Christmas Snow Pile-up

Yes, we've had a few snowflakes this year. It's pretty, but it can go away now :-)

We've had a white Christmas, for sure! I've never seen this much snow in Oregon unless you are up on Mt. Hood, for heaven's sake.... And we haven't had power for almost a week, except for a short time the day before Christmas Eve. Evil Western Oregon Electrical Co-op just wanted to tease us into putting away our generator! Here's the latest pictures of the snow drifts at our house. Danny and his trusty tractor plowed the driveway so we could get out. We've measured about 30+ inches out here.

Our phones and internet cell service were down for a while as well...I was going nuts not being able to check my email! But we just discovered that the cell tower is up and running again, so I thought I'd get on here and write a few things before it all goes away.... We had a great Christmas Eve celebration with all the kids and grandkids. That's what we usually do - have dinner at our house so the kids can enjoy their Christmas morning and day with their little fam's. Here's a few shots of our "generator-fueled" fun.

Sera, Eli and Emily behind the "grazing" area. Rebecca, Kim and Brooklyn in the kitchen. And all of Danny's bunch posing with their T-shirts that I did WRONG for Emily. (the numbering was supposed to be in birth order, not the other way around.) Randy and Tanya at the end of the table with Blair. Chad and Logan enjoying dinner. Do you see the Christmas jello salad on the table? Oh yeah..got to have that red, white and green layered jello or it isn't a real Jordan Christmas. I started a hideous tradition of making bean bag chairs for the kids the Christmas after they turn 8 - so here's Kim and Brooklyn enjoying their new puffy chairs. What was I thinking? Oh well, at least the grandkids will have something they can remember me by! We hope all of you have had a great Christmas with your lights all on, and your furnace working...sigh....

It's not Stopping!

I think we are up to 18 inches of snow...with another foot or so coming on Saturday. It's looking like Christmas is going to be a white one this year! School has been out all week, and all of our church events have been cancelled. Who wants to take bets on cancelling church on Sunday???

Snow is Falling

Da' Big Barn.

The snow started this week...Here's the first dusting. Our power went out AGAIN last Saturday, so Dan is standing by our good 'ol generator. Thank goodness we are prepared for things like this. I really don't mind it...the generator powers up the really important things and a few lights, our bedroom and the big screen TV upstairs. What else do you need, eh?
The snow picture below is from yesterday before I went to work. It's snowing like crazy today..so we'll probably get 4 or 5 more inches before it's all over with.

Decking the Halls

There's nothing like a party to get you whipped into shape with the Christmas decorations... We had a big shin-dig with 40+ people at our house last Saturday night for the HP Group at our church. 20 minutes before the party started - our power went out! But, being that we know the drill with that situation out here, Dan hooked up the generator and we lit candles like crazy. Everyone loved it - the only hard part was seeing where to park at our house! Thank goodness the meat was pretty much cooked and ready. Dan finished it off on the barbeque. We ran extension cords so we could light up the tree and a few other well placed lamps. It actually was very fun and cozy. And no one could see my dirty carpet!!! Ah yes...there is a silver lining. Here's what our house looks like with the lights ON.

I saw a 12.5 foot fake pre-lit tree at JoAnn's Fabric that I SO want to get....but Dan want's nothing of it, as long as we can cut the top 15ft off of the overgrown nobles out here on the property. Why do we cut off the top 15 feet? Our 13 acres of noble firs are harvested for their boughs to make wreaths. So...the only decent part of these trees that actually look like a tree is the tippy top. (where it's too tall for the harvesters to cut) Every year it's getting harder and harder to find something that looks half way decent. But until then, we'll get our binoculars out and start scanning the treetops for next years victim.
Welcome to our country Christmas House!









Here's the dining room to the right of the front door.
This tree I always use for the church "giving tree". As soon as the ornaments are gone, it comes back to our house in the entry way. Last Saturday it started snowing out here. Kimmy, our granddaughter couldn't resist getting out the 4-wheeler and pulling someone on the sled.

Mean Piano Teacher?

Well....I'm really not THAT mean. But here's my granddaughter Brooklyn (Emily's oldest)recoiling in mock fear before giving her first piano recital this week I've been teaching her for almost a year now - going over to their house after work every Monday and I've had fun. She's a quick study, and usually has each song memorized after a week! She's definately broken through the pain barrier - unlike her mother who took lessons for 5 years and didn't enjoy it too much. Brooklyn and I decided that every piano student deserves a holiday recital, so she invited some of her friends and their mom's to come over to her house for a fancy recital for one! Would you believe that the dress Brooklyn is wearing is the same dress her I made for her mother 20-some years ago? It's pretty fun to see it still being used by another generation.

Brooklyn played four songs and then everyone sang along to her playing "Jingle Bells". We drank hot chocolate and ate a yummy array of cookies and treats. A very "girly" party, to be sure. Brooklyn's daddy and brothers had to stay upstairs for the whole thing - so it was a good thing that it was only a "one student" Christmas recital!