Family Flashback- Kicking Off Christmas

Last night we did our traditional Christmas kick-off. All the decorations are up, the lights are lit, the cookies are made… Then we start out the season with what it is really all about: Jesus!

There is just something about reading the Christmas story by candle/Christmas tree light that helps you really put Jesus back into focus.

As you can see, we’ve done this for a long time!

First we get the tree… (every year my parents’ neighbor gave us a tree)

Reading the Christmas story

After the story is read, I break into the stash of Christmas goodies all ready to go in the freezer, make some cocoa and enjoy what is sure to be another magical Christmas season!

Yay! It’s time for cookies and cocoa!!!

Body Worlds At OMSI

Today I took Will on a field trip with our co-op to the Body World exhibit at OMSI. The first couple of hours we just wandered around the other exhibits (which we had seen many times before) waiting to see what we’d really gone for…

A high-tech computer game from 1994. You have to take a floppy disk to help save the museum!!! (and it actually makes you READ to play the game!)

William is much better at brain teaser puzzles than I am!

I really wanted to know what was at the top of these stairs???

Playing with magnets

Firing the bass drum air cannon to make the pinwheels spin.

part of the old clock from the Oregonian building

satellite picture of a hurricane

Turbine Hall from above

Now we know where all the paper airplanes go…

Will REALLY wants one of these rocks! (but he chose a pen that looks like a hypodermic needle instead…)

Then it was our turn to enter the Body Worlds exhibit…

Just imagine my blood & guts/photography loving son’s profound disappointment when he learned that there were NO CAMERAS ALLOWED inside the exhibit!

Thankfully the exhibit was so captivating and awe-inspiring that he didn’t mind too much that he couldn’t take any winning shots. But he did often mention how much he really, really, really wished he could!

So, while I wish I had lots of cool pictures of all the incredible things we saw, I don’t have any! But you can check out this link to get an idea of what we saw… click HERE. (But don’t say I didn’t warn you…)

But I have to say that the entire time I was there I was thinking about the marvelous creation that God has made in human beings (and animals)! These verses from Psalm 139 kept going through my mind the entire time I was there:

‎"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be."

Guys, Girls, Guns & Guts (Pumpkin Guts…)

For the first time ever, Chris and I got to go to the annual Pumpkin Bash at Sore Acres. Will and I had to come late because of the photography class, but it also meant that Dad and Frank got to go, too!

When we arrived at Sore Acres we found that there was a whole lot of good food, guns, rain, campfires, great friends and smashed pumpkins!

Oh, and lots of camo, too! ; o)

Poor pumpkins!

The Wii Fit board was a whole lot tougher than we expected!

Shooting is fun but watching is fun, too!

This bad boy was the life of the party this year!

We all came home soaking wet but had a fantastic time! Next year we’re praying harder for nice weather…

A Day Downtown

William and I were gifted a photography class in downtown Portland on Saturday. We spent the night at Dad & Mom’s and were fortunate enough to have my dad drop us off and pick us up! (I think he really just wanted to go downtown and see the Occupy Portland camp… LOL)

We didn’t really get a good glimpse of too many of the actual Occupiers themselves since they were all still in bed at 9:30am. It more resembles a lice-infested homeless camp than an organized political protest against… Wait, what are they protesting??? I was grateful however for all the police officers who were there to help keep everyone safe! Thank you Portland PD!

William already knew most of what was covered in our class but we did discover lots of cool places to shoot the next time we are in Portland! I can’t wait to go back and see what kind of shots he’ll capture! But here are the ones he took in class…