SE Sturgeon St Snow Removal Crew - December 30, 2009

This morning I cleared snow from part of the driveway and sidewalks at our house. This afternoon, DeeDee announced she was going to get some exercise, so she bundled up, grabbed the snow shovel and started clearing the street. Now, before you all gang up on me and call me a lout and brute for making her do all this hard work, IT WAS HER IDEA AND SHE VOLUNTEERED.

The First Snow of Winter '09-10, Dec 29, 2009

The weather people forecast rain, with snow in the hills above 500 to 1000', but NOOOOO, it snowed about 3" from 2:30 PM to 6 PM at 51' above sea-level here in Scappoose and ALL OVER THE PORTLAND AREA. The top six photos show the first of the snow fall at 2:30 as it first started to stick and the last seven were taken an hour and a half later at 4. It kept snowing until about 6 and then little bits off and on until later in the evening. It's not supposed to snow any more and with warmer temps, which means up into the high 30's, it is forecast to rain for a few days now.

Christmas Day, December 25, 2009

Some random, not in order, photos and videos of our Christmas. Some of the highlights were a surprise visit from Hanna Reisch, our former Foreign Exchange Student from Germany, who was staying with friends in the Scappoose area over her Winter Break, visiting the neighbor's yard past the end of our street to see their giant yard decoration display and "pet" turkey (we assume it is a pet since it has survived Thanksgiving and Christmas), and the two little ones, Elijah and Abigail, smooching at the bottom of the stairs - wonder where they learned that?

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration. DeeDee and I went to the 7:30 PM Christmas Worship Service at our church, Grace Lutheran of Scappoose, Christmas Eve. Upon returning home we finished getting ready for Christmas Day. We celebrated Christmas Day with the Korenthals (Amber, Christopher, Isaac and Abigail) and the Springers from Hood River (Christina, Steven, Alora and Elijah). The Korens arrived around noon and the Springers arrived around 2 PM. Having four little ones in the house ranging from almost 2 to almost 4 made for a lot of fun, frenzy, presents, and learning to wait while someone else opened their present. The little ones checked their stockings to see what Santa brought them. Since they were not insisting on opening the stuff under the tree, we decided to wait on that and get on with other stuff. DeeDee taught Amber and Christina (and Chris got into it also) how to make sushi, which became one of the snacks for the day. We visited and watched the kids play with the stuff from Santa. After a while, we decided it was time for Isaac to get his "big gift", which was a battery powered electric Jeep. I moved it from the garage to the driveway and waited outside with the camera. After getting shoes and jackets on, everyone came out. Chris carried Isaac out, telling him to keep his eyes closed. When told he could open them, the expression on his face was priceless. Isaac was really a gentleman and also allowed Alora to drive the Jeep. He even let 2 year old Elijah drive 23 month old Abigail around a little bit. After a while, we all went back inside and later enjoyed a hugh meal of turkey, ham, mashed potato, salad, fruit, cranberry, and other goodies. Later, dessert was my rendition of Paula Deen's "Not Yo Mamma's Banana Pudding", which was a request from Amber, Christina, and Steven for the dessert. Presents under the tree were opened by all. Everyone got what they wanted, and then some. The day was a tremendous success and was not marred by any tears or injuries.

The Korens and Springers stayed over night - we had Eggs Benedict for breakfast. I didn't fix that for the little ones, but it turns out that Abigail LOVED it and ate half of Amber's breakfast. We said goodbye to the Springers around noon on the 26th and to the Korens later after the kids finished their naps. After everyone left, once again, DeeDee and I said, "Listen, what is that sound? -- SILENCE"

.