At this point I'm just trying to catch up before you catch on that I'm back-dating everything.

This hike is celebrating our 40th birthdays with another couple who both turned 40 this year, too. And another friend. Who's not 40.   There's a trail system called the 4T (get it?) Trail that we thought would be a clever hike for our station in life.  But not for our kids (too long).  So we hit a Forest Park trail.

The hiking crew.  Resting.  "If you all look at the camera, we'll give you some snaaa-aaacks."  Kids will do anything for a snack.  Is something you learn once you're 40.

Mila and Miles, having a great conversation.  Over (about?) their snacks:

Not staged. I swear.

And then there was this cool tree.

Where the kids jumped and played for awhile.

Photo by Ksenia.  St. Helen's in the distance:

A Big Christmas

Big Cheetos.

Backstory:  since Miles refers to anything orange as "Cheeto"

Big Lego set.

Backstory:  Sydney saw this set advertised in the Lego magazine in November and wished and wished to have it.  By the time we realized it wasn't a passing fancy,  they were sold out of every store in the Portland metro area (i.e. the few I checked).  Online it could be had for 2x the suggested retail price.   "Every kid needs to feel disappointed; it's good for their character," we consoled ourselves.   But then, here's another Christmas miracle.  Grandma and Grandpa Barker happened to be in England just prior to Christmas and called to say they could get it in the stores there.   Did we want it?  So, imported from England, via Utah, courtesy of the USPS,  er, Santa's Sleigh, Sydney received her heart's fondest desire.  As you can tell, she was elated, thanks to Santa's elves.

Big Dollhouse.

Backstory:  Pure parental insecurity and naivety.  The fact we got it on craigslist softens the blow and the annoyance/embarrassment at the largess-ness of it.  Also, kids do play with it.  As it turns out. Sometimes.

Christmas Eve

  Sydney has been talking about Christmas since, oh, July.   Each kid, though, was so full of innocent excitement (well, Miles didn't really get what was coming, but he jumped in with both feet.  "Not sure why my parents just stuck a huge tree in our living room and put glowy lights on it. But, hey, I'm down.").   Whether Talmage still believes in Santa is up to debate, but if he doesn't, he didn't let on to the other kids.   The stakes were too high.  I mean, if he said anything, would these stockings be full of goodies on Christmas morning???   If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, holidays are fun with little kids.

Below:  a Christmas experiment with the green door.  The "paneling" makes this look less effective; but when has our decor ever been classy?

We accidentally stole that Santa hat from Heidi's house, where we had a magnificent dinner.  Followed by more music-making.

When we got home, the kids gave their presents to each other.

Below:  one last note to Santa (one of many, many, many notes.  Oh!  I almost forgot!  Sydney wrote a letter to Santa that she insisted on putting in the mailbox herself.  A couple weeks later, she received a response.  Briton and I knew nothing about it.  So ... (spoiler alert) ... who is intercepting North Pole-bound letters and playing Santa?  Is it part of the USPS budget?  Or is it a good Samaritan out to make Christmas more magical?  When did someone start doing that?  Is it more than one person?  Is it a local thing or what?

Christmas Eve Eve

After checking out the musical numbers at the visitor's center, we walked around the temple.  Experimenting with different settings on the camera, here.  The security guard took this picture and talked shop about photography.  I was quickly out of my league.  He mentioned something about Iso --- topes, or something ....?

While irreverent, given the setting,  the below photo would be a good cover for their future band.  Possible band names:

a) U4

b) Knockin' on Heaven's Door

c)  Nights Templar

d)  My Mom Made Me Do It

Clara up to bat.

Daily conversation:

Mom or Dad:  "Clara, are you ready for Joy School?"
Clara:  "Not Joy School!  It's CAL-OR-IE LOOTH-REN!" [said with great emphasis].

So, Clara loves Calvary Lutheran.  And we do, too.  The teachers have been very supportive of Clara's growth and learning this year.  She has thrived at school.  Also, Calvary Lutheran has the Christmas program figured out.   The performance lasted about 15 minutes.  If that.  The kids sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and recited the Chubby Snowman (I guess that's a thing this year).  Then we were dismissed to make a quick snowman sock and eat refreshments.  The end.

Making Music

The Christmas Concert was a lot of fun. There were about 15 numbers, including one recitation of "There was a Chubby Snowman."  People chose their own songs and not one single one was a repeat. Practically a Christmas miracle.   The concerts give kids and novice musicians a chance to perform, as well as hearing from some super talented friends.

Another reason to host concerts, is it is a good motivator to disembowel your electric piano to fix the clicking keys.

 

Miles ensured Briton kept the hardware in order.

We almost had a real live performance from the Bruno Band, but the first chair violinist decided to go to her high school concert instead.  Something about trying to get an "A" ("kids these days").   Instead, Heidi and I played Sleigh Bells with Conner on the trumpet.  That's as close to a band as we got.   There was a lovely variety in instruments and style of Christmas songs.  From our family, this was the run-down:

Sydney played "Jingle Bells" on the cello.  It turned out to be her last performance before going into retirement.   That's another story, though.

Talmage and I played "O Come, Little Children."    He did great.  If I had photoshop, I'd draw laser beams burning out of our eyes.  This duet was made possible by my mom, who practiced it with Talmage for a week leading up to the concert (she didn't want to perform).

Briton performed "Rudolph" -- much to the audience's entertainment.   A couple friends and I did two numbers as a string ensemble: two cellos, one violin.  Super fun.

Gingerbread House Party

 Mel's Kitchen Cafe gets props for making massive "gingerbread" house parties possible.  Using burnt sugar, you can zip-zip-zip those puppies together in no time.  Now, all is quiet.  Ready and waiting ...

... for the crazy!  Kids + Unlimited Sugar = ...

So I was sorta surprised that the kids hunkered down in quiet as they focused on their architectural masterpieces.  Maybe it's because I told them if they ate any candy before they were finished I'd break their arms.

 Sydney built a bench for her Teddy Grahams to rest on.  Later,  she added an ice-skating rink.

 

 

 Love that concentration.

 Talmage's house employed the Lego candy for a cool facade.   Wish I had a picture of him building his.

But I do have a picture of this creation:

Just like snowflakes, no two houses were alike.

Getting reacquainted with old friends.

Getting the Tree

 The hunting crew.

 Still looking.

 (actually, the kids played tag up and down the rows)

 

 This is the one.  All hands on deck.

From year to year, this is one of my favorite shots of Briton.

Fifty cents.  What a deal.