It's been a while...

So, I haven't posted in a while -

Trae & Kayla celebrated their first wedding anniversary in Austin Texas, having moved to Houston in July 2009. Hollis and I have yet to visit them there, but Mom & Dad have made the trip twice. I should make sure we have the proper visas in our passports before booking airline tickets...

Easter is coming up and we will have a visit from Hollis' oldest grandson, Nick. This will be his second trip to Portland, and his first trip, by himself. We are looking forward to see him and to be a part of his 12-year old world. It will be a great learning experience. My parents will also be here, to add to the chaos. The last stop on their tour before heading back home to welcome Spring and enjoy what summer has to offer in Grafton.

It will be a wonderful holiday, and I hope to be able to keep this up, to note what exciting, and not so exciting things are happening in our world.

The Trayla Wedding!

Friday, December 26

No rest for the wicked! No sooner had the leftovers from Christmas dinner been picked over we were already transforming our home into a wedding chapel/reception venue for Trae & Kayla's wedding. The Rally Cry was heard and answered and by the time I returned from grocery shopping (for the wedding you know) our home did not seem to be ours any longer! We had Candi, Jeanne, Jill & Ruth all working on decorations, Bob, Ernie, Dad & Hollis working on the "Trayla Lounge", Mom and I working on the food. Patti stopped by later to put together beautiful flower arrangements and get the cake table ready. The results at the end of the day were amazing.

And, lets not forget the Bride & Groom - one of which was clearing snow so the guests could get to our house.....

Because of these wonderful people, we will be hosting a beautiful at home wedding.

Cheers!

Ahhh.... Christmas!

Thursday, December 25

What a week! Whew! Glad that was over with! The weather changed many plans for friends and family, but we managed to get together and have a wonderful time. Prime rib, roasted on our grill, with cracked Dungeness crab and some very fine wines - Ehlers 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Goosecross Syrah (cannot remember the year!) amongst some of them. The picture says it all, nothing more special than family and friends around one table.

It was absolutely beautiful.

Merry Christmas to all!

Still Snowing.....

Monday, December 22, 2008

It's still snowing. I'll let the photos speak for me.

Umm, Yeah, It's Still Snowing....

Sunday, December 21, 2008

The first day of Winter - snowed in, no power and no quick trip to Vancouver BC. What to do?

We walked about 3-4 miles to find power and a hot breakfast. The walk down Boones Ferry Road was eerily quiet. I don't think that road has ever been that deserted. We walked with Bob & Candi to Miller's Homestead Inn in Tualatin. They had power & a hot breakfast. And Yes, I did have the World Famous Chicken Fried Steak! We were joined by Ernie & Jill, their neighbor John and Candi's daughter Stephanie. It was so nice to be able to get together in spite of the weather and power outages.

We walked back home to find the power back on. Yes, we played dominoes again - but with the addition of Bloody Marys.

That is what to do when 'snowed in'.

Angels in the Front Yard

Saturday, December 20

It starting snowing, it came down all day long! For those of you not familiar with the Pacific Northwest, specifically Portland, this does not happen on a regular basis. We are having that storm of the decade sort of weather, where not a lot of people are able to get to work or get out and take care of general business. We stayed in, played dominoes and watched the snow fall all day long and into the evening. Bob & Candi hung out with us, stayed for dinner.

Candi and I decided to do snow angels. Cannot remember the last time I did that, but I am sure that I was quite a bit younger!

You know what? They're still fun to do!

The Rally Cry

Well, I sent out the "rally cry" for wedding help! We have such wonderful friends here and are so lucky that everyone is helping. Candi is running the creative side and we're putting decorations together to make the house into a "Winter Wonderland" complete with silver painted tree branches, silver snowflakes, yards of tuille & satin to finish it off. I am hosting a 'glitter party' to finish the snowflakes and tree branches. Jeanne & Ruth are coming in as reinforcements to help finish & put decorations in place. Patti is taking care of the cake while I have a hand in everything in addition to getting the food ready to go. We are less than two weeks away, but everything is coming together wonderfully. The rally cry was answered, and I have a great team of people in place to transform our house from ordinary to extraordinary.

Incidentally, we had snow today to inspire our decorating....