Mountain pictures

We have been spending lots of time at the mountain this year. We have a lot of snow, as you can see, and the weather has been great. I never have my camera outside when we are skiing, but here are some lodge shots.

Tanner
Tyler
Sydney

Sydney's Birthday!

Sydney turned 7 on January 16th! We had a High School Musical Slumber Party last Friday night with 6 other little girls. The first couple hours were a dream! I thought to myself, "I should do this every year!" But, as the evening went on, I realized that no matter what age the girls are, they are still very emotional (it's not just teenagers). I spent my night fighting fires...soothing hurt feelings and wiping tears over funny little things. One girl ate another girls milkshake by accident and felt so terrible that she went in a corner to cry. I went over to her and she wouldn't even talk about it. Poor thing. Once she realized that nobody cared, she let it go. Drama, drama! Over all, it was really fun. Sydney was in heaven with all the attention and HSM stuff! We played Karaoke & painted their nails. Julia & Dianne were there to help me...thanks guys! I couldn't have done it without you!

Syd & Makenna with their HSM jammies
All the girls in their jammies.
Opening presents
And, of course, watching High School Musical 2 with lots of junk food. Happy Birthday Sydney! I can't believe you are 7 already!

Brilliant!

Ok. I have always felt like I can figure anything out when it comes to computers. I am not a master, but I'm not stupid either. Until Friday. I went into Best Buy to see if I could buy a replacement cord for my camera to hook it into my computer. They said no, you would have to get that from the manufacturer, but they recommend memory cards. Oh, no, I have one of those. I don't need that. Then, you just need a way to connect your card with your computer...Oh! My computer already has that too! Brilliant! All this time I have not had any pictures because I didn't even think of that! Stupid!!! So, I have figured it out finally. Sorry for the boring blog with no pictures! I hope to make it up to all of you who have been terribly bored by my words.

Sydney

We picked Syd up from a birthday party Saturday night where she had gone bowling. She said she did really good...she hit the "bullseye" a couple of times. Do you mean you got a strike? Oh, yeah, I got a couple of those. She's so funny!

Jeff Foxworthy and Oregon

I thought some of you might appreciate this...
Even though I live in the Pacific Northwest, our climate is a lot different than what this describes (thank heavens). I am an Oregonian though and I thought this was eerily accurate.

Yikes...people wearing socks with sandals and shorts with parkas! There is definitely a different fashion sense up here, or lack of.

Nyle and I were talking about High School and what he wore to the first dance we went to. It was a horrid argyle-like sweater (that bottoned up at the bottom) with a black shirt and teal tie. I remember still thinking he was cute, but the outfit was not something anyone I knew in CA would wear, even in those days. Oregon has always been a bit behind. I'm glad I looked past the sweater!

The Pacific Northwest according to Jeff Foxworthy:
1. You know the state flower (Mildew).
2. You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.
3. You use the statement "sun break" and know what it means.
4. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
5. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.
6. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
7. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal.
8. You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted it is not a real mountain.
9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Veneto's.
10. You know the difference between chinook, coho, and sockeye salmon.
11. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, Yakima, and Willamette. 12. You consider swimming an indoor sport.
13.You can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, and Thai food.
14. In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark... while only working 8-hour days.
15. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.
16. You are not fazed by "Today's Forecast: Showers followed by rain" and "Tomorrow's Forecast: Rain followed by showers."
17. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
18. You know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind.
19. You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.
20. You notice that "the mountain is out" when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it.
21. You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.
22. You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on.
23. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
24. You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists.
25. You buy new sunglasses every year because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time.
26. You measure distance in hours.
27. You often switch from "heat" to "a/c" in the same day.
28. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
29. You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), Deer & Elk Season (Fall).
30. You actually understood these jokes and will probably forward them.

Happy Birthday Gracie!

(Obviously Gracie has grown much older & more beautiful since this picture was taken.)
Happy Birthday gorgeous Gracie. We hope you are having a blast in Disneyland today. We only wish we could be with you. We love you!!! 5 years old...wow...Kindergarten here she comes!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I wish I had pictures to share, but my cord got lost in the move. We had a great white Christmas...even if we have a "Charlie Brown" tree. The boys got football gear and ramps for their bikes & skateboards. Sydney got a karaoke machine & lots of High School Musical "stuff." Fun, fun! Everyone was so excited that I found them in the family room at 3am. I convinced them to go to bed, but they were back down 30 minutes later. I had to take them to my bed to get them to sleep a little longer. They held until 7/7:30 then. I think it was one of the funnest years ever. I think being in a new house sure helped that.
We've had lots of company and lots of food. We are a little tired now. Hopefully we will rest up a little before New Year's so that we can go skiing. Life is good. I am a slacker on the Christmas cards too. I was thinking of doing a New Year's card...cheesy, huh?! Love you all and hope you had a great Christmas! Happy New Year!