Blogging is like tying a string around my finger

Today's blog is totally self serving... just to remind me that we do have sun in the winter around here, though rare. I also wanted to remind some of you that lived in Portland at one time or other just what you are missing.

Sunshine for the morning commute

It was a golden morning drive earlier this week. Many of the West Hills homes were reflecting that fact. I love it when I'm out the door to enjoy this time of day.

Sunny + clear = freezing temps

Each of the ornamental fountains at the Murray/Cornell McDs had a layer of ice on them. They were really pretty.

Stopped at Home Depot

Two 2x4s running from the windshield past the back seat. Garrett was cozy in his carseat just behind me.

Heavy inbound traffic on 26?

Barnes to Burnside for our alternate.

Sunny in the Afternoon too!

If you look closely, you can see Wyatt pulling his rolling backpack.

Heading East on 26

I love all the green trees! I once told a friend who was complaining about our grey skies that grey and green really go well together. I think the green looks pretty fabulous with blue too.

Into the tunnel.

And out the other side! Welcome to downtown P-town.

Hayden was the photographer on this rides. He caught a bit of Mt Hood between the Lloyd Center area high rises.

Spoiling myself

Har, the boys and I were able to run to the mall one evening. I have been dreaming about getting us a new tv for the den. Well Sears just happened to have a sale on a discontinued model. We got an excellent deal. Garrett, Har and I watched "Desk Set" on Netflix.

Lyssa is so creative in her gift giving

I wasn't able to post these right after I took them because of the stealthness of her plans.

Alyssa wanted to do something special for Logan and his guys when they got back. Being such an artistic gal she wanted to design a label to put on some of their favorite beverages. This plan turned into having a batch of hand crafted beer made by someone in Logan's home town.

I think they turned out AMAZING!

I'm sure the guys appreciated the sentiment... but not half as much as we appreciate all that they do for us.

"Welcome Home, Well Done"! Indeed!

Sweet sentiments, sweets and signs

Beautiful bouquet

Joylynn and Genevieve came home from Safeway the other day with a bunch of roses for me. Aren't they a unique shade? The are opening nicely.

The Belated B'day Celebration

We finally got to take Jess out for his birthday. One of the perks of being one of the marrieds is that if your spouse is getting treated to a birthday dinner you get to go along. So Jess, Joylynn and Garrett (the stowaway), Har and I went to Gustav's for dinner. The food there is always yummy but there is usually a wait to get seated. That's what iPads are for... entertaining the kids. They have a little kids area that Garrett tried out. I think he enjoyed being the only kid for an evening.

Even though it was belated, we were there to celebrate Jess's 36th birthday so he got the complimentary apple strudel! YUM!!!!

Some random photos...

The photo on the left is something that I have become very close to in the past few months. We have a couple more little things to do before I'll be on the road in "Home Fries" once again.

Thank you so much L & L for the use of your Subaru!!!!

Hayden and I were surprised to see the this bus at Wyatt's school. We think it belongs to an after school day care. I wonder how many people that see this know where Goldendale is.

You know you're getting old when...

The AARP junk mail is no longer for you but your son! I wonder when Hayden is going to get his membership card.

A weekend of reunions

Happy Belated 16th Birthday

Our friend Garrison's birthday is right smack dab in the middle of the holidays. His parents often have a belated birthday celebration because it's nice to have his party after all the holiday hoopla dies down. We joined Garrison and a bunch of old friends for a party at the Lloyd Center Burgerville. I wish I took more pictures... here are a few.

The Dominas, Courtney and Charlie, got reacquainted with Megan N. and Suki K.

David N. got to spend some time with two of his favs. Gary D. and Harlan.

It was wonderful to get to see Joy D. and Shela. We really need to get together like this again soon!

Garrison was the recipient of one of my rag quilts. It's the first time I made one using only 2 colors. I think it works great... especially for a guy.

Genevieve and her friend

Genevieve loves our cats but they aren't exactly fond of her. Except for Courtney's cat, Chloe. For some reason Chloe doesn't mind her affection at all. Makes for one happy little girl.

Surprise Reunion!

I got to get reacquainted with our "niece" Julie today. She was shopping and saw me and stopped to say hello. We had a nice little catch up chat in the shoe aisle. I made Courtney take our picture. Julie and I are going to be friends on Facebook soon and I hope to keep in touch better than I have.

Thanks for stopping me, Julie! It was great to see you!

Creative expressions

Breakfast Protein

Yes, I took a picture of the eggs in the pan. I thought they looked photo-worthy. It was something about the shape, colors and shadows that made me reach for the camera. I'm not alone in this photo fetish but most of my friends think I'm a bit strange.

Creative Cuties

This painting session was spearheaded by Wyatt. He LOVES doing crafts. It's messy and is a lot of work but they enjoy it so much. He wanted to make me a few banners "To thank you for taking care of us for so long". My sweet boy!

Sweet brother boys

Garrett's siblings have him smiling and giggling on a regular basis. They sure love him!

Freeform dressing

On school days or visit days I usually pick a couple of outfits for the kids to choose from. On days without structure or things we need to do, I let them dress themselves. We have a pretty cold and drafty house and the girls reflected that in their choice of clothing yesterday. A combination of patterns, colors, too small and too big things. Very eclectic.

Library Day

Wednesdays are library days for Wyatt. He is all boy when it comes to picking his literature. I'm surprised there were no "Captain Underpants" books in this batch.

White Commute

We have had morning fog all week. Every morning I wished I'd had one of my boys with me to take some pictures. It's quite eery to drive onto the Fremont Bridge and not be able to see any of the city or the bridge ahead of you. I was in somewhat lighter traffic yesterday and chanced taking a couple of pictures myself. I spend too much time looking at the tail lights of cars. So many of them look like eyes. Some cars look like they have faces. I'll have to do a photo collage of the backs of cars to show all of the different looks. Happy, bratty, angry, silly... they are all out there on the road.

Sporting a new look

Har was tolerant of my taking his picture during Happy Hour yesterday. (Our first time getting there in several months!!! Happy Happy Happy Hour!). His new mustache and goatee is coming along nicely.

I really like it! I have such a distinguished looking husband.

Cat, kids, a birthday and some sporting events

A boy and his Cat

All of the cats love Cam. He and Ry speak feline language. We have been re-evaluating the pros and cons of pet ownership. Cats are definitely easier to have than dogs. We haven't had a dog for many years. I think that I may have to get one when we are headed into empty nest syndrome.

Feeding ourselves

Garrett held his own bottle for the first time this week. Katie is getting to be a pro with her "cuppa". It is amazing how much a child learns in the first year of life. They sure are cute while they are doing it.

Speaking of cute...

I have no idea what these girls were up to but we get a good look at the beautiful job Gremmy did on knitting Katie's sweater. It is so soft a she looks great in it. I love all the stripes in the lower photo. I think some sort of exercising was going on.

Happy Birthday Jess

Krystle took this picture of Jess at Courtney and Charlie's wedding. To me it depicts our first son-in-law very well. He is a strong man, yet a tender father. He is serious but knows how to be goofy with the rest of us on occasion. Hard working and loyal. We observed his birthday this week but are still going to take him and Joylynn out to celebrate his turning 36.

Winterhawks fans

A few weeks ago I bought 4 tickets to a Portland Winterhawks game. For those of you who don't know who the Winterhawks are, they are our local hockey team. Har, the boys and Alyssa went to see our Hawks beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-1. They walked to a park to wait for me to pick them up. I made them stand out in the cold so I could take a picture :-)

Rooting for our Packers!

Gar-bear is sleeping with is little Packer bear tonight. Dreaming of a Packer victory tomorrow. That would indeed be a sweet start to the Super Bowl countdown.

Baby days and an unfavorite time of the year

Three Grandes and a Tall

I took a picture of the bottles I had just washed and sterilized. The Starbucks carrier was ideal for them to be transported in. Garrett drinks 40 ounces of formula a day. My least favorite time to be bonding with him? Between 11:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. Thank goodness he usually sleeps from 8 p.m. til 6 a.m. most days now.

The most Un-wonderful time of the year

Un-decorating for any holiday is not super fun for me. Christmas is especially hard because I love all of the lights and the ornaments and the garlands. The tree came down this weekend. Har and I took all of the ornaments off and Hayden took care of the lights. Since we now have collection of yard debris every other week our tree came down in a unique way this time. Harlan took loppers to it right in the living room. He had some fascinated helpers.

I must admit that I like having a lamp and a couple of chairs in the space that the tree took up but it's still a bittersweet time of the year.

Still the best!

Fels-Naptha has been my ol' standby for years as a pre-treater for my laundry needs. There is nothing better for baby created stains! I have a bar in the bathroom for scrubbing pjs, onesies and other baby clothes.

Making more laundry to do

Look who's eating some solid foods. He is just getting the hang of it. More is coming out than going down but he reaches out to assist my hand in heading for his mouth.

He's a big 7 months old now!