Season's Greetings!

Merry Christmas Everyone! Just wanted to share with you some of the stuff we have been doing this "holiday season". It was the perfect time of year to have my mom staying with us for a week! Not only were Dan and I able to get lots of stuff done while she was here, but we got to Christmas-y things together too! One of my favorite was Storybook Land. They decorate the Linn County fair grounds with hundreds of scenes from famous storybooks and as well as new Disney characters and movies. I have never seen anything like it. It is truly spectacular!

Three Little Pigs

Gabe watching "the mouse (run) up the clock"

They had this huge scene of teddy bears doing various activities. Some were animated, and others were just still. There must have been a million teddy bears!

The train tables were a HUGE hit! We stood at them for hours! They had bridges and tunnels and hundreds of scenes in between the tracks. Gabe just kept going from one side to the other and back again. Mom and I joked that we were in every one's pictures for about 2 hours!

The next day, Dan "found" a tree on his way back from fishing. Apparently, all it needed was to be chiseled down with his pocket knife and drug home! So much for going and buying a perfectly shaped tree from a lot. (I gave him a hard time, but it is beautiful and truly unique)

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with

Family and Friends!

LiL' Kickers

We are doing the Lil' Kickers soccer program again this year and so far, it has been alot of fun. Last year the kids were pretty young for following directions and paying attention, but this year they are all doing much better. I try to stand back and only intervene if Gabe is off in La La land (which happens quite frequently at this age). Although the soccer facility is indoor, it is still pretty chilly so we always layer to stay warm. It is a great winter activity to combat the boredom of being cooped up inside all winter.

"I'm goin all the way!"

Happy Halloween, Y'All!

Last year I found a really cute dragon costume for Gabe at the thrift store, but when I put it on him he cried and cried, so I had to take it right back off. Now that he's 2, I knew he would really enjoy trick-or-treating, but I still wasn't sure if he would be too keen on wearing a costume. I tried to keep it simple, with a cowboy costume and it worked out fine. He didn't seem to mind the costume, and actually enjoyed wearing daddy's hat for awhile too.

Corvallis is very kid friendly. They put on a downtown trick-or-treating event during the day for all the little ones. The first few stops Gabe just sort of froze and stared at the candy and the other kids, not sure of what to do. But he got the hang of it really quick. He would drop my hand, walk right up to the candy bowl and dig out a piece to put in his bag. He was mesmerized by all the kids in costumes, some of which he actually recognized as characters he knew.




The downtown library had a little Halloween "fair" with balloons, games, stickers, etc. too, so we went to that as well. Gabe is way more into balloons and stickers then candy so I ended up with the candy bag for the rest of the day. We had soooo much fun, saw lots of people we know, and are already looking forward to next year.

The Deschutes

Just some Pics I took on our trip to the Deschutes. We went over for a long weekend while my mom stayed behind with Gabe and Sage. This area is habitat to rattle snakes, so we decided it would be a good opportunity to go without taking the dog and the kid. We were joined by a friend of ours from Portland. We did quite a bit of fishing, but did not manage to catch anything except for a couple of small trout. It was my first time away from Gabe for more then one night, and although I thought about him alot, I did enjoy having time to myself to fish, read, and just be lazy.

Pendleton Vacation 2011

Once again, it was finally time to pack up and head east to Pendleton for a week of outdoor exploring and family fun at the Pendleton Round-Up. Yee-haw!! Last year Gabe was a little too young to really get excited about all the animals and stuff, but this time he really enjoyed, and even participated, in some of the activities.

The Pony Rides (he Loved it!)

Visiting the "Indian Village"

The real stars of the Rodeo.

The PBR Bulls. Oh, they don't look so mean.

Dan and I left Gabe with Grandma and Great Grandma/Grandpa to head off to the mountains for a few days.

The Lostine River

We camped on the Willowa River

And did some Grouse Hunting.

As with most vacations, this one was not without incident. We had a water hose break in the camper and flood 6 gallons of water (fresh...thank god!) into the floor of our camper. Luckily, it is under warranty so we were able to get it fixed right away and get everything dried out before any damage could occur. Oh well, we had a good time anyway and are already looking forward to next year!

Davis Lake

Finally, the weekend came around and it was time to take another family camping trip. We headed out Friday morning towards the Oregon Cascades. Our original destination was somewhat overcrowded with people, not to mention mosquitoes, so we ended up at an old favorite...Davis Lake. It was already Friday afternoon when we finally pulled into the campground , so the sites were sort of picked thru already. We chose a site that was somewhat secluded, which was good, but didn't have much shade, which was not so good. It was HOT! (I mean like in the 90's) So, we spent most of our time at the creek that flows into the lake.

Gabe loved wading around once he got used to the water, which is snowmelt. I think he endured the cold because it was so hot outside.

There is a cool little path that follows the creek on it's journey to the lake. Summer has come so late to these high mountain lakes this year, there are still wildflowers blooming all around.

Waiting at the boat launch for Dada to return. The fishing was real tough this year, but the fish were BIG. I guess that made it worth it.

As you can see from some of the photos, there was a very big fire about 8 years ago started by someone leaving their campfire unattended in the campground. We used to come up here before the fire and camp and fish. It was a nationally recognized blue ribbon trout (fly fishing only) lake. Shortly after the fire, someone dumped bass into the lake and they have been competing with the trout ever since. The forest is just now starting to regrow, but it will be my son's lifetime before it starts to resemble what it once was. It is still a beautiful place, in my eyes.

Grandma and Aunt and Cousins.....OH MY!

Dan's Mom, his sister Kristi, and her kids Ashley and Terry came from eastern Oregon to stay with us for a whole week. We had a great time. The kids really enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and even the adults got in on the fun!

Gabe "jumping" with Aunt Kris

Roasting marshmallows for Smores. We did this a couple nights during their visit. We could roast a pretty mean marshmallow by the end.

We took the whole bunch to Alsea Falls for a day of exploring.

Furn Ridge Reservoir

We all took turns going for a spin in the boat with Dan. The lake isn't much for fishing, but it has lots of native birds nesting along its shores and happens to be close to our house so it is a good place for us to try out the boat motor each year before we take it to the Cascades.

Gabe got a Train Set from his Grandma for his Birthday. He is absolutely obsessed with it! We have relocated it to the coffee table so he can have all his new cars up on the tracks too. He calls the train "KeeKee" ( I guess that is what we sound like when we make train sounds.)

Dan's Grandparents sent Gabe a "real" John Deer wheel barrow for his Birthday! He loves filling it with toys and pushig it around the yard. As I have said before, it is all great practice to get him ready for the teenage years. There is always work to be done on the property :)

Nana & Grampa Visit

My folks came for a visit in July and took Gabe to all of his favorite places (and spoiled him just a little bit too.)

At the Pizza Place
At Gathering Together Farm

At Safeway (believe it or not, this makes the list of "favorite places" because of the ride in cars on the front of the grocery carts)

Putting together Gabe's new Motorcycle
My little Biker! (Tattoo pending :)

We had a great time with Nana and Grampa! At least once a day Gabe says "Nana,Umpa...Carby?" And I say "yes, they did go carby, but they will be back soon."