Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas! Tim and I are still at the beach, on vacation....and of course, loving every moment of our sweet time together. Just thought I'd add some more pictures of the past couple days for everyone's enjoyment. We went to a Christmas Eve service in Seaside this evening; it was casual and fun and a treat to be able to celebrate Jesus' birth at church, even while out of town. Yesterday, we headed back home to Portland for a brief time to go to Tim's work Christmas party in downtown Portland. It was being held at "The Urban Farmer" restaurant on the 8th floor of the Meier & Frank building (now, Macy's). The "Nines" Hotel was below it, and wow......what a place! Valet parking, gourmet food, really fancy yet still had a down home feel. I enjoyed meeting Tim's co-workers and boss and family. We left feeling even more blessed by such a wonderful business that God's provided for Tim to be at. I think the highlight for me was when they publicly complimented Tim and said "he's the best person we've ever had to fill this position, and we wish he'd stay around forever, but we know he wants to teach, and with that said, I have to let him go someday to bring Jesus to kids in the classroom." Wow! I'm very proud of my hard working husband. Anyway....here are some fun pictures we took of dad taking Kairis for a spin around our place. We left this morning again for the beach, and made it back safe and sound...without too much difficulty. Tim's family fly in tomorrow night and will meet us at the beach for the rest of the weekend. Have a blessed day with your families!

Tired Girl! (cute Dad!)

Interesting road conditions...HWY 30 near St. Helens

Cute driver! ;)



Sledding in nothing less than the laundry basket with our camcorder strap attached to it! :) (Yes, Kairis slept through the whole thing!)

Downtown Portland near 3rd and Morrison

Beautiful scenery driving back to the beach!

Beach Time Fun!

We're enjoying our time at the beach....though, I have to admit, having 2 feet of snow in the valley to play in is very appealing!




Our cute "christmas plant-ree" decked out with lights



Sleepy girl!





Snugglin' with Dad



After bath time....where did our little girl go?

Arctic Blast!

Yes, we have made it to our destination. The Arctic Blast has not kept us from having an arctic blast.

We decided to take Hwy 30 out through Astoria, and 101 south to Seaside. The roads for the most part were clear and traffic moving, however we did decide to don the chains in St Helen's and keep the speed below 40 the entire way. It took a couple hours more than we thought, but also made an onion-ring stop. (ok, so it was really a milk stop for Kairis, but Heidi and I had to get some onion-rings too...) We pulled into Seaside late last night on snowy roads, with 4-6 inches of snow ON THE BEACH!




I have never experienced snow on the beach in my life! If this storm is as they say it is (worst in 5 years), it will be Heidi and I's 2nd "week off work due to the weather" (this time though, we are not stuck in Oregon City trying to haul frozenFred Meyer food back down our hill on a sled... most of it stayed on the sled, but the fryer chicken tried to "race" us down the hill.)

We woke up this morning to see an extraordinarily amazing winter wonderland. It was too dark when we pulled in to see much, but I plan to go make a snow/sand man and maybe a castle as well.



We are enjoying the indoors as well... at least Kairis is. (I can't tell if she is thinking "I'll have another 'round" or "Not now, I'm watching the game!") Honestly though, we really don't let her just lounge watching TV.

Here are some more photos from the first day. I hope you all are doing well. I know weather is pretty crazy all around, so PLEASE drive safe out there (including those who think going downtown is a desirable location...)

Snow Days

We are loving these snow days! For those of you out-of-towners who read our blog, we are experiencing the "Arctic Blast" all week long! We've had record lows since Sunday, and it looks like our ice/snow storms are going to continue through next week! This is very fun, but not if you have to drive in it! We got stuck at my mom's house in Milwaukie on Sunday AM, as we stayed the night with her Saturday night. We celebrated our friend, Joel's birthday and went out to happy hour at McCormick & Schmicks, Comedy Sportz and then Papa Hydan's for dessert that night. What fun we had together...




Anyway, my mom cared for Kairis that night so we enjoyed a later evening (or earlier morning, depending on how you look at it) than usual and woke up Sunday AM to lots of snow and icy driving conditions. We finally made it home Sunday, but it was challenging, and not until after we borrowed my mom's chains. So, Monday night we ventured back out to my mom's to put her chains back on for her, and Tim was intending on putting on studded tires on his car (the ones he had from last year), and then putting our other set of chains on my car. (All done in my mom's warm garage of course!) Well, let's just say it didn't go as planned. I had about 5 near death experiences driving to my mom's with Kairis in the back of our car. I (stupidly) decided to take the "back way" to my mom's instead of staying on the freeway, and wound up driving in the dark on hilly terrain and fishtailing just about everywhere I went. Thankfully, Tim was able to locate me (I even got lost at one point!!) and put chains back on my car and we very cautiously made it to my mom's safely. So, Tim went to work, putting on snow tires, chains, and more chains. After he got all four tires on his car, he drove around a bit and realized there was no traction what-so-ever on them anymore. To top it off, his two chains that he put on my car broke somehow...so now, my mom's the only one with chains, and we have no way of getting our two cars home. So, a wonderful neighbor drove Tim down to Fred Meyer to buy more chains, only to find out they're all out. So, Tim and I had to "borrow" my mom's chains once again (it's now 11pm) from my mom's car and drive only one of our vehicles home. So, as you guessed it, we were back at my mom's house Tuesday night, bringing with us one of the last sets of chains in the PDX metro area with us! We loaded up our other car, got mom's car fixed up and ready for her to take to work the following morning, and all headed home again. Since Tuesday, our weather mishaps have improved some.

We're still praying for a clear path on HWY 26 heading to the Coast, as we have reservations tomorrow through the following Sunday in Seaside. We were originally going to leave Sunday, but with the biggest storm yet to come this weekend, we are trying to beat it and leave early. We'd rather be stranded at the beach then here :) Tim's family all fly out on Christmas day and will be meeting us at the beach for the duration of our trip together. We are so excited. I think the best news of all....the one Tim and I have been waiting for all week long....NO SCHOOL TONIGHT! They just canceled classes, so now we have tonight to pack up our bags. Here are some fun winter pics to enjoy! Kairis is getting over her first cold, so she wasn't too keen on being out in the snow. Besides, it's really too cold for her to enjoy it much. She does love to watch the snow fall outside the window though! I think watching snow fall is mesmerizing. I hope you all have a great snow day, and enjoy this time with your families!

Too cute for words!

How many...

pictures does one have to take before they get a decent one for Christmas cards? Quite a few I gather. And yet, not one of these will be arriving in your mailbox this year. The cutest is yet to come....

I don't know what to title this post...

Some high-lights from this past month:

-Cutting our Christmas tree



-Watching Kairis drool and stare at the tree and lights

-Hearing "raptor-dinosaur" like sounds coming from our graceful daughter while enjoying a meal with Joel and Lani at Red Robin

-Kneeling next to Tim and the toilet while throwing up, nearly simultaneously and having to cancel our annual Christmas Party this year--wow, this is a first! (both sharing the flu and canceling the party!)

-Thanksgiving, and opening up and reading our "blessing box" notes

-Finishing the Harry Potter series with Tim

What was I thinking?!

The other day, Lani mentioned that her favorite shots she captured of our family were of Tim playing the astute role model parent that he is....

How could I have forgotten to share these? I sure do love my husband, and I pray to God that Kairis has his sense of humor. When I'm not looking, that is...

A few firsts...

Tim worked half a day last Friday, so we took advantage of the beautiful weather in the Gorge and took a hike up to Multnomah Falls for the first time with Kairis. It was beautiful, misty and windy! Perfect weather for a hike!






These are some funny expressions from none other than...





Another first....me spending $17 on this tiny little knit hat from "Oh Baby, Oh Baby!" in Multnomah Village today. We received a generous gift from Tim's boss and family for Kairis and I ended up exchanging it for some in-store credit to buy some other things I'd prefer over a fancy blanket. So, I had a hay-day looking at all of these couture baby items for my little girl. This hat was one of the things I picked out today along with a few other items. And to think...I still have $43.47 left to spend! ;) Here are some cute pics I was trying to capture of her in her new hat. Oh, and have I mentioned how much fun it is to shop with Kairis?! I love spending time with my little girl.