Norah's Terrific Two's!

Once again, Norah gave special meaning to the close of another year by celebrating her second birthday!  I was worried that her birthday would look much like Christmas to her, but this was simply not the case! We woke up singing 'Happy Birthday!' and didn't stop all day!  She picked out a special breakfast and then went disc golfing with Daddy and Uncle Sean while Mama caught a few hours of sleep.  When she got home it was party time.  The first doorbell ring brought a package all the way from Hawaii from Norah's Auntie Becky, which was followed by a few favorite faces.  Norah's friend Malachai and his baby brother Nadavi were here to celebrate with her.  Malachai helped Norah open her presents and break them in immediately.  They chased bubbles, pushed the shopping cart, had tea parties, cut up wooden fruit, put coins in a bank and read lots of neat new books!  

By the time the Birthday Cake came around Norah could hardly wait!  We all sang Happy Birthday with Norah and she did a great job of blowing out her candles (see the video below!)

There were many that were missed in person but felt in spirit!  Thank you all for being such a special part of Norah's life and making these two years the best years of our lives!

We are looking forward to this next year as Norah continues to discover and share even more of her amazing little self!

Norah wanted to wear all of her Christmas fleece at the same time... 

It's your Birthday, I say!!  Go for it!

A real shopping cart! 

(There were plenty of can collecting bag lady jokes... 

so far it's mostly Baby and Elephant that are getting a ride!)

A real baby in the real shopping cart!

Poor Nadavi doesn't know if he got bigger or the carts got smaller!

Tea Party time with her new Scotty Dog Tea Set!

Thanks Aunite B!

Wonder Woman is serious about savings!

Daddy's Cake!?!?

Two whole year!  

How time flies!

Finger-lickin' good!

BIG Bubble!

Happy Birthday Norah!

Looking forward to many many more!

Deck the Halls

Our very first Christmas in our new home was nothing short of a success.  We had our very first tree which we had just rescued from the chipper the day before Christmas Eve, decked out with ornaments that have not seen the light of day in over a decade!  Norah wakes up every morning and says 'Keeah Tee!!"  And she loves undecorating the laden boughs!  Sean and Kelsey came over and brought all their presents to open, which made the day even more special.  We cooked a simple breakfast and then all settled in for a long winter's nap as Greg biked off to work.  

The next day we had what I think was our most successful party yet, a Brown Bag White Elephant Party.  It was a blast!  I made three Tofurky's (a delicacy which gained many new followers after this debut!) and festive mulled wine, among many other delicious holiday dishes and drinks!  The white elephant gift exchange was just hilarious, featuring such gifts as an Obama head Chia pet, palm tree twinkle lights and a genuine Ducks pom pom baton.  It was promptly decided that we will be doing this every year from here on out! 

I hope that everyone's holiday was filled with as much joy and love and laughter as ours!  Already looking forward to next year (literally, we already have a time-table!)

Happy Holidays!

Norah was opening presents before she even got dressed!

Our very first very own Christmas Tree.

Bishop is trying to figure out the noises from Norah's new animal sounds book.

Norah sits among her bountiful holiday booty

Tearing in!

We were able to Skype with Papa and Didi, and Gaga, Scott and Becca AND the whole Meyer clan in Fond du Lac.  It was great to share the holiday fun with those from afar.

Uncle Sean and Kelsey came over Christmas morning for mimosas and presents,

 giving it that Oregon family holiday feel!

Norah takes a peek at what Santa stuffed in the stockings (handmade by Nana Sue!)

The scene of the festivities

Happy Holiday family all dressed up in our new digs.  Greg and I each got each other blue Patagonia jackets (great minds;), and I am sporting a great homemade apron (which I have hardly taken off!) from my girl, Becky!  Norah is in her elf-ware, adorable as usual!

Stay tuned for New Years / Norah's Second Birthday!

Snowshoeing at Gold Lake

We had another venture out into the snow!  It has been so fun to get away for a day and play in the snow!  Norah loves getting all dressed up and picking up snowballs.  And she does pretty darn well in the backpack when we start to really cover some ground!  Getting out in the snow makes me a little less homesick this time of year!!  

This just kills me!  Too cute.... I think she knows.

We tried to bring Norah along in the sled, but she would not have it!  I think it was too much battling with gravity and not enough control!  Still have yet to see how she'll do with snowshoes!

An enchanted winter wonderland

Upper Marilyn Lake

This is what visions of sugar plums looks like on the outside!

Bright-eyed once more

There was no crunching on this venture, just lots of fluffy snow!

I can't get enough of these snow burdened trees

Picture Perfect

Pretty

This little guy just plopped down right in front of me saying, 'I'm ready for my close up'!

We later learned he was after our peanut butter cookies!

The warming house on Gold Lake, complete with woodfire stove, picnic table, a bench to sleep on and a wall of firewood!  We ran into some hikers who were planning on spending the night, reminding Greg and I how much parenthood has tamed us!  

This little bird had figured out how to survive the winter, scavaging peanut butter cookies from carb hungary snowshoers!!  He would actually come sit on your had for a split second, Norah loved it!

Too bad our Christmas cards are already sent... 

this would have made it for sure!

We were lucky to catch a snowy mountain sunset over Diamond Peak on the way back, and I am extra lucky to have a hubby who will pull over to the side of the road so I can snap a proper shot!

It looks like the sky is on fire!

Winter Wonderland!

While Eugene is blanketed in a thin layer of snow but once a year, we are still not too far from a wintery wonderland.  At three thousand feet in the Cascades there is more snow that you can imagine when your nestled in the grey rainy valley.  With the snow already feet deep we set out in snow shoes to try to find Salt Creek Falls... which for the record we never did, but we still had a fun adventure in our attempt!  There was no trail to be found, so we made our own, quickly learning this is one of the reasons people purchase a GPS!  We did some bushwhacking and followed Salt Creek for a while, but mostly we just wandered the woods, leaving a nice trail for us to find our way back to the car.  Norah did pretty good, although the snow was much deeper than she was used to!  We added snowshoes to her letter to Santa this year!

We felt like we were in an REI ad (which recently featured the same jacket that Greg is sporting... color and all... who knew Greg was so cutting edge!)

Winter Wow!

Setting out to blaze the trail

Say 'Here we go!  Let it snow!'

Salt Creek in the background... getting ready to head back

Self taken family photos are hard...