Thank You for Christmas!

This Christmas season I'm grateful for a lot of things:

1. Snow. What fun to have a white Christmas!!
2. Rain that melts the snow and finally makes the roads drive-able again. Hooray for being able to leave the house!
3. Electricity. I am SO grateful to be warm!! Hot chocolate only goes so far.
4. Christmas trees. They're so magical, even if ours did die a week before Christmas.
5. Family traditions. It wouldn't be Christmas without them - gingerbread house decorating (Meri just took handfuls of candy and chucked it at her house), the annual Nativity puppet show (this year, none of the puppets' heads even fell off!), watching the Nativity movie with my girlies, and warm fuzzy Christmas pajamas.
6. Getting to finally go to church again (after two weeks being canceled due to snow) and teach our primary class. Always full of surprises.
7. The innocence of children. The fact that they were as thrilled with the box of cereal we could give them as they were with the wonderful, much bigger presents grandparents gave them.
8. A little break from school. Hooray for daddy being home and not having homework!
9. Christmas carols. Although I am quite sick of hearing Jingle Bell Rock, and the other two songs they play nonstop on 103.3, I love Christmas songs! That and Muppet's Christmas Carol are necessary for it to feel like Christmas!
10. The real reason for Christmas. Oh how I hope we can find a way to keep that from being overshadowed with gifts and all. Our testimonies of our Savior are the most valuable thing we can give our girls - I hope they can receive it as such as they grow!

Pretend this just arrived in your mailbox:

Merry Christmas to all...

and to all a good night!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Can you believe all this snow? This is incredible! I'm not sure there is much that is more beautiful than watching big flakes come down and cover tree branches and all. Gorgeous! Or anything as wonderful as hot chocolate to warm you up! I gotta say, snow was lots of fun back when we were kids, and now that we have kids we get to relive the magic! Here are some pictures of our week:

Turns out that this year, Jell LOVES sledding! In fact, since the first day it snowed was Sunday and all (church was canceled of course - Oregon doesn't invest in snow plows and won't injure the environment with nasty salt), we reverently walked to the temple and sled down the hilly streets there.

Our first efforts of building a snowman this year:

Nice nose:

Meri's not too sure about this. Then again, I'm not sure she can see what's going on:

When snow doesn't pack well (the first snow storm dropped about 3 inches of really cold, dry, powdery snow), you improvise and make snow castles instead:

However, after much determination on Jell's part, and much effort on Mama's part, we did make a rather lovely snow lady (all of about 1 foot tall. max).

And while I was searching through our grown-over garden for eyes, noses, and mouths, I pulled this monstrosity of a carrot out of the ground. We kinda forgot about it:

We may, however, have spent too much time out in the snow - especially after getting another storm today that dropped perfect packing snow. But we were still happy, and for once, managed to get a complete family photo with everybody smiling and looking at the camera:

In case we're too covered with snow for you to tell who's who, here some close-ups. Naturally, this pig-tailed girl is Jelly:

This one, of course, is Meri:

This goofy grin belongs to Mama (who is sporting some creepy different colored eyes):

And this sweet comb-over dude is our no. 1 Dad who looks to be doing jumping jacks while holding hands with mom (and by the way, Jell said with wide-eyed wonder about this guy, "That is the tallest snowman ever I see'd):

But at some point we do have to come in and shake off the snow. Meri has mastered the art of warming up with the discovery that warm air blows out of the vents. So whenever she's cold, she gathers all her valuables and hogs the airflow. I hear linoleum is rather comfortable these days.

"No Mama, they're not too small!"

"But they are my favorite!"

Lots of Sisterly Love

Happy Birthday!

After some failed attempts at adding pics of you from way back when, I give up, and settle with these that show part of our journey - from Mr. Happily- Engaged to the wonderful daddy of two adoring little girls. We love you so much hon! This last semester has been tough with you so busy with school and work and we're so proud of you but it sure taught us what we already knew - we can't live without you! You are so sorely missed when you are gone, and you make everything better when you are here. I'm so grateful to have you. You keep me sane. You keep me happy. You keep me smiling. You make me want to stay up late just to get to spend time with you, even when I've been exhaustified all day. You make me feel like I can do anything. I'm eternally grateful that you had the foresight to see, or at least sense, the things we'll see. Happy Birthday love! (Oh, and as a birthday present, I've let you snore the whole time I've been typing this. As another present, I will now join you, at which time, birthday or not, you will have to stop. Love you!)

Mt. Hood Polar Express

A big belated thank you to Nana and Bopa for bringing the four of us on the Mt. Hood Polar Express! That was such a fun Christmas experience - so magical for the girls. We rode the Mt. Hood express (an old train, rather slow actually, quite unworthy of the name express which, in my mind, denotes speed) from Hood River, OR up to the North Pole, which we accomplished in only 45 minutes! Magical indeed. On the way up, we were treated to hot chocolate and a cookie (Meri's first hot chocolate - no doubt she likes it, actually it appeared like catnip to her). A crazy conductor took our tickets (He told Jell if she didn't have a ticket he'd throw her off. The poor dear hugged her ticket to her the rest of the night. When she lost it after a bathroom break, she got a little frantic) Then the story was read over the speaker while our servers walked up and down showing the pictures. When we arrived at the North Pole, Santa's little village was all decked out in Christmas lights, he and Mrs. Claus were waving, and there were elves running frantically all over. They all boarded the train, and the elves got to know the kids and led us in Christmas carols. Santa took the time to talk with each child, pose for pictures, and then gave each child their own bell. Isn't that delightful? Just makes me smile. Meri actually sat on Santa's lap ... for a few minutes (Coop remembers it being a few seconds) before she burst into tears. Jell refused, but waved politely, and talked to him from the safety of Daddy's lap. She was sure to tell him that she wants "pink, sparkly shoes for Christmas" (She came up with that on her own, by the way). It was so fun to see the girls' eyes light up when they saw the lights, Santa, or the elves. Just riding the train was tons of fun. So thanks again Nana and Bopa! We loved it!
P.S. sadly, most of the pics are quite iffy. Bopa may have struggled with the whole flash thingy. Oh and don't even ask what kind of a hat Jell is wearing. She insisted on wearing it because "Santa would think it is soooo funny." I think she looks like Little Miss Muffet.

Today's Top 10 (in no particular order)

1. Do you know the real lyrics to the Little Einsteins' Theme song? Jell's version goes, "Let's hear a big cheer for the otters of the day! Rolly balls! And a puppet and the beautiful eunuchs we play! Rolly balls! Rolly balls! Hurray!
2. On a similar, inappropriate note, we had Gnocchi the other night. To convince the girls to eat it we called them noodle balls. "Noodle" is apparently difficult to say. It came out Nuder balls, or Nueter balls - take your pick on the spelling.
3. When she heard "Angels We Have Heard On High," on the radio, Jell yelled, "Hey mom! She knows your song!"
4. When Jell finished her prayer last night, Meri yelled "Hey!" and pointed emphatically at Jell. Then she said, "Me," and pointed at herself. I asked if she had wanted to pray. She shook her head. Coop asked if she was upset Jell hadn't prayed for her and she nodded and confirmed, "Yeah!" So apparently she was offended at being left out!
5. Coop just caught Jell in a precarious position, gave her a look (with eyebrows raised), but before he could say anything, she said, "This IS a good idea!"
6. More Coop and Jell: He was struggling to get her clothes on her, and asked, "Are we just inept this morning or are you making this difficult on purpose?" She replied very matter-of-factly, "We're just inept this morning."
7. Meri likes to sing her own little happy song in the car. Whenever I chimed in, she'd shake her finger at me, say "no" firmly, then put her finger to her lips and shush me. Then she'd sing again. Ouch.
8. "Thanksgiving" was a confusing concept to Jell. The day of, she pointed excitedly to a folding table that had been set up and asked, "Is that Thanksgiving?" Later she asked the same about a pitcher of juice. And a stack of cups. And my brother. Whether she gets it or not though, she loves pumpkin pie!
9. Meri has taken to pointing at all men in books and calling them "Dada," and all women are, of course, "Mama." Today she even pointed at the life guard (short, teenage guy with black hair) and insisted, "Dada!" Less flatteringly, she pointed at the evil sea witch, Ursula, and said, "Mama!" Ouch again.
10. Coop often asks Meri, "Who does daddy love?" She used to excitedly say "Me!" Now, however, she first says, "umm, Mama!" Then, when Coop asks for others, she says "umm, Nell!" After further prodding, she kind of looks around the room mumbling, and finally, sheepishly, points to herself and says, "Me."

Aren't our kids supposed to think we know everything?

Jell just asked Coop why the mirror was all messy after his shower. He responded, "You know how when water is really hot, there is smoke? When smoke gets on the mirror it makes it foggy like that." Pretty reasonable, albeit simple explanation, no? Jell burst out laughing. Coop said, "What, it is true." Jell stopped giggling just long enough to shake her head and say, "No, it is not true." "It is! Go ask Mommy!" "Mommy, is it true?" "Yes, Jell it is true." Laughter. "Nooooooo, it is not true." After going back and forth, it is, it's not, a few more times I asked how she thinks the mirror gets all foggy. She replied, "It's from the smoke. From the Indians. They had a fire." WHAT?! As if THIS is more believable. I stated that I had not seen any Indians but she had, and told Coop when he asked that they were in the bathroom while he was taking a shower. All righty then. I just might shower in my bathing suit tomorrow because apparently we have some local drive-by, bathroom fire-starting, mirror fogging, peeping Tom Indians. And you never know when they might strike next.

Happy 85th Great-Grandpa!

We believe my grandpa just turned 85! Actually, it could be more or less anywhere between 80 and 90, and they celebrate it on Nov 11th because nobody wrote down when he was born, just remembered that there were lots of bells ringing that day and there were always bells ringing on Veterans Day. His sisters actually thought the doctor brought him in his little black doctor bag. On top of that, his name is Frank although my mom found him on an early census as Irving (turns out that his middle name) although he was originally named Philip. Now that makes family history searches easy! Regardless, we love him and are super glad to be continuing to celebrate his birthdays!
Meri loves him too! When giving him a kiss though I think the girls are always a little iffy about the moustache.
Jell does too of course, but spends most of her time at Berne family affairs with none other than Uncle Adam. By the way, at big celebrations like this one, it's tradition for all of the familys to present poems or songs dedicated to the one we are celebrating. My grandma did indeed read a poem that ended, "To my friend and lover, now let's go home and jump under the cover!"
And hardly related, but growing up everyone said I looked just like my dad. What do you think now? Oh, and that wine isn't mine. It was my aunt's - I was drinking a rather odd dry lavendar soda for the night. That's what happens when the alcoholic menu is long enough to be a novel while the non-alcoholic selection only appears on the kids' meal.

Good News and More Good News

Good News #1: The show looks great! The open house was yesterday, and while nothing has sold yet, they've had lots of interest and the gallery people paid me some really nice compliments. If I can sell just one of the big paintings, I'll have broke even - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's somebody out there not too scared of the bad economy to spend some on a lovely piece of art!
Good News #2: As some of you know I had surgery on my finger last week. Sadly it was on my right hand which really bites (you can see me holding it awkwardly in the picture) - I'm really sick of trying to use a fork with my uncoordinated left hand, and I haven't been able to do my hair in a week. Usually in that time I do it at least once or twice. They cut open my finger, went inside the bone and scraped out an enchondroma. I'm kind of an idiot cause I didn't think it was a big deal and thought I'd be back to normal in like 2 days, but lo and behold, my right hand is kind of important and scraping things out of bones is stinkin' painful!! It has hurt like the dickens, whatever that means, keeping me up to watch reruns at 3 AM and moan and groan lots, BUT this falls in the good news category because the nurse called with the results today and it's all good. No malignancy! Just blessed benignness! So yea! But it is hurting quite a bit to type - but the rest of the good news was that the doctor told me I wasn't allowed to wash dishes or change diapers for like a week! Now that's my kind of doctor's note!

Our little Goldfish

Jenelle has had a blast with her first ever swim class! It ended this week (meaning two fun trips down the big water slide) so I thought it was about time I got some pictures up. Tayson is in the class with her, and they are so fun to watch, and have seriously improved in the water. While we didn't "pass" the level (*to overly-concerned and loving family members who might be offended that their darling Jelly was flunked - it was nothing personal. None of the class passed), we are so much better at putting our faces into the water, splashing, kicking, laying back, etc. etc. I think she may even be able to float better than her mom--who can't float. Never has floated. Except for in the extremely salty Mediterranean Sea where solid rocks could float if they gave it a try. Ah well. Tons of fun though! We really owe the teacher - she was so good with the kids (even though she sure had her hands full) and really pushed them to try new things. And she gave them all back to us in one piece - after having only swallowed half of the swimming pool. So you know, Michael Phelps, as soon as we are comfortable putting our whole face underwater so we can graduate from Goldfish, here we come! Oh, oh, and next week, Meri gets to be a Starfish and join in the fun in a Parent/Baby class! Lovin that chlorine smell!

And finally some Halloween pics

I know, I'm a bit late ... but since this is currently my only form of scrapbooking, I'm doing it anyway. (*best viewed in firefox, totally messed up otherwise because I don't get computers)

























The girls crouching down for a better look at the games. I love that they crouch, although Meri started it and is the one that does it all the time - as if she needs to get closer to the ground.
And after figuring out the rules ... and how to bend them to their advantage, they gave the game a try.
















































You know how sometimes you say, "Everybody make a silly face" and then you're the only one (or two) that does it?









And in case you couldn't tell from any of the other photos, Meri's costume was hilarious because the backside was about as wide as she is tall. Has anybody seen a fat giraffe before? Well here's our very own ... in timeout.










And in an effort to make a good-luck charm and to make my husband smile when he got home from a late night of school, this was the pumpkin I carved (much to Jenelle's disappointment. She was so confused and just kept asking where the jack-o-lantern's face was). Having created such a good-luck charm, I would like to claim credit for the stinking ridiculous result of the overtime game the other night, but I think that might a bit too delusional. In case you were unlucky enough to miss the game, check out this highlight here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psIxlKyjQeg. And even if you're not any kind of basketball or Blazers fan, 8 points were scored in 1.8 seconds. It's worth watching.