Christmas

We had a very relaxed Christmas here in Portland. Ella was very excited this year about Santa coming to our house. We left out cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer but she was disappointed Christmas morning because Santa didn't all of his cookies. We tried to explain that he was probably very full from all of the houses he had to visit but she wasn't buying it.

We spent Christmas Eve with our friends Heather and Alundis because they were stuck here in Portland due to weather just like us. Christmas morning we awoke to an excited Ella ready to go see if Santa had been here and we had dinner Christmas day with Heather and Alundis again. It was a very quiet and white Christmas here in Portland. We were lucky to have lots of snow and it is now gone due to our rain returning-looks like our typical winter is back.

Hope Christmas was good for everyone!

Christmas in Portland

So, we are staying in P-town for the time being. We'll be celebrating the holidays with our friends and neighbors and possibly leaving for Utah next weekend. The Gorge finally opened this morning but all of the state highways are still unplowed and it is a mess around here. The news has said that it is the worst weather since 1968. I'll have to take their word for it.

Not our car but it gives you a good idea of what Portland looks like right now. For a place without snow plows or people used to winter weather it poses a BIG problem.

Still snowed in

We are still snowed in here in Portland. We were supposed to leave yesterday morning to drive to Utah but another storm rolled through. It dropped 6 inches of snow and almost an inch of freezing rain on top of that. I spent 1.5 hours this morning shoveling and it has been alternating between sleet, rain, and snow all day. I-84 through the Columbia Gorge (our route to UT) is closed due to blizzard conditions, the airport is basically closed, as are trains and buses. There is no way in or out of Portland for the next couple of days. We are still hoping to drive out on Tuesday if the weather improves but I am not very optimistic. There is a good chance we'll be celebrating Christmas right here at home. If we don't see or talk to you before Have a Merry Christmas! (The picture was taken before the last storm. Unfortunately we couldn't leave then.)

Winter in Portland

So tomorrow will be snow day #3 here in Portland. I'm getting used to this staying home thing- it sure beats going to work. I'm brushing up on my Wii skills and watching a lot of weather broadcasts but I am NOT bored. I save being bored for work. We are planning to drive to Utah for Christmas and the weather is making us a bit nervous but hopefully we'll make it between storms on Friday or Saturday. We'll keep you posted :)

Dec. 15th, 2008

So Portland has had it's first big snow storm of the winter. It started Sunday morning and snowed and blew until this morning. Actually, the wind is still blowing. It's in the 20's and in the single digits with the wind chill. FREEZING for Portland. The whole Portland Metro Area is shut down because while we didn't get that much snow we do have lots of ice and people out here don't know what to do with it.

Ella and Adam have been enjoying playing in the snow and she is excited every time she looks out the window to see that it is still winter. Our snow man is pretty sad but being able to make one in Portland is a bonus. Even better is that today is a snow day. No work for Adam!

Snow Storm

November 2008

tummy time

18 weeks with baby #2

27 weeks with baby #2~ Yup those are stretch marks, not afraid to show them!

Just some updated pics of the growing baby!

Summer 2008

We made it

Sam and Ella hangin' before the move -Utah
At the zoo, petting goats -Oregon
sprinkler time - Oregon
soaking - Oregon
a huge slug - Oregon

riding bikes with Sam - Utah
riding a new bike with daddy - Utah
Ann and Alyssa visited from New York - Utah
Cool girl - Utah
Little explorer - Utah

The pictures are not in order of when they took place, but I'm not so great at this stuff and I couldn't figure out how to change them around. But it's fun stuff we have been doing this summer.

So we made it to Oregon after a very long trip. A shredded trailer tire and a sick little girl made our trip quite a bit longer than we would have hoped for, but we made it safely. Adam's parents were amazing to do the trek with us and made our lives much easier. They stayed for 2 weeks and helped us get settled and organized. We got to take a trip to the beach with them. It was very nice to have them out here for such a great visit, we didn't want them to go-especially Ella-as she was loosing playmates and Gramma and Papa were no longer around to wake up in the mornings. But she has transitioned better than we could have imagined. Hopefully we have the same luck when we welcome a new little person into our family at the end of February! Yes we are having another baby! I have spent the majority of the summer sick, but hopefully in the clear pretty soon. Adam and Ella have had a lot of time to spend as daddy-daughter, at the zoo and the library and just running errands. It's been awesome to have Adam home for the summer. He has already gotten into his classroom and thinks he's going to really like it at Lake Grove. I have slowly been getting back into the office, and excited to be headed down this new road. Ella just seems to blossom with each day. It's great to hear new phrases come out of her mouth. Her newest fun time is bossing Millie around, telling her what she should and should not be doing-apparently we are very commanding to Millie. She also loves to crawl into Millie's kennel with her in the mornings, it's pretty funny. I think Millie likes it though, even though she acts like she doesn't-any attention from Ella is usually welcomed.

So yes we are getting settled, although the weather has been pretty funky this summer up in Oregon, we are glad to be back.

We're moving

Well we are officially moving back to Portland! After two years of being in beautiful Logan we are moving back, although it's been great we are on to the next chapter in our lives and we are VERY excited (and a little nervous, but mostly excited). Adam has a teaching job in Lake Oswego teaching kindergarten and I will be joining a practice in NW Portland, close to Beaverton. Ella is very excited to be moving to Orgun, although she has no idea what it means and she doesn't want the ocean to make her fall down again. That's what she talks about when we bring up Oregon. We have a townhouse we are going to rent less than two miles from the office. June 14th is the moving date! We are going to miss our friends and family in Utah, but luckily technology is so advanced it will be like we never left. If you visit Portland, let us know we would love to see you!

I added a few pics of stuff we have been doing when the weather is friendly enough to let us play outside without our winter clothes on.

Spring update

Well I am going to try to join the blog world, we'll see how it goes! To update our family: we are moving back to Portland, OR in June. I have gotten a great opportunity to be part of a practice and hopefully buy it out in the near future, so we are going back. Very exciting, but also a little nerve racking. Adam is still waiting to hear back from some school districts, we are waiting patiently. We have been living back in Utah for about 2 years. It's been great for Adam's teaching career and for raising Ella, as I have gotten to stay home with her. But we need to move forward with our life. My parents have been so kind to let us live with them, but we need to get our own life (and let them have theirs back). Ella is now 2 and she is full of life. We are amazed by her daily as we realize how grown up she is getting. She's a great little girl, but can be a typical two year old also. She is already telling people we are moving to Oregon. Not that she knows what it means. I will keep you posted as the time gets closer! This spring has pretty yucky for the weather, we get to go outside one day and then the next we are stuck inside...it's really fun to try to explain the roller coaster of weather to a two year old. Once she gets a dose of being outside, that's the only place she wants to be. We did get to spend a couple of nice days seeing baby animals though. And we have enjoyed the local zoo and some hikes on the days the sun comes out.