Sunrise...

Sierra and Eric took a tandem ride to see the sunrise.  It was completely foggy at our house and once they hit the top the sun was out and the fog was below them.  We live in a beautiful place.

Nic and Mindy...

My brother and his wife drove up from CA on Christmas day to make a special delivery, more on that to come.   They were just in time to help me get some experience with my Christmas presents. 

Christmas blur...

Is it really already over?

It's not official yet...

Officially Allie turns 6 on the 28th but the princess party came this week.  She chose what she wanted to eat, do and play. 

Food
cupcakes, root beer, cheese, grapes and little sandwiches
Games
hide and go seek
musical chairs
tag
magic wand making too

She loved to plan, loved to do things on her own and in her own way.  This girl of mine has ideas in her head and when she is allowed full creativity and freedom to carry them out, ALL of them, she is one happy child. 

Ruffles and running?

I don't consider myself a girly-girl but I am pretty sure running tights with ruffles is a combination I would wear.  Imagine how much faster I would be able to run wearing these.  It's all your fault Krista, I checked out your store.

A race to remember...

 

A few days after Thanksgiving we had the most beautiful day.  Pretty blue sky with sun and warmth.  It was the perfect day for the brothers to do a Cyclocross race.  There was still a muddy swamp to give it the real Cross feel.  I think they would all do it again, even in wrestling shoes, which is what JC wore.  Krista and I might even give it a shot someday, how about it Amber?  Girls turn next time?  Such a good day and even better memories.

The Magic Kingdom...

Nope, we didn't take the kids to Disneyland but to Powell's Books.  Ever since Sierra and Mason heard about a book store that has 4 stories and shelves up to the ceiling they had to see it for themselves.  So we had a little family adventure to Portland and hit Powell's, OMSI and an IMAX movie, rode the sky tram, ate at Sweet Tomatoes and stayed at a hotel.  To the kids it all was the Magic Kingdom.  And for some reason Garrett had to carry a pear around everywhere.

A late Halloween...

Eric doesn't dress up for Halloween, but if your friend has a gorilla suit and you take weekly night mountain bike rides in the forest you may just wear it.  Make sense?  I didn't think so, but read the following, written by Eric:

About 6 months ago, Ben, Tyler and I were talking, and we realized that a) Tyler received a gorilla suit for Christmas last year, and b) we are part of a weekly forest night ride group, so we get an email every week detailing exactly where and when the group will be in the forest at night (thanks to Craig's very detailed itineraries). It dawned on us that our not taking advantage of this opportunity was bordering on offensive.

Last night, the plans went off as well as we could have anticipated. The only hitch was that as I was waiting in the bushes for the group to approach the meeting point, Tyler said, "Uh-oh.  Jason is riding with the group tonight, and he's probably bringing his dog." Jason's dog Maggie runs on our rides a lot, and is an excitable, fast dog that loves chasing animals in the forest. Needless to say, the most scared anyone during the ordeal was me, in the ape suit, giant mask turned around on my head, dog snarling at me, me blindly scrambling up the bank through the bushes to save my own life. Fortunately the riders urgently called Maggie off so she wouldn't get eaten by "the bear". The culmination of the "performance", however, produced only marginally less fear in other participants. In the end, neither the gorilla suit nor anyone's bike pants were irreversibly soiled.

The Bear

More from one of the pranksters here.