A Very Zirker Christmas

Matt, Riley and I had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was fun watching Riley opening up her presents and even more fun watching her play with her new toys!

Riley looked so cute in her Christmas dress!

The Sit & Spin was the hit of the day!  Also the toy phone...she loves to multi-task!

Grandma and Grandpa Zirker gave her this princess tent.  She loves bringing her toys inside to play in her own special place!

Merry Christmas everyone! We love you all so much!

A New Tradition??

Happy New Year...really?...  For some reason we felt the need to start a new tradition by repeating last year's New Years Eve in the ER AGAIN!!  Yes folks, the dreaded kidney stone strikes again...a year to the day.  I think I'm starting to see a pattern.  Too much rich food?  Not enough water?  Holiday Season without restraint...please learn from my mistakes!

Went into the ER last year in Boise after a bike ride with Bruce, Tim, and Dave and spent the afternoon in treatment and big pain but was able to make the party that evening albeit somewhat drugged.

Went into the ER this year in Portland at 10:30 PM and had to wait until 3:30AM to see a doctor and get the pain meds flowing.  Note to self: Keep pain meds on hand and avoid the ER on holidays. What a zoo!

I was released at 5:30AM on New Years day and we promptly went to bed, only to be startled awake by a real estate agent showing our home without notice.  Needless to say she was also startled to see me stumbling into the living room barefoot and barely conscious.

Oh well...  Just another day in the life...  all is well...  What a way to start the New Year.

Christmas in Boise

Merry Christmas from the Oakes Family!  This year we spent Christmas with Drew's family in Boise.  All of his brothers and sisters, except Ty traveled from Utah to spend the holiday together.  Our Christmas Eve was full of old traditions in the Oakes family.  We smashed a pinata full of candy, then went out to dinner, drove around town to view the spectacular Christmas lights, and then came home to open our PJ presents under the tree.  I love traditions!  It make the Christmas season more magical for me!

Brycen and Ava each took a swing at it  - then Jaci stepped up and smashed it to pieces!

Christmas pajamas!

Then we headed home to get tucked in bed before Santa came to our house.  And it's a good thing we did because Santa brought Ava and Brycen a BIG surprise!  He left a note under the tree that said his gift was too big to bring inside, so he left it in the backyard.  This left Ava and Brycen a bit puzzled.  It didn't take long for them to get their coats and shoes on and run into the backyard for the best surprise ever!  Note the expressions on their faces!  Ya, I think they like it!

Merry Christmas, love Santa!  Snow or no snow - they were determined to play outside Christmas Day!

 After we finished opening presents and getting ready at home, we headed back to the the Oakes house to continue Christmas with them!  Carter received some official BRONCO gear.  I don't think he was particularly please with the hat.  :)  It was a lovely Christmas day!

For the rest of the week - we played.  Then... an accident!  My poor nephew Hunter, who is about 18 months old fell on the bottom step of the stair and hit his face, knocking out 2 teeth - roots and all!  The poor kid had just barely gotten these two teeth and now he will have a toothless grin until his permanent teeth fill the gap!  Yep, that could be 5-6 years from now.  Poor little guy!  He didn't let it slow him down much though.  This kid goes 100 mph all day - until he finally falls asleep!  Such a cutie though.

Towards the end of the week - all the boys got together with their guns - cleaning and readying themselves for a trip to the desert to shoot.  My new bro-in-law loves guns and was educating everyone on how to properly clean and take care of their firearms.  I must admit, I really liked watching all these macho guys and their guns - it was kinda cool.

Jeffrey, Darrell, Amanda, Derek,  and Drew.

This Christmas was a lot of fun with all the family - but we really missed Ty and Haley and their girls.  Hopefully one day we can all be together again.  A BIG thanks to DeAnna for hosting!  Merry Christmas to those we love and missed this holiday season!

A Rowley Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We had a great time spent with the Rowley clan and I thought I'd share a few photos of our day.
On Christmas Eve we tried to get the kids to act out the Nativity. They sure looked cute!

Tucker and Brenna - Joseph and Mary

Our 3 Wisemen - Jackson, Landon, and Dallas

Jett as the Angel Gabriel

Shane as the Shepard

Clarissa recovered my carseat!! A total surprise and she did a great job making it girly for my Little Miss!

Before...

After  ;)

Tucker showing two of his favorites - his Darth Vader hoodie and his Darth Maul light saber. He's my star wars kid. In the foreground you can see the leappad 2 the kids got! So fun!

Cute girl showing off her new shirt and soft elephant.

And one of Shadow in our house and a peek at our tree. Merry Christmas!

Santa did great this year and all got what they wanted - they must've been really good! Jett is having tons of fun with his new RC helicopter, Tucker got a Darth Vader "costume" - an awesome hoodie, and Dallas got a motorcycle toy.
A big hit this year was definitely the LeapPad 2-s that Grandma and Grandpa got all the grandkids - they are glued and love playing the games and discovering all the coolness these gadgets have to offer - tons of fun!! Jayson is having fun with the awesome airsoft accessories and other toys from his bros and dad and I'm enjoying all my girly gifts. It was definitely a great Christmas and we all enjoyed the time with family and remembering the true meaning of Christmas!


Love you all and hope your holiday was marvelous and here's to a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from Seaside!

Since the girls and their families spent Christmas with their in-laws this year, Steve and I decided to go to the coast for Christmas.  We arrived in Seaside on Christmas Eve afternoon, and spent a quiet evening together, listening to music, watching old movies, and, of course, eating snacks.  We awoke Christmas Morning to open a surprise stocking from Ashley (THANK YOU!) "to keep the tradition going!"  Snacks, small boxes of cereal, oranges, chocolates, a beautiful crystal seashell ornament and a warm fuzzy scarf for mom, and an adorable Santa ornament for dad.  What a great surprise.  The weather was a bit windy with a few sprinkles, but it did NOT deter us from walking the beach!  I guess we covered about 3 or 4 miles.  AHHHHH.  A day at the beach truly restores my soul.  Fresh air, beautiful vistas, wonderful wildlife, and the roar of the ocean all combined to make our walk one to remember.  Here are a few pictures:

Later that afternoon, the Nemelka family joined us to spend Christmas dinner with us, and to spend the night at the condo with us.  Jeff, Shauna, Jordan, Tayler, and Anna.  We feasted, played games, watched movies, and enjoyed our time together.  The next morning (Dec. 26), we all went to the beach.  A bit wetter, but still beautiful!

Although we missed having our family together, we had a wonderful time with our friends.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Zoo Lights

Awhile ago, I mentioned I wanted to take the kids out to see Christmas lights. Dallas is especially excited whenever he see's any lights and I thought it would be fun. Then Karen called and said we're doing a family activity so all us Rowley's went to the Zoo Lights! It was a drizzly day, but the evening cleared up for perfect (freezing!) weather and it was so gorgeous! We walked around a little and saw some sleepy animals, then got on the train for a ride around the zoo. The kids were hilarious as they excitedly shouted out what they were seeing. People behind us were laughing at the kids' comments and enthusiasm. ;) The train was fun and afterwards we walked all around and enjoyed the pretty lights and fun atmosphere!

 Part of our crowd

 On the train!

 So pretty!

 Afterwards, everyone was frozen so we went to Krispy Kreme for hot chocolate and donuts! We all had a great time!

 The three amigos. ;)

Sweet Charlotte!!

My Super Speller!

Today Ava was invited to come to her school early to receive an award from her principal for being a "Super Speller" in her 1st grade class!  We are so proud of her for this accomplishment.  Every week she has a spelling test and it includes 10 required words, and 10+ bonus words.  She always gets all of the required words right, and then gets most of the bonus words, which are harder.  As you can see, I am a very proud mama!  Congratulations Ava!

Ava and her awesome teacher, Mrs. Preston.  We LOVE  her!

A Visit to Las Vegas

Steve and I went to Las Vegas to visit Lisa and Jason and the kids!  WHOOT WHOOT!  We had a great time playing, visiting the children's museum, enjoying their ward's Christmas party, and going to church with them.

 

 

 

 

 And there in Las Vegas, roses are blooming in December, just outside Lisa's front door.

Portland welcomed us home with a snowstorm!  Quite a difference from Las Vegas' warmth.

Jason was so generous to give us a bagful of fresh lemons from his garden.  After we got home, I noticed that our suitcase had been searched - I wonder if the x-ray machine thought the lemons looked like a bag of hand grenades!  :>)  They taste SO good!

We had a great time, and miss the MacKay's terribly.  Maybe Christmas of 2013 we can ALL be together in Boise!  Love to all.

Tomatoes in December?!?!?

Yes, it's true.  On December 7, 2012 my sweet husband went out to his tomato bramble and picked a HUGE bowl of fresh cherry tomatoes, along with a couple of bell peppers!  Wa-ha!!  I keep telling people they need to move to Vegas!  I'll take 3 months of hot over 3+ months of ice, snow, and c-c-cold anyday!:)

Yes, our tomatoe bramble is bigger than our kitchen and family rooms put together...:)

P.S. Did I mention our lemon tree as well?  We've picked about 30+ lemons and still haven't taken half of what's on the tree! woohoo!