a cute picture on the blog of Sarah and Twilight and this one fit the bill. (o:

I LOVE this adorable smile (o:

Glittery Floam was a big hit from grandma.

Angela and her new "laptop"

Sarah had fun with her Lego Chum Bucket. Natalie got Mrs. Puff's Driving School. They kept them up on the counter and played out some hilarious Sponge Bob episodes. Sarah especially got into making up shows. I LOVED eavesdropping and listening to her voices and story lines. She has such a good understanding of the characters that they could actually be SpongeBob episodes! They were quite clever and funny. Above is Sarah's "Intermission" sign when she had to go to the bathroom or something.

Some other fun memories from Christmas and the day-after not pictured ...

Our yummy ham dinner on Christmas day.

Playing Boom Blox, our new Wii game - it is awesome! We played for hours and hours.

Watching Horton Hears a Who, TinkerBell, Narnia and Sound of Music again (we love that show!)

The delicious red, white and green dip from Costco!

Reading manuals for new electronic "toys"

Being together, laughing together and playing together. The girls have gotten along so well during our time off from school. They are quite the little buddies - it's so fun to watch them.

I think I forgot to mention that it actually snowed on Christmas day here - so it was an official white Christmas. Not that it was anything new after two weeks of the stuff! (o: