Have you been a good girl?

Had fun playing Santa this year for B's mother Nancy. We (with Leah, his sister) gave her an iPad for Christmas; we all customized it with apps we thought she's use and made a lighting fast trip to Yakima to give it to her. It was a busy day but very fun and the grandchildren had fun teaching Nana how to use modern technology. 

 

Long trip to the tree lot

 

Annual tree hunting trip this year was another odd one, like last year when B and Josh got lost (and Jess and I stayed home, sick). This year was just the three of us, instead of a whole posse. And while there wasn't a lot of snow on the ground it was snowing -- hard. It came down heavy the whole time we were out, fast flakes that fell so silently. We had the woods to ourselves.  It took just the right amount of time to fine one, not so much we were tired and cranky but enough we felt victorious. And Jess and I carried the tree all the way back to car, while B took it easy, telling us how satisfied we'd be to do it ourselves. 

Tannenbaum

We tried to use mostly recycled items, like these broken zippers I made into ornaments

Entered into my first big civic project since living here, organizing a Christmas tree to be auctioned for a local nonprofit. We're all knitters and spinners so we chose a fiber theme for the project. Everything was spun, or knitted or spun or sewn -- you get the idea. We had more than 100 ornaments by the time we were done and yards of wool garland. It sold for $600 and we felt proud (although some sold for thousands).

 

We were proud of the tree topper, a last-minute addition. See the ball of yard with needles?

Houston--we have ourselves a dishwasher

 

Yes, kitchen was finally finished, not a minute too soon. We were sick of it. The list: refinished cupboard fronts, paint, new door hardware, install dishwasher (and make hole for it), install new (to us)sink and faucet, replace countertop and tile entire backsplash area. 

Moral of the story: Be kind to yourself. We learned a lot doing this project. Hopefully those lessons will follow us on our next project, because you know there will another -- one day.

Thanks for the memories

TJ and Kristin (he's hooked her on  new game)

 We had a great Thanksgiving in Redmond, low-key but fun. The three oldest kids (Jess and Josh were at their mom's) were able to be there, Sarah brought her beau Trusten, Travis was there (and his girl Autumn for a while) and all three were surprised and pleased that their dad Scott was able to make it from Louisiana.
  

Trusten, Brian, TJ, Kristin and Scott

Needless to say we played a lot of games, mixed a lot of drinks and had a ball.

Trusten, Kristin and Brian on Game Night

Sarah Jeanne

Sarah's boyfriend Trusten and his band play in Portland regularly but we had never seen (or heard him) and it was so exciting to see (or hear) how GREAT he is! Very talented guy. 

 

Sarah cajoles Trusten into singing

Trusten, Sarah and Kristin in Drake Park

 

 

 

 

 

Boo & Bug

 

It was only a few days but the weather was fine (or decent) and it was great to have everyone together.