MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Getting Ready for The Holidays

Getting ready for the holidays, had Roger and I out getting the garland on the fence, hanging the Christmas lights on the house. With the whole family getting together right after Thanksgiving, the lights and some decorations had to be up. Heather and Jason and the babies would be traveling over the three mountain passes to get to us for a week long visit. Heather's sisters would be getting their homes ready for Christmas as well, our sort of pre- Christmas with Heather. Our week was full of activities, of which I plan to share on my blog, but in my mind I have to do this is some order, so you are getting a little smitten of some of what has been going on around here.
Here I am getting the lighted garland on the picket fence, I love it when the snow falls on the day I am to hang the garland, it just sets the mood for the holidays, don't you think? This was the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I remember all those years in Hood River, Oregon, when we would always have some sort of snow on Thanksgiving day, setting the mood for Christmas to come.
Our holiday season started off with a great experience, my first 5K walk, and what better way to start your holiday, there were about 1200 people for this event, I just can't imagine one with many thousands of people, yikes!
Kristina here with me, is one of my co-workers, she has been a real source of inspiration to get me moving, she has some high expectations for me, I just keep saying, I will only be walking, she runs marathons, walking is my choice of exercise, I keep telling her.
This was our first 5K walk together, Yahoo!! Baby it was cold, thanks to walking and Roger's very warm down vest I kept very warm

After the Turkey Trot, Roger and I raced home, cleaned up, then went to the Senior Baker's for dinner. This was the year our girls do this holiday with their in-laws, we were invited to Jennifer's in-laws. Thank you Tim and Janet.
All of us women working in the kitchen getting the Thanks Giving dinner prepared. Janet, Apolina, Jennifer, Michelle and myself. This week went so fast, getting ready for Heather's family to come, it felt like a whirl wind of activities.
Heather's family getting to come right after Thanksgiving and just before Christmas, created a lot of family bonding time. There is more to post on our activities, I will just start here to begin with. What a great photo of ALL my Grandchildren. I was so pleased to get this photo.
Our sweet Talea, she was determined she was going to go for a ride on Papa's four wheeler, so the rule is any of the kids have to wear helmets, so if you look closer she has a helmet over her hat. Cute!
Jennifer having some girlie time with Talea, Jennifer has three boys and wants a girl really bad, so when she gets around her two nieces she spoils them to pieces.
These Trojan soldiers were a hit with my grandsons, you would of thought I found a gold mine. Honestly I did not really know what I had found at a garage sale this last summer. anyway this grandma made some brownie points with these boys.
My bribe to get the family photo and all the grandchildren together for a photo was fresh baked cookies. I think it worked.
The extended Muma family. This was a milestone to get everyone in one photo. Yahoo.

Adventures to Bob's Red Mill for The Farm Girls

The Farm Girls were off to adventure to Bob's Red Mill in Portland, Oregon to explore and discover what they all had for us to take home and create with. We chose to have lunch there, which proved to be very filling, sticking to your ribs kind of filling, that is. Then we were off to The Pendleton Woolen Mill store to see what cool treasures we might find.
Katy, Erin, and Robin taking in all the products, what a great Candy store for healthy eating.
These Millstones were amazing, all I could think of was the history and all the grain it has ground.
It was fun to read the history of French Millstones. I think if you click on the photo you might be able to read it for yourself.
This view of the store is from the up stairs area, as I look this over, the feel of the store just reminds me of the OLD Nature's store that was off of the Macadam area in Portland, when I was going to college in 1969. I loved going to Natures back in the day. I guess you would call me a nature girl at heart.
Love this banner, "Flax" just a healthy grain for you.
Steel cut oats, boy am I hooked on this morning ritual. Yummy!!! We had a mid morning lunch at Bob's. We shared our journal pages and our treasures we had made. Then we were off to the Pendleton Woolen Mill.
Katy, myself, Robin, and Erin in front of the Pendleton Woolen Mill sign, a sweet worker there suggested that we do that, so here we are.
Katy has a plan here, she is getting scraps of wool strips for her mom-in-law, herself and niece so that they can each make their own rag rug. How fun is that?
Love these spools of colored thread, I find myself picking these up at garage sales and flea markets. I would guess I have weakness for textiles.