Friday, January 27, 2012

Mommy's best Christmas present EVER!



On Christmas Eve the boys had Mark and I open a gift. Our gift was Cari: no gift will ever top this. Ever.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Lunch date.

I love having Fridays off. So, Mark took yesterday off and we took ourselves off into Portland to explore. We first went to the Portland Art Museum. Haven't been there for years and loved it. Very few folks there, so perfect time to go. Then we went to catch MAX to go to lunch at Portland City Grill. While waiting for MAX we watched while 'Occupy Portland' folks were demonstrating nearby. Very peaceful. Some signs, and a bit of dancing going on, for some reason. And let me just say lunch at PCG was GREAT! Wonderful views. Our waiter was prompt, attentive, and nice. Food was really good (and yes Mary Jo, I drank wine...who knew? But while their wine is normally rather expensive, at lunch it's only 5 dollars a glass....hmmmm...so I tried the most expensive, LOL!! And yes, it was good). And since Intel gave us a gift card, it was also free. Always love that. And we have enough on the card to go for lunch again. We're already looking forward to that. Fun date.


































































































































Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Have a heart.

Hello one and all!

For Valentine's Day I decided that I would like to bake up a batch of heart shaped cookies and take them to the Ronald McDonald House so that the families could take them as gifts to their nurses and doctors.

While talking with Meg, who coordinates the volunteers at the House, we thought it would be a fun idea to go a bit further and put together gift bags so that the Moms and Dads could give them out not only to their nurses and doctors, but to their children as well. How fun is that?

Here's where you come in. Below is a list of items we'd love to have to get this show on the road. If you're interested send me an email, or a note in Facebook, and we can go from there. I'd like to have everything by February 11th, cause that's how I roll.

And some of the children are being treated at the Kartini Clinic, an eating disorder clinic. Since candy is out of the question for their gift bags the director of the program suggested small items like playing cards and stickers. Note: the House doesn't allow finger nail polish, or strong smelling lotions, in gift bags de to health issues of some of the kids staying there.

In the years I've been volunteering at the House I've seen how much families appreciate fun activities like this. And many of the famlies don't have the time, or the resourses, to go out and buy Valentine's Day gifts. This is an easy way to show someone you care. :)

Items:
Valentine's Day gift bags.
Valentines's Day candy, pencils, small toys, stickers, and such. Have fun with this!
Valentines. Hey, who doesn't like getting a Valentine from the heart?

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Who says mascots can't play hockey?



Mark and I met up with Bonnie and family for Mascot Night at the Winterhawks game last night. Fun! Lots of folks getting their pictures taken with mascots (and SOME with the dancers). The game was low scoring, 2 to 1, with the Winterhawks winning, but we always have a fun time at the games. Can't wait til the next one!















































































































































































































Blaze shows his hockey skills



Blaze shows off his hockey skills: who knew?

Sunday, January 8, 2012



Steven was checking out the box they used to wrap Cari in for our Christmas gift. Kids never change: they always want to play with the box!!!

Dinner at Miss Deltas

Last Sunday night we rounded up the kids (including Richard) and headed into Portland for dinner at Miss Deltas for a little taste of Southern cooking, a place Cari introduced us to. We had to wait a bit (and Cari wasn't thrilled since she'd made reservations), but once we sat the food was good, and the company the best.



















Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Steven makes a friend



Steven and our little guy. How LUCKY are we to have our family????

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Christmas memories

Ah, Christmas. The wonderful gift of opening the largest gift I ever received, and it was the best present ever: Cari home for the holidays! And having a full house for Christmas Eve dinner, with friends and family around. Loved that. Opening gifts is nice: family and friends are the best.

























































































Sunday, January 1, 2012

Grandmas ROCK!!!

Decided I wanted a picture of the kids and their Grandma Jo. Took a while, but it was an idea whose time had come. Loving these. Loving these a lot.





























More Christmas doings

Lots and lots of hugging going on. And just regular ole family stuff. Not to be missed!!!