Look, JP CAN shimmy!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

JP and I have a tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree each year. We have funny stories and crazy adventures from every year so far, but they can be a post for another day. We ALMOST broke our tradition this year because we left all of our Christmas decorations in Utah. After a lot of begging, I finally convinced JP that we had to keep our one tradition alive. We had to go to 3 different stores in this little town to find a Christmas tree stand. It was pitch black by the time we got up to the mountain and we had to hike a super-slippery-super-steep-slope to get our perfect little tree, but it was definitely worth it. It smells so good and brings a tiny piece of Christmas into our home.




Oh, and those our just some mushrooms for the local potheads - and there are a lot of 'em out here (potheads and mushrooms) :)

We found out at the last second that JP didn't have to work Thanksgiving weekend, so we drove ALL through the night so we could spend Thanksgiving with the fam. We arrived at 7:00 am on Turkey day!!! Let me tell you, 15 hours in a honda civic with a man, two dogs, fog, and traffic makes for one "hecking" road trip! It was all worth it though. We got to have TWO delicious Thanksgiving meals with the best company ever (our families). We are so thankful for our fun, albeit crazy families, who let us crash their parties with little warning. We love you guys sooo much and feel so lucky we got to spend time with you! We forgot our crappy camera and I didn't take any pictures, so this is all you get. Aren't we pretty? YAY! I FINALLY figured out how to create a collage. I have been trying for MONTHS, and today I discovered that you cannot create a collage using Picassa if you are working on a mac. GGGRR!
 

JP had a sentimental reunion with the trail 90 crew and I got to go on a tandem bike ride (little Kai and Owen in tow) with the baby mamas; Emily, Des, and Shelby. It was a great trip and we can't wait to come back again in a week and a half :)!



Everyone has been telling us to go to Bend! We finally went a couple of weekends ago and liked it so much that we went back again this past weekend. This is a Mt. Bachelor where the snow if supposedly similar to Utah's - light and fluffy.


We spent one night in a condo and one night camping. It was pretty cold! I couldn't feel my fingers and toes on our bike ride. I woke up and all of our stuff was frozen including my hat and coat. I have decided that sometimes I think my little family loves me more than they really do. For instance, one night as I was walking towards JP he started patting the seat next to him. I went to sit down and realized he was actually patting his seat for Che. Another night I was bawling my eyes out (I can't remember why) and Che started howling and crying right along with me. I thought it was the sweetest thing ever until I realized he pooped in our house and really just needed to go outside. These pictures are living proof. Please notice who is sleeping comfortably in the tent on this freezing cold night.



Don't those camping chairs look a little out of place in the rugged outdoors? You should all want to be our friends when we go camping because these chairs are more comfortable than couches!


This was our second trip to Bend. We went with Jenny, Mike, and Emily. It was Jenny's birthday and we partied hard! It was much warmer this time and we hiked Smith Rock, which is a climber's wonderland. I love how they're all looking up at the climbers in that picture. Isn't Emily Precious?







Ridin' in the rain - trail 90 style. Peace out til next time!

 

A PLACE OF JOY (refer to the bottom picture)

For MY SISTER'S BIRTHDAY (yes, that's right...her birthday, not mine) she got me a plane ticket to come see her for the weekend! Now, time for my cheesy post. I HAVE THE BEST SISTER IN THE WHOLE WORLD. Here are of few of the reasons that she is the best: She always knows how to cheer me up. Whenever I get sad JP tells me to call Hollie because he knows she can make me happy. She is the most thoughtful and generous person I know and doesn't want/expect anything in return. She gives me presents and surprises like crazy and will threaten me with my life if I ever try to pay her back. She won't even take an hour of babysitting for free, (that's kind of messed up, I know) and I LOVE babysitting her kids. She is the funniest person ever. I could write a book about her all-time funniest moments because there are so many. I would list a few, but I'm not sure she'd be very happy with me :) She is very protective of me and everyone else she loves (hence her awesome comments on my blog). She is an amazingly talented dancer and cares about each one of her students. She really invests time, energy, and interest in those girls and they all love her. She is an awesome mom and has the coolest kids. She is crazy busy, but will make time for anyone who needs it. I could go on and on forever, but I'll save that for a rainy day (there are a lot here, so it won't be too long!). I hope you had a Happy Birthday! I love you!!!

I'm a little bit of an obsessed aunt, and it was sooo fun to see the kids. Libby and Hollie have the same birthday, so it was a combined celebration with the fam.









Libby got her first real manicure and pedicure. She's starting young!





The kids were as cute as ever and it was so good to see my family. For the Utah family and friends I didn't get to see, please don't hate me! I really didn't have very much time.


Believe it or not, I did not post every biking picture we have ever taken. I guess I'm a little camera happy and we are a little one-dimensional in our hobbies. JP and I slid and fell at the exact same time. He stood up and asked me how I fell at such an easy spot and he was serious (it was very dark, steep, and muddy), so I asked him the same question :) I'm frowning because I'm covered in mud and JP is examining the damage.





A little fun with iphoto. I think I'm going to frame these and hang them next to each other. They will fit right in with the rest of our overly colorful apartment.




A view of Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier. We could also see Mt. Hood and Mt. Saint Helens. The other side was the coolest view I've ever seen (way prettier than this), but our camera stopped working. JP and I could not believe how pretty it was. We went on a 28 mile ride in Hood river with some guys JP met. I thought I was going to puke by mile 2, but managed to finish alive. It was sooo beautiful!

Moments before we got robbed :(

The lone rider. He's pretty lonely without his crew!

These pictures were just taken yesterday. Can you believe everything is so colorful in November? This was our first official ride in the pouring rain. It's about triple the workout on the uphill and pretty muddy! I should've taken before and after shots cause we were covered in mud.


I thought JP was going to make a goofy face because he always does, but look who's the goofy one now!





Just before the downpour of rain. I LOVE all my headbands Kelene (I don't know if you ever look at this)Thanks again!

The sign above him says, "A Place of Joy". We both thought that was pretty funny, but we did have a joyous time.