charis is 10!

 Our God daughter, Charis (from Texas), got to choose anywhere she wanted to go for her 10th birthday and she chose to visit us! We did what we could to make her birthday special and that included a trip to the snow! We drove past Blue Pool campground along the McKenzie River and found several inches of snow on the ground and it continued to snow while we played! After playing for awhile, we ate mac and cheese and drank cocoa before heading home. We went out to eat at Los Dos Amigos Hacienda for a fun birthday dinner and ate chocolate chip cookie cake for dessert. Fun day!

On Christmas Eve, the kids decorated gingerbread houses before we ate sushi at the Ruddick's house, went to church, then drove around to see Christmas lights. No photos were taken of anything but the gingerbread houses, apparently...or else, they're all still on my phone. ;)

picking out our christmas tree

We picked out our tree from Campbell's tree farm. The last time we went there, we had tons of snow and freezing temperatures. It wasn't quite as festive looking outside, but we found lots of options. We ended up with what we think was a Norway Spruce. One of the prettiest trees we've had, but suuuuuper pokey. Ouch! ;)

thanksgiving 2015

We celebrated Thanksgiving day at Kenton's parent's house and my parents joined us. It was delicious and I didn't take enough photos, of course. Then we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Erik and his girlfriend, Annie, came down from Seattle and Aaron's sister, Amy, joined us along with her family. A fun full day!

funny family photo shoot

 This series of photos cracks me up. I wanted to get a quick family photo for our Christmas card, since we were all dressed nicely for Thanksgiving. I set up the tripod and did my best to make it quick. I cannot be held responsible for the silly kids that made me take "just one more" over and over and over again. But I had someone comment on how photogenic we all were, so I thought it might be funny to share a few outtakes. :)

Test shot, but cute Elsa.

 Sweet boys.

 Not bad, but Cedar has a leaf in his mouth.

 Come on, Cedar...

 Cedar!

 Elsa!

 Kids!

 Trying a different arrangement but now I look out of place.

 I said "Stand up" to Elsa and both boys shot straight up...probably the only time they've ever listened the first time. :\

 We're losing Cedar again!

 Whoops, cut my head off!

Good enough! We'll take it. :)