christmas

Christmas vacation was kicked off by a pair of performances by the boys.  Ben's class sang some Christmas classics, along with the ABC's of Christmas, where Ben recited a couplet about the letters G and X.  He memorized them well and did a great performance, along with the rest of his class.  Owen was a penguin in the classic Christmas Penguin pageant.  He sang beautifully and made a very handsome penguin.

Dad made it in time for the shows, and then for a trip up to Portland with the Muhly's to see Natalie King Cole sing with the Portland Orchestra.  We had time to walk around Portland a bit, and for Ben to sit on Santa's lap (where he asked for Lego Star Wars).  The concert was wonderful- and all but Ben made it to the end.  We spent the night next door at the Heathman, had a nice family breakfast, then spent the morning with the kids taking the Max around Portland.  We returned to Corvallis for our earlier than usual annual Christmas dinner and gift exchange with the Muhly's.  One of Ben's and everyone's favorite gifts was a Darth Vader mask from Grandpa.

The Muhly's flew to Hawaii for Christmas, but we stayed in Sunny Corvallis, where Richard and the boys made gingerbread cookies and prepared for Santa's arrival.

The boys had a wonderful Christmas day and subsequent days, discovering new toys and lots and lots of assembly.  Richard and I cooked beef burgandy and french onion soup for Christmas dinner, and I documented it with the iPhone fish eye lens Richard got for me.  Richard and I enjoyed our new Tragger grill and made some ribs with Dad to initiate it.

Time passed quickly as it always seems to while on vacation, and before long it was time to take my dad up to Portland to the airport.  We also made a stop at the Zoo Lights while we were up there- a first trip for us- and we were all amazed at the lights.