Hi folks! It's the west coast slacker here - finally offering an update from our neck-of-the-woods. We have had such a wonderful Christmas season that Doug and I were just commenting on how fast it flew by! Today is the 8th of January 2007 already! I am just catching by breath since everyone was here and am reluctantly putting all the decorations away and settling into the New Year with lots of resolutions.

Dad, Mom, Tammy, Doug, Jake, Kyle and Sandi!

We had one of the best Chritmases ever! I had a week off which was perfect, but also means I have lots of shifts at work stacked up waiting for me when I returned. (Thus the delay with updating the blog...) Mom and Dad arrived on Friday before Christmas and the festivities began! They stay in a RV park not far from my house and so Glenn, Tyson and I ran out with a light dinner to welcome them. They were pretty tired, but we laughed and talked and kept them up late anyway. I spent the day on Friday making quiche for Christmas morning. (Doug said he was a Real Man, but he would eat it anyway just because it was Christmas and his birthday!) Glenn got a new little video camera to catalog the Christmas events and caught Tyson and I on tape arguing about trimming the Christmas tree. It was hilarious. I had no idea how funny we are when we are disagreeing. (Okay - yelling at each other. BTW - If that video ever makes the blog I'll be making another hilarious one with Glenn when I hear about it! )

Cyndi and Dave with their wonderful boys and Jack Russel Terrier named Louie arrived on Saturday night. Christmas Eve consisted of church and getting ready for more family! We had a BBQ salmon dinner with Rizotto that my friend Denise had to rescue when she arrived. I guess I had forgotten how to make it.

A huge surprise for us was when Glenn's son Tim and his new bride, Roxanne arrived at the door on Christmas Eve. We didn't know they were in town, (they live in Boise). After dinner, Doug and Cecile arrived and we enjoyed our tradition of opening Christmas pajamas. We all exchanged names and so it was a blast opeing funny jammies and laughing especially when Dad opened his pink boxer shorts. (I'll have to get that picture on the blog! I didn't take the pics so stay tuned...) Mom and Dad stayed well after midnight as we stuffed more than a dozen stockings. We had to line them up on the stairs because there were so many!

Tim and Roxanne!

Christmas day Steve and his three sons arrived and we opened presents until we were tired of it. One of my favorite presents was some restored pictures for Mom. As you may know, we didn't really have a camera while we were growing up, so any pictures are very precious to us. There are a few that have been mangled and passed around so many times over the years that they are falling apart. I smuggled them away from the farm a while back and was so surprised to know that I could actually scan them into my computer and retouch them and restore them! Me - even me! I put them in a frame for Mom and Dad and now have them archived on my computer. Amazing!

Anna and Shirley (Peggy) as toddlers. The photographer at the newspaper where Dad worked took this famous shot!

Tammy arrived from Yakima, leaving Dick at home sick, and we opened more presents! We had more food, of course and then had to say good-bye to Cyndi and Dave (and Louie) who had to drive back two hours to Olympia taking Little Red, my old Toyota home for Kyle to drive. They both had to work the next day. All the others were able to stay but Mom and Dad turned in early that night. (Gee, I wonder why!)

Kyle and Jake stayed for the winter installment of Aunt Camp. We (attempted) to go snowboarding on Wednesday, but the mountain was experiencing some extreme weather. We finally drove to the back side of Mt. Hood and found a small resort where they were able to take a lesson and play around. I'm hoping they are hooked. I need more ski buddies. Now, if we can just get Cyndi to like it...

Kyle and Jake in a blizzard on Mt. Hood!

On New Year's Day I headed up to Seattle via a stop in Olympia to have lunch with Cyndi, Tammy and Dick, (who was feeling better), Tyson, Kyle and Jake thanks to Tyson's good planning. I stayed the night with Doug and Cecile and went to the Seattle Pacific Science Center on the 2nd to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and didn't want to miss it. It was facinating and very faith affirming. I spent nearly 4 hours in the exhibit! Then back to Cyndi's for a great dinner that Dave prepared and a game night with the Olympians! (Have you ever played Would You Rather...? What an hysterical game.)

Home to Portland around 11:00 pm to the quiet and the official end to the holidays. I stayed up and roamed around my empty house reflecting on the whirlwind and how it was such a wonderful event to have my family descend on my little home for Christmas. Somehow, my house felt bigger having everyone here. I am blessed to have my little house and a beautiful family to make it a home.

Now with the New Year upon us I will using my new Ipod Shuffle that the Langsons got me to get back to the gym so I can keep up with them when we jump into the summer and the 4th Annual Aunt Camp week. My resolutions include changing jobs to a 8-5 M-F routine. I need more structure and routine in my life. (Regular sleep, regular exercise, et al) This past 5 years of shift work have been great, but I'm ready for a change. I'm looking forward to the family reunion at Aunt Sue's lake house this 4th of July. I wouldn't miss it! Keep me in mind while you're planning it. I'd like to help as much as I can from a distance. I feel bad that I've come the last two times and been a freeloader! I hope to bring as much of the 2L Clan as possible!

Another major event happened on New Year's Day. Anna married her love from high school - Dan Lemon! (Now she's officially Anna Banana-Lemon.) They announced they would be tieing the knot and had a quiet ceremony on the 1st. What a way to start 2007! Hmmm, that leaves Steve, me, Glenn and Tammy as the only unmarried ones left. Maybe we can improve on that this year....?! Congrats Anna and Dan!

Anna and Dan Lemon on January 1st, 2007 - their wedding day!

That's all for now. Great to hear how your holidays were filled with fun and family. I hope your New Year is filled with promise and bright days on the horizon. With the dawning of each new day I'm filled with gratitude for the closeness we've enjoyed this last year and look forward to being more a part of each others' lives.

Happy New Year!

Sandi