A wish come true!

We had a surprise snowfall one Tuesday afternoon. It couldn't have come at a worse time for those commuting home, some were stuck in their cars unable to go forwards or backwards for a nightmare long 5+ hours, and we were all glad not to be a part of that mess but home to enjoy the white stuff!
Evelyn has snowpants for just such an occation and went running to her room to find them. She was pink and purple from head to toe but dry and warm and made 3 snowmen while she could. The hummingbirds were even caught off guard and were happy for our feeder!
 
 
 
 

Christmas for Real

This Christmas was a blast because, unlike last year, Evelyn didn't burst into tears at the mention of Santa (she would cry, "no! I don't want that man in my house"). THis year she was on the ball, knew about asking Santa for her favorite thing and knew about putting out cookies for him. Her list for Santa included, A Princess wedding dress, glass slippers, a crown, and a handsome prince.
Santa and his elves had their work cut out for them indeed! Mrs. Clause (AKA Gramma Claire) sewed her a beautiful Princess dress and the crown and glass slippers were also tucked into the stocking. Sadly, there was no handsome Prince included in the package. Evelyn put the dress on right away and wore it the rest of the morning until she opened up the pink ballet slippers and leotard from Mommy and Daddy and from then on for the rest of the day she was a dancer.
We had a very nice Christmas this year. It was a joy to watch Evleyn revel in the magic of Christmas morning but we also found great joy in spending time with our family and those we love. It really made for a quiet, thankful Christmas.

 
 
 
 

Zoo Lights, Zoo Lights, Zoo Lights

We went to the Zoo lights this year not once, not twice, but three times! It's a great place to go and have a fun evening, albeit quite cold. We dressed in plenty of layers and were set to see the lights. On our second visit we even had holographic glasses that let us see the lights in different shapes. Grandpa Russ had a great idea and took a picture of the Christmas tree through the glasses when he got home. We had a great time each trip up and got to spend time with our family.
 
These are the pictures taken through the glasses, when we were up at the zoo all the lights had little snowflakes, stars, or snowmen around them when you wore the glasses
 

Cousin time!

 

Second Christmas

We had a Christmas celebration with both of Andy's brothers families at his parents house. Great Grandpa and Grandma were also in on the festivities. Grandpa was recovering from open heart surgery earlier in the month and was able to go home on December 23rd to sleep in his own bed. We loved it that they were able to be there.

Here is a shot of all 6 cousins
 
The whole crew, we won't be able to all fit on the couch for much longer!
 
 
Grandpa reading the kids his new book
 

Christmas comes but 2 or 3 times a year

One thing the Isom family knows how to do is large group gatherings and eating. We had our first Christmas a week before the actual date kicked off by a family reunion of sorts. All the cousins who came got to do a treasure hunt throughout the whole church and then put on a Christmas play. The Christmas play involves a narrator reading the Christmas story and the kids dressed up coming on stage at the right time. Then we all sang some carols and played, visited and ate till we could do no more.
Here are some of the second cousins
 
Here is some of our extended family
 
Did I say we know how to eat?
 
Hark the Herald Angels sing! Evelyn looks like she was an angel but in her own mind she will tell you she was "Mary, the Mother of Jesus."
 

Sankta Lucia Day

December 13th is a very special day for the Swedes. We are Norwegian and Swedish so we celebrated Sankta Lucia Day (Santa Lucia or Saint Lucia) this year and Evelyn was our Lucia girl!
A few days before we made "peparkakor" (gingersnap cookies for those of you who speak English). Evelyn was a wonderful cookie maker and made sure the dough tasted just right!
 
 
 
 
Santa Lucia was a Saint from Italy (no one knows how the story traveled to the North) and she came to the people in Varmland, Sweden saving them from famine and wearing a wreath of glowing candles on her head, shedding light on the darkest part of the year. The tradition in Sweden is for the oldest daughter of the house to wake up before dawn and bring buns, peparkakor, and coffee to her family before they wake up wearing a wreath of candles on her head and a white dress with red sash. Evelyn took her job VERY seriously and carefully brought us all peparkakor.
We had a Swedish meatball dinner over at my Mom's along with our neighbors, The Johnson's. It was Christmas-sy and fun, what a wonderful start to the Season!

Umbrella Parade

The City of Milwaukie had an umbrella parade tonight. We decorated our umbrella and walked in the parade and then had hot chocolate and Christmas cookies and watched the lighting of the Christmas Tree at the firehouse. It was cold but we were bundled up nice and warm and had a great time!

 
 
 
 

Here's Evelyn and Granny singing Christmas songs under the tree.

Thanksgiving 2009

 
 
 
 

We had to keep pinching ourselves that it was the week of Thanksgiving. We were able to go to the beach the whole week leading up to Thanksgiving Day and we had beautiful weather. Evelyn made sandcastles, we walked and sat in the sun and soaked in the beauty of the Oregon Coast. Julie was able to come with us and Scout was ready and willing to become a beach running dog with her. Thanksgiving Day we woke up to grey, cold wet weather and were ready to drive home for Turkey Dinner. Mom managed to drive home from the beach and cook the turkey and throw together the dinner which was delicious! I don't think we'll ever have another Thanksgiving like it, but we have much to be thankful for and a wonderful friend to share it with.

Life's a Beach!

 

November at the Zoo

We have been to the zoo this month with family from far and wide. First my aunt and uncle Marita and Henry Shaw came to visit via the train from Wisconsin. Evelyn and I took them to the zoo in the afternoon last week. I have never seen the animals so awake and active, we had a wonderful time.


The newest attractions at the zoo are the lions, cheetahs and African dogs, Oh My! The lions are truly amazing to watch, the cheetahs are beautiful and the African dogs are just lucky. :)

Then this weekend we invited the newest members of Andy's family to move to the Portland area to meet us up at the zoo. His cousin Brady, his wife Courtney and their little ones Kelvin (nearly 3) and baby Clair joined us in the afternoon and again, the lions were putting on an awesome show. Brady got some great shots of the day, I especially love the one of the male lion in mid-yawn. That's an awfully fierce yawn!

Zoo Evelynisms: When we quizzed Evelyn on what Kelvin and Clair's names were when we got home Evelyn remembered Kelvin and then thought about the baby's name and said, "Her name was...baby Gramma!"
Earlier in the week Evelyn told her great aunt Marita that the boy lion "was the mane lion" we thought that was a very clever, accidental play on words.