A Stanton Christmas

Last night, we slid to mom's in Scappoose to gather with my family. Unfortunately, my brothers couldn't make it because they couldn't get off their streets because of the deep snow. We don't have plows in this area like bigger cities do, so it's quite a mess. We missed having them there. But, the rest of us did make it. Again, it wasn't easy! My sister, Mona and her kids got in Christmas Day morning on a stand-by flight from Spokane. They were supposed to be here the day before, but due to weather, that didn't work either. It was good to see them here safe and sound!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Last night, Andy and Kelly came over the river and through the woods to Nana and Papa's house. They had quite the time getting here, but God kept them safe. A few minutes before they arrived, our power went out and so we gathered up the candles and lamps once more. This would be an adventure having Christmas in the dark!...But, alas, right before Andy came back with the kids, the power returned. Yay! We had a great evening feasting, opening presents and just playing around. The snow was falling outside. Today, Lamar, Brittany and I will just relax, make a few special phone calls and later on, go to mom's for the Stanton get-together. We're looking forward to it!
Merry Christmas, everyone!

Meeko, the Red-Nosed Kitty

I kid you not, Brittany had Meeko in the house warming up and he came out from under the Christmas tree with this little Christmas berry on the end of his nose!

...and growing

14 inches and growing! I thought we were done! Brittany's supposed to fly out (alone) of PDX on Saturday for Canada. We're praying that it won't be a problem by then!

More Snow Pictures

Lamar and I took a walk before it got dark down our road and on to Church Road a ways. The snow was coming down...more like little pellets, stinging our faces. But, I must say, the walk really felt good! And just as Lamar was determining that his car would bottom out down our driveway with the snow, Devon, our next-door neighbor came with his jeep and happily obliged packing it down for the morning commute. Yay!

Here are a few more pictures of the day around our place.

Officially Winter!

What a difference one season makes!



We now have 13 inches in places and it's still snowing!




Brittany couldn't believe that the bed of her truck was almost full!

You can't tell, but this is actually part of the pathway leading to the arbor entrance of the Secret Garden.

A Week Later

A week ago today, I started taking pictures of the snow around our house.



I never dreamed that a week later, we'd have a foot of snow! Notice the Douglas Firs hanging heavy with snow and our address sign in the front flower bed.





On the back deck, the birdfood is no longer sinking in the snow. No, that layer of ice we got last night took care of that. Makes a much easier meal for the birdies!






I haven't been out in it much, but later on this morning, when it's not so dark around here, I'm going out and getting somemore pictures. You probably have wondered what has taken me so long! So stay "posted"!

OK, That's Enough!

We're so fickle around here...I love the snow. It is so beautiful, but I'm ready to get back to the normal. I was on the phone this morning to call all those in our church who don't have emails. I was letting them know that all church activities tomorrow are cancelled, including our Christmas program. We've already had to cancel other things centered around Christmas. You do what you have to do, but it doesn't mean that we have to like it! Right?!




It's been snowing all morning. Little flakes, but snowing, just the same. Brittany and I decided we'd try to go into Scappoose for another run to Fred Meyer. We made it down Church Road, but as soon as we got on the highway, we slid. OK, we're done. So, we turned around and came back home. I was going to stop by my mom's to give her some company, but it just didn't work. She's fine too, but doesn't like being trapped either.

Lamar should be getting off early today and hopefully, he won't have any problem getting over Cornelius Pass.

In the meantime, Brittany and I are going to have lunch, watch a bit of a movie, make our annual Christmas fudge and dream of that first day of snow, when all was beautiful and new and exciting!

Night Snow

Our first night of the beautiful fluffy stuff was too tempting for me with our new camera. I'm slowly trying to figure everything out, but so far, I think I'll keep it.

Snow Days

Well, I guess Brittany gets an extra week of Christmas break! She has mixed feelings. She misses her friends, since she's pretty much stuck at home, but she's glad to have the extra week! Sounds normal to me!



Our weather continues to surprise us. We're not used to this "Arctic Blast" which they have named it on our local news. It's beautiful, but can be very unsafe on the roads. But, we've been enjoying our winter wonderland, just the same. Well...maybe not Meeko. (Don't worry, we don't keep him outside in this!)


I hear from tv and even friends how people from the midwest and other snowy areas of our nation laugh at us because we make such a big deal about our itty bitty amounts of snow. I do remember growing up in N. Dakota, S. Dakota and Nebraska where we'd wake up with our two story home covered in drifts...enough that my dad would have to literally dig us out from the inside out! Fun times. Here...see for yourself. Now that's SNOW!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Yay! Our first snow of the season! I hope it just gets deeper and deeper. I can't wait to go outside and get somemore pictures of the white beauty!

Winter Ball

Saturday night was Winter Ball for Scappoose HS. Brittany went with a bunch of her friends and had a great time. Doesn't she look beautiful?!

Gingerbread House

Andy and Kelly came over on Sunday and they brought a gingerbread house kit with them. Rile' thought that was the greatest thing. She knew exactly where she wanted certain candies to go. We thought it turned out pretty adorable.

December Sunsets

December 6th

December 9th

What more do I need to say!

Portland Christmas Tree Lighting

Yesterday evening, we surprised my mom and took her to see the lighting of the tree at Pioneer Square in Portland. We were about 40 minutes early for the festivities to begin so we decided to grab a bite at Pita Pit. Little did we know just how many people were going to be there!

#1 - It wasn't raining and it was pretty mild out.

#2 - I personally think more people need cheering up this Christmas and this is typically a cheerful event.

So, what that means is...a lot of people showed up! 25,000 from what I heard!

We got a great parking spot in a nearby garage, so that was nice. We started walking toward Pioneer Square and the amount of people grew and grew. There was no way we were going to get into the lower part of the square itself, but that was OK. This was a BIG tree, so you could see it from a distance quite nicely. So, we decided to just start walking around the square until we saw an opening to stand and wait. Well, there were no openings, so we did as everyone else did. We started mooching our way up to as close as we could get ourselves....which ended up being on the outer edge of the square just below Starbucks, so, not very close. If it wasn't for the columns that are everywhere in that corner, we would have had a clear shot. But, that's OK too. As we were packed in like sardines listening to the Christmas music and watching people trying to do the same thing, we just waited until it was time.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....tada! Merry Christmas!

The tree was beautiful. The crowds were friendly and my mom loved the adventure.

I couldn't get a good shot because there was no way that we could get the tripod set up anywhere, so these pictures are blurry. But, I'll share them anyways. Oh, and by the way, these shots were taken way after the crowds were already starting to go home, so the picture of my mom standing there...10 minutes earlier, we could hardly move, let alone turn around and take a picture. The bottom picture was taken on our way back to the parking garage. I just thought it was a neat shot of the city with the tree in the background. There weren't very many people around at that point because we had to make a potty stop at Macy's. That took another 1/2 hour because of the lines in there...ladies restroom, of course! :-)

'Tis the season...I hope we don't get too caught up in all that goes on to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I promised my mom that we'd have Thanksgiving over our house this year. So, Lamar, Brittany and I cooked the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and rolls. Everyone else brought a part of the meal with them which was great. Andy came over around 11:00, the grandkids came over at 11:30, mom came at noon and everyone else came at 12:30. We really had a great day. I wish I could have got some better pictures of the day, but with everything going on and me in the middle of getting everyone fed, that was pretty much impossible. But, I guess that's OK!

Saying Good-bye

 

Today, my family went to the memorial service of a dear family friend who passed away after a too-long battle with Alzheimers. Josephine, (we all knew her as just Jo) Koennecke built a house on the land next to my parents. I was a teenager, so we have known her for many years. She and Clarence got married the same year as Lamar and I did. We always thought that was a fun connection between us. She watched as each of us started our own families. Our kids grew up knowing her. She was a very special lady who touched many, many lives in her 83 years of life. She was hilarious, she was generous, she had spunk. She was special and we will miss her dearly.