LET IT SNOW

Christmas day was amazing for lots of reasons. One in particular was a huge wish come true for our children and probably all of the children in Portland. It was forecasted to snow at a higher elevation on Christmas day~but we didn't think twice about it actually snowing where we live. It was about 10:30am and I saw the beginning of what would be many flakes of white wet snow. It was a thrill that lasted a few short hours then the rain came and washed it all away. Here are many pictures of the excitement and you might be thinking "why is she showing us so many?" Well... simply to prove that a child's(ren) wish did come true.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning before going downstairs the kids held onto the gifts that they had opened the night before from their Aunt Tressa and Uncle Justin. These presents have great sentimental meaning~ you see, these items were theirs in their younger years and have graciously been handed down to our children. The kidos love them just the same...no matter what...new or old.

CHRISTMAS 2007

Today was a great-fun-filled and relaxing day. The children were very excited about going outside to run around the cul-de-sac with the fun things that Santa brought them. In which they did and I got some pictures of them being crazy and partially dressed. Tate is riding on a Spiderman scooter and Eden racing her babies around in the stroller and Madison was there just to support her fellow racers. I'll let the pictures paint the events on the day.

It's raining money

Saturday, Tate and I had a boys day out. We went to Fred Meyer to get some last minute Christmas items. We had to run back to the car as fast as we could because of the down pour that is always so prevalent in Portland this time of year.

As Tate was about to get in the car he reached down and pulled up two bills from the wet parking lot. He was ecstatic. He found six dollars. He wanted to come home and dry them off with the blow dryer. After shutting his door I ran around the front of the car and noticed another lone bill on the side of our car. I picked it up and was surprised to see the number 20. I was so excited I just about got down on all fours to search the rain swept parking lot. I didn't want to leave, but rather go on a scavenger hunt for money in the Fred Meyer parking lot.

To end our fun filled afternoon as just boys, we ate lunch at Burger King. I think its Tate's favorite spot. We got home and put together Tate's Star Wars space ships that he just couldn't wait until Christmas to open. It was fair enough being that he picked it out himself.

Gingerbread House

I didn't go to the all day process of home baking and making a gingerbread house like my mom used too. But, I did pick up a premade kit at Costco and last Saturday we assembled it together. Oh, were there imperfections? Many--and that is what made it fun and stress-free.

"No worries MOM, the fire is out!"

Almost two years to the date, Tate pulled the fire alarm at a hotel we were staying at in Boise. This last week he shut himself inside the pantry. Luckily there was no fire involved~ just the extinguisher. I was on the phone and saw from under the pantry door a puff of what appeared to be flour spilling out from under the door. I jumped up to survey the mess, when Tate steps out holding the fire extinguisher that he'd just sprayed inside if the pantry. Fortunately, I just laughed. I'd never used an extinguisher before and was also curious to see how it worked. So we opened the back door and sprayed it a couple of times. It goes far! We quickly shut the door so the cloud of dust wouldn't come back in the house. Hmm. I turned my back and the door was opened again and the powder came blowing in. Ahhhh! The pantry was already a dusty mess, now the living room was too! The clean-up was relatively quick compared to the 18 hard boiled eggs cracked and smeared all over the kitchen and dining room floors. (Not in this house) Now that was not fun to clean. Another time, another day~ it's the memories we'll remember. Now, I wished that I'd taken a picture ~but I already disposed of that extinguisher and I'm not willing to do a repeat just for the sake of a picture!

All I want for Christmas

Earlier this week madison came to us saying that she had another really loose tooth. After trying to pull prior teeth she wouldn't let me touch her mouth. It was funny and gross to watch her put her tongue around, under, and through the tooth and see it wiggle. She woke up in the middle of the night this week and was complaining that she was hungry. It was 1a.m.! Doesn't everyone eat b-fast at that time?

As she was munching on cereal her tooth magically popped out.
She was so excited and eager for money from the tooth fairy that Michelle had to take some pictures. So now Madison can sing "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." You know you want to or are already singing it to yourself and probably will have it in your head the rest of the day. Glad I could help!

Swimming in December

Last week a big wind storm blew the plastic pool that was leaned up against the fence to a flat position and then the rains came. The pool was filled with water in a matter of days. Eden and Tate took this opportunity to rip off their clothes and put on swimming suits for a dip in the pool. You can only imagine how long it lasted before they started saying mommy I'm cold.

Where's the food mom!

Eden as well as the other kids always seem to find a way into the pantry whether locked or not. They are all monkeys and will find whatever they are searching for with ease.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the DeVries Clan. The kids were very excited to put the decorations up this year and have done a great job playing with them everyday since they've been up. In fact, after watching how the Grinch stole Christmas they thought it would be fun to pull out all the lights from those already on the tree. Madison then hid them in a treasure chest in her room. Needless to say the mid section of the tree was out of commission for about a week until we mustered up enough courage and time to restring new lights hoping this mishap was a one time shot.

The second picture depicts the surprise in Madison's face that it snows in Portland ever so rare as it is. I think she was worried that it wouldn't last long and it didn't. Last Saturday it began to snow so the kids all crowded outside on the front porch to get in on the action and talk about what they would do in the snow, however it didn't stick and we will wait for the one time a year snowfall.

Let us not be Grinch's this Christmas or for that matter the entire year and remember the true meaning of Christmas in all that we do and all we serve.