Moments

What a lovely Thanksgiving weekend we had; spent in the bestest way ever...with family. There were so many special moments; sweet images that I've tucked safely away into my heart. There were laughing moments--smiling moments--and eye's welling with thankful tears moments. The photo I've used for my blog header was a smiling, thankful, teary moment for me; as I watched my son John, his wife Karen, and their two sweet children decorate their Christmas tree. Karen has seen to it that every event of their marriage and family has been commemorated with a special ornament--there was a bride and groom, photos of the children as babies, ornaments from sporting events, family vacations, ballerinas and footballs, and even puppy Millie's first collar! And so as each ornament was carefully placed upon the tree, the children recalled all of the happy moments that they have spent together as a family.  Seven-year-old Ana wanted to place the star atop the tree, as did little brother Dane; so they decided that it would be done by all...as a new family tradition.

My daughter Heather, her husband Edgar, and their four gorgeous children also live in the Portland area. They drove Kelly and I downtown on Saturday to look at the sights of the big city. Portland was all a-sparkle for the holidays. Much fancier than our little one-horse town! We went to Pioneer Square Mall. The younger children, Sophia and Isabella, got to tell Santa what they want for Christmas. (3-year old Sophia confided to me later that Santa has stinky breath and that he needs to brush his teeth. However, she was kind enough not to tell the old gent! Definitely a laughing moment!) Thirteen-year-old Jordynn did some browsing in her fav store. I think Junior's favorite part was lunch--Chinese. Of course we went to Powell's Bookstore. We HAD to. I may read piles of books, but my daughter Heather reads MOUNTAINS of books, so every trip to Portland must include a bookstore stop! Then we all went over to Icebreaker, the store my son John manages. Everything in the store is made of merino wool. Everything. Even the underwear. It's high end stuff. Check it out: http://www.icebreaker.com/


  Can you see my grand-daughter Isabella in the ornament? (That's me in the background.)

Did I mention the birthday party? They had a little party for my 56th birthday. It was sweet, very very sweet.

This whole wonderful weekend has put me in the mood for the holidays. Let the decorating begin!

(BTW; I still plan to write about shopping downtown in the good ole days, as promised. Real soon, I promise.)

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