White Christmas - 2005

It was that time of year again (seems like we did this just yesterday for last year) to start making plans for the Christmas Holidays. Plans were being made to join Ross, Heather, Austin, Sydney, Ryan, Sarah and Zach over at Ross and Heather's home to celebrate Christmas with them on the morning of Dec. 24th. Plans had to be changed to the 26th because Zach and Ryan were not feeling too well and needed a few extra days to get over their colds.

Rocke and I decided to travel to The Dalles on the afternoon of December 24th to celebrate Christmas with Michael and Sylvia. We left Portland in clear skies and 60 degree weather and by the time we reached The Dalles, the temp was about 35 degrees and there was a lot of snow. AWESOME! We were going to enjoy a White Christmas this year. Sylvia arrived home from work and we had a delicious Nacho Chicken dinner. We had a great time visiting with them and playing with their cats. Mustache always enjoys laying in Rocke's lap when we visit. Of course, Rocke doesn't mind and I think he enjoys the visit with Michael and Sylvia so he can play with the the cats. The Christmas gifts were begging to be let out of their packages, so with very little encouragement, we voted to set them free! What a fun time we had opening gifts and checking them out, one by one. Now that the gifts were happily freed from their wrappings, we went back to visiting and enjoying some snacks and drinks.

On Sunday, we continued our visit and watched a DVD Sylvia has gotten for Christmas, Madagascar. What a fun movie! After we watched the movie, it was time for us to enjoy our Christmas dinner, and once again too soon, time for Rocke and I to return home to Portland and get ready for Christmas with the Warren's Monday morning.

On Monday morning, we joined Ross, Heather, Austin, Sydney, Ryan, Sarah and Zach over at Ross and Heather's home for a Christmas brunch. When we arrived, Heather had already set a beautiful Christmas brunch table for all of us to enjoy. While Ross and Heather prepared brunch, the rest of us enjoyed visiting and playing with the grandkids.

After a delicious brunch, we all retired to the living room and continued catching up on all the news everyone had to share before opening Christmas gifts. It was so much fun watching Austin and Zach open their gifts this year. Being older, they didn't need any help from their parents, which made it fun to see them tear into the gift wrapping. They were so cute opening each gift and trying to find time to play with them while being given another gift to open. Sydney enjoyed having her dad's help to open her Christmas gifts this year. Next year she'll be big enough to open her own gifts.

Last, but not least, we all had one last gift. Ryan and Sarah announced that there would be another addition to the family in late July. What a WONDERFUL way to end Christmas with the family, being told that we would become grandparents for the 7th time. AWESOME!! We are eagerly anticipating another exciting year.