Climbing date night

One of our goals for 2017 was to have active date nights. Given that it is the winter, that means we needed to find something indoors. We discovered the perfect place for us - bouldering at The Circuit in Tigard! 

We liked challenging ourselves on this yellow one - it was tough and we didn't even conquer it, but we tried quite a few times - and looked cool doing it. There were others that we topped out on and had some light competition (Dani climbed one Jared couldn't).

The slackline was a great place to have some fun while resting tired hands and arms! 

Leavenworth anniversary trip

We celebrated our 14th anniversary with a trip to the town of Leavenworth, WA. It is a Bavarian themed town in the Cascades, and the week we were there it was COLD!!! It happened to be the Ice Festival (aptly named, I must say), and the town was lit up and decorated.

One of the days, in the main park in town, ice sculpters were carving their creations. It was impressive to watch!

 

One of the other funny things we watched was people sledding on the little hill in the main park. It wasn't a long hill, but there were lots of people sledding on it. Most were using cheap plastic disks that we assume were purchased from one of the stores across the street. It was so cold, and the snow was so hard that those sleds were getting destroyed - cracked into lots of pieces! And it sure didn't look like a comfortable ride. We chose to pass on a sled ride.

We chose, instead, to go skiing at Steven's Pass, about 45 minute out of Leavenworth. Again, it was COLD, but cold was good for the snow. We loved being able to ski wherever we wanted and exploring the mountain. There were beautiful views and fun terrain as we zipped down the trails.

One of our favorite places to eat was the Munchen Haus - we ate there a few times! The sausages were really good, and Jared absolutely loved the apple cider saurkraut (yum!) and enormous collection of various mustards. As good as the sausages were, it was the hot pretzels with Beecher's Cheese dip that stole the show! We talked about those pretzels for weeks afterwards (okay, longer than that).

 

We enjoyed walking around town and exploring the shops. Our favorite was the hat shop. Dani decided to try to fit the part.

We went for a Sunday stroll out by the river. The river was partly frozen, and it was cold!

This was an amazing trip! It was a time that we re-connected, talked about our relationship and family, and set goals. This year, we worked especially on our family mission statement and making a family focus for the year. We settled on "Do Something Good Today." It's going to be a great year!

A little more Wilsonville snow

It doesn't snow much here, so when it does, we get out and play in it! Our favorite place to go sledding is on the hill on Colvin Lane. The kids love to make snow angels and snowmen in the back yard. These snow angels were made on McLeod as we were coming home.

We built a few snowmen - one in the front yard that is taller than Torin, and a little one someone put on top of my car. It was so cold that it stayed up there for a couple days!

Someone posted an aerial picture of the neighborhood with snow - it looks pretty!

The boot lineup is kind of hilarious!

Jensen Church

It doesn't take much snow to cancel things here in Oregon, so we ended up having church cancelled this weekend. The kids weren't looking to take the week off, so they put together a meeting, complete with a paper program, 

and a podium to speak at, complete with tissues (gotta be prepared for mom!).

Jacob and Claire helped their younger siblings write and give their talks and then spoke themselves.

Torin saw everyone else participating and he wanted a turn too.

It was cute - and as parents, we are proud that our kids have a consistent desire to go to church. Even when it is held in our living room.

Jensen Church

A snowy Sunday today meant church was cancelled, so we were at home the entire day. The kids decided they would like to hold "Jensen Church."

The kids put together the program, complete with paper programs for all.

The kids fashioned a pulpit to stand behind - and were considerate enough to put a box of tissues on it! Torin led both the opening and closing songs.

Each of the kids wrote their own talks, choosing their own topics as well.

Claire and Jacob helped Liam and Kate write and deliver their talks.

 

It was a nice to see how much church attendance means to our kids.

Our new kitchen!

The kitchen took a little longer than planned to get the final doors on, but it is all finished now and we are thrilled!

We refaced the cabinets along the wall from oak to white and island from white to gray, added uppers to the ceiling, including the glass doors near the sink, and added a desk and cabinets next to the stairs.

One of our new favorite features - slow close cabinet doors and drawers. It makes the kitchen so much quieter, especially with the kids!

The kitchen feels so much lighter and bigger, and there is so much more storage space. We love having the built-in desk matching the rest of the kitchen. With the 7 of us, that's a big bonus. We absolutely love it!

A surprise at work

In Jared's first week at Precoa, back in August of 2009, Chris Giovarelli put "Aunt Viv" on Jared's desk with the story that it was the urn given to him when he first started with Precoa. She stayed with him through the first months he was there to help Chris be comfortable entering the funeral industry. "Aunt Viv" was next given to the next new employee, Jana, a few weeks later. For the next 7.5 years, "Aunt Viv" greeted most new employees in the company. The story was her remains were in there, but for a long time, it was known by many that there was a pop can and some cereal inside.

But... in all that time, no one had ever opened up the urn. Until Motoko! She decided we needed to pop her open. Lo and behold, the can of sprite and cereal - and a note from Chris to me! It welcomed me to Precoa and gave a little back story of "Aunt Viv," Chris's "favorite aunt.

Who knew!?! After all these years - a note from Chris! What a fun surprise!