Owen, Sara &
Andrew Hoelter

Grampa in his “baby meeting sweater” with a twinkle in his eye (and looking a little terrified?) holding his first great grandchild (Owen) at our apartment in Portland, almost 8 years ago. I miss that twinkle! And the chuckle that went along with it…

We had a simple, sweet Christmas this year–all on our own. The above picture was taken on Christmas eve after church. Owen sang in the children’s choir (“On Christmas Night” and another one–something with bells…). He did a great job! He read his verses nice and slow and only got hung up on “Quirinius.” Sara and Drew sang along with the carols and tried to light us on fire with the candle, but we all made it though intact.

We didn’t have a picture for our Christmas card this year, so we bribed them with cookies (Drew’s is in his hand) to stand in front of the tree in their holiday clothes and took a zillion pictures (4 per second, I think). This was my favorite outtake…

In the morning, we found that Santa had come, and brought the kids some maracas. Of course, a parade was held:

He also brought an easel with a chalkboard and an eraser.

In the excitement of it all, we forgot to cook the Christmas morning sausage, but we did eat the Christmas Stollen (from Cascade Baking) and Sara’s special juice and a double pot of coffee.

Then we opened our presents,  read the books, and took out all of the tiny parts of everything. Here are some scenes…

Our traditional cozy socks from Daddy:

Sara’s beloved and long-awaited “Pillow-Pet”:

Owen, halfway through his new stash of books:

After a lovely Christmas nap, we had our feast, including these tiny tarts that Sara helped me fill. So CUTE and YUMMY!

A sweet day, with it’s challenges like all of them, but somehow everything all came together and we really enjoyed our family.

(Thank Goodness…!)

As we prepare to make new Christmas memories, I thought it would be fun to enjoy one more time Sara’s Baby Jesus Song from a year ago.

Merry Christmas everybody!

We got our tree early. Before the “blessed event” on 12/12.

One of these days we’ll tromp through the snow in the actual woods and argue over which tree is the best. For now, we tromp through the mud at a tree farm (deserted at 4 pm on a Wednesday!) and argue over finding the perfect not-perfect tree. We found a good one, a little narrow with a nice gap near the top!

The decorations were brought up from the basement and put on the tree* and Sara helped her Daddy put the star on top (Owen is now Too Heavy for star duty).

*Pictures of obstinate children and subsequently grumpy mama omitted–grateful to my own mama who reminds me to peek at them when they are sleeping and count my blessings.

We found this list in Owen’s backpack. He says they are in no particular order. Peter and I took a deep breath and got ready for a philosophical discussion about #3, but Owen says he “just doesn’t know what he looks like”!

It’s a drizzly Willamette Valley winter!

We escaped the house for a little walk last weekend at an Audubon park in West Salem after coming home from the Portland Hoelters. Why? Because it’s GOOD for you!! We gathered lots of little bits of moss and sticks, light green, dark green, moldy and falling apart and a few oak galls, which forever remind me of Grampa Wing’s house. Kids were goofy, and we only got rained on a little bit.

Thanksgiving was REALLY yummy and we were especially thankful for the presence of Uncle Micah–back from his travels with lots of stories. The traditional Hoelter cranberry sauce was made with help from kids:

Love to all of you today!