Merry Christmas to all!

To all of our family and friends that keep up to date with our family through our blog, "We hope you had a fabulous Christmas!" Be sure to leave us comments so we know you visited!

On Christmas Eve, Tina's parents arrived along with her brother Mike who flew in from Aurora Hills California! We took this photo prior to the kids first Christmas tradition of opening one present from under the tree!
Our second Christmas Eve tradition is to go out and feed Santa's reindeer prior to going to bed. The kids have bags of reindeer food (oats and glitter). Santa's reindeer will be sure to find us because the glitter will shine under the moonlight and the reindeer love to eat the oats and can smell them from miles away!

Then it was off to the upstairs where all of the kids had their slumber party! Ryan, Tyler and Ryley pictured above!

Tori and Sarah!

Brandon all snug in his bed!

Our tree prior to Santa's arrival!

Santa filled all of our stockings!

Loaded presents under the tree and moved one of our couches!

It is a lot of work for Santa and his elves to deliver gifts to all 6 kids!

The kids awoke Christmas morning with smiles on their faces!

Tina's brother Mike and her mom opening their stockings!

"Thank you Uncle Mike and Aunt Susan for the Mexican Train Game!" We are looking forward to playing it!

Santa brought Sarah the baby doll she asked him for!

"Thank you Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Jack for the wonderful train set!" That was a fabulous surprise and we can't wait to set it all up!!!!

Around 9am it started snowing on Christmas morning. It was a magical Christmas snow! The Oregonian (Portland newspaper) stated that statistically there is a less than 1% chance of getting snow in the area on Christmas! We loved to see the huge white flakes coming down that morning! Sarah was the first to run out to play!

A visit to Santa's House!

The holiday season seems to be flying by this year for us. Everyone in our family has favorite traditions. The kids were busy cutting out snowflakes this weekend and attaching them to the windows and filling our oranges with cloves (they smell SO good)! With Christmas only 8 days away we finally made the trip to Santa's house to visit!

Ryley, Tori, Tyler, Sarah, Ryan and Brandon with Santa.
Sarah is telling Santa she would like a "baby doll" for Christmas.

Brandon requested "Naruto Clash of the Ninja Revolution" for the Wii
(try saying that 3 times fast!)

A Gingerbread House tradition!

Decorating our tree!

Christmas Carol -- 12 days of Christmas

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England werenot permitted to practice their faith openly. Someoneduring that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Eachelement in the carol has a code word for a religious realitywhich the children could remember.


-The Partridge in a Pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...

Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone.....

Going on a tree hunt!

It was a beautiful blue sky day today! We visited Merrywood Farms here in Canby late this afternoon!

Oregon Civil War Game

Matt and Ryan took a trip down to Eugene today to watch the Oregon Civil War Game at Autzen Stadium, thanks to tickets that Matt's mom was able to get from her boss ("Thanks Lorna!!!") They had a great time! The game was close, and although it didn't have the outcome they had hoped for they had a fabulous time cheering on the Ducks! Note: Brandon was thrilled with the outcome-- as he and my father are Beaver fans!