December 2015--we had visitors

Let's pretend we haven't noticed that it's been MONTH since my last post.

I've been working on a new project that is taking up 1-2 hours of my time every day...and that is 1-2 hours that I didn't have to begin with!  Consequently my screen time is very limited.  BUT blogging is always on my mind and now I've stolen a few moments to finally do a December post.

The biggest thing that happened in December was that we had visitors!  I ALWAYS love when my family comes into town!  This time it was my parents for an early Christmas visit.  My sister Erica found a random super-cheap flights as well and came along too.  I love you, Erica, but the best part was that you brought Violet with you!  ;o)

visiting Bunny's lessons horse and barn--
grandma and grandpa in the background,
and Erica holding 2-year-old Violet

They stayed for a long weekend (more than a weekend but a little less than a week, I guess) and we enjoyed all sorts of Christmas adventures and traditions.

The first thing we did was have a BIG
brunch after Sunday Mass--my lovely
husband made fantastic omelets for everyone

yum! cinnamon rolls!

One day we drove into the Progress Ridge area and enjoyed some of the fun shops:

Piccolo Mondo toy store
(we also went to the candy store of course!)

Erica and Violet got to enjoy the Mommy & Me class that I take with Sedric every Tuesday at the dance hall:

Notice how dark it is--this was December of course!  But it's
so light now that it's spring, that this pic looks funny to me.

Make-your-own pizza night with Chef Marcus' homemade crust

One funny thing about this trip was that it rained.  A lot.  Like ALL the time.  We had actually planned one night to go to Zoo Lights, but it rained SO hard and SO much that the zoo closed for safety reasons!  It was awful.  But we made the most of it:

We "jumped" at the chance to play outside
at least ONCE between rain showers!

Violet wasn't too sure about the ponies.

Fun with cousins--6 instant friends

Luckily at the very end of their visit it started to clear up a bit.  We got to enjoy our annual Christmas Fun Day without being soggy!

downtown Portland

at Macy's to see Santa

the Benson Bubblers

Finnigan's Toy Store downtown

We ended the day with our traditional
trip to Deschutes Brew Pub

It was such a fun time, but it was over before we knew it.  :o(  We only get visitors about every 6 months, and it's usually my parents (which is great! don't get me wrong, mom and dad!!!!) so having Erica and Violet here was really extra-special.  The next thing we're looking forward to is grandpa coming to visit again in May, and then Bunny gets to go to Michigan on her own.  But no plans after that.  We'll have to get working on that, so we can keep on having adventures!