Wednesday, December 31, 2014

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Tuesday, December 30th, 2014

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Ivan!

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Some wind came and blew all the clouds away so the skies are really clear. That has made it very cold, and it made for a great sunset this evening.

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Monday, December 29th, 2014

Happy Birthday, Elina!

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Dana went on one last waterfall hunt for the year. This is Lower Rock Creek Falls in the Gorge. The weather was nice, and he even found some snow to play in.

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Sunday, December 28th, 2014

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We watched Guardians of the Galaxy tonight while Dana built his LEGO to match.

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Saturday, December 27th, 2014

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Gideon is beginning to really climb on, in and up things. Tonight he discovered he could climb our ottoman; he sure was proud of himself. Boxes are also a new excitement. We now find him sitting in boxes and baskets if you leave them out.

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Friday, December 26th, 2014

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We like to take pictures of the gifts the boys got. It is something Dana’s family did when they were kids and it is fun to look back on it. Here is Gideon with his. He was a good present opener and he seemed to like what he got, as did Magnus.

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Thursday, December 25th, 2014

Merry Christmas!

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Farmor came to our house to see the kids open their gifts from Santa and Ruth made German Pancakes. Then we headed down to Salem to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa. Gideon just loved their Christmas tree and kept poking at it. Then he found this piece of holly that was the best. Ivan cooked prime rib for dinner and it was good. We had a great time there and a great Christmas. We hope you all did as well.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

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Wednesday, December 24th, 2014

Christmas Eve!

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We thought this was funny. We were getting ready to sing carols and read the Christmas story when Magnus climbed up on Anton and started to relax. All-in-all the evening was very nice. Gideon loved the ham dinner. Dana found the Christmas almond. We opened presents. And Magnus helped to put the cookies out for Santa.

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Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014

Festivus for the rest of us!

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Brother bath time can be nice sometimes.

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Monday, December 22nd, 2014

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We parked next to Bumblebee the Transformer at Fred Meyer today. Magnus was very excited. He said Bumblebee didn’t transform because he was guarding something.

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Sunday, December 21st, 2014

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Mirrors can be a lot of fun.

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Saturday, December 20th, 2014

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It is difficult to convince Magnus to get a haircut. This time he wanted to get it cut while sitting in a racecar. So, Ruth made this awesome racecar box and we got his hair cut.

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Friday, December 19th, 2014

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

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Ruth worked a lot on the table runner for Farmor’s Christmas gift.

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Thursday, December 18th, 2014

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What do you do with the small pumpkins from Thanksgiving? You turn them into cute little snowmen.

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Wednesday, December 17th, 2014

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The Young Women had their Christmas Party this evening. Ruth helped to plan it.

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Tuesday, December 16th, 2014

Happy Birthday, Ruth!

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Ruth choose to go to the Portland Children’s Museum for her birthday today. We all had a lot of fun. There was a room with different water toys, a construction zone, and even this room for playing with clay. Outside there was a cool set of stick buildings to explore. The boys really liked that. In the evening, we went to Farmor’s house for some cake and ice cream.

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Monday December 15th, 2014

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Gideon loves a good dirt flinging, as is evidenced by this shot. He likes to throw dirt, rocks, toys, pretty much anything small straight up over his head. It is kind of funny to watch.

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Sunday, December 14th, 2014

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Toys that play music are currently a favorite of Gideon.

Monday, December 22, 2014

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Saturday, December 13th, 2014

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Santa came to our ward party (that Dana and the rest of the Elder’s Quorum presidency worked hard to make excellent). The party was great, although Gideon did not think much of meeting Santa.

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Friday, December 12th, 2014

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We visited Terry’s store today. Magnus and Gideon liked this great mirror. It was fun to see the store all decked out for Christmas.

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Thursday, December 11th, 2014

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We had a fierce wind storm blow into town today. We lost power for about four hours. When it came back on we went for a drive. There were a few trees down, like this one on Officer’s Row. We are so grateful to all the hard working people who keep our power working!

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Wednesday, December 10th, 2014

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Tonight I took the youth to a local old folks home and we sang Christmas carols. It was really great. Afterwards, we all went to the Bishop’s house for treats and hot chocolate. They had these bells that Magnus really liked.

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Tuesday, December 9th, 2014

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Gideon is getting better at pushing buttons. He likes pushing the buttons on the cat piano and dancing to the songs.

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Monday, December 8th, 2014

Happy Birthday, Will!

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We got our tree decorated! Thanks Farmor and Anton for helping!

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Sunday, December 7th, 2014

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Reading Christmas stories for bedtime.

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Saturday, December 6th, 2014

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Brian joined us to help find that perfect Christmas tree in the forest. We have found a pretty good place to get trees and were successful again. Magnus really liked playing in the snow as well (you can see one of his snowballs). We also stopped by Panther Creek Falls on the way back.

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Friday, December 5th, 2014

Happy Ninja Day!

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We were planning our Christmas Tree hunt after getting a permit. The boys thought it was fun to dance around on the forest map.

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Thursday, December 4th, 2014

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The missionaries came for dinner tonight and Ruth baked this delicious plum-cherry pie.

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Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

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Magnus and one of his new Duplo creations.

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Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014

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Gideon is a big fan of flying through the air. He loves when Dana flips him and tosses him onto pillows and Mommy.

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Monday, December 1st, 2014

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Dana went out to the Oregon Coast to see some ocean front waterfalls. This is Blumenthal Falls. It was fun to see waterfalls that are right on the beach, there is even a starfish in the foreground. I also stopped at Hug Point and Short Beach.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

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Sunday, November 30th, 2014

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Setting up Farmor’s Christmas tree.

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Saturday, November 29th, 2014

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It hailed today, but this hail really wanted to be snow. We have never seen a star shaped piece of hail. The rest of the hail was round.

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Friday, November 28th, 2014
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At Farmor’s house Gideon and Magnus got pretty wild and there was a lot of running. Gideon is definitely getting faster.

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Thursday, November 27th, 2014

Happy 1st Birthday, Gideon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Thanksgiving was a delicious success. We all were down in Salem for the feast. Afterwards, we celebrated Gideon turning 1. He really like the fondant part of his stegosaurus cake. It was a nice day with family and good food.

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Wednesday, November 26th, 2014

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Fondant for Gideon’s birthday cake. The big day fast approaches. Also, Gideon just figured out how to climb down stairs today.

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Tuesday, November 25th, 2014

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Gravity played a small role in this mess, but mostly someone’s tiny hands.

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Monday, November 24th, 2014

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Gideon has discovered great joy when he plays with a ball, to the point that if Magnus gets in his way there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. But ball time is mostly laughing and smiling time.

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Sunday, November 23rd, 2014

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Apparently, Magnus took the only picture today. He wore green pants.

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Saturday, November 22nd, 2014

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Trying on Mommy’s boots can be fun.

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Friday, November 21st, 2014

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This is how we found Magnus in the bathroom after a loud crash. We caught him red-handed.

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Thursday, November 20th, 2014

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Dana won a turkey in a contest at work. Turkey is awesome.

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Wednesday, November 19th, 2014

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Anton mostly helped to find pieces, but Magnus basically followed the instructions to build a Lego turkey. He was very proud of himself.

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Tuesday, November 18th, 2014

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Gideon likes to touch faces.

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Monday, November 17th, 2014
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A picture showing two loves of Gideon: his love of books and his love of taking things off shelves. But he really does love books, they are one of the few things that can calm him down when he is crying.

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Sunday, November 16th, 2014

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My favorite bug movie. I watched it with the boys this morning. We had fun.

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Saturday, November 15th, 2014

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The Petit Fours are all ready for the tea party at Vintage Vignette, Terry’s shop.

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Friday, November 14th, 2014

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Terry asked Ruth to make some Petit Fours for a tea party at her shop. She did a very nice job on the little flowers to put on top.

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Thursday, November 13th, 2014

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Our first Snow Day of the winter. Dana wanted to take pictues in the snow so he headed out to some waterfalls. The snow was falling, the roads were slick, and the trails were empty, but the day was amazing. More here.

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Wednesday, November 12th, 2014

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A common scene at our house. Looks a bit chaotic, right?

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Tuesday, November 11th, 2014

Happy Birthday, Steen!

And ‘Thank You’ on this Veteran's Day to all those who have served.

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Magnus has found a new hidey-hole between the couch, a shelf and a table. He even fell asleep there today.