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!

It's Official!

On Thursday, December 6, 2012, we OFFICIALLY closed on our new home in Caldwell, Idaho!  We feel very blessed to have found a home that will accommodate our whole family, especially when we're all together during the holidays.  We still need to sell our home here in Portland.  We have interested parties at the moment, so we're hopeful something will happen soon.

 The front door / front walk/ front porch.

Circular driveway in from the street.

Steve is SO excited to have a 4-car garage in which he can create a work bench/shop area.  We're also on 3/4 acre, so there will be lots of room for the grandkids to play out back!  And wait until you see the "secret rooms" .... oooohhhh!  We'll be moving our things over from Portland a little at a time during the next few weeks/months, weather permitting. 

It's going to be really hard to leave Portland after 17 years, especially leaving Jayson and Ashley and their little family.  My heart is breaking just thinking about it.  On the other hand, we're excited to be near Drew and Mandy and their little family, too.  And being in the Boise valley means we're more centrally located for all the girls to visit, even from as far away as Las Vegas. 

Our home is always open to family and friends to drop in and stay a spell.  It's going to be great!!

HOORAY!

Ava FINALLY lost her tooth!  This is her 1st tooth to come out and she already has one coming in behind it!  Now it's time to see what the tooth fairy will bring...

Disney on Ice

All I can say is WOW!  I found out about this a few weeks ago and when I heard that Rapunzel was going to be there, (Brycen's absolute favorite) I knew we had to go.  So Brycen and I went to the box office at BSU and somehow managed to get tickets in the front row on the first level!  (not the floor but still incredible seats!)  Then is was a painful 2-3 weeks of waiting...  But this show was worth the wait!

Tonight, Myself, Ava, Brycen and Grandma made our way to Disney on Ice at Taco Bell Arena.  We arrived 10 minutes early, and DeAnna noticed some seats in the next section over that were vacant - and closer.  So we stole these seats - ahhhh!  I admit I was nervous, but no one ever cam to claim them so we stayed put.  Thank you DeAnna!  The show began with Tiana, then Cinderella, and finally Rapunzel.  All of it was spectacular - but Brycen kept asking through the whole show - "when will Rapunzel be here?"  Need less to say - he was very excited.  So here come a whole lot of pictures - but you need to see them all to really do it justice...

This was our view from our incredible seats!

Tiana

Cinderella

Rapunzel

Brycen's Favorite!

A little girl from the crowd came up to release the first lantern.  Then more were lit from the ceiling.

I truly hope that this will be a memory my kids will never forget!  What a wonderful time we all had together. I just love those kids!