Christmas Tree Farm

On an unseasonably sunny day in late December, the kids and I borrowed our neighbor's truck and made the trek to our neighborhood Christmas tree farm to pick out our very own Christmas tree.

How about this one?

Or this one? Yes, it's a branch! And yes, he takes after his father! :)

After searching and searching, left and right, up and down the hill - we finally settled on this one!

Teamwork was in full force.

It felt like we sawed and sawed and sawed... and then it finally became ours. We hauled the tree down the hill and left our $15.00 in the hole in the door of the Tree Farm Cabin.

But we took one last look at the tree farm before we scurried home to set up our goreous tree. The tree farm is breathtaking - I'm so glad we get to live near here!

The Leighton Family Tree Farm has been a part of our family Christmas traditions for 12 years. We look forward to coming every year!

Every week-end between Thanksgiving and Christmas the Leighton Tree Farm is bustling. We see many, many cars driving by our house with Christmas trees tied on top. This year, I was relieved that we weren't the only ones getting our tree just days before Christmas. Whew! Anyways, when you arrive at the Tree Farm, you're greeted by acres of trees, a charming cabin, warm bonfire and friendly people. They provide the saws and twine, you come up with your own adventure! Sometimes our excursion lasts a few minutes, sometimes it lasts about an hour. But every year it's different.

One year I cut a tree down and hauled it home tied onto a wagon while I pushed the kids home in a double stroller. Yeah, not much will prevent me from getting my Christmas tree! And that's certainly one tree-getting excursion I will never forget! :)

I hope your tree-getting excursions are filled with fun and memories too! Or, maybe just fun!

Office Christmas Party

Ooh, look at this! Plates and plates of tiramisu...

It's a scene that made me really happy at my husband's office Christmas party. I really love tiramisu!

And here's a photo of us...

I'm glad I had the foresight to have our babysitter snap a photo of the two of us as we were heading out the door to the party. Photos of "us" happen so rarely that I really appreciate the ones that I have.

Here are a few more photos from the party.

We had a lovely dinner, played some group games, watched some funny videos and my honey did a comedy routine! Yep, a comedy routine!

He's smart, he's funny, he's a techie, he's handsome and he's all mine! :)
And his comedy was; smart, funny, techie, geeky, clever, office related humor.
And he knocked it out of the park!

Oh man, he did such a good job! One of his co-workers asked me if he really "did" comedy?
Ha ha! I guess he's a natural.

And the critique from the wife of the boss was; "my only complaint was that it could have been a bit longer." Way to go honey! You rocked it!

Oh, we also played a little pub trivia and we were a part of the winning team (yay!) and here we are with our giant trophy!

It was a lovely party! It seems like the company parties are getting better and better each year!
I can't wait to see what next year brings!

Bazaar Crawl...

After doing the local community bazaar with my kids, I found myself wondering what it would be like to be a vendor at other bazaars. Before I could leap any further, I decided to go to a couple of bazaars and experience it from a shopper's perspective.

But of course, I needed a couple of bazaar-hopping friends to go with me! Here's me and a couple of my favorite girls and our daughters at the first bazaar of the day in Stevenson, WA.
Yeah, we had a girls morning! Loved it!

We got there at the beginning of the bazaar so there were lots of people and the energy was high, in fact "frenzy" might be the word to describe it. We had a lovely time browsing through the merchandise, there were loads of vendors, samples to taste, and goodies to buy. I picked up a few items; some rings, some pot scrubbers and Elena bought this pink hat. Oh, and I picked up a jar of rhubarb-orange jelly, it sounds so interesting, I can't believe I haven't tried it yet!

Bazaar # 2

After a fun filled morning, I came home, unloaded my goodies and tried to settle in for a nap. But, with the knowledge that there was another bazaar within 20 miles, I couldn't sit still, I had to go. So, I grabbed my canned goods and $2.00 (yep, canned goods and $2.00 is the price of admission) and headed to Mosier, Oregon. I had heard people rave about the Mosier Christmas Fair, but in the 12 years I've lived in the Gorge, I had never gone. Today was my day!

I walked in and was in awe, there were so many vendors and it was so quiet. Granted, I went late in the day, so the crowds were minimal, but it was just so quiet and peaceful! Ahh...

To see the rest of the story, click here to see it over on my "creative blog".

Community bazaar

Oh, the kids and I worked so hard preparing for the little bazaar at our local school. We made cake pops, dipped pretzels, peppermint bark and dipped marshmallows. Deacon made a yummy toffee-cracker crunch and Elena made friendship bracelets and pom poms and I brought some of my "GretaBag" items.

At the end of the bazaar as I'm packing up all of the loot I wonder if it's worth it all... and then as I talk to the kids, their eyes light up, they can't wait for next year, they loved every minute of it!! They're even evaluating plans for next year; what to do differently, what to do the same, etc. Elena and Deacon both walked away with about $20.00 for their piggy banks and I sold a few "GretaBag" items. Oh, as I pull my weary self up, I realize there's no way that I can deny them this opportunity. They really loved it! And they did such a good job setting up our table, visiting with shopppers, keeping track of money and being responsible to manage the table. Hmm, I might even think about branching out into other bazaars next year, but only if I have my kids on my "bazaar-team"! They were amazing!

I guess, I better check out some of the local bazaars to get a feel for how this works... stay tuned.

Thanksgiving at the Lundby Hive!

Just a few photos from our Thanksgiving slumber party with my sister Nora, her husband Alan, their three boys Hank, Mick and Jack and our friends Nathan and Laura and their kids; Titus, Ari, Sophia and Eero. We had such a nice time and we're so thankful for our friends and family!

Elena and cousin, Mick.

My sister Nora's boys; Mick, Hank and Jack.

Erik and his turkey. This is the recipe he has followed for the last three years. It's delicious!

Ha ha ha!

 Erik's basting his turkey again and making the filling for the sour cream raisin pie.

 Alan and Nathan carving the turkey.

Erik putting the final touches on his meringue. He made his Grandma Lundby's sour cream raisin pie with a brown sugar meringe. And he also made a spicy chocolate pie. Both were amazing, although, Laura's homemade blueberry pie was devoured first. It tasted like my Grandma's, it was lovely.

 Saying grace over by the kids table.

The kids were thrilled to have full control of their own sparkling cider bottles, I think they drank more than they ate.

And we were thrilled to eat. The food was yummy. Oh, the stuffing was to die for, here's the recipe that Nora uses, I think I could eat it every day.

Elena made a dessert all by herself, she made layered jello in juice cups. They were pretty cute. 

  Mick, Sophie and Eero enjoying their jello cups.

 Story time.

 Craft time.

 Snuggle time.

Happy time.

Is it November yet? I think I could go for another round of Thanksgiving, how about you?


P.S. More Thanksgiving photos can be found over on my "creative blog", GretaBag.