DeeDee's ?th Birthday - Jan 24, 2009

Amber took her mom out for her birthday to a quilt shop and lunch on Friday the 23rd.    Mother and daughter had a great time together.    Fortunately for me, Christopher does not work on Fridays so he was there to help babysit the kids.    Actually, Isaac and Abigail spent Thursday night with us so Mommy and Daddy could have a "date night" out.    So, Friday morning when Amber and Chris finally showed up, Amber and DeeDee did the birthday thing.   Chris and I were busy trying to put up some more shelves in our master bedroom closet, while also trying to keep tabs on the two little ones.   Naps helped, but after one shelf, we decided it would be easier on us and safer for the kids if we waited until the womenfolk returned.   We had a birthday dinner and cheesecake for dessert.

Saturday, DeeDee, Hanna, and I went out to McCormick & Schmick in Beaverton for a great dinner. 

Sunday, Jan 18, 2009

Sunday afternoon, since was so clear, I went up into the hills on the west side of Scappoose to a point where I could see Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams, all northeast of us, in Washington.    From another vantage point, I also got a great shot of Mt. Hood east of Portland which is in the top right - it's over 60 miles away.

The bottom left photo below shows the three Washington volcanos:  from left to right - Rainier, St. Helens, and Adams; then there are closer photos of St Helens in the top left below, Adams in the top right below, and Rainier in the bottom right below.   Rainier is 100 miles away, while St. Helens and Adams are 45 and 50 miles away.     

 

Saturday, Jan 17, 2009

It was a tough day for Hanna.   Apparently a visit from Isaac and Abigail was just too much for her today.  

Amber decided she needed to get out of the house so she brought Isaac and Abigail over for the day.   It was a typical day with the grandkids, fun, noise, toys all over the place, watching Abigail trying to walk a little, and Isaac being the great almost-three-year-old that he is.    He is at the stage where everything you say to him usually gets the response, "Why?"    I am not sure where it came from, but Isaac has a saxophone he loves to play and ham-it-up with.   We took a short video of him "performing" and sent it to IVI - International Ventures Inc - in Valencia where DeeDee used to work, to see if they wanted to take Isaac on as a new musical celebrity client.

New Years Day, Jan 1, 2009

DeeDee and I didn't really celebrate New Years Eve, as we went to bed by 10 that night.   But, Hanna did the right thing and went out with her friend Bryan for the evening and late into the early morning.    

Amber, Chris, Isaac and Abigail came over New Years Day so we could celebrate Abigail's 1st birthday.    Abigail's birthday is actually on Jan 6th, but we wanted to celebrate it on the 1st since Chris was scheduled to work on the 6th and we had invited the Springers to join us for New Years Day since they couldn't make it over on Christmas Day.  Well, everyone showed up except for the Springers.    Christina called to say that just after getting on I-84 at Hood River they spun out on the icy freeway and had decided just to go right back home, since it was not safe to be on the road.    

We had fun watching Abigail try to blow out the one candle on the cupcake in front of her.    She got the concept of blowing air out just fine, it was just a little misdirected.    But with the help of big brother Isaac, Hanna, parents and grandparents, somehow the candle got blown out.  Tom, DeeDee and Hanna really enjoyed the food also.

Visiting Pittock Mansion in Portland, Dec 29, 2008

DeeDee, Hanna, and I finally got brave and actually drove on the streets for the first time since Dec 19th.   We met Amber, Isaac, and Abigail at the Pittock Mansion in Portland to see the Christmas decorations and special Christmas Story layout they have each year.   We had a great time and really enjoyed getting out of the house and immediate neighborhood for the time in 10 days of being snowbound.  

Christmas Day, December 25, 2008

Remember, you can double-click on a picture to enlarge it.

Amber is really upset that I have been so lax in keeping up with our blog.    I guess I had writer's block, or have just been plain lazy - but then, I am retired and need to space out my activities so I don't "to it all at once".  

We had a wonderful Christmas.   Hanna experienced some differences between our traditions here in America and from what they do in Germany.    In Germany, they open the presents under the tree on Christmas Eve, while we have always opened the presents on Christmas morning and day.   Hanna also experienced Santa coming for the first time.   DeeDee made a stocking with her name on it and it hung over the fireplace with ours, awaiting the magic night. Hanna was also amazed at the Christmas decorations, especially the outside decorations on almost every house in every neighborhood.    A couple of our neighbors really went all out and had displays that could probably have been seen from the Internal Space Station.

Christmas morning we all went downstairs and found that indeed Santa had been to our home and left the three of us with goodies and more goodies.   It still amazes me how he remembers year after year just what we like, and how he knew exactly what Hanna likes.   After breakfast we opened the presents under the tree and then started getting ready for guests and preparing Christmas Dinner.    Amber, Chris, Isaac and Abigail arrived in the middle of a new snow storm that ended dropping about 2" total during the afternoon.    They brought their friends Andy and Yvette and their 5 year old son Kian.    The Springers, Christina, Steven, Alora and Elijah were also supposed to join us, but they were snowed-in at their home in Hood River and could not make it.   We really missed seeing them.    We had suggested that everyone bring enough clothing to spend the night if need be due to the snow and roads.    The snow let up early enough and the roads were passable with chains, so our guests did go home Christmas night.

We had a wonderful turkey dinner, with all the trimmings and enjoyed each other's company and watching the kids "do Christmas".    I do have to admit that as much as I love family and friends over, it sure was nice to come back inside to a QUIET house when everyone left.

The photos are just random pictures of what went on during the day.

When will the snow end? Dec 23 & 24, 2008

It kept snowing day after day right up and through Christmas Day. But, somehow we survived.    It sure was beautiful and I think if we had held an icicle contest, we would have come in second, cause Jason and Becky across the street had a real major one that was at least 10 feet long as you can see in the photo on the right.

The rest of the photos are of our icicle's and my car buried somewhere at the front of our house.