Merilyn's Dance Program

Parents and guests were invited in to watch the dance class before Christmas. Of course, having an audience is right up Meri's alley... Ali was in Spokane with Gramma so unfortunately, Natalie had to dance without her during their class.

Christmas Day 2009

The girls were so excited to see that Santa had been to our house! Merilyn was super impressed that the reindeer ate the carrots she left out!

We opened our presents and spent a few minutes playing with a few... Ali's DSi and Merilyn's Strawberry Shortcake.

We headed over to Mom's for brunch and more presents. The big hit for Ali and Natalie was the Barbie Camper. It took Casey and I back many, many years... the camper has definitely been upgraded, and has way more parts and pieces than ours did... but I can still smell the plastic of the Barbie van of the 70's.

After a lazy, relaxing afternoon of movies, playing on the computer, and playing with the new toys, we had another meal... Christmas dinner. During the meal we shared our favorite presents of the day - to give and to receive. I love the spatula Greg, thank you!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Thank you for the pineapple Gramma!

Christmas Eve

Our tradition is to spend the evening at Jamie and Kurt's for our Christmas Eve dinner. This year wasn't any different... other than we had a giant crab feed! {Rather than the "traditional" dinner.} It was yummy! After dinner we turned on the karoke - thanks to Comcast On-Demand - & sang our little hearts out. Especially Ross... we think he was channeling Josh Groban.

Jamie was very creative & had cookies for the girls to frost.

We were having so much fun that when Trav finally looked at his watch, it was already 10:45! Yikes! After putting out cookies for Santa, it ended up being a very late night for the girls! {& Mom and Dad, too!}

Cinnamon Bear

One of Mom's Christmas presents to all of us was a trip on the Portland Spirit to meet the Cinnamon Bear. All of the girls were so excited!

We boarded after having our picture taken with Captain Taffy, and were immediately served hot cocoa by "Buttons". After breakfast we went upstairs to have our picture with the Cinnamon Bear. {He looks a little different than I remember as a kid...} Our table was right next to Queen Melissa, so we had great seats as she read "The Cinnamon Bear" to all of the kids.

While all of the adventures were going on {including a magic show!}, the boat traveled down the Willamette and back. It was a beautiful, sunny day.... just perfect to be on the river!

The girls thought the trip was very fun! The highlights: Ali's: meeting Captain Taffy and seeing Big Foot on Ross Island, Merilyn's: giving the Cinnamon Bear a hug, Trav's: watching the girls soak it all in, and mine: I agree with Trav! And, spending the day with my family.

My Trip to Spokane

by Alison
The line to get on the plane was longer than the plane ride! While I was at the airport I saw Uncle Ross & gave him a hug. My gramma & I flew to Spokane to see my cousin Holly because she got married. Grandma & I stayed in a hotel near a bunch of snow! I watched The Wizard of Oz & played with my Pollys. Uncle Bobby got to take us to a fancy restaurant for some breakfast. It was kind of like brunch. I had Mickey Mouse pancakes with chocolate chips on it and milk. My favorite part of the trip was that I got to see all of my family that I don't get to see that often. I flew home & my mommy, my grandpa, & my sister picked me up. It was such a fun trip, I'm still thinking about it everyday! I came back with a couple of surprises for my family... my mom & my dad got a magnet that was the plane I rode on, & my sister got a bag of rocks. I would say they're pretty rocks, & sometimes my sister says they're magical. Here are a few pictures that I took on my trip:

This is my Uncle Bobby I was talking about. He is so funny!

This is my cousin, Holly, and her new husband. I got to hold the flowers in this picture.

This is my Uncle Bobby, my Gramma, and my Uncle Bill. My Uncle Bill wore a blue tie like all of the other boys at the party.

Christmas Program

Merilyn had her little Christmas program last night. She was so excited to put on her "beautiful dress" and sing for everyone, and as the kids walked on stage, she gave Mike the thumbs up sign. Meri started out a little shy - as were most of the other kids! {I'm thinking they weren't sure what to do with all the people sitting in the audience staring at them.} After a couple of songs she kicked in and, {when she wasn't waving at Natalie and Johnna} got really into it... Especially for "We Wish You A Merry Christmas."

It's the Time of Year...

for all of the Christmas specials. Tonight we watched Frosty. I love that they haven't changed since Trav and I were kids! We enjoy sitting down to watch them just as much as the girls. It makes for a great family movie night with popcorn, of course!

Unfortunately, Meri didn't last very long...

Thursday, December 3rd

We got all dressed up in our Orange and Black and headed up to Mom's to watch the big game -- Civil War! It was a huge game for both teams, because the winner would be headed to the Rose Bowl. Stressful!! Even though the Beavers lost - we only lost by 4 points - it really was a great game. They played so well, and Trav won the $$ for the evening! The outcome might have been different if Tim Clark hadn't broken his leg... so, now it's on the Las Vegas Bowl. {?!?!}

December 2

Travis had the honor of decorating the tree with the girls this year, as I was scrambling to get my report cards done by their deadline. Ali started pestering him as soon as he walked in the door - you can see he didn't even get to change before the decorating began.

December

The Christmas Season has started... for us, anyway. I know it started for the stores a month - or more - ago! Last weekend I cleaned the house from top to bottom {how long will that last?} and put out all of our Holiday decorations. Bringing the tree in was a signal to the girls to get really hyper... screaming and dancing all around.

Thanksgiving

What a relaxing day! Of course, we started our day by sleeping in! {It was especially great for Trav, since he gets up at 4am every day!} We spent the morning cuddled up on the couch watching the Macy's parade. Ali really liked it because of all the "cool floats". Her favorite was the one with Tawny Heart {from Sonny with a Chance} and Kermit the Frog singing Christmas songs.

After the parade and naps we got ready for dinner at Sandy’s house. Mom and Mike were able to join us... it was great to have them there. Merilyn was so excited to have both grandmas with her! There was a ton of food and laughs - so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!

Family Turkey

Ali brought home an "empty" turkey that we had to work together to fill. She loved making her turkey! We used seeds, oatmeal, scrapbook paper, and orange sprinkles for the beak. Ali was thrilled with the final product and I have to say, I was pretty proud of "our" turkey as well. :)

Halloween

This year the girls were Tinkerbell and Ariel. They had gotten their costumes forever ago! They loved playing around with them, so I was glad we were able to find all the parts... well, all but Ariel's shoes. One of them disappeared! {We found some silver ones that worked.} Ali said that it was the best Halloween yet because they set a record with how far they walked Trick-or-Treating. She also loved the fact that she got to spend the evening with her cousins. The little girls did a great job keeping up with their big sisters, however, we knew we were done when the littles were asking to be carried!