Griswold Family Sledding

We spent the beginning of this week in Portland with my family. My Mom and brother planned a trip to the mountain to go sledding. We had such an amazing day together! Mt. Hood was beautiful and we found two perfect sledding areas. We started the morning bright and early, packed some lunch goodies, stopped for tea and coffee and then hit the road. Mt. Hood is only 45 minutes to an hour away from my brother's place so we were ready to sled in no time!

We had the first place we stopped at pretty much all to ourselves for an hour or so. Leila even wanted to go by herself!

The boys on the top of the run.
My brother, er, Clark Griswold, on the disc.
Mom pulling L back up the sled run...
Still trying to make it to the top. Mom kept slipping.
Leila is wondering what is taking Grammy so long to get to the top!


The kids.
A little out of control...
Oh my goodness! This run had a bump at the bottom that killed my bottom!



Action shot...me and my little brother racing.


Hiking into the second spot, which was more crowded.



The tough boys.
What would we do if Jon and Chris didn't have a weird photo together??
Finally a nice shot.




You should have heard how excited the boys were to push me down the hill!! Look at Christopher's face in this!! Hmmm....










This is when the boys truly took on the spirit of the Griswold family sledding. They found a huge run with a major bump at the bottom where one could catch air. Chris is trying to hit it, but missed...thank goodness.

My brother, on the other hand, did not miss the bump. He practically knocked himself out! Not joking. He hit his nose on his knee when he landed and gave himself a bloody nose. Then within an hour he had a black eye too! The craziest part was that my husband was still wanting to go after watching Jon! No way, Chris!!!

Luckily, Leila was cold and tired by this point so the boys couldn't hurt themselves anymore as we had to leave to get her warmed up.

Heading back to the car.
We are definitely doing this again...minus the injury!

Aunt Doris

Last week my family lost someone very dear to us, our great Aunt Doris. She was 87-years-old, so she had lived a long and happy life, but I will miss her. It makes it easier knowing that she was reunited with my Uncle John.

As a kid, I used to love to spend time at my great Aunt Doris's house. Her and my Uncle John, always had crafts for my brother and me to do. They had a ceramics studio in their basement and we were encouraged to pick out and paint anything we wanted. We came home with wonderful pieces of art every visit. My Aunt was an amazing crafter, seamstress, knitter...just about any type of handiwork was her forte. Because of this, we are blessed to have many things to treasure. Things that will always remind us of her love for each of us. We will miss you Aunt Doris, but know we will meet again.

Playing on the bedspread that Aunt Doris made for my brother, Jon. For Leila's first birthday, Aunt Doris made her an exact copy...fitting since Jon and Leila share the same birthday.

Aunt Doris, Jonny, me and Uncle John

Leila and Aunt Doris looking at some doll clothes that Doris had made.

Doris A. Tancre Ball

October 31, 1923-December 14, 2010

Christmas Caroling

Some friends of ours invited us to go caroling with them this last Saturday. Of course we were thrilled at the idea! We met at their house for snacks and warm drinks before bundling ourselves up to head outside and spread some cheer. Boy was it cold outside!! Poor Chris! He played the guitar for the carolers and by the end of the night, he fingers were frozen! There was quite a crowd of us...maybe seven families? It was so much fun to see the happiness on the neighbors' faces. We can't wait for next year!

You wouldn't guess it from the pictures, but Leila was enjoying herself! Note to self: Next year remember gloves for the family!

Our guitarist for the evening:

Singing Jingle Bells...her favorite caroling song.
Warming up inside Jim and Cynda's house...it took the camera quite a while to warm up.
Now the camera is warm too. Love my hubby!

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

I was so ready for this year's Christmas card photo! I was looking forward to heading over to PLU's campus and finding some great places to take a family picture. I just knew we would find the perfect spot with all the brick and trees! Then the weekend came. Saturday morning was dry...until we were all dressed and ready to go of course. Then as we were backing out of the drive, it started raining and I don't think it stopped for the rest of the weekend. Well, needless to say, my well-laid plans were not gonna work! I was bummed. Chris stepped in and set up the camera at home on the front porch. Luckily, he kept the faith that we could still get our picture taken that morning. What started as Plan B, ended up with some really great pictures. Thanks Chris for putting up with me and saving the day!

I don't think we will be using this shot! Although it is really Leila right now.





Merry Christmas from the Taverns!!!!

Our Girl

As a parent, there is nothing nicer than hearing kind words about your child from others. Today when I picked Leila up from daycare, Sandy handed me a note. She took the time today to have all the children share something they liked about their fellow daycare kiddos.

LEILA:

• "I love her. She is my really best friend." - Bergen (age 3)
• "That she doesn't take toys." - Mackenzie (age 3.5)
• "That she always talks nice and she likes to read." - Jackson (age 5)
• "She sits by me." - Little Wyatt (age 2)

What a nice activity for the kids to do...especially right before Christmas. Yet another reason why we love Sandy!

Christmas Decoratin'

One of my favorite things of the season is getting bundled up and heading out to find our Christmas tree! We don't drive up into the mountains or search all over the NW, but each year we have a lot of fun and make new memories. We have been going to Jo-El's Christmas Tree Farm for the last 4-5 years and we always find the perfect tree for a great price!

Searching for THE ONE!

This is the "Charlie Brown Tree" that L really wanted us to bring home.

Our 2010 Christmas Tree

One thing I don't like about the tree selection day is the drive home. I always worry that the tree will fly off....it never has and rarely even shifts, but still...
While Chris was unloading the tree, setting it in the stand to dry and getting started on the house lights, Leila and I took some time for a couple photos. Chris could hear me trying to talk L into sitting there with a strand of lights for just one picture. I kept telling her that when she was a baby she let me take the cutest picture of her with the lights. Chris called me shameless. I say, whatever works for a cute picture!! Right?

This year:

The really cute baby picture. (15 months old)

Now back to present day...age 3. I have taken her pic on our back steps every year on the day we decorate the house.

Age 2

Chubby little toddler!
And a few more of the three-year-old.

I love this girl! What a goof-ball we have!!!

Oh, and eventually, we did help Chris put the house lights up!

Belle's Tree Lighting

Last weekend was full of Christmas celebrating! A Simple Wish hosted a tree lighting and holiday sing-along. The program I was given was stamped on the back, which earned Leila the opportunity to be the official tree lighter! She led the little girls in "Bippity, boppity, boo!" and then the trees glowed. After the tree lighting, the princesses sang, the crowd joined in for some numbers and then Santa arrived and read the girls and ONE boy a story. Lots of fun!

Leila is trying to convince her Dad to hang our Christmas tree upside down now! On a side note, we learned that evening that Christians originally displayed their trees upside down as a symbol of the Trinity. By the 12th century it was quite the custom. But then it was turned to point towards Heaven.

Santa's purple costume.