Christmas 2010

Christmas morning started early, and I mean EARLY!

All were sleeping, or so I thought, when all of a sudden I was woken by Oma saying loudly next to my head, "GO BACK TO BED, IT'S ONLY 3am!"   Nothing says Merry Christmas like being startled awake like that!

The kids had already headed to their stockings, as they know they do not have to wait for anyone to open those, only to be ushered back to bed for a few more hours of sleep.

Both tried go back to sleep but the excitement kept them asking every five min or so, "How much longer until we can get up?"  Oma finally cuddled with Cole, and I with Jo, to keep them both in bed and helped them fall back to sleep.  Cole did have his Oregon Duck Christmas hat on his head from his stocking as he slept from 4am on.

Can you believe they slept until 8am after that and only that late because we woke them up as we were excited to start in and they were still sleeping!

Many gifts and lots of excitement!

Hats, balls, beads, night vision goggles (which are way cool by the way) and a movie camera (which I posted the first video on the previous post).

Cole has wanted this hat for two years now.

We think Oma wears it well!

Go Oma, Go Oma!

Oma received some Geocaching gifts and was happy!!

Yes, even a Geocaching Christmas ball.  Really?  Sheesh.

Star Wars & Littlest Pet Shops are what they love!

Lots and lots of smiles this day.

 

We headed to the Young Belmont's for Christmas Pizza and family visiting.  Jo took this 25 minute opportunity to try out her new pillow, blanket and yes, eye mask!  Only took minutes for her to fall asleep after she pulled her mask over her eyes.  She has worn them every night since and loves them.

 

Over the river and through the woods to Geocaching spots.

Oma and Cole jumped out in the rain for a couple caches here and their on the drive up.

  

Grandma Marie sporting

her new shirt!

She loves this shirt!  We do too.

(If I have to explain this picture.  "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead")

Cousins, all wearing something from the days loot.

Jo, Hannah, Cole & Derian!

Thinking I might steal Derians Wonder Woman shirt.

Merry Christmas BS Groupies!

Christmas Close!

Kids Dance!

We headed to the kid's school for a dance but no one else was there.  Hmm, guessed we missed the paper that said it was canceled?

We were all dressed up too!

So off we went to drink some Hot Cocoa at our local hang out.  Whip cream on top too!  (we went all out folks)

Back home to cut a rug!

Cole boogied with me and even danced a slow one.

Christmas 2010

Just thought I would share the Advent calendar I grew up with and the next generation is growing up with.

It's always fun to see how the kids hang the ornaments.

Do you see Joseph, Jesus & Mary in the center of the tree?

Or as Cole pointed out to Jo. 

"This one has a baby, some woman praying and a guy hiking."

I love Cole.

Christmas Eve day we spent on Skype (online video chat program) with our East Coast Family.  We played Mario Cart on our Wii against Andrew, Mandy, Trish and Paul.  Very VERY good time!

Here are the kids holding Trish on their lap.  Trish even smile for the photo.

(And no, Cole does not were glasses now, they are 3D glasses that he removed the lens from.  Andrew, he is taking after you.)

 

Trish travels all over the world now with her job.  This year she bought everyone some thing from Singapore

Here Cole is sporting his new shirt and meditation balls.

Dinner with our Old Neighbors.

Old Jim, Me, Jo, Cole, Kristy, Francis and Dale.

Photo by: Jill

Back home so the kids could open their gifts to each other.

They know what each other likes!

Oma and I watched a movie until the kids were fast asleep.

And then Santa came to visit!

And filled all the stockings too!

The next morning Jo found her video camera from Santa!

And by golly, Santa accidentally hit the record button while he was putting gifts under the tree!

Jo thinks she might be the only one in the world that has video footage of

Oma's Birthday & Holiday Stuff!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OMA!

We ate dinner with Dale & Francis to also celebrate Francis's Birthday as they are close together.  Francis made cake and for the kids and we put candles in it and sang.

Tree Time

A lot tree this year as time was passing buy with little time to head to the farms.   Cole said he knew of a tree lot and directed the driving to said lot.

The kids had fun getting the tree ready for the indoors.

And of course all decorated within an hour!

Decorations are still a little clustered here and there but this year it was purposeful clustering by the kids.  For example each of us has a Bear holding our initial ornament.  Those four ornaments are hanging in a row on the tree, clustered if you will.  Our tree looks GREAT!

Christmas Parade!

We headed over to Dale & Francis's again for lunch and visiting with their whole family followed by the Christmas parade in the rain.

The kids and I were thankful that it wasn't bitter cold with the rain, it was just Oregon rain.  AND A LOT OF IT!

Oma and Francis

Thought I should include a photo of these two watching the parade too.

Cookie Competition with the Lampitts!

Jo and Oma making the sugar cookies.  First time for both making this type of batter.

And we are decorating!

If you read last years posts we decorated Trees, this year it was a ginger bread shape.

(2009, Xmas keeps on coming! if you wanted to check out last years contest)

THEY ARE AWESOME!

1 = Martha; 2 = Tracy; 3 = Jo & Mom (tied)

Congrats Martha.  Psst, it tasted good too.

The Lampits gifts to the kids.

Don't they look GREAT?!

Did you see Jo's theme in these photos?

She hardly takes them off and yes, she falls asleep in them!

Happy Little Reindeer She Is.

Cole and Jo want to say:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS BS GROUPIES!

Turkey Everyone!

Twas the night before Turkey and all through the house,

everyone was eating cornbread and chilly to keep them warm through the night.

With a Grandma by their side the children were spinning a beer bottle,

daring to make elephant movements and monkey sounds.

After all, what are Grandmas for?

The next morning came with a rush out the door.

Turkey Stuffer Walk was what was in store.

Our numbers attached and the runners had passed off we walked our 3.1 miles.

OH WHAT A BLAST!

(It's not suppose to rhyme people, I'm just filling in captions for you)

With the walk all over the kids took a swim.

Two hours of waves, slides and splashing kept the kids with a grin.

Back to the house for Turkey to eat.

With paper plates in our hands we filed through our food line.

HEY we all fit in one room, at one time!

We ended our time together watching the BAND!

Singing and Rocking Out was a Blast.

(again, did I need to rhyme for you?)

THAT People was our Thanksgiving weekend.

We have wonderful memories as both sides of our family gathered for the very first time.

Our First Snow

November 23 was our first snow fall in our new house.

It wasn't much but it sure looked pretty.

The backyard looked beautiful to me.

The kids woke early

And yes, it didn't take long for them to be outside playing in it.

NO SCHOOL TOO!

Busy but Quiet

I had a training in Longview this month and with school days off and family living in my tropical training location.  The kids made the trip with me to spend time with the cousins.

(Yes, I said tropical when I also said Longview.  I knew it would be raining.)

Yes, we made the kids work.

Not really, they were raking leaves into piles to jump into.

We also watched the high school team win their first game of the play off season.

Dan was working.  We See You Dan!

It was quite cold, thank goodness we forced the kids to wear heavy jackets even though "They were not cold and would be just fine!"  Silly parents we are to force them.

Maggie was off running around with her Peeps while Cole & Lanna came to were the food and blankets were.  Jo was like her usual self at a sporting event, sleeping. (The white furry hood with the blanket pulled up over her face.)

Sleep Over

These four just get along so well, it's always quiet-loud-good fun!

The adults were watching football in the living room so they were camped out in the kitchen watching a movie.

Karly and Jo have been making animal paper puppets.

We have yet to see a production but the puppets and sets sure look nice.

The girls play quiet and the boys laugh.

Keenan and Cole style Basketball.

They have their own rules and LOVE it!

Two nice weekends in a row.

November ? Really??

This year has flown by!

 

The BS Family is going in all different directions now so I was the only one who made one of Derian's volleyball games this year.  And only one game.

Derian's skills have grown leaps and bounds over last year.  She was very fun to watch as were the games in general.  Good Job D!

 

If I Had A Hammer...

 

Jo and I went to Home Depo for a "kids build free" morning.  She picked the bean bag toss to build.  What a fun time the two of us had!  Note to self "Do this again next month too."

 

Duck Women Basketball

Our AMAZING friends gave us six tickets to see the Duck Women shoot some hoops in a preseason game. 

And the seats they gave us are only six rows behind the players!

At half time the Pit had anyone who wanted to shoot a free throw to come down and try.  If you made a basket you got a certificate for a free burger.  Cole ran down there followed by Derian and even Jo!

Jo shot once, missed and came back to her seat while Cole missed, got back in line and shot over, and over ... and over again.  Just shy of the hoop darn it.

One of our Beaver Fans took the prize though!

Derian's second shot fell in and she was all smiles!

Derain enjoyed the game as well.  How could you not with the seats we had, sweat spattering our faces as the players ran by.  (ok, not quite that close)

Ducky!

 

Bible Study, Captain Underpants & Star Wars

Cole and Jo have joined Awana this year.  For those who do not know what Awana is, the Wikipedia definition is;  "The mission of Awana is to help "churches and parents worldwide raise children and youth to know, love and serve Christ."

So here is Cole, sitting doing his Bible study with two of his favorites by his side.  Captain Underpants books and a Star Wars dvd.  I thought the picture was quite humorous.

Fall is here!

Our first Fall in our home is showing us just how many leave are on our trees!

We raked the front yard and the kids played quite a while in the pile.

Now This Is Fall!

Happy November BS Groupies!