Snowtacular!

I woke up this morning, eager to get a pre-dawn hot tub dip before getting the kids and husbands organized so we could depart to Sage Springs Spa by around 10am. However, the experience was quite literally dampened by the steady, icky rain that was pouring down upon us out in the hot tub. It kept up through the morning.

Stephie, Michele and I all agreed that it was a perfect day to be inside and away from windows at the spa, as the temperatures were supposed to stay warm all day, before turning colder tonight and then not rising above freezing until after we departed. Of course, we held onto hope that miraculously we would walk into the doors of the spa facility with rain, and walk out to find the snow falling, but based on the forecast that was highly unlikely. It did give us a point of hope, though, to hear "Sleigh Ride" upon walking in...maybe it was a sign of good things to come.

So, we blocked out the ick outside, and embraced the lavishness of the spa facilities as we do every year. The first 90-120 minutes are spent in the hot tub. How we manage to score that thing all to ourselves nearly the entire time every year is quite remarkable. The ambiance of the desert feeling and "chirping crickets" sound effects is, as always, blissful.


After moving on to the Serenity Room in our spa robes to eat our specially packed lunch (of all of our favorite "normally forbidden" foods) - we were eventually called to our "service" rooms to get each of our individual therapies done. This year, I opted for a deep tissue massage, and boy-oh-boy did "Shawna" take that title literally. It's been way too long since seeing Mom, so Shawna served as substitute today, spending the entire 80 minutes digging into the knots all over my neck and back. Given I had a headache when I walked in - and left with it gone, I'd say she earned her tip. =)

Upon departing the spa, over five hours later, this is what we found:

SNOWTACULAR!!!! Yes, indeed, the unlikely happened, and had already turned everything white. BEST SUNRIVER WEATHER EVER! This is a pic of our home upon safely returning to it after our adventures driving from the spa in Sunriver through about 5 roundabouts to get to our house.

After quickly throwing some chicken enchiladas together, I grabbed John's camera and invited Sydney to join me for a walk to the nearby bridge and back. So serendipitous!


Of course, Syd is the favorite focal point for me with the camera - she takes such absolute delight in this white stuff!




A view of our home - it almost looks like a black and white pic with a little orange sliver - which is the warmth radiating from the window by the door...so cozy!

More snow is expected, and as I already pointed out, the temps won't rise above freezing until after we depart on Saturday....YIPPEE!

Get Outside and Play!

It didn't take much convincing to get our kiddos outside and playing. I will say, as they've each gotten older, it is SO MUCH EASIER to get them dressed. My goodness, what a chore that used to be! Later on in the week, we'll take them to the sledding hill, so today was just a warm-up.




The nice thing about Sydney is that we don't have to worry at all about where her gloves, hat, or socks are at. In fact, with all of this snow, we don't even bother wiping her feet upon entry. Have I mentioned before that I really wish I could transplant everything I love about the community of Eugene to here?

Our Place of Paradise

All six adults settled in on the couches/recliners around the fireplace/tv. The last 20 minutes of "Independence Day" on. Light snowfall outside with about an eight inch base already on the ground. The girls giggling loudly to the antics of their new Zhu Zhu pets. The boys upstairs enchanted by some new PS3 game. This is my place of paradise - the week in time (Christmas included) that I most look forward to over any other time of the year (with the exception being a major vacation) We've arrived, and I am so, so, so happy. =)

I will say that getting here was a little hairy. Not necessarily for us, as we had snow tires, but Michele's van did not. Michael had his work truck (he'll end up returning to Dallas and coming back again for a couple of days of work) and ended up putting Michele's chains on once we neared the pass (along with everyone else driving over as it was quite dicey). Here's a pic of our family crammed into our vehicle...Brayden in his UO Snuggie and Sydney wanting to crawl into my lap in the passenger seat:
Once we were all safe and sound in Bend, we did our stop off at Sonic - and what do you know, but there was an abandoned tree lot in the adjacent parking lot. SCORE!!! The tree we selected turned into this little beauty here in the house:

Upon arriving at our home, it's always a little nutty. The kids are so excited, but there is so much unloading to do. As I do the shopping and packing for all of the kitchen stuff, I end up in there while others unload - putting away stuff as rapidly as possible, so I don't end up behind the eight ball while everyone else is unloading personal stuff. Seriously, I was working up a sweat (the second time in the day - I did some rapid cleaning prior to leaving our house too).

Once unpacked, then it was time to prepare dinner...somehow the kids didn't catch on to why we'd all wait "just a little longer" to begin the craziness of opening presents. Good grief, kids - give us a moment to breathe! While we were preparing dinner - we caught this image of Ellie avoiding a helicopter carefully being flown by her daddy.

And, an adorable grin by Natalia:

On the menu for the first night was steaks - and there's no better way to prepare them than with a bar-b-q. John did the grilling - right from the outside entrance of the garage. Travis offered his moral support out there.... =)


FINALLY....gift exchange time. The girls put something special into Travis' stocking....Nati, Ellie, and Mikayla all thought they were just hilarious to have done that.

Since these kids are already beyond spoiled with what they've already received, as parents, we only wrap two small items to put under the tree for them. These art sets were picked up by Michele and I for all three girls on Black Friday at Michael's for all of $2.75 each.

12-0 - yes, that would be the Ducks' win-loss record for the season. Come January 10th, I'm so hoping to be able to say 13-0!

Every year, Travis tries to talk us into going for a snowshoe trip. He even emailed us all links to a Tourgroup that offered that nearby. We thought it fitting to get him a book on the subject instead.

Alright!!!! Toy Story Mania - based on the ride in Disneyworld that was one of my absolute favorites - but I was never able to outscore Michele in. Maybe with a little practice, the next time around I'll be able to change that! And, Scooby Doo.....Sunriver just wouldn't be the same without me trying my hand at a Scooby Doo game.

Stephie - most happy with her present of Sunriver reading material...

Ellie - with a package of some sort of Zhu Zhu pet stuff - I don't know what it is exactly, but as it is currently keeping the girls most entertained right now, it makes me happy!

Michele, with a little Beaver cozy wear - courtesy of the Whites (funny how it seems like all Beaver merchandise is on clearance right now....ha ha, couldn't help but get that dig in!)

When Traig opened up this gift he exclaimed "It's the Holy Grail of Nerf Guns!" - Ah, no better words could be uttered to make the original purchaser of these items happier. The Whites were the ones to give it to them, so after seeking permission if they liked the idea - I went on the lookout to see if I could find full sets at a cheap enough price so that each family was able to score two sets - so altogether 8 people could play at once. It ended up that Kohls exclusively sold this double set - featuring 4 total guns (2 different types), 2 vests, 2 wristbands, 2 sets of safety glasses, and Nerf ammunition in each set. The original cost from Kohls' was $69.99 per set - but using all the deals given on Black Friday, we were able to acquire each one for $22.50. As the kids eagerly went to battle with one another - we considered that money well spent! Thank you Whites, not only for this gift, but all of the generosity in all of our gifts!

Right before I reluctantly set off for bed, I snapped this shot of Michele - doing what makes her happiest here.

And the girls, under the table, watching their Zhu Zhu hamsters race:

As for this morning - I woke up at about 6am, to find Michele already in the hot tub. After snagging some Russian Tea and Mounds bars, I joined her with my book while it lightly snowed. We stayed there a couple of hours - and while we were in our "happy place", Michael snapped these shots of Syd - along with a lot of others - of her goofily playing with Baxter's stuffed mallard duck. She was rolling on her back throwing it up - as well as playing tug-of-war with Baxter. Being a true Riley - Syd seems to love this place as well - she will stay outside in the snow indefinitely, and seems to have a lot more "perk" in her personality when she's here.


A final shot of the snow outside the house - plenty of it, with more to come this week. Sooooo great!!!!

Merry Christmas Afternoon!

Confession: I'm one of those people that doesn't get tired of Christmas music. Yes, the same CD over and over again can and will get old, but the kind of Christmas music that's been playing on two of our local stations since Veterans' Day is right up my alley. Both stations are programmed into my "Faves" on the radio in the car, and when one of them airs a song I'm not so excited about, I merely flip to the other. Any chance I can, I have it on in the house - sometimes a preference over tv (which is saying a lot as I'm definitely a tv person). And, as often as I can, I fall asleep to it.

So, tomorrow, when they stop playing the music and go back to their "Yesterday's Hit and Today's Favorites" and instead of Anne Murray or The Carpenters we have Brittany Spears and Justin Beiber...I get sad. Honestly, that first drive in my car after Christmas is just such a let-down. But, then again, it's good to get back to K-LOVE and enjoy music that celebrates more than just the baby Jesus.

I wonder how long it would take for me to eventually get tired of it. So far, I have yet to find out...

I'm not sure what that really had to do with anything other than to point out just how much I love all of the little parts of this season/holiday. I really do believe I savored all of it - and did my best not to waste or wish away any of the days in preparation of it all. Likewise, I tried to be mindful throughout today to take it all in. And, as we are nearing 10pm, this day is just about wrapped up - and Christmas is practically over. (However, we do a pretty good job of "pretending" the calendar has stopped on the 25th while in Sunriver). In retrospect, I'd say it's been one of my favorite years ever. No major meltdowns (at least in comparison to year's past). No selfish tantrums from kids. No last-minute panics over lack of prep. If only John had been at 100%, I'd be able to give it the "Overall Favorite of All Time" title...

So, as I post pics and go through the little details, I want to emphasize again to any readers out there who find all of this tiring that "these little details" are the big things that I savor most in my memories. And, someday, when this blog becomes a 2010 Cozy Corner hardbound book, I'll be thankful I wrote as much as I did.~

We Rileys beat the Schillings out to Mom and Dad's by about an hour, which was perfect for John to use to get some more sleep - and gave Mom and I some fun chat time in the kitchen. Michele soon enough made us a trio, and then the banter began. At one point, I got really sarcastic and Mom might have actually "bought it". I had to tell her I was only pushing things so we could be like "normal families" and have fights on the holidays! =) (Don't get me wrong, on any given gathering, one of us is dealing with some sort of conflict with our hubbies, undoubtedly...which the three of us ending up offering lots of "me too's" to, but among us three ladies, there's just not a lot of conflict.)

Right around 1pm, we had everyone gathered around the table for dinner. This year, John forgot the tripod, so no master group shot. I did catch Nati giving me a goofy smile on this one.

It's always nutty how, at the end of our meal, there's hardly a dent made in all of the offerings, I think we'd easily have enough to sit back down and start all over again. But, that's not reflective on the food quality, this year it seemed like it all just came out deliciously perfect. And, I think this year's dinner table rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was the best so far.

This was a little post-dining wrestling - not sure what even started it.

Aren't these just the cutest little elves you've ever seen (not to mention adorable pj's)...

After the moms conquer the after-meal dishes (no, we are honestly not bothered by it, we are a well-oiled machine in our clean up) - the kids do the disbursement of gifts. I know everyone does gift-giving differently, but in the Alexander home, there's quite the "plan" on how it's all done.

While the kids were doing their thing, there was some posing to be done among the adults:






John posed for this one, but it could have totally been legitimate.

Let's not forget about the dogs - they were underfoot everywhere we turned. Mackie has been obsessed with the arrival of Christmas since the first of December. For whatever reason, Dad's birthday set in motion Mackie's seasonal clock to recognize that soon special gifts would be coming. New squeaky toys, rawhides, and stuffed animals. Before anything was decorated at Mom and Dad's house, he would spend each evening pacing the couch getting on his hind legs to sniff the air and peer up at the shelves to see if the stockings were hung yet. If that special one with his name had been put up yet. Isn't that crazy? He also spent a great deal of time perusing the gift bags, trying to find his new squeaky toy. At one point, he did find it - at which point Dad confiscated it and put it high on a shelf to keep him from getting it again. The next night, Mackie came to Dad's chair with the empty bag he'd found in the spare bedroom that used to hold that toy....whimpering because his toy wasn't there. Needless to say, Mackie was abundantly excited today.



A few more shots of happy kids having opened special presents:

Okay, Michele isn't a kid, but she gets giddy like one when she gets Almond Roca...





I loved this smile on Mom-

Yes, that's the DVD set of the original "Bionic Woman". Ever since tv shows became available on DVD, Michele's been mentioning this series, thinking it would be fun to watch. Surprisingly, this one took forever to be put in a DVD set. It wasn't released until this September or so.... I wondered if she'd discovered yet, and potentially even gotten it for me. Nope - she didn't even know it had been released yet. Go ahead, call us nerds. You're just jealous - especially of the extra bonus crossover episodes involving "The Six Million Dollar Man". =)

Another little "tradition" (if you can call it that) is that John and Michael do their best to wreck our plan by hiding one of their presents so they could be guaranteed to have a "final gift" when everyone else had finished. Little turkeys. So, this year, Mom turned the tables and sent the boys on a scavenger hunt all over the house - with super fun little rhyming clues - to find their presents. They went from a card hidden in the tree, to under the pillow in the massage room, to out on the back patio in the bbq, to (finally) in a specific book in the bookshelf - which told them to go back where they started. (Mom had then put their gifts back in their seats). So fun!




We were all convinced that the guys had again messed with the number of presents based on their consistency in the past and sheepish expressions. This time, though, they actually did NOT, but had us all convinced that they did. Hard to admit, but I guess I'll award another win for the guys in fooling us...

This was the present Ellie wanted most -



The Rileys also had a little mischief up our sleeves too - as we kept two presents in our vehicle for Mom and Dad and the Schillings. Over the past several months, John and I have been putting together a Blurb book of: ORLANDO 2010. While I did the commentary from a first person perspective, I tried to cover most of the key memories - and encapsulate images from everyone's cameras, cell phones, and blackberries. John and I got the finished project delivered to our house just a couple of weeks ago and were giddy with enthusiasm over how it all turned out. Quite honestly, I was more excited about the moment when each of the family's received this than I was over any of the gifts to the kids or items I might receive.

Mom later admitted she was "hoping" for something like this - which might explain the sweet smiles...




Post present opening brought about some PS3 Motion Play (an upgrade the Schillings got for Christmas) and plenty of sorting as to what would make the cut to go with us to Sunriver in the morning vs. what would stay home. And, of course, a little "Grandpa" help in putting together presents:
Everything felt a lot less overwhelming this year - I guess I just keep repeating the same sort of theme...in that it all fell into place in much of the ways I had hoped for. Here's hoping that extra week of celebrating on vacation is just as ideal.

Now, off to bed, there's some serious packing of vehicles to be done in the morning, and a cranky tired Mom won't quite be able to get us all to that "ideal" I was hoping for.

Once again, Merry Christmas everyone!