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! :)

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

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.

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!

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