Multnomah Falls

Tim and I took a Christmas Day road trip where we ended up at Multnomah Falls. The falls is located about 30 minutes from Vancouver, thru the Columbia River Gorge, outside of
Portland Or.
I had been wanting to see it while there was snow, and this was a perfect day.
It was all I wanted it to be. Beautiful, as you can see. The pictures do not do it justice.

The Falls in the Summer. Beautiful then too.

Snow in Vancouver Washington

Friday Night

Saturday Night

Christmas Spirit

This is the gift I, and my brother, made for my dad this year for Christmas. I cross stitched of all my family's names, and put them into a crossword pattern. My dad, step-mom, my sister and her hubby, my brothers and their wives, my kids and all my nieces and nephews. All the families are color coded also. My family is dark blue, Jason's light blue, Kent's is yellow, Karen's is green, Brian's is pink, Brent's is purple, and Dad and Terry are red. I was very pleased with how it turned out. Kent handmade the frame out of quaker wood (good job Kent). I was not there when dad received it, but I did hear he thought it was awesome.....Just the reaction I was hoping for.
I Love You Dad!!!!

My mom gave me her Christmas village this year. I was so excited to put it up. It looks great in my house (thanks mom). It is a big hit with the kids too. They have done good so far not to play with it either (good job boys).

Our Christmas tree this year. It is not real, but looks good. Tim did the usual, put lights on (he got away with it easy...pre-lit). All the boys put the ornaments on as I took them out of the box and handed them out. It was kinda fun to see them look at their own, whether it was one given to them or one they have made. A great looking tree, I think!!

While in Idaho this Thanksgiving I really wanted to cut down our own tree. With new restrictions, you had to have a tree cutting permit. We did not buy one. That and Tim thought it would not be a good idea to drive 800 miles with a tree bungee corded to the top of the car. So........while we were out searching for Kent's tree, he did have a permit and only 75 miles, I was joking about all the cute little sprouts were coming up. "Oh that one is cute, that one would look cute on my end table, Oh that one is cute too". My brother was so kind and cut this "sprout" for me. It is only 2 1/2 feet tall, and fits perfectly on my end table. Tim was ingenious and made the stand for it out of some spare wood, a bowl, and hot glue(good job babe).

So there you have it. The beginning of the Christmas spirit in the Howard Home.

Gingerbread Houses

Ben and Nic had the great opportunity to make gingerbread houses this year. There is a wonderful lady, "Grammy" as she is know, who makes many this time a year. Ben and Nic had a good time. There, as you can see, was a wide variety of candy to choose from to make your house unique, (and tasty too).





I did not take a picture of what they looked like 3 days later, there was not much left and either one. (they did have help from older brothers)

Sunset December 6, 2008

This is what the sunset looked like out my front door tonight.

Ben and Nic were playing outside. Nic came running in saying"Mom come look at the sky. Mom come on, come look." So I let him think I was interested and said I am coming.

Wow what a sight was in the sky. It was wicked cool looking.

Enjoy the pictures, as I captured that "come look at the sky" excitement.

ISLAND PARK, IDAHO (aka condo) 2008

(there are 4 parts to this post, so look at them all.....Scenic, Fish, 4-wheeling, and Snow)



Island Park, Idaho was our vacation spot this year. We stayed with my dad and step-mom in their condo. I grew up going here every Thanksgiving, and have many fond memories. Tim and the boys are adding there memories here now too.

Over the years, the activities never change. Watch movies, play games, play in the snow, swim at the club house, feed the fish, oh and EAT. Turkey dinner is always included.

The scenery is alway beautiful. There was not as much snow as in years past, but that was ok. The sun was shinning everyday we were there(which was fine by me coming from Vancouver).

The highlight of my trip is always to see my dad. It does not matter what we do, it is just being there with him. I LOVE YOU DAD...

Feeding the Fish

It is a tradition, when going to the condo, to go feed the fish. They are in a spring coming off Henry's Fork Lake. They have been feed good over the years. The Rainbow Trout ranged in size from little (6 inches), to big (2 1/2 feet). It was a lot of fun, watching the bigger ones come to the surface to get the bread, or the little ones swim fast.

(hey, the bread is for the fish, silly!)

4-wheeling

Joshua

Nicholas

Benjamin

Christopher

Chris playing in the snow

1) Making the snowball

2) Waiting for his shot

3) Firing

4) Consequences

Thanksgiving 2008(coming up)

This is where we are going for Thanksgiving this year. Island Park, IDAHO.

I am SOOOO EXCITED.

We will be staying in my dads timeshare condo with him.

Snow, 4-wheelers, club house with swimming, racquetball, hot tub. Turkey dinner. Family.

Gosh I can't wait.

I will have pictures posted of the family when we get back.

FUN FUN FUN HERE WE COME!!!!!!

School Pictures

BENJAMIN LLOYD HOWARD
2nd grade, 2008

NICHOLAS ELDON HOWARD
Kindergarten 2008

Skyview High School Spirit Week

Josh wearing his TOGA. He did look good. Although, his band around shoulder and waist ended up being gold. He was even wearing sandals.


Josh's Junior class is Orange. He found anything he could that was orange to wear. Notice the orange soda cans, orange band aids under each eye, and the orange pom-poms taped to an orange stick.


Chris's Sophomore class is Purple. Chris used what purple he could find. He has the band aids under the eyes, purple gloves, and see those shoes. They were white yesterday. He is even wearing purple socks.

Here is Josh, Chris, Nate Scholars, and Gabe Brower. Nate is a Sophomore with Chris and Gabe is a Senior. These four are very good friends, and they are very good for each other.

I am grateful that my boys have friends that they look up to. Nate and Gabe are exceptional young men who respect and encourage Josh and Chris. Mind you, they are still teenage boys who have friendly competition. But it is all in fun.

What an imagination

After a night of an upset tummy this is how Nic and I's conversation went.

"mom I'm not sick anymore"

"oh I am so glad"

"mom you know why I got sick"

"why Nic"

"cause I swallowed a fly"

"really when did you swallow this fly"

"I don't know, I just thought of it"

then after a short pause

"mom I am hungry, I want a corn dog for breakfast”

Boy kids bounce back so quick. He settled for a piece of toast and water.

Spirit week is coming up for Skyview High School. Chris and his class of Sophomores are purple for color wars. This is a preview of what he will look like. I like that I got him to smile, (at least once). He hates the wig. The long hair kept getting in his face. I told him that is what women get to go thru if they have long hair. More picture will come, when he gets all dresses up.

First Day of School.....Happy Birthday Ben.

Ben had his 7th birthday on Sunday. We had a little get together with some friends on Saturday. They all went to a local swimming pool and had a blast. It was small, but perfect for Ben. Just the friends he wanted and swam like he wanted. Ohhh and the toys he wanted, STAR WARS, STAR WARS.....

It was the first day of school on Wednesday, for all the boys. Yeah for Nic, Kindergarten. He was so excited, and had a fabulous day. Ben like the 2nd grade. Has a great teacher so I am excited. Josh and Chris(no pictures..teenagers) are Jr and Sophomore. Oh I hope this will be a good year. Classes get harder the higher grade you go. (and more expensive, geez)