Coach of the Year

http://www.clackamasreview.com/sports/story.php?story_id=119930343475522100
Tyler was voted Coach of the Year for the State of Oregon 4A High School boys soccer! Tyler was Coach of the Year for our League and the State 3 years ago, in 2004, and received the honors again this year, 2007!

White Christmas!

For more pictures of Christmas go to....http://picasaweb.google.com/karitamarita

Merry Christmas from our family!!

We got to have a white Christmas! Isaac's first taste of snow was on his first Christmas.

Portland is No. 2 in blogging

A week ago, Thursday, December 13th, this article in the Oregonian caught my eye. I don't usually read the paper, I was probably looking through it for ads, but I'm glad I saw this blog-looking article on the cover of the Living section. It was a great topic of conversation for Tyler and me. "Pretty cool...Portland is the second-bloggiest area...second to Austin, Texas." Those of you who use blogger may like to know that the man who wrote the software for it lives in Corvallis. In the article, some Portland bloggers stated their reasons blogging is so popular in Portland. My favorite reason: "short answer: we're chatty - even if no one's really listening!" Other reasons: the rain keeps us inside, we rank high for technology/wireless use, and because so many people come to Portland from all over-blogging is a way to stay connected. Tyler had a good reason that was not mentioned in the article. Allison will give an Amen to this: Starbucks=Caffeine! My reason for blogging? Right now, just to post pictures and updates of our family and quickly growing kids. I didn't want to start a blog when everyone else I knew had one, because I didn't know what I would say. This last year has been the hardest for me and I don't have anything positive to say (what's that saying, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all) but I can post pictures (a picture speaks louder than words) and someday you might get to read a little of what is going on in this mind of mine.

I can't post without a picture!

Blazer Fans

Isaac went to his first Blazer game Friday night, December 14th! We share season tickets with a few others so we get to go to a couple games a month. As you can see from the pictures, we are up high in the nosebleed section. It was an exciting game; the Rose Garden was sold out and our section was packed with loud Rip-City fans! They all loved Isaac's 'hawk and Blazer outfit. Isaac slept throught the 2nd & 3rd quarters but woke up in the 4th quarter to watch the Blazers win their 6th game in a row! I just got home from the game tonight and the Blazers have now won 8 in a row!

Isaac's Nicknames

Tyler informed me I wrote Isaac's nickname wrong in the last post (I wrote Chubby-B), so I just corrected it. Blame it on a late night posting, I combined one of his nicknames with another. Papa calls him "Chunky-B", Brianna used to call him "Chubbabbubba", Dominick calls him "Izee" and mama calls him "lil Chubs" or "lil toot" (he is my gassiest baby)!

Isaac 4 months

Isaac went to his 4 month check-up today. He is 25 3/4" tall, 80th percentile, and weighs 15lb 6oz, 60th percentile. Compared to his brother and sister at 4 months, he is growing at a faster rate and outweighs them by 4.5 lbs. When did they weigh what he weighs now: Brianna was 14lb 15oz at 12 months, Dominick was 15lb 8oz at 9months.

That's why we call him "Chunky-B"!

This bear was a gift from Grammy's good friend, Cindy Clark, when I had Dominick. I took a picture of Dominick with the bear every month for his first year and I did the same for Brianna, so of course I will be taking a picture of Isaac with the bear every month until his 1st birthday to show the progress of his growth. We have had the bear for 6 1/2 years but have not named him. Any good ideas?

Sleepover

The Trost family (Tyler's wonderful coaching assistant) came over for dinner Saturday evening and their youngest daughter, Emily, got to have her first sleepover! Dominick (6) Emily (5) and Brianna (4) had a blast playing together until the wee hours of the night.

Dominick was the knight (with sword and shield), Emily was the cheerleader and Brianna the princess, although it was really just Dominick chasing the girls! :-)

They were up by 8am to play some more. Brianna says, "I had lots of fun playing, her my goodest friend, I have 2 Emily friends I love!" (Bri calls her "funny Emily" and cousin Emilie "serious Emilie")

Christmas Tree

Today we went out to my dad's Christmas tree farm and picked out our tree! These trees are from the overgrown Christmas trees that dropped seeds before my dad bought the property...so they are a more "natural grown" Noble tree. I love them!
My dad has planted thousands of baby Christmas trees on 20 acres...to be harvested in 5ish years.

A Christmas weekend

Friday night Tyler took the family to a dramatic interactive walk-through nativity experience, "Follow The Star." We walked with the Magi to the temple, where Jesse told us to keep searching for the newborn King. (looks like he is speaking directly to Dom in this picture:)We visited King Herod, were chased by Roman soldiers on real horses, were with the shepherds when the angels appeared, walked through crowded Bethlehem looking for a place to stay until we arrived at the stable and found Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.
Saturday we had the Lewis Christmas party. It was wonderful to see everyone!! and to spend the first day of the Christmas Advent (our family starts the countdown chain on December 1st) in the spirit of Christmas. The Lewis great-grand kids were the center of attention; handsome and adorable:
The Lewis grand kids:
There are more pictures from these events in our web albums. Look to the right for the Link.