Steve and Katrina Doxey and Oma (she had stayed with our boys while Hyrum and I were in Hawaii and then spent all of December here in Oregon to celebrate the holidays!)
Finally got our Christmas tree on December 15th! It's always fun to explore around to find the perfect tree.
Took the boys to see "Cirque Nutcracker" at the Symphony. So fun to hear the music of the Nutcracker while amazing acrobatic feats are performed.
Took Oma to see the "Boat Parade" in Portland. Local boats get decorated with lights and go up and down the Willamette River in December
The sailboats were the best.
I made some Christmas treats to share with our neighbors
The boys worked on decorating some cute little gingerbread houses.
Zoolights! My niece (Joanna Porter) was in Portland to visit her boyfriends family so they joined us at Zoolights. It was fun to catch up with her and meet her boyfriend.
Julian doing his best impression of a penguin:)
Our annual viewing of a Muppet Christmas Carol.
Playing games and waiting for Christmas Eve Chinese food to get delivered and the grab bag fun to begin.
I love that we live so close to the Doxey's we can hang out together:)
The grab bags lined up and waiting to go!
A few of the grab bag talents this year included:
Ukulele playing
Stories and a few of Opa's favorite things
A hand stand
Dog tricks
Epic balancing acts
Santa came on Christmas Eve and brought lots of surprises for the boys
Christmas morning breakfast with Oma and Jacob and Jason
The Christmas feast we enjoyed with the Doxey family
SNOW...the day AFTER Christmas, but still pretty awesome!
Went for a family walk in the snow
Hyrum took the twins and their friend Landon skiing up on Mt. Hood for the day. He said the snow was just perfect powder!
New Years Eve games and family time
Setting off fireworks at midnight...goodbye 2021!
Went up to Mt. Hood for some wonderful snow shoeing. The weather was just perfect!
Oma said she had a wonderful time in the snow
Jacob and Julian had a fun time playing in the snow...
...then partied it up at the Ratskeller 😂
Went to our 3rd Broadway show. This was a show I had never heard of but I really enjoyed it. It was slow moving and didn't have a lot of big musical numbers but it was a cute look into how people just crave connections with other people.
Went to Portland for the Van Gogh exhibit
I didn't really know what to expect but it was really interesting. Everyone was in a big room and they projected the art on the walls and floor around you so you felt like you were inside the paintings. Very Cool.
December is always such a great month to spend time with family and enjoy the Christmas season and all the feelings and wonder that brings. I'm glad Oma could spend the month with us. The boys were sad to see her leave because she did the dishes for the entire month and now they are back on dish duty 😁
