Friday, December 26, 2008

Merry Christmas!


Christmas Day flew by in a whirl for our family. We had Mom's family over to our place to celebrate the holiday and had breakfast together first, then opened some presents, and finally had our Christmas lunch/dinner. It was snowing pretty hard all morning so because the fam didn't want to have any trouble driving home, we kind of hurried things along sooner than we might've otherwise done. It was a good time though and we enjoyed having a white Christmas.

Papa helping me open a new train.

I received many new Thomas trains for Christmas, my favorite being 'Rosie.' I have been asking for 'Rosie' for a couple weeks now and my parents kept telling me, 'Maybe you'll get Rosie for Christmas. You'll just have to wait and see.' This was tough! I love trains so it may seem sacriligious to many reading this, but I have now uttered the phrase, 'I've got too many trains.' My parents just about died when they heard me.

Mom wanted to get a photo of everyone at the dinner table, but right as we were sitting down, someone spilled a cup of coffee and after we got it cleaned up, she must've forgotten so here's just one of the table. Mom inherited my Great Grandma Anderson's dishes and got this great little runner at a bazaar this year to go with them. Our friend, Jenny, made the centerpiece arrangement. Isn't it all so pretty together?

Here is a photo of the front of our home (yes, we are still snowed in) as of today. We ended up getting about a foot of snow at our house over the course of the week. Because of the wind, however, there were parts of our driveway that were almost up to 2 feet. It's raining now and is supposed to get warmer this weekend so we are hoping it'll be safe for us to drive sometime this weekend. In the meantime, we have the MAX train and have been walking to the grocery store. Gresham was hit the hardest by the snow storm and the governor actually declared a state of emergency here, calling in the Oregon National Guard, because emergency vehicles were not able to get out to people in need due to the weather. We are lucky Papa and Nana's truck has four-wheel drive (they also brought chains just in case) so they could safely drive out to visit us.

Uncle Bob shoveled a walkway in our driveway yesterday. What a nice guy! :)

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Snow Storm 2008


And the snow continues to fall in Portland... we now have about 6 inches of snow and a sheet of ice on top of that. Aunt Mary, Mom, Dad and I are stuck at our home today and probably will be for a couple more days. To keep things interesting we have been baking (peanut clusters yesterday and gingerbread cookies today), playing in the snow, watching Christmas movies, building indoor forts with blankets, and as a final resort, taking the MAX train to Gresham Station (our local outdoor mall) just to get out of the house. The weather forecast predicted freezing rain last night and today so yesterday afternoon we thought we had better get out of the house while we could. Okay, well, while we thought we could. There was no way we were driving anywhere with our front-wheel drive cars so someone came up with the brilliant idea to take the MAX train to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Although the MAX train is only a block away from our home, we turned back once because the wind and snow was so bad we were not sure our brilliant idea was so brilliant after all. But, because we were going stir crazy we pulled ourselves together and made another go of it. The people waiting at the stop said they had been waiting for an hour, so again, we almost went home. Fortunately, the MAX train came just a few minutes after we got to the stop and we were off! We headed first to the Mens Wearhouse so Dad could look at some suits (his Christmas wish was to get a few new suits and this was our chance to take Dad out shopping with us to get them). Next we headed to Old Navy so Aunt Mary could pick up a few items. As we were walking back to the MAX stop to go home, we saw a MAX train pass by. Oh no! Much to our surprise, however, there was another train right behind it. Whew! It was a long wait before our train actually set off so I got kind of bored and hungry waiting, but at least we were warm. Then the real fun began. The wind and snow was still pretty bad as we made our way back home after we got off the train and as we crossed the street, Dad and I slipped on the icy road. Luckily he fell on his back (though not lucky for him) so I was just fine as I landed on his chest. Mom quickly came over to pick me up, asked if Dad was alright, then proceeded on her journey home with me (you realize I did not mention her helping him up). BTW, Dad is fine (Aunt Mary was kind enough to help him up). As we were taking off our snow clothes, Mom stated, "Well, that was fun, but I would not be willing to do that again!" The look on Dad and Aunt Mary's face said it all. If they had to go back in time, they most definitely would have done it again.

Playing in the snow with Aunt Mary

Making gingerbread cookies

Waiting for the MAX to leave


Rewind to a few days ago and here are a few photos of Kate and I playing in the snow and of our trip to Peacock Lane. All the houses on Peacock Lane are lit up with Christmas lights so because Kate and I are both enthralled with lights this year, our parents thought we should see it. It was a blast!

Catching snowflakes on my tongue

I wondered what my snowman would taste like




Thursday, December 18, 2008

More Snow


This morning we got another bout of snow so Mom and I went out and made a little snowman. The snow was perfect for making a snowman! I had fun helping Mom find twigs for the arms and rocks for the eyes and mouth. We even had a carrot for the nose, but only a baby carrot. I wanted to eat his nose, but Mom said we had some more inside. So, I gave my snowman kisses instead.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

It's snowing in the NW


We woke up this morning to find snow outside. It rarely snows here and when it does, there's rarely enough to play in. However, today was an exception. Besides the fact that Portlanders go nuts whenever it snows (they can't drive in it), it is a lot of fun to play in. I'm loving it!



Sunday, December 07, 2008

Holiday Festivities

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I know I did. On the actual holiday Mom and I were sick, but we had fun anyway watching a few family-friendly movies we rented and got take-out Mexican. Yum! The next day we went to Nana and Papa's for a traditional turkey dinner that Mom, Nana and I had been working on throughout the week. In case you are wondering, I helped by stirring the pumpkin pie filling. Because we were sick on Thanksgiving, we ended up going on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to Yakima so I could still see my grandparents from Texas, my Aunt Carrie and Uncle Mike from Seattle and the Northcotts, my great-grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Northcott are in the process of moving so we didn't stay long because we didn't want to be in the way. I did have a ton of fun playing with my family (especially Grandpa Dyk) and of course, Jill, the dog. So, now that Thanksgiving has come and gone I have been keeping myself busy by partaking in the many wonderful holiday festivities offered in our Portland metro area. For example, I attended not one, but two tree lightings! The first tree lighting was in Camas and I went with Nana and Uncle Bill while my parents were at a Christmas party. I also managed to meet up with Santa on that fine evening. The next day I went to the Washougal tree lighting and got to sit in a real firetruck! Apparently Santa arrived in it, but I missed that. I, however, did not miss the opportunity to check out that fire truck after he had gone to see all the boys and girls. I also got to try cotton candy for the first time. It has a strange texture I'm not so sure about yet, but I managed to try it anyway. The Camas Christmas Tree with Nana and Uncle Bill Washougal Christmas Tree After we saw the tree lighting in Washougal, we all headed over to see the Christmas boats. I really liked this event and am glad it is a tradition in our family. They even had a boat that was decorated as a fire truck, complete with sirens! On the way home, we sang Christmas carols and realized we don't know the words as well as we thought we did. I also helped Mom decorate the tree and have only broken two of her ornaments thus far. She keeps telling me they are supposed to stay on the tree, but I can't see them as well that way! Hope this finds you well and enjoying the wonders of the season. Love, Jonah

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Totally Random

I've got some random photos for you that have been sitting in my take-along camera. I figured it's been awhile since you've heard from me and you must be dying to see what I've been up to.

So, here ya go:

Our family attended the Salsig Movie Night. We all get together once a year and watch a movie in their backyard. Usually it's held in the summer, but it was a fall movie night this year so we watched Ghost Busters II. I had a lot of fun playing with Kate and Bodhi and all of his toys.


The Kiperman Family

The Salsig Family

Here's a photo of me and Kate at the indoor playground at Clackamas Mall.

Here's another of me and my friend, Malachi. Malachi's mom, Marci, and Mom met while working at Old Navy way back when Mom was a freshman in college. Malachi lives with his parents in Kalispell, MT but comes out this way to visit family and friends from time to time. Isn't he a cutie?!

Here's a photo of me hanging out with my buddy, Blaze. I think Blaze is a cutie too and I love to visit him at John and Rebecca's house. :)

I also got to see my friend, Meadow, awhile back. We all met up for lunch at Red Robin. Meadow is really into balloons right now. Remember when I went through that phase? My parents sure do... whenever I would get a balloon I would hold onto that thing until it died. Anyway, it was fun seeing how big Meadow is getting!

Mom, Nana, Charla, and Aunt Mary and I went to the Camas bazaar at the old H.S. (now Liberty Jr. High) and had fun checking out the newly remodeled school. Check out their mascot the kids made themselves. Pretty impressive stuff.


And here's a silly photo of me dressed up in Dad's shoes and hat. I love putting on big shoes!

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Halloween Fun


I had a lot of fun this year celebrating the Halloween holiday. I wore my tigger costume several times and loved it!


I loved my pumpkin and wanted to carry it around with me all the time. Too bad my pumpkin isn't turned so you can see the great carving job and it'd be nice if I were smiling in the photo too. Oh well. I'm still cute.

I didn't actually go trick-or-treating on Halloween, but I did go trick-or-treating at my dad's office and also went to the harvest festival at Nana's church. It was kind of rainy on halloween so it's a good thing we celebrated a bit early.

Here I am at Dadddy's office.


Mindy and her two kids, Ashley and Addy, met us at Nana's church festival. Here's a photo of all of us at the festival. In case you're wondering, Nana had just eaten a blue raspberry snow cone before this photo was taken.


I love my friend, Ashley, and am going to miss her now that she's gone back home to Kansas City.

Mom and Dad got dressed up for a halloween party of their own last night and I got to stay home with Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill is the best! Dad didn't want to wear too elaborate a costume so Mom finally convinced him to go as JFK and she dressed as Marilyn Monroe. Mom finally got her chance to be blonde and big-chested. heehee!

Scandalous!