Holiday Retrospect

Well, we finally made it back home. It was a wonderful vacation, chock full of adventures. I was going to write a complete blow by blow, but I have a sneaking suspicion that no one ever read those kinds of posts, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I will say that the travel portions of this trip were insane. Our connecting flight from Seattle to Portland on our way out, was canceled, so my parents piled into the VW van with my best friend Echo and came up to rescue us. It was a long strange trip that lasted most of the night. It involved giddy early morning conversations, a pit stop for 3 am breakfast at Denny's and many roadside gas station bathroom reviews.

We spent one day in Salem at my parents house with Echo. (Which involved, feeding chickens, cutting down and decorating a Christmas tree, and a heaping pile of my Dad's famous tacos.) Then Tim, Jackson, Echo and I all packed up and headed down to the coast in the van with Echo's brother Jasper and his two dogs in tow. We spent a rainy day or two in town and after some great quality time with Echo's mother Karim (who was pretty much my second Mom.) Then we jumped in the van and drove back up to Falls City and spent the remaining time with my parents and siblings. Our Christmas eve talent show was a big hit and it was a wonderful time shared with my family.

Our flight back was slightly delayed and once we finally landed, it was a good two and half hours before we could get our bags and actually leave the airport. What a nightmare! Anyway, it's great to be home in our own beds with our kitties. :)

For more pictures, click here.

Christmas time is here...

Well, the holiday season so far has been wonderful. So many great memories with friends and still more to come. Tim and I head out on Wednesday and I have tons to do before then. I wanted to share a few pictures from last night. We went to Jay & Alison's house for a "Thanks for helping us move" Party and a White Elephant Gift Exchange. It was so hilariously fun.









Click here for more images.


Oh and to finish up... A few shout outs. Thank you to Joe & Megan for your wonderful gift and for sharing your talents with us. It's wonderful to have photogs in the family. Thanks to Dane for being our dearest friend and for being a surrogate cat owner. Thanks to Lena for always being such a bright light in our lives. Thanks to Gillian for always being there and for being my partner in crime. We're lucky to have such wonderful friends.

Happy Holidays!

Party Redux

Our Christmas party was lots of fun. I'm exhausted and I'm pretty sure I gained like 5 pounds from all the food I ate last night, but it was worth it. We saw Sam, Rachel & Maya for the first time in a while. Almost all of our dearest friends were there. A shout out to Gillian (who was stuck in Wisconsin on a business trip) , Jeff & Jackie (who just aren't up to parties yet with their new baby and all), and to Jess & Mindy (who also have a new little bundle of joy).

We are preparing to leave for Oregon in just a few days! I'm so excited. I haven't had Christmas with my whole family in over a decade, so I'm really hoping to have a wonderful time and make some memories. In our family, we generally open gifts on Christmas Eve and when I was young we had a tradition that you couldn't open your gifts until you shared a "talent". So, my sisters, and my brother and I, all have a few things planned. I'd tell you what they are, but I can't risk my Mom finding out somehow. Suffice it to say, they are going to be HILARIOUS.

I also get to see my Best Friend Echo for MORE than two hours. We haven't had a proper visit in years and I'm so excited to see her and see my home town. We're taking my Dad's Tortoise and driving down to Port Orford for a day or two. What with the typical Oregon winter drear, it should be beautiful. And sloshy. :)

That's all for now...

Happy Holidays....

Our Holiday Website is up and running!

We've got music, pictures, games and more... get thee to www.timanderincooper.com and immerse yourself in holidayishness.

A big Thank You to Neilochka for including us in his Christmahanukwanzaakuh Concert.