From the Oregon Coast, With Love

As the summer heat and crowded beaches are giving way to warm evening light,long shadows and stretches of endless people-less coastline, we took our yearly autumn trip to the coast. Have I mentioned recently how much I love Oregon?

I Made It Through Spring Break and All They Gave Me is This Lousy Blog Post

So there's a lot happening in our family right now; plenty to blog about, like a new job (!!) and our family's dancing debut in Les Ruses D'Amour (If it goes well, I'm thinking we're takin' it on the road), but for now, I wanted to share some photos from Spring Break just to prove that we made it through without any serious catastrophe.

Now, there was a time when I could never have imagined the word "catastrophe" and "Spring Break" in the same sentence. "Mexico" and "Spring Break," sure. "Bikini," "sunshine" and "margarita," with "Spring Break,"  bring it! Even, "sunburn" and "hung over" with "Spring Break," I have a small place in my heart for. Ah, the good 'ole days (*sniff*). No, the whole Spring Break paradigm shifted for me when my children took over my much beloved holiday and claimed it as their own. Goodbye Mexico, bikini and margaritas. Hello, countless hours of board games and play dates, boredom induced meltdowns and my own frayed nerves.  I'll try not to be bitter.

All kidding aside and much to my delight, the 9 days that we had together were pleasant, especially given the fact that, up until that point, Sydney and Alex seem to be steadily working toward their Professional-Sibling-Rivalry certificates. (Apparently, the curriculum includes wrestling moves that would rattle even the most hardened men in the WWF and a good dose of ear splitting shrieking beginning with the word "Mooooommmm!...." added in for extra credit ). But, we made it! We did it! And it was, shall I say, enjoyable!
Well, OK.  It didn't hurt that we spent some of our time here:

Cullen + Angie

Here you go, Wisconsin! Here are a few more photos that I took at Cullen and Angie's wedding. Tim will post his soonly.

 

 

Love, Sweet Love

   I love a good wedding. I love the coming together in the spirit of devotion and hope, the cake, the cheer, or, if for no other reason, to witness which crazy relative comes out of the family closet and wreaks havoc in some unsuspecting way (I'm lookin' at you, my sweet brother Dan).
  The only thing I love more than a good wedding, is a good surprise wedding. After 8+ years, Tim's cousin Cullen and his lovely girlfriend, Angela decided to make honest people out of each other. They got the judge on Monday, called us Tuesday, and had the wedding on Wednesday. Quick and dirty and sooooo much fun!
  For all of the family in Wisconsin, bare with me; I'm working on all of the images from the wedding and I'll post more in the next couple of days. Until then, congratulations, Cullen and Angie! We loved being part of your special day!

A Christmas Adventure, Griswold's Style

Over the last couple of years, our family has found some delight in "hunting" for our family Christmas tree. We hop in the car, drive up toward Mt. Hood, and spend the day frolicking in the snow and searching for the perfect tree to cut down and bring home. After a fun filled day, we drink hot cocoa and drive home with a beautiful tree attached to the top of our car, tired and happy and looking forward to our next family adventure....  
Hmmm. At least, that's what it looks like in my head. In reality, it looks more like this....


Everything starts out as expected. Tim declares himself the "Christmas Tree Whisperer" and moseys off into the woods to find The Tree with Sydney in hot pursuit. After climbing hills and crossing streams, the Tree Whisperer subdues this beauty:

 

Being raised in the Northwest, Sydney and Alex are fascinated with the idea of snow. They find it mystical and magical and, well, simple. Snow is snow. They have no idea that there are actually types of snow; say, hard snow and soft snow. Snow that is fun to have snowball fights with and snow that you would hope wouldn't connect with your face. Here's Alex learning a lesson about snow as taught by his loving sister.

"Hey, Syd! Take that!!"                                                                    "Yeah?! Missed me! Take that!!"

 

         A black eye later, the types-of-snow lesson proves to be a hard lesson to learn for Alex. But, Tim does his best to avenge his small son...

So, with a black eye and a bruised ego later, we leave the scene of the crime and drink our hot cocoa, heading to the highway for home.  What else could possibly go wrong....?

Ah, hell.

"Hey, Tim? Just out of curiosity, did you attach the tree really well onto the car? Because, it seems to be bouncing behind us on the highway...."

We gathered that run away tree up off the highway and put it up in our living room, missing limbs, road rash and all.  I can't help but think that the Griswolds would be proud.

Thanksgiving at its finest.

This Thanksgiving was one for the record books. For one, my brother came for a visit from the icy depths of Wyoming. Second, my dear friend Amy and her family, also Wyoming natives, trusted us enough to let Tim cook Thanksgiving dinner for them. All this and my birthday too!
 Here are a few photos from the day.....(and as a side note, not only was no one poisoned, Paula Dean would've raved.)