Desmond is playing basketball this year. It's his first time playing, and he's really enjoying it! He's a good little defender, and he's working on perfecting his shooting style.
I think he's enjoying basketball even more since Joe is the assistant coach!
We tried a couple new things this Christmas, and they might have to become traditions! A few weeks into the month of December we decided to make our own wreaths. We watched some youtube videos, picked up some supplies, and grabbed some Christmas tree trimmings when we got our tree. Molly and I even made a trip to the park by our house to cut some of our own trimmings. Here's what we came up with.
The trick is to come up with bunches that look nice together, attach them to the wreath form, and then repeat until the entire wreath is covered.
Desmond's came out absolutely beautiful!
Molly's was so unique and natural-looking that we hung it on our front door!
We even made some centerpieces for our table.
It was a surprisingly simple winter craft! If you want us to make a wreath for you next year, just say the word. I think after our success this year we're going to want to make even more in 2020!
Early in the month we went to one of my favorite Christmas events -- the University of Portland Santa Brunch. This is such a great event. The kids get to hand deliver their letters to Santa, talk to him in person and get a great photo -- without even waiting in line. It's awesome.
We also got to go to brunch with some friends! The way the school decorates the Commons is outstanding and so festive. It always reminds me of the Great Hall at Hogwarts in Harry Potter.
We had a late Thanksgiving/early Christmas party with some friends. The past two years we've done this and included a white elephant gift exchange, which is always hilarious.
It's always cool to see all the kids together, having a great time!
Every year we have the kids decorate Christmas cookies, and it's fun to see what they come up with. They've done this since they were really, really young, and I love seeing how creative they are each year! This year I felt like their skills had improved, too!
And, of course, we decorated gingerbread houses. We always use this recipe to bake our own, and it makes our whole house smell delicious!
This year, unfortunately, my royal icing came out like marshmallow cream, and that just doesn't make a good 'glue.' Shortly after we took that family photo, Molly's house caved in. As you can see, she was not happy about it -- and she was less happy that I was taking a photo of it.
Eventually she got over it and decided the story was that she'd put some TNT inside the house and blown it up. Gingerbread house fail! I'll do better next year!
Part of our Christmas tradition each year includes Christmas baking. I do this just like my mom did years ago: I bake 4-5 types of cookies or treats and deliver them to neighbors and friends. This year the kids and I tried caramels for the first time, and we thought they were delicious!
They took forever to wrap, but they were so worth it!
This is what our treat boxes looked like this year.
Finally, Christmas morning came! Note how Molly (and Desmond) sorted and stacked their stocking candy from Santa. LOL!
The kids must have been good this year, because Santa brought them each a new camera, just like they'd asked for!
After we opened presents, we headed up to spend some time with the Vasiceks. It was great to get out of the house a little bit. For the sake of accurate storytelling, I should mention that Desmond and I got really sick and possibly spread our illness around to everyone who was there. (I hope not, though!)
The kids found this cool carving at Lincoln Park.
Cousin time!
After we got home from visiting family, we still had about a week left of break. One of the things we did was go on a hike with our friends Sarah and Zoe to Wahclella Falls in the Gorge. It is a fabulous winter hike! The scenery was beautiful, the trail was in good shape, and the drive wasn't too long. I highly recommend this winter hike if you haven't done it already.
Doesn't this look like a green moonscape?! This part of the trail was my favorite.
The falls!
Our final adventure was yesterday. Compliments of Aunt Helen, Joe and I had a date night. (Thanks, Aunt Helen!) We drove up to Mt. Hood and went snowshoeing.
There wasn't a ton of snow, as you can see by looking at the mostly bare trees, but there was plenty -- probably 2-3 feet.
We hiked from White River to Boy Scout Ridge. It's not a long hike, but it's really pretty, mostly flat and has beautiful scenery.
Partway through the hike we stopped for lunch, and I can't tell you how delicious this snowy ham and swiss tasted! LOL! Snowshoeing really makes you work up an appetite!
When we got to Boy Scout Ridge, we climbed about a third of the way up and decided to come back down. The grade is almost 45 degrees, so part of the way we were crawling rather than snowshoeing, and it just seemed a little too difficult.
This is Joe deciding he can't go any farther.
But once we got to the bottom I decided I just had to try to get to the top. We went back to the ridge and tried again.
After a whole bunch of struggling and crawling, sometimes sliding back down with every step, I made it to the top! At the top is a large plateau. I was the only person up there! It was really peaceful, and I felt a little like I'd just climbed a mountain.
Joe, however, did not make it. Between the trees you can see a tiny blip -- that's him waiting for me partway up. :o)
If you haven't snowshoed this route, I'd recommend it, too!
And that's it for our holiday adventures! As I write this, the kids are in bed and Joe and I are getting ready to go back to school and work tomorrow. I don't think I've mentioned this on here before, but I have a new job at school this year. I'm working as an assistant in ELD (English language development), working with kids who are mastering English. I love my new job!
I hope everyone is well and had a nice holiday like we did. We wish you a memorable 2020!
You're welcome and so glad you've written a blog again...I've missed them. The kids were great and we had an adventure of our own!
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