Oh, the weather outside is frightful......

Wow, we are in the midst of quite a storm system. AMAZING! It has snowed all day long. Amazing.

So of course the dog and I had to go outside and check it out.

Deacon was rather amazed. He had a lot of fun playing in the snow, pushing it around. Very entertaining. Cold, but entertaining.

The penguin was celebrating. SNOW!

I worked on some crafty stuff in my room. Lovely view. The neighbor's tree has apples on it, and the red really stood out against the snow.

Winter wonderland.

And the kids ended up playing games. And they weren't playing 'pin the tail on the donkey'. Man, those days are done at our house!

When snowmen go bad.

Today it was snowing, so Mark and I came home early. I was able to work from home, and at lunch time we decided to walk down to Gustafs and have ourselves some lunch. Oh yes.
As we left, we couldn't help but notice a strange fellow on our front yard. Strange looking fellow.

Man, now that is just STRANGE.

Strange fellow or not, we had ourselves a wonderful lunch.

While we were gone, the penguin noticed something happening.

This little guy heard about it as well. And so did we as soon as we got home.

The strange fellow had been joined by some other rather strange fellows, and the strange fellow looked a bit 'different' than when we had left. Hmmm....

Oh my gosh, and he was now even drinking! Drinking in our front yard! The nerve!

Oh my gosh, he even go STEVEN drinking on our front yard! The nerve!

Look at yourself. A big ole snowman like you, drinking your life away.

And trust me buddy, you shouldn't waste what little time you have. Cause it's gonna be short. Really.

Oh, now I see. Hooper is in on this. Helping a big ole snowman drink his short life away.

Bad Hooper! Put that snow back this minute young man! Don't make me stop this car!!!

Geez, he doesn't even look worried about my threat. Could be cause we aren't in a car. Darn. Gotta work on my threats now that the boys are older and much wiser.

Hooper, what did I tell you about that snowman??

Get away from him! You shouldn't be seen hanging around with strange fellows like this. What would the neighbors say?

Mark. Yep, there he is, hanging out with him. Maybe he's calling the cops on the fellow. Maybe. Or maybe he's calling in an order for more beer. I've heard snowmen can put the brew away, and this guy is pretty big.

Oh well, even Steven is in on the act now. Look at all that beer.

Let this be a lesson to you all: don't allow your children to build really big ole snowmen. They'll just drink your beer.

Nutcracker Time

Cari and I drove up to Washington Saturday to surprise my Mother-In-Law. The plan was to take her out to eat, and to the Nutcracker Ballet! How fun! Not so fun was the fact that snow was fore casted, and Mark prepared the wheels for chains. Not so fun.

We stopped at a little dinner on the way, one I've driven by for years. Looks like we were in good company! The food was good, the folks nice.

We drove up to to Rachel's and then on to Seattle to do some shopping.

Seattle was all decked out for the holidays.

The girls enjoying Seattle all decked out for the holidays.

We went home and Gavin and his friend Seth played a mean 'guitar hero' for the enjoyment of all.

All were enjoying it!

Sunday morning the weather was rather nasty, so we passed brunch up and all met up at the Ballet. Here I make a new friend.

Why, looks like Mary Jo has made a friend as well. We are a friendly family.

Here everyone gathers, so we can go and watch the 'Rat King' and the Nutcracker duel.

Good looking family. Nuff said.

SOME people didn't want their picture taken. Nuff said.

Here we go, up and up to our seats.

Wait! Someone really DID want their picture taken! See?

AND there was beer. I like that kind of Nutcracker Ballet.

Here the gals wait for the ballet to begin. It was amazing, and the dancers were wonderful, and the colors were beautiful. We all enjoyed it, and part of the fun was everyone being together.

Even Jessica, who just had her wisdom teeth removed. OUCH!

Time to head out and grab something to eat.

Merry Christmas Grammy Jo. We loved surprising you, and spending the time with you. It was fun showing you how important you are to us, and how much we love you.

Christmas in Portland

Sunday Mark and I headed out for Portland. We took MAX and took ourselves into town to see us some pretty Christmas lights.

What do you know? A Christmas penguin! Ho, ho, ho!

Downtown Macy's had a nice Christmas display. Not as big as the old days at Meier and Franks, but it was still nice and pretty. Ho, ho, ho!

Hmmmm. Snow machine in Portland. At the mall. How THAT get in here?

Back to Macys. Here's Comet and we know what he has to say: "ho, ho, ho!"

Back to the snow at the mall. How cool is that?

Mark decided it was time for lunch. I decided it was time for lunch when Mark tried taking fish from bears.

Oh yes, lunch at Rockbottom Pub. HO, HO, HO!!!!

Welcome to our world Russell William!

Ah, road trip time. Time to drive on up to Washington and visit the Ouderkirks and Vander Yachts. Always a good time to be had.


We were greeted at the gate. Always a warm welcome.

And have you EVER seen such a cute face? Well, HAVE YOU???

Mary Jo prepares for a baby shower for Danielle. She and her husband are expecting a certain young man, Russell William, to arrive soon. And I sure hope he's ready to be a Seahawks fan, cause he ain't got no choice. Go Hawks!!!

Maybe he'll like strawberries, sour cream, and brown sugar. Man, he should. It's good!

And cake. Gee, I hope he likes cake.

Here's Russell's mom, ready for some strawberries and cake.

Here's Danielle and Jo Ann. My mother-in-law. Aren't they cute?

Mary Jo and Russell's mom. Cute.

Trying to take pictures. Cute.

The card is of a 'tater tot'. A potato in a diaper. Tater tot: get it? Funny Mary Jo. Very funny.

Gaven hung out with us. Not a lot to do when you're a boy at a baby shower, but he was a good sport.

Like I said, he'd better be a Seahawks fan!

Lots of gifts, and lots of wonderful people.

Russell's mom and Grandma. Lucky young man. Very lucky.

Not much to say about this. Speaks for itself.

How cool is that Megan? Cool.

Bye Russell's mom. You're in for a wonderful, lovely, exciting, and loving time.