A White Christmas

Ever sledded to mass? It's pretty great!
Stocking fun!

Sweet Chiara

Grandma with the girls

Lucy's favorite gift: her Tinkerbell camera!

We enjoyed a beautiful white Christmas! The snow was magical, and Santa's reindeer enjoyed an easy landing on the rooftop. The girls both received exactly what they had requested from Santa.

However, the snow was less convenient for non-reindeer operated vehicles.

While the Loeb grandparents made it to our house for Christmas Eve in their 4WD, it was treacherous. Our trip to St. Agatha's for mass was very sketchy. But worth it for the homily given directly to all of the young children gathered on the steps of the altar. Our favorite quip: when the priest asked the children what the three wise men brought: "Rum!"

Following a wonderful gift opening session on Christmas morning, we headed out to the Buck house for festivities. We made it through the snow and newly-formed ice with only a few frightening moments. The drive was so dangerous that the planned gathering for the extended Buck clan became a celebration for just our immediate family. We missed everyone, but still managed to have a wonderful time. We had several hours of magnificent snowfall that afternoon that added to the festive feeling of Christmas.

Unfortunately, when it was time to leave, our Jeep had a rough time with the snowy ruts. Luckily, Ryan, Dad, and Tom were happy to help Curtis shovel (and shove!) our vehicle out of the snow and into the center of the road for our journey home.

The snow was so plentiful that even the trusty post office (UPS, Fed Ex and garbage service too!) missed most of the week's deliveries. Now they are busy playing catch-up. Which explains why our Christmas cards have not gone out yet....we just received them! But I promise they will be going out soon.

Now the snow has melted and we are left with plain, old, boring rain. I preferred the white stuff. And speaking of white stuff, Miss Mary has her first loose pearly white! We were shocked to learn that children could lose teeth so young, but apparently the sooner their baby teeth come in, the earlier they come out. So, our early teether is eagerly chomping apples, carrots, and cookies hoping that one of these times, her tooth is extracted in the process.

Time to make a tooth fairy pillow!

Snowland

Portland is getting record-breaking snow....we have about two feet and counting. What does two feet of snow look like, you ask? Well, according to Lucy, it looks like everything is pregnant! The snow atop the patio chairs led her to comment, "The chairs are pregnant!"

Curtis made a valiant attempt to ride his bike to work this morning. Futile and almost laughable, but valiant nonetheless. He returned home with pink cheeks, and asked for the Jeep keys. Here's what the Jeep looked like after a few hours out in the driveway. He made it a few blocks, then decided today was a wonderful day to work from home.

Emily and my Dad made it out of Gresham somehow (where they've actually declared a state of emergency because of the deep snow!) and spent the morning playing with us outside. Emily even showed the girls her famous Sitka Snow Cartwheel!

We love being in a walkable neighborhood, where we can borrow a sled to get groceries or to ferry the girls to mass. We just hope the beautiful, bountiful snow allows the whole family to be together on Christmas. In the meantime, we think Portland ought to be renamed Snowland.

One Cozy (and possibly embarrassed) Canine

Today's high was 28. That's Fahrenheit, yes.

Greta spent the morning hiding under the covers in our bed. When we coaxed her to take her daily walk, she shivered the entire way. So, knowing we are opening her (and ourselves) up to all kinds of humiliation, we decided it's time for Greta to have her first sweater.

Fortunately, although many businesses are closed due to snow, our favorite local dog shop was open. We made the chilly, slippery trek with Greta in tow. The salesgirl made me feel much better about the purchase. "She is a very short-haired dog, really, look at her underbelly, no fur at all," she reasoned as she fitted Greta with a lovely mohair sweater. Surprisingly, she didn't put up a fuss. Our gray girl walked proudly home in her new warm coat (graciously accepted three compliments along the way!) and napped cozily in it all afternoon.

However, when I pulled the camera out to take a snapshot, she immediately looked chagrined. One look at her expression and you'll see what I mean. Chagrined, but warmly so.

But, cozy sweater or not, I'd still bet my bottom dollar that she'll be sneaking under our covers again tonight.

Winter Wonderland

Look what greeted us this December morning!

We're supposed to get 3-6 inches throughout the day, and the temperatures are going to drop into the 20s, possibly lower, as the week begins. Brrr..... but beautiful.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

My new best friend

We've been slowly making new friends in Portland. But, sadly, my new best friend is a little tube of epoxy.

It seems that every time I turn around, another sorry toy is in need of repair. The photo captures this week's lucky winners who get to spend an afternoon with me and my pal epoxy in the basement.

Someone please make me feel better. Tell me your house, too, has a Repair Station as busy as the neighborhood body shop.

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas!

This past weekend, we enjoyed a festive trip on an old steam locomotive. It was an amazing engine, and Santa was on board, which made the ride even more exciting. While Grandma Buck and I rode the train with the girls, Papa Buck and Curtis rode their bikes alongside as the train parallelled the trail. Great Grandpa Fisher would have been delighted to see the girls' interest in the old train. His presence was nearly palpable.

After years of buying Oregon Christmas trees from lots down in California, it was exciting this year to chop one down right at the tree farm. It's a beauty, so tall and stately. The girls named it Sebastian, and so far, only three ornaments have been broken due to unbridled excitement of little hands. Our epoxy is definitely getting lots of use these days (more on that soon).

We also celebrated Grandpa Loeb's birthday this past weekend with a new rifle for the birthday boy, deer steak for the hunters, and German chocolate cake for all.

Wet Willies

Our precocious Lucy is truly a handful. She's happy, energetic, smart....but she's also one of those kids who needs to be busy all the time. As a spirited kid, she leads us into many hilarious situations.

While we were in Bend for Thanksgiving, she awoke from her nap one afternoon and gave Curtis an impromptu "wet willy" on his ear. He thought it was pretty humorous, and explained to her what it was called.

Later that afternoon, we took the girls to the mass at St. Francis. Lucy was in rare form (or should I say rarer than usual form?). She wriggled, squirmed, and struggled to stay quiet during mass. She simply couldn't contain herself. I was starting to feel my face turn pink with frustration. Then, Lucy did the unthinkable. She picked up the hymnal, adorned with a picture of Jesus and licked it. She then turned to me proudly with an impish grin and whispered, "I give Jesus a WET WILLY!" I couldn't help but let my frustration dissolve into giggles, turning quickly away from her so that she couldn't see my inappropriate reaction to her act.

After all, isn't that the job of a child? To walk that fine line between making their parents laugh or cry? These days, I'm trying to choose laughter. And with Lucy along for the ride, that choice is often the easy one.

Oh...and to those of you who are gasping in horror at the sacrilege, don't worry. After mass. we explained that wet willies are not very respectful. (But we're also sure God has a sense of humor...after all, he gave us Lucy, didn't he?)