Well its the last day of January - hard to believe how fast time has flown. I can't believe I haven't posted on here in 6 weeks!
So Christmas, lets see. We had a fantastic Christmas. We drove to Sunriver and met our family in a big house in the snow. We got there on Christmas Eve, unloaded and hurriedly called the shuttle service to get a ride over to the resort. A bus comes and drives you around there, which with 11 of us made a whole lotta sense!
Anyway, we got to the lodge and walked through the snow to one of the large meeting rooms in a separate building. If you haven't had a chance to go to Sunriver before, its something else. They have lights on all the trees, reindeeer and decor out. With 18" of snow on the ground it was just gorgeous. As we were walking down the path Santa came up behind us with his wife in their golf cart (who knew?) and gave the kids candy and talked to them.
Inside the meeting hall, they had a stage erected. They also brought out hot gingerbread, brownies, apple cider, coffee and hot chocolate. After a bit they invited all the children to to front where they sang songs, acted things out and told jokes. Finally the MC did Twas the Night Before Christmas on stage, at the end of which Santa came out from the chimney. The kids were thrilled.
Probably my favorite part of the evening was the shuttle ride back. There were a ton of people waiting, so we all crammed on. Even Frosty the Snowman and Rudolf got on. My sister-in-laws and I are kinda crazy, so we started singing Christmas carols in the dark with each other. Pretty soon all the strangers joined in. We were lauhging when we forgot words, and so tickled at Emma who at times just sang her own thing.
Came home, chased the kids to bed and tried to get some sleep.
The night was interrupted several times. First time was 3am, when an 'exploration party' stealthly came down the stairs to see if they could find Santa. My brother in law caught them and chased 4 of the 5 kids up the stairs and back to their rooms. At 5am I was awakened as Emma had a bloody nose, which somehow caused an impromptu dance party to erupt in the kids loft. Got them settled down (somewhat) Sister in law had to get them again at 6:30. Finally around 8 we all got up and came down to see what Santa had brought.
Santa, in addition to burying the tree, had brought all of us Nerf Guns. This seemed to be the hit of the holiday. The house had a loft upstairs, and with 2 storys of fighting going on, we were always in some kind of nerf war.
My brotherinlaw had bought a 14 pound prime rib, which he cooked the better part of the day on the outside grill. My other brother in law is a wine guy, so he taught us about wines and brought some great ones.
The kids played in the snow for hours, and more fell each day we were there. One day we took the kids sledding on the sledding hill. Darrell (bil) went down the side that said, 'do not go this way' and took his boys. Emma discovered that she loves sledding once she got the hang of it. Vi was often airborn, but she had a great time. Jakey seemed to suffer for it, lots of whining about it but overall he loved it.
New Years Eve we stayed in. We all stayed up but J fell asleep just before midnight. The girls and I put on silly foil crowns, went out n the deck and blew horns. Before that we had a dance party in my bedroom watching Dick Clark's Rocking New Years Eve on the tv.
This month we took Emma to Portland to have another Echocardiogram done. We met with the pediatric cardiac surgeon and confirmed that Emma will have heart surgery in the summer. Still don't have a date (have to wait for them to open their calendars for summer) but we should in the next month.
Work has been crazy stressful. Budget issues, employee health crisis, lotsof stuff.
Oh, there was one great highlight. Last weekend after 2 long years, the University Theater opened. I've been doing a bit of work on the budget oversite side. Anyway, they bought the house, and invited us to come join them in their gala opening. Gosh it was terrific. The play was Around The World in 80 Days. Afterwards there was a champagne receptin in the new addition to the theater, and then we were allowed to look around. The new scene shop is huge, and so much better. The new costume shop is amazing. IT is 2100 square feet, huge windows, 'green' lights that know when the sun comes out and dim. Lots of space, lots of good work areas. We had such a wonderful time.
Ok, guess that is my six weeks in a nutshell. I'm fighting off a bit of a cold today. Gotta take our dog in for shots, then Vi goes to her bff's house before I take Jakey to go pet snakes, lizards and turtles. I guess they have a big snake you can have your pic taken with. Jakey says he is going for the small snake. I told him I'm sticking to turtles. This will probably reignite his campaign for a blue throated lizard. I'm so petted out with 2 cats and a dog, I think the lizard is a ways off....
The kids in the snow at the lodge, Christmas Eve.
Jakey with his new light saber (I love his face, boy was he happy!)
Jacob on Uncle Darrel's shoulders
The girls after a sledding run.
May the Force Be With You! Twenty years later, Star Wars is still alive and well for our children, go figure!
Emma and the phone Santa got her 
The cousins on Christmas Eve, look at how silly we dressed them with elf hats and striped Pajamas!
