Christmas 2013

This is my favorite picture of Christmas.  All of the proud parents taking pleasure in their children!  I love how all of our kids love their children.  Bruce and I take such pride in all of our kids and grandkids, we are so lucky.

Baylor and Elle, 

Emma, Olivia and Marcus,

Sophie, Ceci and Gia.

All of the Oergel Grandkids in their matching PJ's!  As they get older it gets harder to find a matched set for them.  This year Costco came through again - Organic Cotton pajamas in 8 sizes!

Dude! 

Gia brought her handmade Christmas stocking for Santa to fill. 

Tracy read our new Christmas book - Santa is Coming to Washington.  Beautiful book to add to my Christmas story collection from my sister Pat. 

Sophie had work to do while the story was read.  Sophie forgot to bring her stocking to hang up for Santa and borrowed a big wool sock from Poppi.  She wrote a note to explain the mix up to Santa.  The note was beautifully written and Santa left her presents in the wool sock!  Lucky girl.

Before everyone went to bed the children placed a couple of candy cane cookies, a carrot and some milk on the hearth for Santa.  The kids all headed up to bed in the craft room and Grami and Poppi headed out to the trailer for a good nights sleep.

When I uploaded my pictures of Christmas morning I found that the first few pictures were completely blurry, my camera couldn't catch the fast action of the kids - lots of squeals of delight as the kids found their Christmas stockings filled with goodies.  The Oergel Grandkids were especially good this past year!

Presents everywhere!

Happy children and parents.

Olivia received an American Girl doll!  She named her Rena.

Emma received a twin American Girl doll and named hers Marie.  The twins chose their own middle names for a doll name, such sweet little girls and such beautiful dolls.  I really love the quality of the American Girl doll line. 

Tractors, Minivans, trucks and cars......

Colby and Kimmie made each family a set of doll bunk beds.  The beds are beautiful!  The first doll I saw sleeping in the beds was a GI Joe. 

Baylor wanted to tow something with his new John Deere.  The wagon needed a bit of modification to make it work. 

Emma checked out Sophie's new book and owl.  The owl played a big role in the Harry Potter book Sophie was reading.  Emma and Sophie snuck off to read anytime they could. 

Elle and her leaning tower of presents! 

After breakfast the guys headed up into the hills looking for rabbits. 

Marcus looking warm in the snow.  I really like this picture!

Elle shared her new mustaches with all the kids. 

Sophie said, "I mustache you a question?"

Marcus, Ceci, Olivia, Sophie, Emma and Elle.  What do you think Poppi?  So much cousin fun!

Gia modeled her new cowgirl hat. 

Sophie was a dead eye with the targets in the backyard.  Wes set the targets at various distances and Sophie could hit them all. 

Christmas Day afternoon Marc and Tracie had to head back home.  Tracie needed to report back to work on the 26th.  Everyone went outside to say good-bye and I saw a photo op.....

Tracie laughed because I always see a photo op! 

Five minutes later voilà a family picture is done!  After about 5 years of trying for that perfect family picture the cooperation has begun.  Of course, the smiles are probably because I always set the timer and run to get in the picture and the kids don't think I'm going to be fast enough.  The cousins were all sad to see Olivia, Emma and Marcus head back home.

A couple of hours later Mike arrived with Apple, Feather, Tanner and Alex.  Baylor and Elle warmed up very quickly to Uncle Mike. 

The rest of the gang joined in.  Mike brought us fresh oranges and avocados from California. 

Tanner and Alex played outside for a couple of hours with the other kids before they had to head home to Shelton.  I wrangled them into our favorite picture spot.  Tanner, Alex, Elle, Ceci, Baylor, Sophie and Gia.  We have not had any snow at home this year but it is cold! 

As a matter of fact Elle's feet were so cold she borrowed a pair of Grami's hand knitted socks.  Aunt Pat I think Elle would love a pair of knitted socks sometime! 

As the year comes to an end we count our blessings and look forward to the New Year.  We will be headed south to Arizona in the next few days.  At least I won't complain the house is too quiet after all the wonderful noises of the past couple of weeks.  Next blog should be from our trip see you soon! 

Sophie and Marcus go with the guys target shooting.

Marcus helped with a little Christmas decorating when he arrived.  The antler picture frame worked nicely on his face. 

Emma and Sophie enjoyed Harry Potter in their pj's.

Sophie, Marcus, Marc, Wes and Poppi headed up into the hills to try a little target practice.  The kids are learning so much about safe shooting and hunting.  I appreciate their Dad's and Grandpa teaching them this skill while they are young.  Sophie was really hoping to bag a rabbit so she could make a recipe from Laura Ingals Wilder's Little House on the Prairie Cookbook.  No luck this time. 

After an afternoon of shooting the youngest members of the shooting party helped with the clean-up. 

The drive back home was a perfect chance to catch up on some sleep.  At that time we didn't know that Marcus was coming down with Strep Throat.  Marcus did see a doctor right away and was on antibiotics pretty quickly.  Hmmm, hopefully nobody else gets it! 

The Christmas Tree

The Roemer Girls asked us to hold off getting our Christmas tree until after they arrived this year.  Of course we agreed!  Wes, Bruce, Sophie, Ceci and Gia headed up into the forest to find the tree we had spotted a couple of weeks before.  The orange tag was still hanging and Bruce quickly cut the tree down.  The girls loved the snow and the smells of the fresh tree.  The five dollar tree permit was a bargain for such a beautiful tree! 

Week O'Birthday!

My week O'Birthday started on Wednesday with a trip up to Birch Bay.  The weather was cold and bright.  The Stuart Mountain Range is all dressed up for winter with some bright clean snow.  Our first stop was in Maple Valley where we joined Kimmie, Elle and Baylor for the trip north.  Colby was in Louisiana for work.  Lucky guy!

Elle, Gia, Baylor, Sophie and Ceci got reacquainted.  Sophie and Ceci had to go to school on Thursday so Elle, Gia and Baylor stayed home with Poppi and Wes while the big girls headed off for an adventure out of the country. 

Tracy drove me and Kimmie to Vancouver, BC for a day of fun.  The adventure began at the Canadian border where we had to decide how much money to exchange from US into Canadian. The exchange rate was pretty good so we decided more was better than less.  After the 37 kilometer (23 miles) at 100 kilometer per hour (60) trip.  We parked next to a theatre and walked a couple of blocks to our destination. 

Our first stop was the Vancouver Christmas Market.  The temperature was -7.77 Celsius which is 19 degrees Fahrenheit.  Sort of cold for an outdoor market experience.  The metric system was all around us!

The market had plenty of authentic German food, gifts and a carousel. 

Giant nutcrackers were everywhere.  Kimmie got into the spirit!

For breakfast I tried the Cheese Spätzle with ham.  This guy was cooking the noodles in a giant cast iron frying pan and served the treat with a German accent.  I was told most of the vendors are actually actors and the accents aren't real.  It was more fun to think we were in Germany!

After the dish was scooped into a bowl this lady added fresh shredded Jarlsburg cheese and melted  the cheese with a torch. 

Tracy and Kimmie both tried the baked apples with pretzels and hot spiced cider. 

The cider was served in glass mugs that you could keep or recycle before you left.  Of course the girls chose to keep theirs.  The market was a great experience. 

We headed out of town to try and find the Ikea store. 

We did finally find Ikea but the workers were on strike.  I could not cross the picket line after all of our families many years of working union jobs.  We were a little disappointed but managed to find a strip mall with a Canadian version of a Home Goods store.  I don't often think of Canada as a real foreign country, but it truly is.  We bought Saskatoon pancake syrup and Nabob tea in the grocery store. 

The last stop of the day was to exchange our money at the Duty free shop at the border.  What a surprise this shop was!  The prices were amazing - Canadian and US money was accepted on par and there was no tax charged.  I bought a couple of souvenir sweatshirts and some MacIntosh Toffee (my favorite since discovering it when I was a kid). 

The trip back through the border went off without a hitch.  Just a few minutes wait and we were back in America. 

As soon as we got home the kids wanted to see some of the treasures from Canada.  Tracy broke out her tin house that burns incense.  See the smoke coming out of the chimney? 

Friday morning Elle got to walk Gia into her school.  Gia couldn't miss class because they are practicing their Nativity Play and Gia has been cast as Mary.  Gia is so excited because she will get to hold the baby Jesus and ride onto the stage on a donkey (actually a wagon disguised as a donkey).  We headed into Lynden for a Dutch breakfast and antique shopping. 

While in Birch Bay we did make it to the beach one afternoon.  It was cold and icy. 

The ice coated the driftwood and some of the bay. 

You can see the ice on the water in this picture. 

Ceci was a great sport and hopped out of the car for a sunset picture.  Ceci is planning to join Sophie for the Polar Bear Plunge on New Years Day this year. 

Sunset at Birch Bay. 

Jingle the elf showed up while we were at the Roemers.  She did a great job of hiding on the 7th day of December! 

Bright and early Saturday morning Tracy, Sophie and Ceci ran a 5K race in Bellingham.  It was super cold but they did the race with a fast time.  With a sketchy weather forecast we headed south to Maple Valley. 

When we arrived Colby surprised me with a beautiful birthday cake.  The cake was too plain for Elle so she asked if I would like a ballerina and horse on the cake.  Of course I said yes! 

Elle and Baylor sang Happy Birthday day and Baylor beat me to the candles.  I'm sure I will get my wish this year!  The cake was super delicious and so very nicely decorated.    

We headed over the pass and arrived home before dark.  Bruce did take a back road near Cle Elum and I saw this pretty house in a field of snow.  The roads around Cle Elum were icy and snowy.  It was good to get back on I-90.  There is no snow at our house but it is very cold!  Arizona is sounding pretty attractive about now....