Family Christmas Party

This year for Christmas we were able to drive down to CA to be with my whole family.  My brother and his wife were able to come down from Trinidad as well, so we were ALL together! Unfortunately John ended up having to work a majority of the vacation and Morgan had some really rough days and never slept while we were there.  It was still so nice to be with everyone and Jackson and Baron had a blast playing with cousins and being spoiled by Grammie and Papa. 

We really lucked out with the drive- hit the passes while it was clear for a day and the roads had just been swept! There was lots of snow piled up on the sides.

 Miss Mo was happy to be out of the car

Aunt Bertny to the rescue! We all got hair cuts and were pampered by her styling talent

 The kids doing the nativity.  Jackson was Joseph and Baron was a Shephard.

 My Grandpa, leading the evening program. Love him!

Uncle Colby reading a Christmas Story...

 The boys singing their traditional song, "Do you hear what I hear?"

 Notice Uncle Eric and his ever present smile :)

All the younger kiddos watching a move while the adults and older kids do the traditional White Elephant Gift Exchange!

It was a crazy party having everyone all in one place, but it was so so much fun.  I have always loved the Billings Family Christmas party and have really missed not being able to go every year since I've been married and moved to Oregon.  It was so fun to see everyone and catch up.  John and I sat by my Uncle Eric during most of the night and I am so grateful to have been able to spend that time with him, not knowing it would be the last time I would see him on this Earth.

Half these pictures are just camera phone pictures, so they are a little blurry.  I will start out with this post and do a few on the different events from the trip!

Baron Turns 4!

December 9, 2012, Mr. Bear turned 4.  He had a great birthday!  Since it was on a Sunday, we did a majority of the celebrating on Saturday.  We took him and his best buddy, Asher to Safari Sams (Jungle themed indoor playground and bounce houses).  He had a blast! That night we also did the traditional Red Robin birthday dinner! Sunday he opened presents, went to church, watched his favorite movies, ate batman cupcakes and played games together.  His favorite present was his new Ducks jersey that he still wears ALL the time. 

Don't laugh.... he really wanted batman cupcakes and at this point I was extremely sleep deprived and overwhelmed with a colicky baby, a busy job and the holidays.

Just a few notes about our Bear:

John and I are baffled this kid is only four.  He talks so well and always has for his age.  He is smart smart smart and such a joy to be around.

He writes his name so well and has caught the ABC fever.  He looks for letters and points them out all over the place.  He can write the entire alphabet, no problem and loves drawing pictures of submarines, storm troopers, and our family.

His favorite sport is soccer, but he is a natural at them all.

He tells the best stories full of animation that usually involve some type of star wars characters.

His favorite color is still yellow.

He loves and looks up to his older brother and wants to do everything he does.  He also loves his sister and can't get enough of her.  Every morning he climbs into her crib and plays with her.  I love waking up to the two of them giggling together.

He is funny, has the best giggle and is just loved by so many.

In September we found out he is allergic to all dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, whey, and a little to gluten.  He had been having tummy aches and bathroom issues for a while.  Long story short though, he has been such a trooper with it all.  He has never complained about all the foods he can't eat and continues to constantly have a smile on his face.  He is such a resilient little guy and we are so blessed and inspired everyday by his positive attitude.  Love this guy so much!!

Chopping down the Christmas Tree

One of my favorite traditions we've had since we moved to Portland is going to get our Christmas tree! We went to the same little tree farm up the mountain as last year.  It is the cutest little place.  The family that lives there/owns the tree farm are always super nice and fun, they have the coolest handmade swing set out front for the kids, the trees are great, and they always have hot chocolate and candy canes for us at the end! Plus it is $20 total.... where else can you find that kind of experience for that price??  We are more than happy to support them! 

 Found the tree!

 The boys were all about helping Dad this year

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a few different invites this Thanksgiving from both friends and family to join them in the festivities.  With all of our recent food allergies coming into play, however, we decided we would have a quiet Thanksgiving at home with just the 5 of us.  That way we were better able to control what we ate and how it was cooked, making sure we didn't spend the weekend with tummy troubles.  It was a lot of work to do all on our own, but we went all out.  It turned out great! I even made sure we had name tags, a table cloth, used our nice china and glasses from our wedding, had appetizers earlier in the day, and sparkling apple juice with our feast. We got all dressed up and took some family pictures before we ate too! We really wanted it to still be a memorable holiday together.  It all turned out wonderfully and it was a very fun day and weekend together! Here's the end result, as well as the family pictures :

Name tags!

Not sure why all of these are so blurry.... they were done in a hurry and with a self timer :(

 The ham we made in addition to a turkey... we had leftovers for a week!

 The spread minus the meat and desserts

GF Pumpkin Cake Roll.  Turned out amazing!!

After dinner we played games and Aunt Heather and Grandma Sue even stopped by to visit that evening on their way up here to pick up donuts for a fundraiser.  It was a great day!