Happy New Year

We went to Seaside on the 28th and are staying until Jan. 1st. We spent New Years here last year, too. Scott, Julie, Kyle, Tori and Dakota came with us. The weather hasn't been too bad. We stay at a place that is only a couple of blocks from the ocean and we can walk to the Prom. We get a free breakfast here and we go out to eat each night..........my kind of living! This place also has a great work out room and swimming pool. The kids have spent most of their time swimming. Tori can now swim from the deep end of the pool to the shallow end.

Dakota is a good swimmer and helped Kyle become more comfortable in the deep end of the pool.

Dakota and Kyle bought fake mustaches and had more fun wearing them.All three kids have electric Razor scooters so they rode them on the Prom while we walked. The kids loved the jacuzzi bathtub and I put shower gel in it and boy, did it ever make good bubbles.I wish all of you a Happy, Healthy New Year.

Love to you all,

JO

Merry Christmas and Happy 7th Birthday Tori

It is about time I write on my blog. I have been neglecting it because I have been busy with Christmas and Faceboook.

We drove to Scott and Julie's on Christmas Eve. We had about 14" of snow so we weren't sure if we were going to be able to go. We had noodle soup and ham for dinner that night. It was great.

Christmas morning, Kyle and Tori slept in and then opened their presents. Tori got a "Betty scooter." Notice our dog, Sara, got in the picture.

Kyle got a gas powered scooter.The next day, it was Tori's 7th birthday. We gave her the Butterscotch pony that she has wanted for two years.

That afternoon, we met Justin and Vickie in The Dalles to pick up Dakota. The weather through the gorge was a little icy but we made it okay. Here he is with the picture that Mom and Lloyd made for him. It is a jigsaw puzzle that they put together and then framed. It is pretty cool.We gave him a new shotgun because he loves to hunt ducks and pheasants with his Dad.

We all had a great Christmas and hope all of you did, too.

Love to you all,

JO

OMG! I can not believe the amount of snow we have. It is now snowing harder than it has the last few days and we already have over a foot of snow! It is beautiful but I keep thinking about how this weather is going to impact our plans because of Christmas.

Today is Sunday and we didn't get an Oregonian newspaper. Boy, do we miss sitting and ready the Sunday paper since it takes us several hours. It is our favorite paper. This morning, we decided to walk to Fred Meyers (about 2 miles away) to get one. We got all bundled up and took off. Well, we got about four blocks away and decided to come home since it had started raining ice pellets. Not too much fun and super cold. So decided to come home and eat waffles with strawberries and whipping cream. Smart decision, don't you think?!

Because of my cold, we really haven't been out to play in the snow. Wish we lived closer to the kids so we could play with them. Scott, Julie, Kyle and Tori have been playing a lot in the snow since they have lots of hills around the Newberg area. Here is a picture she just sent of them.

Here is a picture of our house. Denny took it yesterday before it had snowed very much.

I am feeling better but still have my cold. It has been 8 days and I know that sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to get over a cold, so I am hoping to kick this cold soon. I did call the doctor yesterday and he ordered me an antibiotic in case I have a sinus infection. I am not going to take it unless I think it is necessary because I know it isn't good to take antibiotics unless you have a bacterial infection and I think right now, mine is viral. But I wanted to have it on hand since we will be gone for Christmas and might not be able to get in touch with my doctor.

We will go to Scott and Julie's for Christmas Eve and stay all night so we can celebrate Christmas day with them. The next day, we are supposed to drive to pick up Dakota so he can go to the beach with us. I am really hoping that the gorge will be good enough for us to pick him up. Looking out the window right now, it doesn't look good.

I hope all of you are staying safe and warm. Drive careful if you go out in this snow.

Love to you all,

JO

It's Snowing.....And I Have A Cold!

I am doing a terrible job with my blog. Sorry. Maybe I should give it up. I have been trying to get my Christmas letter done. I hope to have it in the mail tomorrow or the next day. I don't have Word on my computer so it takes me forever to get my pictures with captions on them. And they look so "elementary." Not professional at all. Maybe I will buy Word for next year. This year I am sending out just pictures....no written letter.

We have had snow all week. Most of the schools have been closed the entire week. Don't know about tomorrow yet but I bet they will be closed again. I am sure some of the mothers are ready to pull their hair out. Christmas vacation starts next Monday so they will be out two more weeks. I love the snow but it sure has screwed up a lot of my plans. We did drive to Newberg on Monday for Kyle's basketball practice. It was a little scary driving home. Practice was cancelled on Tuesday, as was my support group meeting. We were going to have our Christmas party. Darn! Then on Thursday, I didn't get to go to my monthly girlfriend's luncheon or meet with the Lunch Bunch gals.

You would think I would be getting tons of things done around here since I am "house bound." But because I have had a cold for the last five days, I don't have a lot of energy. Each day I think I will feel better but I don't. I will give it a few more days and then will maybe have to see what the doctor says. I know it is just a cold and so many people have said that it hangs on forever. I just want to feel good for Christmas. And I sure hope Denny doesn't get it.

If I feel well enough tomorrow, I would like to take a picture of our house with the snow on it. I haven't even been out in the snow yet! Now, that sucks! Who ever heard of having snow and not playing in it?!

We love our weight room. I remember last year when the weather was icy and we couldn't get out and walk. We felt awful. But with our weight equipment, we can exercise inside. We both feel so much better when we work out. With my cold, I am taking it a little easy.

Hope all of you are staying warm and safe. And hope you are all ready for the holidays.

Love to you all,

JO

It's Basketball Time

Oh, my gosh. It has been over a week since I have written on my blog. I have been busy playing on Facebook. If you haven't joined it, try it....you'll like it!

Last weekend I went to Newport Bay for happy hour with our friends, Dick, Jan, John, Rita, Bill and Lynne. Denny had basketball practice and joined us later at Dick and Jan's. It had been months since we had seen John and Rita. They live near us so we are hoping to get together more often with them in 2009 since they are not going to travel as much next year.

On Saturday, we went to Kyle's basketball tournament in Clackamas. They played two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. They all played so hard because they only have 7 boys on their team. Denny is helping coach the team and is really enjoying it. It is a little tough to go to three practices a week and games on Saturday and sometimes Sunday as well. Good thing gas is cheaper!

Julie's birthday was on Monday, so we went to Newberg to help her celebrate it. The boys also had practice. Tori picked out a great gift for her Mom. It was a necklace engraved with, "A Mother holds her child's hand for a short while but holds her heart forever." It was beautiful and Tori was so excited to give it to Julie.

On Wednesday I went to my support group meeting. I missed it last week so it was really nice to see all the gals. Shauna was there and she looks great and is on a chemo break until after the first of the year. Yea, Shauna! Next week we will have our Christmas party since the following Wednesday is the 24th and a lot of the gals will be out of town.

Yesterday we had our friends, Jim and Charlotte, for dinner and they stayed all night with us. Justin's wife, Vickie, had surgery and is doing well and should go home tomorrow.

Today we are in Newberg for basketball practice. We will go to Kyle's basketball tournament tomorrow. We need to head home right after the game because it could possibly snow since it is going to get really cold the next couple of days.

On Sunday we are going to Bill and Lynne's for their annual Christmas party. Lynne works so hard on it and invites so many people. It is so nice of her to have the party every year. I know it takes a lot of time and money to put on a party like that. Thank you, Lynne and Bill.

I have another busy week coming up. (Tori's recital, support group meeting, my monthly luncheon with the gals, get together with the Lunch Bunch gals and we are going to Cascade Locks to watch Justin coach his team.)

Hope all of you have a great weekend. IF we get snow or ice, drive careful.

Love to you all,

JO

In Newberg With The Kids

We went to Newberg on Monday so Denny could help with Kyle's basketball practice. They have their first tournament this weekend in Clackamas. He is playing on a traveling team so it will be fun to go to different locations. They will have a tournament in Seaside sometime in March so they will have some overnight trips. Kyle also had practice on Tuesday so be decided to stay both Monday and Tuesday nights.

Julie and I went shopping on Tuesday at Target in Sherwood. I was able to get a find a few gifts and get some Christmas gift ideas. Then we went to Tori's Hip Hop dance class. That was fun to watch. She is a great dancer and they will have their recital in a couple of weeks.

It was fun to spend time with the kids. Kyle just had his hair cut, which he didn't want to do. But it looks great. He still has bangs that almost hang in his eyes. He had to have his side burns cut and he really, really likes side burns. Scott and Julie wanted him to have his hair cut for Thanksgiving. He had a hooded sweatshirt on when he came downstairs to go to school, after having had several days off, due to Thanksgiving vacation. I asked him if he was going to wear his hood up all day and he said that he was not allowed to have his hood up during school, so I am sure he was really dreading having to take his hood off later! Poor boy.

Tori also had her hair cut and had bangs cut, for the first time ever. She really looked cute and her hair doesn't hang in her eyes now. She really liked her hair cut and couldn't wait to show her friends.

I didn't go to my support group meeting on Wednesday because we wanted to stop by Costco on our way home from Newberg. Shauna wasn't feeling well and wasn't going to be at the meeting either. I will go next week for sure.

Today I got out my Christmas decorations and started putting them up. I definitely am going to get rid of some of them. Last year I down sized my decorations and I plan on doing it again. Gotta get down to about six boxes instead of twelve!

Tomorrow I am going to a Christmas bazaar at the Southwest Washington Medical Center. One of my friends, Susan, is selling some of her fantastic photos. Then we are going to happy hour at New Port Bay with friends. Looking forward to a fun day.

Hope all of you are having a great week.

Love to you all,

JO