Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I am not sure the whole holiday has sank in yet...the kids slept in until 8!

Jake

Ellie & Jake

Another Snow Day!

Well, it looks like the Holiday Break is starting a week early this year! The kids have been having so much fun sledding, snowboarding and getting worn out!
It has been a neighborhood extravaganza since we have a steller sledding hill.
Up to Mt. Hood this weekend for our first ski trip!

Snow!!

Lane, Taline & Ellie

Ellie

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful day of relaxing around the house and watching the turkey cook. We are so thankful for our family and friends and the great life we have. On Friday and went to see Bolt in 3D. The kids loved it!!

Ellie in the Fall

Rose Bowl Here We Come!

We went to Reser Stadium this weekend to see the Beavs beat Cal. There was record attendance with almost 45,000 people. We had an awesome time singing the fight song and hanging out with our buddies. Two more games to go!

Change Has Come!

4 years ago Nathan and I watched an un-known named Barack Obama speak at the Democratic National Convention and thought this guy needs to run for president. After 22 months of campaigning the unthinkable happened! We sat with Ellie last night explaining delegates and race issues that she has not had to contend with yet. Little does she know (or let alone Jake) the magnitude of what just happened.

Happy Halloween!

Well another Halloween has came and gone. We had a cheerleader and a firefighter tromp the streets of West Linn with our neighbors Tim, Stacy, Addison and Taline and friends Chad and Tammy with their kids Cooper and Mason. The kids had a fantastic time and no rain!

Ellie, Taline, Addison & Jake

Jake the Fireman
Ellie, Taline & Jake

Ellie's Soccer Awards

Today was Ellie's last soccer game for the year. Ellie and the rest of the girls received trophies for their first season playing soccer. Coach David and Coach Nathan also received photo memroir of the year. We had a great time watching and rooting on the team and we didn't even get rained on once!

"Run Like Hell" Charity Run

On Sunday, Mattison and I ran the 6th annual "Run Like Hell" a benefit for P:EAR mentoring homeless youth through art and education. We had a great time dressing up and running in our Halloween costumes, we even shaved 2 minutes off our time from the Race for the Cure, despite the near freezing temperature!

Annual Trip to the Pumpkin Patch @ Lee's Farms

Super Soccer Star Ellie

Ellie enrolled in Kindergarten Soccer this year and she is quite the star! There are 6 girls on the team and they are so cute and it awesome to watch your kid score goals!

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First Day of Kindergarten!

Well the day is finally here, Ellie started Kindergarten today at Willamette Primary. Ellie, Taline and Chaz were looks as adorable as usual as they lined up so properly at the curb waiting for the big yellow bus (at least it is not the short one!) Our little girl is growing up so fast and we are so proud of her.

Summer Vacation

Gold Bluffs State Beach, CA

Ellie at Lake Tahoe, CA

Jake and Uncle Fred

Jake at Gold Bluffs Beach, CA

Summer went by so fast this year. We decided to take a last road trip to California.

Day 1 - Portland to Bandon

We stayed at a hotel on the beach and this first leg took a lot longer than we thought it would (road construction, potty breaks, etc.) So this night we went to bed early and stayed at a nice hotel on the beach.

Day 2 to 4 - Bandon to Redwoods National Park

We drove down 101 to Gold Bluffs Beach State Park just south of Crescent City. This is the only park where you can camp right on the sandy beach. It was so beautiful and there were a ton of kids to play with. We rode our bikes to Fern Canyon (where they filmed Jurassic Park) and hung out with a herd of Elk. One day the kids witnessed a sunning seal!

Day 4 - Gold Blufs State Park to Lake Tahoe, CA

We all got up early and took a drive down the 101 and then headed east on Hwy 299 to Redding. It took us 4 winding hours up the Trinity River to Redding. We arrived in Redding and the temperature guage said 107! We took a little break at Applebees, and it was awesome considering we were eating camping food for 3 days! We finally got on the road and headed to Lake Tahoe to see Uncle Fred, Aunt "Beautiful" (Cindy) and Kaitlin. This leg took us about 10 hours and we were to excited to take showers and use real bathrooms. We stayed here for a couple days and went wakeboarding on Uncle Fred's new Cobalt ski boat and ate like kings! We realized we were not in that good of shape after wakeboarding at 6,000 ft above sea level.

Day 6 & 7 - Lake Tahoe to Ashland and Portland

Sadly we had to leave the lap of luxury and head back to home.

We headed down the back side of the Sierra's to Reno and made a pit stop at the gas station (gas is a $1 cheaper there!). Back on the road through the back roads and wandered through Shasta National Forest and finally made it to Ashland where we spent the night.

After 1500 miles we finally made it back home for Ellie to start Kindergarten the next morning. We feel so blessed to be able to witness such wonderful scenery, spend time with our family and meet such interesting people.

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Two Peas in a Pod!

Camping @ Belknap Springs

The Hammond ClanPhil, Nathan & Julia

Jake and Dad-Who is having more fun?

We had another fabulous trip to Belknap Springs with the whole Hammond Family. Jeff, Julia, Amelia, Julie, Jessie, Phil and of course us all had a great time going on hikes, riding bikes and relaxing and swimming in the hot springs.

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Lounging Poolside

West Linn Old Time Fair

4th of July Parade

No Training Wheels!

Ellie finally got her training wheels off today. Well, actually they broke off! Ellie wanted them off anyway. It took about 30 seconds for her to learn, I just pushed her up the hill and away she went. The video was taken about 5 minutes later.

Happy Birthday Jake - The Big 2!

2nd Honeymoon to the Florida Keys

In April Nathan and I vacationed to the Florida Keys to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We spent a day in Fort Lauderdale, 3 Days in Key Largo and 3 Days in Key West. Sight seeing included a day at Everglades National Park seeing the gators and a snorkel trip out to the famous Bahai' Honda State Park Reef. We enjoyed days napping on the white sands and snorkeling one of the best ocean reefs in the world. It was well needed and we can't wait to go back again!

Florida Keys Slide Show

DJ Jake is in the House!

Penut Butter & Ellie's with Nana!

Jake, Ellie & Nana

Holy Snow!!

Record breaking snow once again at Mount Hood

Ski Fever!

The '07-'08 ski season was amazing with record snow fall and dry snow! We ski'd almost every weekend and Ellie became quite the snow bunny, even shredding some black diamonds!