Christmas 2013: Portland, OR

I have the worst luck with flying. Like, terrible. There's ALWAYS a cancellation, delay, mechanical issue, puking, missing pilots, etc. For Christmas break there was a huge snow storm and our flight was cancelled. Instead of taking TRAX back to Provo and then up to SLC again the next day, we decided to get a hotel and start vacation despite the roadblock. Although it was tough to stay overnight without a pack-n-play for Vincent, he managed to have lots of fun swimming, watching Super Why and eating Pizza.

The next day we were able to fly out without any issues. Hallelujah! We had a wonderful time in Portland and Vincent absolutely loved playing with all of his cousins. Christmas in Portland was much different than a typical Christmas for me, but it was a lot of fun to understand how Paul spent his Christmases growing up.

 

 

We finally made it back home a few days after Christmas.

Home Sweet Home!

Merry Christmas!

Birthday Girl.

It's true folks, I'm another year older and wiser. Twenty-four. That's almost a quarter century. Scary stuff. But let's focus on the day and not my age. This was one of the first years I haven't really cared about a fancy birthday dinner or gifts. I'm at this point in life where I have everything I need and I'm not left wanting much. Plus, Paul is insanely busy with school and work and I didn't want to make him stress about birthday plans.

I did, however, wake up to a cute birthday note on the fridge! Vince was planning on taking me to Denny's for my free Grand Slam and then he had the stellar idea to invite Kait and Rylie. The rest of the morning and afternoon were nice and low key. At 4, Paul came home with a dozen GORGEOUS fuchsia roses. We dropped Vince off at the sitters, grabbed some grub and snuck it in to the movies to eat while watching Catching Fire.

Presents were to follow. My favorite tradition is receiving a birthday letter every year. It means so much more than gifts that break, grow old or get forgotten over the years. Paul did great with gifts too. I took my time and tried to guess what they were just by feeling them. Then we had some pumpkin pie. You'll just love it when you see how Vincent asks for more...

Thanksgiving Day.

I'm sorely disappointed that I took so few photos on Thanksgiving Day, but these will have to suffice. Throughout the month of November we started a new tradition of making "thankful leaves" to hang on the fireplace. We had Vince color on the leaves and then we would write something he is thankful for. It's definitely a tradition that will stick around for a while.

As for Thanksgiving Day, we started out the morning with the Burt's. They were kind enough to let us join them for their annual Thanksgiving Croquet Match. Ruth and Paul tied for first place and Dan brought in the rear with last place but with lots and lots of revenge. To stuff ourselves silly we drove up to American Fork and had a fantastic family meal with the Dave Paulson family.

Thanksgiving was more meaningful this year than ever before. As a child, Thanksgiving was mostly about eating pumpkin pie. At least that's what I thought. But as I've grown up, moved away and started my own family it has evolved into so much more. Gratitude is a beautiful thing.

O-H-I-O

Yes, I'm a BYU Alum. But that doesn't mean I bleed blue like a cougar. On the contrary, I bleed scarlet and grey. And with a few more years, I'm hoping the rest of my family will too... I think I'm off to a good start :)