Merry Christmas!!!

What a wonderful Christmas its been. The girls were spoiled as usual. The parents were spoiled as usual. Once a year it takes a day like this to realize just how lucky we are. Christmas Eve was perfect. We were able to spend lunch with the Karrigan's and Dinner with the Wilbur's. Tonight we were invited to dinner at the Myers in Wilsonville. It has just been great. Thank you to everyone who sent gifts, cards and goodies. To top it all off, it's snowing in Portland. Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!! (continued)

Christmas on Peacock Street

Last night we went to a place called Peacock Street that is a bit famous here in Portland for its Christmas light display. It was a clear cold night so it was perfect for taking in the sights. We went with our friends the Newby family. They have two daughters who are the same age as Katie and Livy and they just added a son. (Lucky)
The street was absolutely packed.....full of families, teenagers and drunk groups of hooligans dressed up like Santa and singing slurred Christmas songs. One of the Santa's even had a Freddy Krueger mask on which went over well with the girls.
We did run in to the real Santa Claus while walking past one house. The streets were packed, so we quickly gathered the girls together to get a picture with him. As I aimed for the perfect shot I noticed that we had made a new friend. We have no idea who he is, but he seemed like a nice kid so we kept him in the picture. We are just going to tell everyone that he was our Wednesday's child and we were taking him out for some Christmas cheer.

When Britt works.....

The only time I get to mess with the girls hair is when Brittanie works. These girls have so much hair.....which is why it takes us two hours to prepare to go anywhere. I can't wait until 9 am church........

Christmas Program = A Christian experience

Last night was Katie's big Christmas program at her pre-school. If we haven't already said, her school is at Beaverton Christian Church. It is a great school, but occasionally we get a good laugh at some of the things she comes home and tells us about. The religious side of things is a part of the daily curriculum....so sometimes we have some interesting conversations. We have to wonder why our chapels aren't set up the same way as the one pictured. :)

Is this what 32 is supposed to look like?

This is either a mug shot or a birthday picture. Me and the girls were talking about what to put on the web site this morning. Olivia wanted pictures of her blanket and Katie wanted to take a "birthday picture" of Daddy. So Katie took the picture and unfortunately this is the result. The girls think the picture is hilarious and laugh every time they see it. As for me....each year gets less kind to the ol' mug. But I do like the hair. The sad thing is we spent at least 15 minutes retouching the photo and ultimately decided black and white made it much less scary.

The rest of December should be filled with much better pictures of the beautiful girls and some Christmas fun.

Thanksgiving and stuff

We were very lucky this year to be invited back to Medford to spend Thanksgiving with our good friends Kelley, September, Hannah and Miles Karrigan. It was one of our all time best Thanksgivings. On Thursday morning Kelley and I golfed 9 holes on a cold, but beautiful morning. Britt, September and the kids spent the morning at the park. We took it easy most of the day and ate Thanksgiving dinner at 6:30 pm. It was so cool.
The next morning Britt and September were up early to hit the sales. It was such a great time and we just feel so lucky to be surrounded by friends in Medford, and here in Portland who take such good care of us. We certainly missed the families, but the Karrigan's made our Thanksgiving truly great.

Halloween Highlights

As you can see, this year the girls dressed up as a "good" witch and a pumpkin. We had a couple of friends over and it added up to quite a few kids. The three older girls made a serious haul and we covered at least 50-60 houses in our neighborhood. Livy only did about half of that because she was too concerned with eating her candy "now!!!"

Maybe the most impressive feat of the night was Katie braving the skeleton man. This was a house down the street with the garage completely converted to a haunted house. Walking up to it, she was horrified but I was determined to get her to take a picture with him. After some serious coaxing she agreed to do it. You can tell by the look on her face that she was counting the seconds to get away from him. Overall, Halloween was a success and besides a nasty stomach ache this morning, all went well.

Pumpkin Patch

Here are some pics from our recent trip to the pumpkin patch. Good Times.

School Clothes

With Preschool in session for Katie, it was time for our first year of "school clothes." We couldn't leave Livy out, she was just as excited as Katie to do some shopping. The girls, especially Katie, are very particular about what they like to wear.

The fashion show was great. Katie loves to strike a pose, while Olivia is just happy to be along for the ride. The shopping is freaking Dad out, it makes our financial future look grim.

Where's my dance partner?

This is how Livy spends nearly 3 hours of her Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Why? Katie is in Pre-School and Liv doesn't know what to do with herself.

Katie's Hair

What a difference a day makes. In the spirit of summer, we decided to give Katie a short haircut. I (Jason) took her and at first I thought this was a good idea. It's definitely cute......but it did make her look a bit older so it hasn't been an east transition. The first picture is just the day before the haircut with her beautiful curly hair. Britt is also having mixed emotions about the new do, and at first this could add to our daily hair time. Between the four of us, hair time takes about 2-3 hours out of our day. I only occupy five minutes of that time.

Hmmmm......

We are just wondering why our Dad never posts? Well, work has been very busy this past month. He's having to travel a bit more to Medford and Bend again. Plus, Larry and Janice were good enough to spend nearly a week here helping us paint the house, and that took up every hour of the day. Our Dad won't make any promises to be more diligent, but he'll try his best for some better posting habits.

The Great Pumpkin?

The Agony of Defeat.......

Katie was not as excited at the progress of the pumpkins. A little over two weeks and not even a little sprout. We are very new at this and I'm not sure that the pumpkins will take. My Dad told me that pumpkins are the easiest thing to grow in a garden. We find that hard to believe.

The Thrill of Victory......

We went out to check the plants today and sure enough, the peppers are starting to bud. Katie was thrilled and tempted to pick them out. We are going to Miracle grow these things until they are the Jose Canseco of peppers.

Sloan bursts an artery

It's hard to believe that the Jazz were within four points with less than five minutes to go. Normally, I never blame games on the refs. The Jazz get plenty of calls at the big E and I know we have seen it go our way many times. Having said this, tonight the Jazz were given the ol' one-two by Steve Javie and the boys. The fact that most of us know Javie's name should tell you all that you need to know.

Even though he was tossed, Sloan showed a lot of composure. We've seen him push refs a couple of times before, tonight it would have been justified. To most, it may have seemed great to see Duncan in early foul trouble during game 3. He is the most dominant player in the past 10 years and having him on the court for less than 30 minutes won Utah game 3. It was obvious that the refs were going to make up for what happened in game 3, by letting the Spurs do whatever they wanted to in game 4.

There are too many instances to list tonight, missed calls, blown calls, bad calls. Ginobili took it over the top when he ran into Fisher and fell backward like he has just been blasted by a stray bullet. The fact that the referees couldn't decipher that as a flop tells you all you need to know. I love the NBA, but the flopping (even the flopping that Harpring and Collins do) needs to stop if they are going to keep this league legitimate.

Bottom line, the Jazz lost. Its been a great year and this game certainly won't define a successful season. People keep saying that this is a young team and their time will come. On the other hand, the Spurs are, "experienced, gritty and do it the right way."

Let's just hope when we are "experienced and gritty" we are the beneficiaries of Javie's bad calls.

Eliza and Jillian

Having a baby is truly a miracle. Having two at one time? It's out of this world.
Congrats to Jacque and Heidi...the girls look beautiful and we have both of them in our prayers.
We are so happy for you guys and it is great to see them looking so big and healthy. We wish we were there to share in your joy.

This is a test.....

I'm trying to get the most out of my picture space. I kind of stink at this blogging deal so far, so I'm trying to become more skilled.

Livy's Bed

So Olivia has entered the world of "big girls" and has her own bed. It's actually just her crib, converted into a bed. She is very excited. So far, it has been a real success. The biggest difference between her and Katie: Olivia will get up and get out of bed at any given time. If Katie wants to get out, she will cry until someone comes to get her. We are probably going to put those child prevention things on our doors so we don't wake up with Olivia walking down the street on her own one morning. She has no fear at all.

The crying is for dramatic effect......

Well, kind of. This nose of mine is now quite a piece of real estate. I never in a million years thought that I would have so much "nose work" done. But I give the public what they ask for. When they said, "Jason, we would like you to get the Brad Pitt special," I gave them the Brad Pitt special. Vicodin is the best and worst part of all of this. It makes me relax and eases the pain. But it also makes me dizzy and itchy. Plus, I can't be held responsible for any spelling errors right now.

Hmmmmmm

I was thinking today....it's been a long time since we blogged. I promise to make my Daddy update this at least 2-3 times a week from now on.

Dear Grandma......

I hardly knew you. At least that is how I feel right now. I can't believe you are gone. I thought you would live to be 100 years old, I really did. I can't help but be jealous right now. I miss Grandpa and Kristine.....you are with them now and it must be the happiest you have ever been. Even though we haven't been home much the last three years you have been in my heart everyday. You always have been. My greatest memories are with you. Driving to Disneyland when I was just five years old. Just you, me, Grandpa and Kris. I remember it like it was yesterday. Watching Dallas and Falcon Crest on Friday nights. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have been watching those shows, but I was with you so it was OK. Visiting you at the bank and going upstairs for grilled cheese sandwiches at Ben's. Journey bags. Mowing your lawn each week and having you pay me way more than I should have been getting at 12 years old. You always made sure I was taken care of Grandma. Your heart was unmatched. Your love was unwavering. Every time we came into town I would always tell Britt that I thought it may be the last time we see you.....never thinking that day would ever come. Now here it is.........and I'm not quite sure what to do. Grandpa has probably been extra grumpy without you. Hopefully, right now, he has a smile on his face. I'm sure that Kris is going crazy, her "lady" is back. You had a long and wonderful life. I had the greatest Grandma that I could have ever asked for. I will miss your wet kisses, I wish I could have made it home for just one more.

With the first pick in the 2020 WMLS draft........

Katie turned in a dominating performance today in her second soccer game of the year. She had two goals, a few slide tackles and one elbow to the windpipe. It was great. Brittanie was embarrased by my over-cheering when Katie scored.

How about them Jazz!!!!!

Good Morning.....

A typical morning for us.....Olivia eating a waffle with leftover ponytails from the day before.

Katie is in to oatmeal right now. She eats very, very slow. The girls are so different. Livy wakes up happy every morning. Katie is always "tired" and a tad grumpy. The more things change, the more they stay the same. They balance each other out pretty well.

In case you are curious........

I feel kind of funny making a blog about our family. I don't want to come off like reading about our family is really that big of a deal. I just want everyone who has never/will never come to Oregon to see what it's like for us to be here.

This is our house. It looks big from the outside, but it's actually quite small. We live on a fairly steep hill so they had to make it tall. I've also included a picture of the famed hill. The big green hill is quite the thorn in our side. It looks pretty now, but in July it will be brown and difficult. The trees are what our backyard backs up to. If there was a big wind storm we would be in serious trouble. The Jazz won tonight, so all is well at our house.

Is this thing on?

Let's see if we can get this thing going.