Preparations....

Christmas eve and getting ready for Santa.....making cookies, shoveling off the landing pad for Santa's arrival, the sprinkling of the reindeer food, and finishing it off with a glass of milk, cookies, and a note to Santa.

.....and Sahalie just along for the ride and enjoying every minute of it.

The Darkest Day of the Year....

We had our second annual solstice bonfire and we spruced it up quite a bit this year. Luminaries lighting up the path to the river, white lights on the trees, snowbots, and ice sculptures...move over Andy Goldsworthy, cuz Todd Arney's in town.

Breakfast with Santa...

We had breakfast with Santa one morning and of course Santa was a big hit, but so were those antlers.....Spencer wore them ALL day.

Ain't she sweet?

Festive Weekend....

Well, Paul broke his tradition after 12 years of living in Bend...he attended the Christmas parade. There was one point in the morning where both kids were crying, whining or whatever and Paul looked at me and said, "I have a great idea honey. Do you want to take the kids to the parade and I could stay home?" Now picture the look I gave him. It wasn't pretty.

Of course, after watching Spencer mesmerized by the whole thing, he was glad he went. My favorite part....the corgie's pulling the sled (as you can see from the photo, they were going so fast I barely caught it) and watching Spencer and his friend Owen with their arms around each other anxiously awaiting the next float. Too cute.

We wrapped up the rest of our weekend with the boy's annual beer tasting, the local performance of the Nutcracker, and the Deschutes Christmas party. Phew!
"

Field Study

Spencer and I went nature-izing out in the rain yesterday!
Drove up to the snow and got stuck enough to get out, then looked over snags that burned in the Great Fire of '79 and kicked around a shaly outcropping (Geology outcompeted Spencer for a moment!). Ask him about anitclines and synclines next time you see him...

todos finito.

Bye-bye to days of washing off the John Deere and drinking beer in the fading sunset!
(Sahalie is too lucky, no?)

Clean as a whistle....

The First Fall....

We woke up earlier this week to 5 inches of the fluffy pow pow. It was gone a couple of days later, but Spencer was sure excited for snowball fights, snowmen, and hot cocoa.

The Great Escape...

Sahalie and I escaped for the weekend to meet up with Ann, Zoey, Jen, and Teeg. It was a wonderful weekend of sleeping in, good food, good wine, and great conversation. We also managed to get out of the house and kick around Mt Hood on a beautiful fall day. Thanks ladies, I love you!

Happy Halloween...

Alaska....fall or winter?

A couple pics from our recent trip up to AK. It couldn't decide if it was fall or winter, but either way it was beautiful. And we still had a good time even with ALL the talk about Palin. My favorite bumper sticker that I spotted while I was up there..."Coldest State, Hottest Governor".

Spencer celebrates his birthday.....again.


Sahalie is all partied out...

He takes after his MiMi....

King for a Day.....

It is hard to believe my little man turned three.....Happy Birthday Spencer!

First Sign of Winter...

According to the Brewery, winter is on its way with the official release of Jubelale ....they even had a party to celebrate. Complete with the first keg being wheeled through the place, Paul giving a toast on the bar, and all the local beer geeks making an appearance (the Arney's included). I was so proud of Paul's "speech" and I am still in awe that he was on the clock while pounding that beer. Who wouldn't love that job?

Good morning sunshine...

Mushroom Hunters

Here are some shots of the team and the loot we pulled in from our first annual mushroom hunting expedition. Spencer and I took our BedBath&BeyondBags to places they never thought they'd go, that's for sure. See post below for field specimens.

FungusAmungus

A couple weeks ago we found the largest and craziest mushrooms I've ever seen...all just down the hill from our house! Staci had got a mushroom ID book for me for father's day and we tried to educate ourselves on the giant blooms that seemed to appear out of nowhere.


AMANITA (Poisonous or hallucinagenic?? Robert Plant walks up to one of these mushrooms in the movie 'The Song Remains the Same'...)


KING BOLETE (a most prized edible)


SCALY TOOTH

First Day....

Spencer on his first day of preschool. He was more excited about his lunch box than school....he had it packed and was all ready to go by 8am. School didn't even start until 9. Paul and I dropped him off and I bawled....I am blaming it on the hormones. With Sahalie in the mix it is crazy just how grown up he seems. I just love that little dude.