Christmas 2009

Our daily visitor

The boy's first snowman

Caulder with Grandma and Grandpa at the Zoo Lights

Kesler playing in the 'dig' area at the Children's Museum.

Kess posing on a mossy tree.

Caulder and Kessler sporting their new BSU jerseys.

Christmas morning.

We spent Christmas this year in Portland visiting my parents and extended family. We arrived in Portland very late on Christmas Eve and then woke up early Christmas morning to a huge sea of presents under the tree. Needless to say the boys were a little overwhelmed. We cannot thank everyone enough for the wonderful presents. The boys have had so much fun playing with all their new toys, and we've had fun dressing them in all their new clothes! We went to Christmas dinner at my cousin's house. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, and the boys were treated to more gifts. They especially love their new Thomas the Train sets!

Unfortunately, our drive back to Welches went from a 30 minute drive to a three hour fiasco. We made it to within 15 minutes of my parents house and found the highway , closed. Apparently, an armed maniac was at large along the highway after killing his mother. We were forced to drive all the way around Mount Hood, and again arrived at my parents house late at night.

But our long trip couldn't dampen the two exciting pieces of news we received for the Holidays. My sister's boyfriend, Joe, proposed to her on Christmas. We are thrilled to make a trip back east for the wedding next fall! Congratulations Denice and Joe! We also found out about a week before Christmas that Mat's brother Chad and his girlfriend Shauna are expecting a baby in April! Caulder and Kessler are about to have a new cousin, and it's a girl!

The rest of the trip was much less eventful and much more relaxing. We took a trip into Portland to the Children's Museum and to the Zoo to see the Zoo Lights. It was a cold night, but we all had a great time. Mat and I left the boys with Grandma and Grandpa, and headed back into Portland for New Years. We went to dinner and then to a concert at the Mission Theater. We stayed downtown in a hotel that night and even slept in! It was a very fun night, and a much needed break.