The End of 2020

 December is always such a fun month to get together with friends and family.  To eat and play games and enjoy the spirit of giving and Christmas.  This December was much different in that we mostly hung out with our own little family.  No parties, no crazy New Years Eve bash.  But, looking back on the photos from December we did still manage to have some fun.  I am so grateful 2020 is over and look forward to a return to normal in 2021.  Fingers Crossed!!!

Walking around Fern Hill wetlands we saw this cute little mommy nutria with a baby.  I thought it was crazy they had babies in December...don't most animals have their babies in the Spring?  It was pretty cute to see:)

Hyrum and I got away from the kids for a night and went out to the Oregon Coast.  We started by going into Astoria for some food and then we headed over to Washington to Cape Disappointment State Park.  We walked along this jetty for a while but it was very cold and windy.  I will definitely be back because if you get to the end of the jetty you can watch the giant barges cross over the bar from the Pacific Ocean into the Columbia River.  It was awesome to stand out on this small strip of land with the ocean raging and swelling on either side!

The view from our hotel during breakfast.  I'm so glad we could get away, even if it was for just one night.

Hyrum has been spending his free time working on our boat.  He has sanded and replaced some of the outside fiber glass and is working on replacing the wood from inside the boat.  He likes to keep busy:)

Christmas tree hunting

We found a great little tree.  All the boys took turns using the saw to chop it down.

Hauling the tree to the car.  It was such a gorgeous sunny day.  We really lucked out on the weather for Oregon in December!

We did a drive through Christmas light display that our city put on.  It only took about 3 minutes to drive through the entire display but it was free and I was glad to have something to do with my kids that was safe and festive.

Look at me being all domestic and baking Christmas cookies!

Took the boys downtown Portland to see the big tree in Pioneer Square.  Of course...it was raining!

Hyrum took the boys skiing up at Timberline on Mt. Hood

This was Julian's 2nd time skiing.  He took a little bit of time to get the hang of it but Hyrum said he was doing really well by the end of the day.  I think a crash on his final run has put him off trying to ski again, but we will keep trying.  He sometimes has a hard time sticking with hard things.

Peter, the Christmas kitty

Our beautiful tree all decorated.  It is so festive to sit in the living room with the tree all lit up:)

Another attempt at family fun:)  I think the boys are happy to decorate for about 15 minutes but then you can tell they get bored with it and just start throwing icing and candy up anywhere:)

Our traditional Christmas Eve gathering with the Doxey's was held outside this year due to Covid.  Hyrum set up a great fire in the back yard that kept us all toasty and comfy.  Luckily it didn't rain on us and being that we live in Oregon this was sort of a Christmas miracle.  We had the traditional Chinese food for dinner and had a lot of fun opening "grab bags."

Our festive little gathering outside.  I'm so glad we still were able to gather with family, even during this crazy pandemic!

Gifts wrapped and under the tree by 2:00 AM on Christmas morning.  Every year Hyrum and I say we will start wrapping gifts before Christmas Eve but every year we end up with getting it all done the night of Christmas Eve...it makes for a very long night!

Merry Christmas morning breakfast.  Hyrum's brother Jason joined our family for Christmas morning.

Some of the gifts the boys got this year.  Merry Christmas!!

Took a nice walk around Rood Bridge park on a sunny day.  

Snow shoeing as a family near Trillium lake on Mt. Hood

Proof that I joined the family for some winter fun:)

Hyrum was given his first vaccine against COVID-19. As a doctor he was in "Group 1" of the vaccine roll out.  I can't wait until we can all get the vaccine and hopefully get back to life as normal!

Our New Years feast.  We had some yummy German rolls and sausages.  It wasn't the normal party with the Doxey's and other friends but we still enjoyed our time with our little family

We got tickets for "Zoo lights" on New Years Eve.  It was a great way to spend some of our evening enjoying the festive lights

Zoo lights did not disappoint.  It took about 30 minutes to drive through the zoo and they did a great job with the decorations.

We had a great time waking up our neighbors at midnight on New Years Eve with some fun fireworks.

Happy New Year!  Good bye and good riddance to 2020!!!  Here's to hoping for a great 2021.  To getting back to normal and putting the pandemic behind us.  To getting rid of the crazy man that has been our President for 4 years and the disgrace he has brought to America.  Let's hope only good things happen in the new year!!!