advent

we have an advent calendar...otherwise known as "the count down to christmas" since we hold no religious affiliation.  the kids open the little door everyday...sometimes there is a little chocolate treat, sometimes some lip balm (their little lips are so red from the cold!), sometimes a note to call and sing 'jingle bells' to a grandparent (i think the grandparents each secretly all hope their name is on the note every year), and often time there is an 'advent activity'.  the advent activity is something that we traditionally do as part of the holiday season like 'breakfast with santa', or 'hood river tree lighting', but one of the kids most favorite advent activities each year is the candle light bubble bath.  its my favorite too....so sweet!

ho ho ho

a few pictures of our holiday happenings.....  the kids all snuggled on the couch to watch 'rudolph the red-nosed reindeer'

 .....getting our tree, the kids cut it down this year.... we didn't touch the saw!!!

 

.....zoo lights!! and it wasn't raining this year!!

 

.... fa la la la la!!!

happy hanukkah

we celebrated hanukkah at our good friend steve and janet's home. they live just down the street from us. both todd and steve were 'stay at home' dad's so our kids have basically been raised together (and really behave more like siblings....it's quite sweet).  they are a close as we have to family in this little small town of ours.  anyway we celebrate hanukkah at their house every year....the latkes are amazing.  the past few years they have expanded to include neighbors and friends and its really turned into such a wonderful celebration.  the kids helped light the menorah and steve leads us all in prayers. the kids enjoyed a game of dreidel.... which looked more like gambling that anything else...but who am i to say.  lovely gathering to celebrate the festival of lights.....it is a highlight of the holiday season!!

thankful in breckenridge

we traveled to colorado for thanksgiving, and actually spent the holiday up in breckenridge.  we shared a big house with todd's family and todd's sister-in-law's sibling's families (did you follow that?). they were all from the south with those accents and charm.....very lovely people.  we played games and relaxed, chatted and of course ate and drank (a lot)!!  todd and i enjoyed revisiting our breck memories from those pre-kids days.  all and all it was a holiday to be thankful for.    unfortunately we have very little in the way of pictures to show for the event.  certainly did not capture the group at large but managed to get a few shots of us with todd's mom and aunt and uncle on the day we left. 

we have so much to be thankful for....health, family, beautiful children, so, so much. hope your thankgiving was delightful as well!!

all i want for christmas is...

...my two front teeth!!

two nights ago lucy's front tooth came out, then last night the other one came out too!  the tooth fairy is going to be busy in our house...two nights in a row!!

indoor soccer

lucy has been having a great time playing indoor soccer....and todd has been coaching so its been fun for both of them.

and is playing with her best bud lani!

halloween

we had a great halloween season with unbelievable beautiful weather.....

a visit to the pumpkin patch, on a crisp clear fall day. we picked out our pumpkins, sat on the tractor, went in the corn maze and got our annual rasmussen farm picture.

....and the big day!  lucy got some cowboy boots this summer and has pretty much been wearing them non-stop, so she decided what to be based on the boots.....and boy was she the cutest little cowgirl in the world!

riley agonized deciding what to be, but eventually settled on a wizard...

todd was a punk guy...

...and i was hallo-wonderful! the kids were giving me a hard time because i don't ever dress up, so when they asked what i was going to be i said i was going to be 'hallo-wonderful'...and that i was pretty sure that involved a cape.  so i borrowed a cape, bought a wig and then raided lucy's dress-up box for the bling.

we went for our traditional trick or treat downtown, met up with riley's best friend jack

there was this super freaky costume downtown....this guy is a big fan of halloween!

... the kids reviewing their loot at the end of the night

it was a happy halloween!!

october

what a lovely lovely month october has been!

the first weekend of october found me traveling to boca rotan, florida for my college girlfriend Hava's daughter's bat mitzvah.  hard to believe that we are old enough to have 13 yr old kids (and this one is her second), but it turns out we are in fact getting older.  it was a delightful weekend, sorta a family reunion for me as i spent many a holiday in college at her families home.  and as a bonus another dear college friend Caroline flew out as well and it was great to get some catch-up time. i only have this one picture to show for the weekend (from left...caroline, hava, me and a friend of hava's we met there).

while i was gone todd and the kids went on a great hike over on the washington side with views of mt.hood and mt.adams. gorgeous.

....lucy helping harvest some carrot snacks...

and of course fall would not be fall without some good ol' soccer!  riley had a fantastic season....he's quite a little player. even was named co-MVP with his best friend jack.

....stay tuned for pumpkins, wizards, and cowgirls next 

september medley

i cannot believe this is the last week of october! the fall has just zipped by and winter is almost here (don't worry we already have our ski passes so we are winter ready!)

september was busy busy. the kids were back in school but they started back up with all their activities (piano, soccer, gymnastics, etc) and the garden still needed tending, plus there was (mostly) sunny days which beckoned for bike rides and trail runs.  i just love the fall.

riley again participated in the 'gorge kids triathalon' this year (lucy opted out).  he did great and was on the heels of his best friend jack but he couldn't quite catch him at the finish line. 

todd and i celebrated our 13th anniversary.  i don't have a picture of it, but we had a little candle-light dinner at home with our kids. they made us kiss 13 times at the table! it was super sweet.

the following weekend todd's dad came out for this ride we had signed up for.  we both registered for the 80mi ride (i have never tried such a distance before).....but then this random tropical storm blew in and it was pouring pouring rain. we geared up as best we could (this is the before taken in our driveway)....

........but after 30mi we were completely soaked and decided our afternoon would be better spent (once warmed and showered) at the Hops Fest happening downtown. this is us at the finish line...soaked, but still smiling!

the last week of september and even into the first week of october were rainy rainy...maybe that's why i feel like fall has zipped by, because i was robbed of two weeks of my favorite season! october made up for it...but i'll save that for the next blog!

first day of school

i always take a picture of the kids on the first day of school......

lucy is now a 1st grader!!

riley is a 4th grader!!

and just like that summer is over and school has started!

camp namanu

AND to end the summer posts........we spent labor day weekend at family camp! when i was a kid i spent several magical summers at a place called camp namanu. it is a wonderful wonderful place on the banks of the sandy river which has been around for about 90 yrs! my mom and aunt went there as well.  so when i found out they were having a family camp i signed us right up.  todd was afraid the place would be this small run down place that wouldn't live up to my memories......but don't you worry it was absolutely amazing....even todd admitted it was a super special place.  

we had such a fun weekend with a couple other families from hood river.  in the morning the kids had activities and the adults did a high ropes course.  todd and zach went up first, followed by myself and becca. 

 the kids spent hours catching newts in the duck pond...

there was also a climbing wall which riley and his friend kiernan scrambled up like pros...

plus a little archery which riley LOVED...

the last day was a spectacular race on the duck pond where the only person with a paddle had to be blindfolded....it was hysterical.

riley and lucy had a fabulous weekend and they are both excited to go to overnight camp next summer!
and despite todd's reservations it was everything i remembered and i loved revisiting my memories......camp namanu sure do shine, all of the time!