First of all, please excuse how quiet andthenthey has been. I had grand plans to write a few blogs while we were away for Thanksgiving, but I dropped my phone in the toilet right when we got to our house. It spent the whole weekend in a big bowl of rice, and thankfully has made an almost full recovery.
Anyway, we had a wonderful weekend up at Sunriver for Thanksgiving with my Dad and Step-Mom and her brother and family. We went up to the mountains on Wednesday, and drove on packed snow from before Willamette Pass all the way to Sunriver. I’ve never seen that much snow, for so long. Luckily, we got to do the drive during the day, so it was sunny and clear.
We got to the house in time to play in the snow a little bit before dark. Alma loved it and would have stayed outside longer, despite her cold, wet fingers and legs. The promise of the big bathtub was the only thing that could lure her inside.
The next morning, Thanksgiving, we went to visit our great friends, the Gosses, in their new home in Bend. It was another snowy, beautiful drive. It was fun to finally get to see their house, and to get to see them!
The rest of Thanksgiving was spent playing in the snow, cooking dinner, and eating. I made the turkey this year, and everyone added something to the table. It was wonderful.
On Friday we braved the below freezing temperatures and went to the High Desert Museum. I love this place so much. It holds so many memories of my childhood. The otters (who weren’t on display), the indoor scenes of the West, the old settler’s cabin and sawmill. It’s all there, all the same, and all incredible. I loved sharing it with the girls. Plus, it was amazingly beautiful in the snow.
Alma took this photo of me and Jesse.
We went back to the house to watch the Civil War and learn how to knit. Harriet has such a sweet relationship with my dad. He’s certainly one of her favorite people. I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual.
Then, we tried to go to the tree lighting. It was just too cold, and we left before Santa got there and the lights were turned on. It was still fun, and Alma got to talk to Rudolph and Frosty. Here’s my favorite exchange:
Alma: Rudolph, I saw your friends being mean to you!
Rudolph: *nod*
Alma: Do they let you play with them now?
Rudolph: *nod*
It was sweet to see her so concerned for Rudolph. She has a sweet heart in her, that’s for sure.
10:02 – I want to remember this time with Harriet. I totally hate this age when she has so much to say, but she doesn’t have the words to say it. This moment, she had something terrible to tell me about this ball, but I just couldn’t figure out what she was saying. Then she spent my entire shower yelling at me to help her find her backpack (that ended up being on the floor in the hallway…). She is whiny and screechy. I’m not sure why I want to remember all of this, but I get the feeling it will be funny to look back at it all. Right? 
10:57 – I want to remember their wonder (and their happiness at being out of the car). Right here Alma said, “I don’t want to smell the flowers because of allergies.” The she smelled the flowers. She doesn’t have allergies, by the way.
11:03 – I want to remember all the beauty of Autumn. Snowberries are a favorite, and it was fun to be able to share them with the girls. We also call most wild berries ‘bird berries’ because I want the girls to know not to eat them – they are only good for birds. So far, this has worked to keep them from eating random poison berries. 
11:17 – I want to remember these sweet friends. I love that our kids won’t remember a time that these kids weren’t in their lives. Since it was a holiday, a lot of my friends (and their kids) had the day off of work and school, so we made plans to meet at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. I’d never taken the kids there, so it was especially fun. Not to mention the cool backpacks that each kid got to wear. And the fact that Harriet’s was almost bigger than she is.
12:03 – I want to remember how these kids were curious, engaged, interested, and awesome. The museum is set up so well, and our kids did a great job exploring.
12:05 – I want to remember how this girl tries (and succeeds) to keep up with the big kids. She’s difficult these days, but watching her learn and grow is a joy, truly. 
12:32 – I want to remember these friendships. 
12:48 – I want to remember how we got lunch at one of the dorms, and ate outside. I’d like to forget how crazy it was trying to wrangle two girls (plus the others), pick out food for us, order it, pay for it, and not lose either kid. But I want to remember how, as we were leaving the food court, Jane said, “And as they leave, they throw condoms to the audience.” I’m sure watching all of us with our kids was enough to inspire abstinence in at least a few of the college students. 
3:49 – I want to remember how Alma likes to take my camera and take photos. This one worked out because it’s nice to have photos of me in these posts, since I’m the one usually taking the photos. I also want to remember how busy I’ve been getting some Christmas things ready.
4:41 – I want to remember how, whenever Rory comes over, it becomes a dress-up party. They change and play and run and dance.
4:57 – I want to remember these three. Right now they’re the big kids (Poppy will catch up soon) and they are the best. I want to remember the way Harriet still sucks on her fingers and rubs her eyelashes. I want to remember Alma’s dramatic flair (look at those pinkies!). 
I want to remember how I forgot to take any more photos because we were just having a good time with our friends, getting pizza, eating pizza, talking about god and God, and Heaven and heaven. Sometimes it’s better to just put the camera down and live and remember.
When they got to the park, it was sunny and warm. They hiked around the waterfalls, in the woods, and had lots of fun. They had a picnic lunch in the lodge and hiked some more. 
Of course, the rain showed up. They embraced the water and got soaked. At this point, it didn’t matter if the rain was falling, or the creek was splashing. It was warm enough that it was still fun.
It was so wet, though, that everyone decided to head home. They realized they would have just spent the whole night in their tents as a fire would have been impossible and everything would be too wet to sit on. I don’t think Alma was too disappointed. They got to do all the fun things of camping without sleeping on the wet ground. 
2015: Wow! So many kids! So many people! No pregnant women (as far as I know!) Nineteen kids! 
I especially like the photos they chose because both my daughters are involved. There’s the photo of Harriet and Elsa playing in Elsa’s playhouse: 
And one of Alma sitting at Humble Bagel. When Alma saw this photo hanging on the wall, she was pretty excited. She recognized herself right away. 
We went with our friends the Henrys and it was a lot of fun! The kids were a great age for just wandering, exploring, and eating our way through the Fair. 
Alma’s not looking, but I had to post this to prove that I was there, too.
I love how all the kids were accidentally color coordinated. It made it easy to locate them as they wandered down the paths. 
This fairy world was another favorite for all the kids. I so totally want to make something like this! It was amazing. 
Our kids did a super job walking most of the time, but they also enjoyed a wide variety of methods of being carried. 
There was a quick moment when we lost Finley and Cedar. Obviously, they were dancing with giant wolves. Duh. 
The aftermath. Cute, hot, tired, dirty babies. So glad we went to the Country Fair this year. It’s an experience that I am happy to share with family friends. 
I’ve been updating our summer to do list. You can check out the 