2018 quotes

Jacob
"Thum"
- them. not sure why, but this word drives Jared nuts!

Torin
"Aragog"
- Spider. Live ones, decorations, drawings. Every spider is Aragog.

Getting the house ready to put on the market

It is a bittersweet time as Christmas decorations came down early this year as we begin the process of getting the house ready to put on the market.

Perhaps even more bittersweet was the all-too-symbolic mending of the fence that had been open with the Bowles yard for years. It was truly sad to put up the vinyl slats that had been laying to the side of the hole in the fence, knowing that it meant that we would soon be moving across the country.

After a lot of work and cleaning, the house looked great - all ready for pictures and showings.

There are so many memories in each of these rooms.

We are proud of the home that we built and the years that we spent in Oregon.

 

A break from work

Christmas break is nice time to take some time as a family to do a few different things. We decided to take the kids climbing at the Circuit in Tigard. The kids did great! They were challenged and tried a lot of different routes.

When you really don't want to join the pajamas picture

 

Ugly Sweater Party

It feels a little bit weird that this will be our last ugly sweater party in Oregon - we have held these every year, so this is our 9th!

Pre-party - Jared and Dani held a "who wore it best" contest - Dani definitely won (but Jared got the laughs)

Lisa and Tom Jensen

Eric and Tamara Battles

Ryker and Brooke Smith

Carson and Paige Johanson

Jim and Mel Schaffer

Steve and Lori Mineer

Rob and Lorena Candrian

Ryan and 

Chris and Karen McIlmoil

Ryan and Jessica Smith

The whole group

We have had a lot of fun years of Ugly Sweater Parties with this group. It has always been fun. Highlights are Tamara's love of Bunko, Eric's love of the cranberry dip, Carson's yearly stache - and a wonderful set of friendships!