What to do when it's raining everywhere...

Go for a hike in the rain! And it turned out to be a great day, even if we were all soaking wet by the time we finished.

Resolutions 2011

One resolution in our house is to de-clutter...starting with our closets. These pants were among the items discarded/donated. I'm not sure when they ever fit Jim but they did make for some amusing photo ops.
Resolution #2...discover new and delicious chocolate. The bar pictured above is a great find!!
I guess we should add some sort of resolution about exercise if we are eating lots of chocolate but that will be for another post! 

Adventures in Squirrel Catching

We:re on Day 2 of the Squirrel Catch and Release program....the count is 2 so far. If the sealing of holes is successful, this will be a short lived program. The squirrels will need to find alternative accomodations. In the meantime, the boys are thrilled that every day when they get home from school they get to witness a trapped squirrel being transported from the upstairs crawl space to the get away vehicle (belonging to our new friend, Marty, the critter catcher).

Finally....snow!

It just doesn't seem like the holiday season until we've seen and played in the snow. Luckily, Mother Nature cooperated and provided us with tons of white, fluffy stuff up at Mt. Hood. The boys did a 3 days ski camp and were troopers even on the 2 days of high wind and limited visibility. The last day we skied was magnificent...fresh powder! Sun! No wind! And best of all, 2 skiing boys who can navigate the mountain, giving us the chance to ski together as a family (though some of us ski faster than others....Jackson has officially surpassed me in skiing ability!).
Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Wishing for snow....but not likely to happen. However, there is lots of snow about an hour away...and we'll be there soon. Enjoy!

Back again

How did it get to be December 22nd? I am planning on making more cookies and trying the salted caramel recipe that's been on the kitchen counter for 2 weeks. I also need to take the boys on a quick shopping trip so they can buy gifts for the giving tree that gives gifts to families in need. But in the meantime, I'm enjoying a lazy morning, listening to a mix of Ipod random songs and dodging Nerf darts being pelted at me from 2 boys dressed in ninja robes. I'm also enjoying looking at the above photo and imagining it as a painting....

The tree action shot

We lucked out with a great day to find a tree. The scene from this year looks very similar to last year....Jim on the ground sawing, Jackson ready to help, Sean running around wildly waving a sharp, pointed  stick. As an added bonus, we got a close look at the cool piece of equipment used to gather the trees. 

Cutting down the tree 2010/ attempts at decent family photo

Notice the lack of a complete family photo. 

The game that Univ. of Oregon did not win...

Good times

Another Thanksgiving celebration of good food, family and fun!

Sleep is a good thing

Finally everyone is better and the entire house has been sleeping through the whole night. Jackson was very sick. His cough got progressively worse and we ended up at the doctor's office again.  He was diagnosed with walking pneumonia and given antibiotics. Hallelujah for antibiotics!!!! Within 24 hours he had improved tremendously. Talus has also resumed his normal sleeping schedule after a long period of post-surgery transition. He is no longer trying to sleep standing up. Jackson started calling it "cow sleeping" since cows sleep standing up...at least some of the time!

Fall bike ride

The week in review

Things started out so nicely...sunny, warm weather  (in November!) , smiling faces....then, bleeccchhh!! Jackson has been coughing and just not feeling well for almost a week. We've already been to the doctor and are trying different things...inhalers, night time cough syrup, cough suppressants. He's been home from school two days off from school and unfortunately will be missing the year end soccer party, a birthday party, etc., etc,. But getting well is obviously the priority.
And then, there's Talus.
He had another $urgery on his tail to remove all traces of infection. Now we are waiting for things to heal and hopefully he will leave his tail alone. In the meantime, we have a whole slew of medications for Jackson and Talus.
Happy Weekend!

Some days are better than others

Apples!!!

We went to an apple tasting last weekend...it was incredible to see how many different varieties of apples were available. Some of our favorites were sold out but at least we can be on the lookout for them at the farmers market. The apple strudel and apple crisp were pretty amazing, too.

First snow

Snow is falling on Mt. Hood! These pictures were taken right outside the entrance to Mt. Hood Meadows. More snow is in the forecast so we are all wondering when the first ski day will be this year... 

Pumpkins 2010

Joy

Two exciting events were unfolding at the same time last night...the first miner was about to be rescued and the Texas Rangers were on the verge of winning their first ever play off series. Plus someone has a new job and we had news of a successful surgery! All in all, a day of joyful things.

Tail trouble

For the last few days, Talus has been licking the end of his tail almost constantly. Upon closer inspection, we could see that he had literally worn away the fur exposing raw, cracked skin. We got in to see our veterinarian and she determined it wasn't just skin irritation but some sort of mass. So, with Sean along with me (thank goodness for Angry Birds on my iphone) we watched as his Tail was shaved at the end, numbed up and then poked with a needle to draw out some fluid.  This all took place in the tiny exam room and following the procedure, there were a few seconds when Talus was wiggling all over the room with blood on the end of his tail. It was not fun. Now he has a new accessory on the end of his tail...notice that it's an appropriate color for this time of year! We are hoping to keep his tail wrapped so he can't do any further harm while we wait for a test (an outrageously expensive test) on the fluid that was in the mass. It sounds like there may be surgery to remove the mass. Right now we are just waiting for test results and watching that Talus doesn't attempt to chew off his tail bling.