We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. We hope you have a wonderful holiday and great new year.

Deck the Halls!

I love having my home decorated for the holidays. I actually enjoy doing it when I am not feeling stressed and out of time. It makes me be somewhat creative in deciding how to display everything. I love the warm cozy feeling the lights and decorations bring into our home. My favorite thing is to have my house spotless and sit on the couch and look at the lights and listen to Christmas music. One of the anal things my mom passed onto me(sorry mom). Anyway I thought I would share some pics since nobody but us really gets to see them.

Merry Christmas!

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Chloe was very interested in Santa. She kept staring at him and pulling on his beard. The look she gave him was so funny.

Evan told Santa that he wanted a dinosaur for Christmas. I wonder how he might pull that one off????

Ryan told Santa that he wanted Lego's(what a surprise). It took some coaxing to get him to sit on Santa's lap. Apparently he is way to old for that.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful!

OK, another snow post. This morning when John left for work there was no snow on the ground. By the time he got home, 7 1/2 inches. It snowed all day long. I know all of you from Utah and Colorado think "big deal", but it is a big deal for here. Seeing as how there aren't snow plows or deicing trucks. I have been enjoying the beauty of it all and missing my days in Colorado. I'm not really a home body so it has been difficult for me feeling cooped up. Hopefully there will be a break in the weather so I can get some last minute things before Christmas. I'm also hoping we will be able to make it to Monmouth for Christmas day. John's brother and sister are here visiting and we haven't been able to see them yet. So sad! I guess I just need to concentrate on the positives and enjoy the pretty snow. I am always complaining about how much I miss the snow, which I really do. I guess you forget about the down sides of it when you have been away from it for awhile.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

We have been getting lots of snow here for the past week. It started last Sunday. We had gone to Albany for a Christmas concert and got stranded on I-5 for 1 1/2 hours in the same spot. John finally drove through the median and headed back south and we took the back roads home. Ryan had snow days on Monday and Friday. We haven't had as much snow as Salem and Portland. I'm kinda bummed because I love the snow. It is so pretty. We are supposed to be getting more the next few days so here's hoping.

Cozy warm inside while it is frosty outside.

Holiday Light Parade!

We have gone to the holiday light parade every year, except one, since Ryan was a baby. We love it and it has become one of our family traditions. We love to go see all the floats and pretty lights. A few years back John and his brother entered a float for their business. My favorite part are the marching bands. We always sit right in front of the state capitol building, which is the very beginning of the parade. We might need to sit further down next year so we can hear the bands better.

Chloe all bundled up. Sadly wearing a boy hat since we have not yet acquired girly cold weather gear.

This family has a float every year and they are always awesome.

Ryan's Christmas Program

Ryan is in the cream sweater.
His program was very good this year and he did an awesome job. He has a very good music teacher and they did some fun versions of some classic Christmas songs.

This is before the boys used their candles as light sabers and had sword fights(not Ryan of course).

Flag football!

So, this is a little old. We have now moved on to basketball. I am still playing catch up.

Ryan's team. He had a really good coach. It was his first time playing and he had a lot of fun. His dad is glad that he likes football. Ryan has gone to the high school football camp the last two summers.

Ryan likes to kick the ball. He is a really good kicker. All those years of soccer have paid off.

Chloe enjoying the game.

Sorry, no smiles today.

I tried and tried to get her to smile, but she wasn't having it. It must have been her grueling day at church.

Happy Thanksgiving - a bit late!

Our entry way, decorated for Thanksgiving.

Grandma Burton - thank you for the yummy meal.

Some of the crew waiting for dinner to start.

My boys. Aren't they handsome?