o christmas tree :: family

"o christmas tree, o christmas tree

thy leaves are so unchanging

o christmas tree, o christmas tree

thy leaves are so unchanging

not only green when summer's here

but also when tis cold and drear

o christmas tree, o christmas tree

thy leaves are so unchanging"

 

 

Every year (OK, not every but almost every) we head out to get a tree usually going to a local u-cut lot to pick out the best manicured, hand raised specimen for our living room.  There was a year we hung bows from our windows, much to our children's dismay.  Then there was the time a couple years ago we made the horrible mistake of a trip to the mountains for a tree due to the encouragement of our oldest.  This year we didn't let her persuade us and we loaded up into the truck to head to Hubert's Tree Farm in Seabeck, Wa.  We had gone there years before and had good luck so we thought we would try again. We met up with my parents and headed that way, each in our own truck.  Of course as soon as we arrived out there the rain was falling full force.  After driving around to the different areas of trees, we came to a stop at a Noble area and all bundled up, including my dad with a garbage sack wrapped around his casted foot, began to tromp around looking for the perfect one.  My mother is quite partial to Nobles and it didn't take her much time at all to find the just right one.  We loaded it into their truck and then headed to the Grand Fir area to look for the perfect one for us.  I was determined to have a "full" tree and we traipsed around for what the girls will exclaim as being "forever" but was really no more than 10 minutes and finally came upon the perfect tree.  It really was a successful and not to horrendous of an experience.  We then headed to our respective homes (sending the girls with my parents for a day of hanging at their house) and after dropping our tree off, Christmas shopping we went. 

 

 

 a group effort to get the perfect noble for mom & dad's house.

 

 

 finally found the just right one for our living room - yes, a little tall but perfectly narrow!

 

 

robb and ellie grab and away we go.  olyvia exclaimed she was WAY to cold to assist. 

 robb making sure the tree was fully shaken of its dead needles . . . later proved to be unsuccessful.

 

 

UPDATE:  Massive needle loss in less than 10 days without the tree actually being dead and we were on to tree no. 2. Solved by undecorating, quick trip to Central Market and redecorating.  Hoping this second one will make the cut and last until Christmas.

gobble gobble day ~ a day to give thanks

Ever year our Thanksgiving is overtaken by "have to be here" and "have to be there" and "don't want to disappoint them" and "she wants us to do this" and "he wants us to do that."  We find that we are so overtaken with what everyone else wants of us and go go going that we forget the reason for the season.  We forget to focus on giving thanks because, well we barely have time to breath between all the places we have to go and people we have to see.  This year we decided to do it different.  Wednesday we headed to my sister's and spent the afternoon and evening with her and her family and went back there Thursday morning and spent all day there.  It was wonderful to spend so much time with them.  They just recently moved closer to us and it is wonderful.  We spent Wednesday evening laughing with the girls, getting Thanksgiving dinner prepped and then heading to the movies, just my sis and I, to see Breaking Dawn p.2.  It was a great movie and all in all a great evening.  Thursday was filled with giggling girls - the three of them can't help but giggle when they are together, crafts, fabulous food, movies and dominoes.  All together it reminded us of all the many things we have to be thankful for.  Thank you sis for inviting us into your home to hang out for a couple days and have a truly wonderful Thanksgiving.

 



I should probably add a little disclaimer for this last photo.  This month Robb has been participating in Movember. :S  As much as I love my hubby and I love his desire to draw awareness to prostate cancer, I disliked the mustache that was a part of this awareness.  In fact, it pretty much creeped me out.  By Thanksgiving we were almost there - one week away of the much awaited removal and I just couldn't not have a photo.  As much as the facial hair caused me serious trauma, I wanted to have photographic proof that this month had actually occurred. And so, the last photo.

today i marry my friend :: sara.albert.hanna

I can now official say I have shot a wedding in the rain, learned that I should have either not worn mascara or worn waterproof and through it all the bride was ecstatic.  Cold, windy & wet but a true success.  The bride considered the rain good luck and both her and her beautiful maid of honor donned the most fabulous rain boots for the occasion.  Here are a few of my absolute favorites from the day. Best of luck to all three of you, Sara, Albert & Hanna.  You are an absolutely beautiful family deserving of all that the Lord has blessed you with.

location:port gamble & point no point

 

fall at kopperskogen

True fall, one of the shortest seasons in the Pacific Northwest but also one of the most beautiful.  This year our summer went well into October and it wasn't until late October that true fall hit.  The crisp air, beautiful sunny skies (when it isn't raining that is), bright copper leaves and the fun of Halloween.

Fall isn't complete without an afternoon carving pumpkins, baking pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread, fresh cooked applesauce, and of course Halloween.  This year it was great having my sister and her family close by so that we could all get together and go trick or treating together.  My dad, having just had foot surgery, and mom hung out at Hot Shots Java while Robb, my sister and I quickly lead the three stooges around downtown to get their treats.  The weather was very unpleasant but it didn't dampen their spirits any.  For that matter it didn't damped our spirits any either although when the rain started coming down in buckets we did pick up our speed a little and might have skipped a few of the stops. :)

 

As we were walking around we realized that Olyvia is definitely in a transitional period of time.  I can hardly believe it.  Time has gone by so fast and here she is such a spunky beautiful spirit trying to figure out where she belongs; with the little kids or the big kids. It is such a tug at the heart strings watching her at this point in her life.

 

 

And then there are these two little spunky energetic kiddos.  They are like a drug for each other, feeding off of each other minute by minute. It is such a joy to watch them together; inseparable.

'the walk' by richard paul evans :: literatue

On a recent trip to a local supermarket chain, I previewed the books in the bargain bin and came away with this winner.  The walk is an inspirational, heartbreaking and heartwarming novel all at the same time.  It starts pulling at your heart strings from the very beginning.  I loved how all throughout it I could apply what I was reading to my life. . . the life events weren't the same, but the main character, Alan, had many of the same thoughts I do on a daily basis. 

The Walk takes place in Washington State as Alan embarks upon a journey to walk away from the life he knew and find another one.  Written as if it were a journal, you are able to really get inside the main character, feeling his pain and happiness as he sets out on his journey.

**** I highly recommend this easy inspirational novel for all.

'the shipping news' by annie proulx :: literature

Our much anticipated trip down the coast camping with our children was a fabulous adventure.  Other than the amazing time with my kiddos and hubby, I LOVED that I got to devote some time to reading.  Lately I feel like the busyness of work has gotten in the way of some of my enjoyments, reading being one of them.  So I decided that this long weekend I would make some time to read.  My first task was to finish a book I had started awhile back called The Shipping News by Annie Proulx.  A Pulitzer prize winning novel written in 1993 and turned into a movie in 2001.  I have never seen the movie so my judgments about this book are solely due to what I have read. 

Quoyle, the main character, is an emotionally abusive relationship until tragedy changes everything. The book follows him to Newfoundland where he attempts to make a new life for himself under the instruction of his Aunt. You watch him continually allow others to treat him horribly and I almost gave up on the book because of this.  I just wanted him to have more value in himself.  I stuck in there though and finished the book, glad that I did.

** Not a bad book but full of pretty depressing situations that seemed to be avoidable.  I sometimes felt the characters weren't as developed as I would have liked and was sometimes confused with the progression of events.  That said, I enjoyed rooting for Quoyle to succeed, to find himself and ultimately to find real love.  If you enjoy reading literature that steps outside of norms and makes its own rules, then I would definitely recommend this book.

where have i been?

Where have I been?  Got online this evening and realized it had been WAY too long since I last posted.  I really need to get back on here and keep up to date.  Our lives have been crazy busy lately and I have missed blogging but I have so much to blog about.  A beautiful wedding, great senior photo shoots, time with the family at the beach and some amazing summer reading tucked in between.  I am so excited to share it all with you.  I hope you too have been filling your summer with amazing memories and capturing it all in photos you can cherish forever.

Stay tuned...