Dec. 21, 2016: Gingerbread Village

We met up with Dad, Gayle, Alisa, Ember, and Emily to check out the awesome gingerbread village at the Captain Cook hotel downtown.

Afterwards we went down to the 5th Ave Mall and had lunch at the food court.  While at the mall, Emily was interviewed by some tv station about her opinion on the resurgence of 90's fashion. Her opinion, for those wondering, is that she's too old for it, and too young for it. Too young because she wasn't a part of the original movement, so she has no nostalgia for it, and too old because she's not a teenager now. (Did I get that right Emily?)

Gayle and Dad also introduced us to a new store, Oil & Vinegar? Or was it Vinegar and Oil? Either way, we LOVED trying out all the delicious flavors of oil and vinegar for sale there. I love vinegar, and loved all the fruit flavored ones. Mmmm. Peach vinegar was a winner, but let's be honest, I don't think I met a vinegar I didn't like. 

Thanks for the picture Gayle! You can always tell if he picture is from someone else if it looks good. Haha! Broken phone camera and kids camera without a flash don't make the best photos. 

Henry, Lucy and Clara with nutcracker.

Mom with Grandpa Billy checking out the gingerbread village.

Ember making a statement of some kind. 

Gayle holding Henry.

Grandpa Billy. Or is that TWO nutcrackers? So hard to tell.

Tracy and Gayle strutting their stuff at the mall. Where we all know it's cool. 

Grandpa Billy making his Blue Steel look.

American-Chinese food? I'm guessing pineapple and Sweet and Sour Chicken.

Boyd playing with Ember, Henry and Lucy

Dec. 20, 2016: Bouncing Bears

On Tuesday my sister Alisa invited us on an outing. At first we thought about going to the Zoo, but in the end decided that the kids would have a lot more fun at an indoor "bounce house" place where it was warm and they could run around. We were right!

The kids had a great time bouncing, climbing, playing games, and sliding with their cousin Ember.

Thank you so much Alisa, Matt and Ember for the awesome time!

King and Queen of the bounce house!
Zach and Clara.

First a few stories with Grandma Gayle before we leave.
Lucy, Clara and Gayle.

Pictures from Lucy's camera:
(Blurry pictures are better than no pictures at all.)

View from the front door of Dad's house.

A rare glimpse of an elusive Indoor Siamese Einstein! Or is it Kess? 

Pulling out of the driveway, how exciting! 

Ember and Lucy making their way to the top!

Henry, Ember and Lucy

Henry saying, "Heeeey!"

Henry and Lucy

Super-awesome-helper- Dad to the rescue!

Zach, Ember, and Lucy

Clara having fun climbing up a mountain.

Lucy and Henry crusin' together.

Lucy helping Henry

Clara sliding down the mountain

Hen and Lu bouncin'.

Alisa and Zach in a basketball shootout

"Hey Mom!"

Gayle, Andrew and Tracy hanging out at home.

Dec. 19, 2016: Moose & Snow

On Monday we had the perfect timing of having a moose walk right past the front kitchen windows, through the front yard, and walk up the driveway. I managed to snag a blury picture and the kids were excited to see their first moose!

Later that day I accompanied Lucy, Clara, and Henry to the backyard where they made more snow angels and generally rolled around in the snow to their hearts content.

Side note: For Christmas Lucy got a digital camera from Zach's parents, and she brought it with her to Alaska to document the trip. I included her pictures and video clips in these posts as well.

Two angels.

Holding wings.

Moose!

Clara having the time of her life.

Henry not being able to do much of anything.

Lucy's pictures:
I took out the MOST offensive blurry ones. The outdoor ones turned out a lot better than the indoor ones with low light.

Some singing, ornaments, piano "music" and about 20 minutes of silence. You're welcome.

View from front windows

Here begins the photographic tour of the house. First up: Emily's painting of an iris flower.

Newton: A fine specimen of a fat cat.

The first in her series: A Colorful Mystery
#1: Block in Blue 

# 2: Purple Crayon

#3: Missing Y

I think a relative of Gayles?

A quilt from someone...

One of many yearly family pictures from Memory Makers at the mall.

A glimpse of the family picture wall.

Bunch of sexy Soules, and Stephen. 

Really bad picture, but must represent with my junior year high school photo, and my ceramic raku monkey from my college pottery class. Woot woot!

Anne's shelf lookin' fine.

Stephen practicing his soccer modeling pose, and Alisa and Matt riding off into the sunset together.

Davis family shelf with Clara and Lucy in bluebonnets, Family picture with Peter, and baby Henry.

Berenstain bears: a classic 

Grandpa Billy trying to hook up his new flat screen TV

Mom and Henry snuggling downstairs in the theater. 

Most likely Grandma Gayle's head. 

Lucy found this treasure trove of artwork. This painting is by Boyd.

View from my old room.