On the 16th Day of Christmas. . .

I sent out my Christmas cards and newsletter. . . finally.

Of course I ran around trying to get a family picture together, didn't.  Then searched through my picture files trying to find a family photo.  I have 5 bazillion pictures and almost no family pics. . . because I take them.  I found one, not great, from October and threw it on a card, ordered them, picked them up, addressed envelopes, decided to do a newsletter. . . and found a much better family picture.  ARGHHH!  Oh well.  I put it on the newsletter (which we printed on our cheaper printer so its all smudgy, of course.)  The joys of the holidays.

Here is the picture I used on the card: (and yes, there IS a glare on it)

And here is our newsletter:

I tried to make it so you could pop it out and read it, but it doesn't, so here is what its says:

A little over a year ago Rob took a new job which moved our family to Washington.

The weather is mild, if a little wet, the scenery is breathtaking, and the people are friendly. 

After a year in our new home we are settling in.  The girls both have new BFFs despite missing old friends.  

Even with all his travels, Rob finally has time to develop a few hobbies and wasted no time buying a boat to explore all the nearby waterways.  

Jenni has made many new friends and when she is not running the girls around, or fulfilling her three church callings, she fills her time with photography, gardening, house projects and writing.  In January she is returning to school to finally finish her degree.

To see more of what our family has been up to visit our blog:

www.penofjenn.blogspot.com

With our new surroundings come new adventures.  And there are plenty of places to explore.  Rob has flown all over the Northwest, including Alaska, but the rest of us have stayed closer to home.  We are less than two hours from the ocean and surrounded by lakes and rivers.  We have taken several trips to Seaside and Astoria to run on the sand and chase the seagulls, but Signe’s favorite location is Seattle.  Despite seeing Pike’s Market Place and the Seattle Museum and staying in a fancy hotel, her favorite part was feeding the seagulls french fries from Ivar’s. She recently told us when she is a mom she is going to move to Seattle.

Adventures afar. . .

Aside from our trip to Seattle, we took our traditional summer trip to Idaho.  There we filled our days with swimming, fishing, shopping and playing with Manna, Grammy, and all the girls’ cousins.  We also took a week long trip to Disneyland this past month and enjoyed lovely weather and met many princesses.  

Close to home. . .

With the new boat we have had many adventures on the lake.  The scenery is beautiful, and maybe next year we will even get the girls on skis.  

But all the girls really need to do for a little adventure is open the back door.  When we are not tackling the landscaping, our yard provides a lot of fun and we even spent many free hours this summer building a treehouse for the girls.  It almost got done.

When more mystery is in order the girls can walk to the end of the street.  80 acres of forest surrounds our neighborhood and the girls love hunting for newts.  They rarely come home without one. . .or six.  And in the fall we can walk down the tracks to the trestle bridge and pick wild blackberries. Or just enjoy the beautiful fall colors.  

We hope the coming year brings you many adventures too.