I know I am terribly behind, but I have been focusing all my freetime (as if there is an abundance) on getting my pre-baby to-do list in order. Since Christmas was, as usual a complete whirlwind of multiple days and locations, I am going to get it documented in steps. So Christmas Part I included Christmas Eve at my Dad's house in Corvallis. We were supposed to go down Christmas Eve morning and return that night at Rory's bedtime but the threat of more snow pushed us to leave on the 23rd. So we packed up in a matter of minutes and made a mad dash south....with the rest of Portland. It was insane. It took us 5 1/2 hours to get there and was a more sketchy drive then any over the pass we have taken. Between the ice, snow, ruts in the road, and LOTS of people it was just plain maddening. But, we made it and rory was a champ. We did have to resort to plugging in the laptop and letting her watch a Dora episode to get through hour 5, a first that I am just fine with- at that point I would have done anything to keep everyone in the car sane. In fact, Rory might have been the most patient! Anyway, we made it and Rory got to spend the night at Papa Stan and Grandma Linda's much to her delight. They have fun toys and different books
and lots of adoring attention. We spent a frantic but fun day on the 24th running last minute errands, visiting with family, eating and opening presents. It is always fun when rory gets to spend time with the boy cousins, the 3 of them are just so cute!
Rory got a recorder (thanks aunt madi- you too someday will have children!)
and perfected her surprised oohs and aahs look with each present.
Just when she thought the fun was over she was told to wait with daddy while one more was brought in. this picture captures her displeasure of having to wait-
too funny. The grand finale was that my dad had renovated (I mean top to bottom redone) the doll house that he had originally made for me. I think as much as rory loved it, it really was a gift for me. I remember it distinctly (and wish we had taken before pics) and it has been stored at my parents house and then my garage (where it briefly served as living quarters to a nice family of mice) for the past 20 years. It now is amazing. My dad fixed up all the broken parts and then added additions of gaurdrails for the stairs, a whole new floor, a new patio etc. He also repainted the entire thing, gave it a new roof and updates such as accent walls, river rock fireplace (used to be brick), hardwood floors, and handmade tiny shutters. It is truly beautiful and will be cherished! The best part is that it is big and open so all three cousins can play in it (literally) at the same time.
So that was a great way to finsih the day. We then decided to head home early due to yet again the threat of more snow so we missed Owens pageant and hit the road. Since we didn't wait to leave until rory's bedtime and we had to leave aunt madi in corvallis the ride home was a bit more stressful then the way up. It started with the realization that the dollhouse was not going to fit in the jeep- I was fine with that, but as I loaded Rory in the car she noticed it's absence and started her lip quivering inquiries about where "Rory's big house" was. It was heart breaking, I was so glad my dad had left for the pageant- I am not sure he could have handled the pathetic sobs from my daughter. So that is how we started the trip home and 4 hours later as we pulled in we answered for the 9 millionth time "the doll house stayed in corvallis- Grandpa will bring it to you next week" Seriously the longest car ride EVER. It felt so good to be home we let rory run around a bit (even though it was already super late for her to be up) and just cherished the good feelings of being in our house with our tree and our kid on Christmas Eve. With all the snow outside it really was a very peaceful feeling. Pat says next year we are staying home, but I would do it all again if it means getting to spend time with everyone- we are just so lucky to have such great family!
Nicole's daughters are 2 of the few girl kiddos we know- seriously everyone else Rory knows her age is a boy! 
It was a fun day and a lot of blonde hair and blue eyes! 
Not only are we lucky to have such great family- we are lucky to have a lot of it! 
Rory has 8 great grandparents alive and living in Portland/Corvallis area- pretty cool!
I particularly love the picture of rory and Great-Grandma Maloney talking- they look like they are in serious conversation! 
This celebration was also made special by the presence of our niece Sabine.
I love seeing Rory and her together, they are just really sweet together. 
We look forward to summer when she returns for a bit longer visit and can play with the new baby.
She says, "hold trigger" then she swings her arm and says "Wwwiiiii". It is pretty cute and she actually bowls better then I do!
Pat unfortunately caught the bug that was ripping through the family at that point and went home sick. It was a little dicey getting everybody and presents into the house since my mom's street was still covered in snow/ice, but once inside it was toasty warm and lots of fun. Rory was also under the weather at this point so pictures of her are pretty pathetic. 
We spent the day opening gifts, 
playing with gifts (the cash register we got for Owen and Q was a hit- except Owen was charging $17 for a latte!) 
and eating, eating, eating. We were in charge of cooking the meat and by we I mean Pat. So when he went home sick I was up to bat. I think I did pretty good for my first time cooking that much meat ( I am usually a grill kind of girl)- and we as usual had soooo much yummy food. Rory and I had Jimmy give us a ride home in his huge truck only to return to my mom's the next morning for pancakes and some Wii. Owen was really good at Wii bowling. It was a great celebration and an official end to the crazy weather. I spent my childhood having Christmas's at my grandma's house, so I am so thankful that Rory gets to continue with that tradition. 
and watched through the mails slot for like 20 minutes.
We have decided that Christmas mornings each year will be spent at our house with anyone who wants to join us more then invited. This year we had pat's parents and his brother Kevin and niece Sabine join us.
Sabine lives in Vermont so it is always a special treat to have her visit. We had planned to cook a special breakfast using recipes from our childhoods, but due to the travel issues of the day before and the lack of access to a grocery store in the week leading up to the holidays we had to punt. Luckily Pat's mom is nothing if she's not prepared and brought with her sausage, yummy rolls, extra eggs, juice etc. Basically she saved the day, although pat did make quite an impressive show out of the things he found at the 7-11 in our neighborhood. So we opened stockings, ate tons of food and opened lots of presents. It was lovely, casual, fun, and felt like Christmas should. Rory's big gift was a kitchen from Pat's parents so Kevin spent some time putting that together (under the supervision of rory of course) and Sabine gave rory some lessons on how to play with it.
They are soooo cute together and Rory literally follows Sabine around mimicking her- in this pic, she had put on Sabine's coat and boots and was calling herself Sabine.
Sabine got an American Girl doll and shrieked like only 6 year old girls can. 
She was so excited and it was fun to watch the girls get into all their new stuff. Rory perfected her thank yous and hug giving 
and seemed to enjoy giving the gifts as much as getting them (well, maybe not quite). My big present from Pat was a new camera, so I had fun playing around with that.
I can't believe what great pictures it takes and I look forward to spending some time with the manual learning all the cool tricks
.
After naps for everyone we made the trek up to Pat's parents house and enjoyed dinner there. It was fun because Joanne stayed busy playing with the girls
and I got a break and even got a present made. Pat cooked a HUGE prime rib and we had an absolutely wonderful meal together. Again, casual and laid back was the theme of the day. 
and lots of adoring attention. We spent a frantic but fun day on the 24th running last minute errands, visiting with family, eating and opening presents. It is always fun when rory gets to spend time with the boy cousins, the 3 of them are just so cute! 
Rory got a recorder (thanks aunt madi- you too someday will have children!) 
and perfected her surprised oohs and aahs look with each present. 
Just when she thought the fun was over she was told to wait with daddy while one more was brought in. this picture captures her displeasure of having to wait- 
too funny. The grand finale was that my dad had renovated (I mean top to bottom redone) the doll house that he had originally made for me. I think as much as rory loved it, it really was a gift for me. I remember it distinctly (and wish we had taken before pics) and it has been stored at my parents house and then my garage (where it briefly served as living quarters to a nice family of mice) for the past 20 years. It now is amazing. My dad fixed up all the broken parts and then added additions of gaurdrails for the stairs, a whole new floor, a new patio etc. He also repainted the entire thing, gave it a new roof and updates such as accent walls, river rock fireplace (used to be brick), hardwood floors, and handmade tiny shutters. It is truly beautiful and will be cherished! The best part is that it is big and open so all three cousins can play in it (literally) at the same time. 
So that was a great way to finsih the day. We then decided to head home early due to yet again the threat of more snow so we missed Owens pageant and hit the road. Since we didn't wait to leave until rory's bedtime and we had to leave aunt madi in corvallis the ride home was a bit more stressful then the way up. It started with the realization that the dollhouse was not going to fit in the jeep- I was fine with that, but as I loaded Rory in the car she noticed it's absence and started her lip quivering inquiries about where "Rory's big house" was. It was heart breaking, I was so glad my dad had left for the pageant- I am not sure he could have handled the pathetic sobs from my daughter. So that is how we started the trip home and 4 hours later as we pulled in we answered for the 9 millionth time "the doll house stayed in corvallis- Grandpa will bring it to you next week" Seriously the longest car ride EVER. It felt so good to be home we let rory run around a bit (even though it was already super late for her to be up) and just cherished the good feelings of being in our house with our tree and our kid on Christmas Eve. With all the snow outside it really was a very peaceful feeling. Pat says next year we are staying home, but I would do it all again if it means getting to spend time with everyone- we are just so lucky to have such great family!
