I love the holidays!

Okay, so we all know me, if there isn't a ton of pictures it isn't my blog. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to put less on, but until then.... enjoy! So, two Sundays ago I came home from visiting teaching just as it was starting to snow. I was so excited to go in and tell the kids. They had already noticed and were jumping up and down with joy. I joined them of course and we satat the back door just watching the snow fall. It fell for maybe 10 min. and none of it stuck, but it was fun to watch. If you look closely at this picture you will see the snow flakes around Joelle. It is so funny that it is snowing and yet my grass is so green. I love it up here :)!
That morning when we had woken up there was frost on everything, so the kids took these pictures, thinking it was snow. I was so glad it snowed that afternoon so they weren't too disappointed.

Monday night I took the 3 older kids to see Harry Potter. When we came out it was totally snowing. It was so cool. We were shocked. We didn't even know it was coming and when we came out of the movie it was all over our car and the grass and everything. What a cool way to end such a fun night.

Look how huge the snowflakes are. It was perfect snow for snowballs and snowmen. Even though it was nine o'clock at night we were all out making both :).

Somehow we have winter gear for the girls......

...but not the boys. I am not sure how that happened, but I am shortly going to rectify that situation. The boys didn't notice or care, but I did. Ben actually went in and got a pair of socks to use for gloves. They wouldn't even change into pants. Ben does have a coat, he just wouldn't wear it. He was so fun to watch in the snow. He was made for this weather. He only complained about his hands being cold. And even that was after about an hour.

Katie (or "Little Missy"as we call her) was in heaven. She just walked around singing to herself and watched the snow fall. She made a snowball or two, but mostly just to eat them. She thought that was the best part. She is in jammies and rain boots (we haven't outfitted her yet for snow either - I have got to hit some yard sales this summer :).

For the first time since we moved up here David admitted he was cold that night. He had a blast with the kids though. He got his gloves and was out there making snowballs and snowmen right along with them. I love to watch him with the kids. Sometimes I think he is just a big kid himself. He makes everything so fun.

Look at those flakes. They are amazing! The man in the picture is pretty fabulous as well. What would life be like without David. I am sure you would all agree.... BORING!

I know I have been saying snowmen, but as you can tell there was not enough snow for that. It was really one tiny little snowman. But they were proud. It was their first snowman they ever built in a town we actually lived in. We love this little guy. (Look closely, he is there :)

This was our backyard the next morning. It really wasn't very much snow. Good thing though, because we were leaving that day to go to Grandma's and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving. The snow actually helped because if it snows here at all tons of people telecommute instead of going to the office. Such was the case with this day, so our drive on the freeway that evening was great. Thank you snow! We made it to Port Orford in five and a half hours including a dinner break. That is a record for us.

The kids couldn't resist another play day in the snow :).

A weird thing happened over Thanksgiving, we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for 5 days, we helped Wendy unpack, had an amazing dinner at Joan and Jean's (thank you laddies - you are amazing) and the only pictures I got were a couple of us freezing at the beach the day after Thanksgiving. I don't get it, I had my camera the whole time I just forgot to use it. Just know, it was a wonderful week!

The ocean was amazing that day. It was cold and the wind was crazy but the waves were awesome and were huge. The funny thing is, Thanksgiving was sunny and beautiful and Sunday was sunny and beautiful. But the one day that was totally open to us (David was driving Jose back to the airport most of the day on Saturday ) was rainy and cold. Isn't that how it always happens? We loved it anyway. It was just great to be on vacation.

Katie couldn't handle the wind. She kept burying her head in David's shoulder. She was so cute. When he set her down by the big rock she started to blow away (and she wasn't being silly - she could hardly stand), it was making us all laugh.

I love this picture. Emma was imagining something, I could hear her mumbling to herself. I could tell she was happy and enjoying her imaginings. She was the last one off the beach. I turned around and had to get a shot. I thought it was so neat to see her with the huge angry ocean behind her and have her be so calm and peaceful. It was a very special afternoon.

When we first got to town David noticed that their tiny little theater was open for the weekend (it isn't always open) and the only movie it was showing was "Megamind". We had wanted to take the kids to see it so we decided Friday afternoon was perfect. They had 2 showings a day. One at 4 and one at 7. We took the kids to the 4:00 showing Friday afternoon. I know it is a bad picture and the place looks pretty drab on the outside, but we were pleasantly surprised when we got in. I love the small town feel and the theater was just as great. They took your money at the door (it was $5 a person since it was a matinee). We got a Med. popcorn (which was also much cheaper than here) and had a great time watching the movie with the other 15 people that ventured out that afternoon. As we left the owner's little boy (maybe 8 years old), stood at the door and passed out candy. I've said it before and I'll say it again, sometimes small towns can be so great.

We had a wonderful time with all those wonderful Port Orford folks. We can't wait to go back. Mom and Dad are amazing hosts and are so good to us when we stay. It was so great to be with Jose, Wendy, and their kids again. We miss the rest of our family and hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We love you all and hope you are enjoying your holidays!