Our Amazing 2014

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Kicking off Christmas Vacation!

Our final week before vacation was exhausting! Lars had two away games, the boys had Awana, I had my staff party, and of course all of the festivities to prepare for at school and at home. Fortunately, we had a restful and fun weekend in anticipation Christmas week! Including a trip up to Portland with our good friends to watch a play at Portland Center Stage entitled, "Twist Your Dickens". It was super fun and brought lots of laughs! http://www.pcs.org/dickens/

Max poses with Mrs. Claus.

Mason draws the Grinch.

Christmas sweater/PJ day at school. 

Max receives a letter from Santa Claus.

Max gets a"dummy" phone when Lars gets a new smart phone.

Max and Mason pose at our favorite restaurant, Red Robin! 

Lars and I went to visit his parents while the boys were in La Pine with my parents. I got to look through old pictures I hadn't seen before. These were two of my favorites. Lars and his mom in 1974 and Lars with his grandma Ella in 1981.

A special Christmas lunch with one of my besties! It is rare I get to spend time with her and I treasure these precious moments! 

One of Max's gifts from Auntie Kaycie! He's drawing our elf Rudy.

We are looking forward to fun times with Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, Uncle Danny and Jeff, Uncle Russel, Aunt Jill, Aunt Toni, Uncle David, and our cousins Derek, Thomas, and Baili over the next few days. Also, we are loving our facetime with Auntie Kaycie during each round of Christmas festivities! 

The Nutcracker

On Sunday, Max and I had a "date" and went to his first viewing of "The Nutcracker" at the Historic Elsinore Theatre in Salem. We saw our good friend and one of my former students dance. She was a mouse in Act I and a Chinese dancer in Act II. Max was enthralled with her performance and the entire experience. We were lucky enough to have some yummy Mexican food after the performance with our dancer and her family who are also our good friends, at La Margarita! I had Tacos de Cochinita Pibil, a traditional dish served in Mexico at Christmastime and a pear margarita. Max had fries and a bite of chicken strip. On our drive, Max even got to sit in the front seat on our date. It was super special from start to finish! I love my boy so much! He is already learning to be chivalrous. He wanted to have his hair gelled, he put on cologne, and he made sure to open the door for me whenever he could. I am thankful to be his mama and be his first date! :-) 

Mason turns 5 and Christmas festivities continue!

Last weekend our Mason got very sick with a super high fever, up to 105.2 which brought us into urgent care instead of having a birthday party. Fortunately, we made the best of the long wait in the pediatrician's office by playing Spider-Man!

    

Mason gets a birthday hot chocolate at Dutch Bros. and Rudy wishes him a Happy Birthday!

Mason's Sunday School teacher came over on his birthday and brought him a "get well" Spider-man themed gift including a Lego's set and paint set! What a nice surprise! He is a lucky boy to be loved by so many special people!

We baked his cake and he helped frost it. 

Our chocolate lover chose a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!

Mason's other request was to have a race track with Lightening McQueen racing on it. 

This was our attempt at his request and he was quite pleased! 

Grandma and Grandpa dropped by Mason's gift on their way through town. He got a special Mickey Mouse hat called a "Flipper" and the ears flip up when the end of the tie is pumped. He loves it!

When Mason was feeling a bit better we went to Pietro's, AKA "Pizza Planet", ate pizza, played games, and ate the cake we made! 

Our week was SUPER busy and we are thankful Mason got to feeling better quick! Every Wednesday is AWANA for the boys and sometimes Lars and I go have a "mini-date" while they are there. This Wednesday we went to one of our favorite places and I had a Jalapeno Peach Lemon Drop. It was so pretty, I had to take a picture. Cheers! 

We had a special morning today because we were invited by Max's first grade teacher to have breakfast with Santa and listen to her choir sing. Max has always been fearful of visiting Santa Claus and this morning, he conquered his fear! I named this Santa the "Santa Whisperer" since Max really took to him. Max even requested my phone to take a "selfie" with Santa. 

After a Christmas gift and grocery shopping stop  . . . 

. . . we are finally home together! Max and I baked some banana bread. Mason and I played with some Lego's. Now . . . we are resting! Max likes to unwind by reading his Sparks book and listening to stories from the Bible. Max loves to learn about God, think about God, sing about God, and talk about God. For this, I am eternally grateful! 

Rudy is ready for Papa to come home and was letting us know by playing with his puzzle last night . . .

Stay turned for more Christmas fun! Tomorrow Max and I will be going to his first ever viewing of "The Nutcracker" and we will get to see some of his friends and my former students dance!

Ringing in Advent!

Over Thanksgiving vacation we did a great deal resting from our craziness. I have a terrible sinus infection, so I was lucky enough to get into the doctor and have some antibiotics prescribed. I take my final dose this morning and I am feeling much better.

On Thanksgiving day, we played a family game of LIFE and then headed over to my parents' house for dinner. As part of the day, my parents had a birthday celebration for Mason since they will be in Hawaii for his actual birthday. He received all things Spider-Man including a dress up pull-over shirt with built in muscles and mask. He was in heaven!

On Friday, I spent all day writing our Christmas letter and designing our yearly calendar while Lars put up the Christmas lights on the house in the POURING down rain! Now that's dedication!

On Saturday, we went Christmas tree hunting and found our family Christmas tree! It is perfectly imperfect for us! My favorite part is the trunk which curves like a bow. Lars likes the sparseness of the branches which made for easy decorating. It is a great match. Below are some photos of our adventures.

This year we are beginning a new tradition for Advent and decorating a Jesse Tree. We are reading a family Advent book called, "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift" by Ann Voskamp. It is all about the greatest Christmas gift of all, Jesus! http://www.amazon.com/Unwrapping-Greatest-Gift-Celebration-Christmas/dp/1414397542/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417877234&sr=1-1&keywords=unwrapping+the+greatest+gift

Of course, no holiday season would be complete without a visit from our friend Rudy!

Sunday, we had an amazing experience! We went up to Portland at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and listened to the Oregon Symphony perform Disney in Concert! While the symphony played, there was a big screen with video clips from the various movies that fit with the music as it was played. The boys LOVED it! What a wonderful first REAL concert experience! After the concert, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was a beautiful evening together! Below are some highlights of our fun musical journey.

The past week was very busy for us! I directed my first BIG musical at my new school. Though it is always stressful to prepare these musicals, they are SO worth it. My students were amazing and knocked my socks off! There was an incredible turn out of parents and students at the performance. I was well supported by the PTC and my colleagues to create a joyous and beautiful experience for our students. Below are a couple pictures of some celebratory items. :-) 

And finally, over the last couple weeks this was one of my favorite moments. 

Max is singing a hymn book to Mason. He is singing, "Rise and Shine." 

Rise and shine and give God your glory, glory, children of the Lord!