2012 has arrived!

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

2012
We kept our tradition of burning our yule-log(s) that is made of last year's Christmas tree.

We also (along with our friends who rang in the new year with us) each wrote a regret, disappointment, or other thought and attached it underneath the twine. Into the fire it all went, as we bid them adieu with aspirations of better things to come, and no more fretting over things of the past.
New year, fresh beginnings.

Fresh cut collard greens.

Hard and uncooked black eyed peas.
About 8 hours later we had a delicious southern meal to bring good luck our way in 2012.

Enough already!
Between Christmas, New Years, the boys on Winter break for 2 weeks, lots of friends and family in-and-out, etc., Harry is ready to get back to his old routine.
Here's to hope for good things in 2012!

Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas celebration! I knew it was going to be good when G'ma showed up with a container of Granny's infamous 'Star' cookies.

One of my favorite holiday memories is that of Granny's Stars. She had an amazing recipe for homemade sugar cookies that she would make, roll, cookie-cut, bake, and frost each Christmas. Somewhere along the way one of us grandkids told her that the 'stars' tasted the best and that she shouldn't bother with any of the other shapes. So that's what she did from that year forward. Only stars. Oh, and only green, red, and colored balls for decoration. No exceptions.

'Santa' made another visit this year, and the kids loved seeing him in the living room! Please note his special beard. We laughed until we cried with this one. Thanks, Mark.

Aunt Susie and the cousins get their turn on Santa's lap. Naughty or nice?

Cousins. After all, Christmas really boils down to the memories that they make together every year. That's what this whirlwind 24 hours is all about.

One of Grandma's gifts was a bunch of scratch-it lottery tickets. Everyone was a winner! The fun part is that grandma was just like an ATM and you could redeem them and cash them in on the spot. Catie was the big winner with $9.00 in winnings.

Pajama time!
The kids were questioning Grandma's fashion sense with her infamous Forever Lazy.

Wrong, just so wrong. I'm feeling thankful that there wasn't one for me under the tree.

Slumber party in the basement! The cousins got to sleep together in anticipation of Santa's arrival. Not the best night of sleep, but it sure was fun!

The tree and gifts after Santa stopped by.

Morning chaos....we wouldn't have it any other way!

Merry Christmas.

Randomness from the i-phone

I forget that I've got pictures on my i-phone, and when I took the time to scroll back through all 332 of them, I found a pictoral representation of life over the past 6 months. I guess that I did take a photo or two at Thanksgiving!

Cousins in Seattle.

Nate getting Willy Wonka's signature after the performance on Saturday night at the NW Children's Theatre. Magical.

6:00 a.m. reading together by headlamp on the top bunk.

Wagon rides around the bases at Alberta Park.

G'ma with the boys before their piano recital.

Back-to-School shopping and blending in at Old Navy.I found these after Chris discovered my photo booth app.

Happy Holidays

Cyber-card.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season, and good things in 2012!

Christmas Decor

One of these mantel decorations does not belong.
Oh Harry. He always has to be right in the action. He sits as still as a figurine.

It's a tad smaller than in years past, but is loaded with the same memories of years gone by.
Merry Christmas!

Chandler Tree Farm Party!

What a great day! It is the first weekend in December, and that means that it was time for the annual Chandler Family Christmas Tree Party! Not only did we get to see Christmas Tree harvesting more than close-up, (yes, we were FREAKING out about the helicopter that we zipping right above our heads), there was also a calf who was abandoned by it's mama that we got to feed some milk to from a big bottle. Friends, family, tradition, and sunny crisp weather made for one of my favorite tree party events ever.

Baby calf wanted his milk.

Mmm....milk!

Susie gets some lovin' from the sweetest boy, Athan.

The front half of Big John's trailer heading out into the woods.

Some of the troops unloading from the ride.

Magic mushrooms in the tree forest. Beautiful.

Mike and his boys. Wouldn't be a tree party without them!

The Moores.

Ready to chop this bad boy down!!!

My family. Even grandma joined in the fun this year!

Dan loads the tree while grandma supervises.

Oh, Pete!

Helicopter action!

Old friends. I mean, they've been friends since high school....Kelly, Cindi, and Susan.

Here is some video of the helicopter tree harvesting operation. It really doesn't do justice to how cool it was to watch. I was certain that a tree or two was going to fly off the hook and kill us all...but it didn't. We survived and have great memories from a great day! Thanks, Chandler Family.

The Spooky Night....by Nate Moore

Nate's story that he 100% wrote, edited, and typed all by himself.
He's quite the author and publisher.
Watch out, Steven King....there's a new horror writer in town.
(double click on each page to make the image a little bit larger)

Second Grade Photos

2nd Grade. Hopefully you can tell who is who.

colorful goodness

I can't get enough of the colorful leaves right now in Portland. Absolutely stunning.
These snapshots don't do justice to the beauty that is out there.
I love Fall.

The Entertainer

Wow. I think that the piano lessons are working.

Trick-or-Treat

Happy Halloween! This year we had a leopard and a Woopie Cushion that was complete with sound effects (pfftttt). We walked the neighborhood with friends, and enjoyed a fun evening.