Of Shoes and Sunshine

Just a quickie check-in today. James and I had another very busy week. School and more school is keeping us pretty busy. James has now applied for three out of the four graduate programs he is applying to this year. The last application will be in this week and then we will PARTY! 

Actually, whether or not the application gets in, we are going to party this week. My parents get in from Utah on Thursday night and on Saturday, we are running our half marathon (for the brave - read "ridiculous" - ladies) and the 10k (for the men). James and I have been hacking up a lung for a week now, so we might not be as prepared for this run as we had hoped, but we will survive. And I got these babies to encourage me to work harder for the next run. Thanks for the Nike gift card, Dad!

James and I spend a couple hours at the outlets in Woodburn on Saturday and had a fun time walking around. The weather was surprisingly sunny for a few minutes (!), so I snapped a photo to look back on in the months of rain ahead. I must admit, there are some days when I get a horrible homesick ache for Hawaii...ahhh, someday. Until then, we are so lucky to be close to our Portland fam bam. They are the sunshine in our lives right now.

And so is this little ray of sunshine that decided to grace us with HIS (!) presence in the middle of winter. This is Michael and Sarah's baby - the first grandbaby on my side of the family. He is adorable and we are so happy for his mommy and daddy. Can't wait to hopefully see him in person soon.

And on that note, I am going to take a warm bath before Monday decides to hit full force. Have a great week everyone!

Up On the Mountain.

Although I enjoy my work with special needs kids very much, it wasn't exactly my idea of fun to come back to Oregon and have to start working again. To break things up a little bit, we spent the weekend with the Jensen family up in Portland and had a blast! Words can't really describe how much fun it was, so I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Here is Emily and Candace all ready to start out a day of skiing. We went up to a small place called Cooper Spur (or something like that). 

I actually got them to pose for this one; Aunt Tricia, Candace, and Emily.

First lift trip of the day... I can't really tell if that is Kellie sitting sitting next to Emily or not. 

Wow, aren't we just great at taking pictures? We should totally be models! (From the left: Emily, Kirsten, Garret, and James)

We went out to eat with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Tricia at this awesome burger joint  of the beaten path. I don't remember the name of it, but it is famous for awesome burgers (I think it is ranked in the top 5 places in Portland for burgers)

Looks like Aunt Tricia is posing here, while Uncle Jeff is watching her, and maybe chewing on a hot tatter tot.

I had a chipotle-mayo avocado burger that was awesome. Emily felt like a little of Hawaii and ordered an Aloha burger with pineapple and other yummies in it. You can also see part of a chocolate peanut butter shake there with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and peanuts on it. That was also very yummy! :D

 Back to the skiing, here is a video from the extravaganza... 

Well, I'm glad we had such a great weekend with family in Portland. Unfortunately, both Emily and I are a little under the weather, but hope to be getting well soon. Hope you all have a fabulous week!

Christmas is...

A quick picture catch up from some of the last month.

Christmas is food...

Sausage bread. A Sinkovic family tradition that I tried for the first time. Awesome!

(these were divine, by the way)

 Christmas means escaping the snow in one place (Eugene)...

 ...So you can enjoy it in another (Utah).

Christmas is sledding...

Don't you love the excitement on their faces?

Snow fight

Mom got confused and thought we all said "Let's go jogging!" Just kidding...she is so diligent. She jogged, we sled.

 Christmas is irreverent nativity reenactments...

This is the one time of year when Walter is allowed on the carpet. He is a perfect sheep. And no, Jess is not a ghost.

The three wise guys. See the Ken dolls on her shoulders?

The whole cast

 Christmas is relaxing...

James did probably 7 puzzles during our time in Utah

And Anna lived it up in the princess tent

 Christmas is family time...

A pre-birthday party for Anna at Color Me Mine.

Complete with presents and all. 

Aren't they so cute together?

I think she liked it :)

Before...

...and after.

Romantic dinner for Mom and Dad. Fun.

 Christmas is running....BUT IT SHOULDN'T BE! (Mom and I signed up for yet another half marathon and this was one of our early morning runs in Utah. Brrrr! Makes me happy that we will be running in Oregon, not Utah!)

Yes, those are ice crystals on our eyelashes!

Quite possibly the worst picture ever taken of my face. It cracks me up. And makes me cold.

 Christmas is seeing the sights...

A day in Salt Lake. We visited Dad at the office, the Church history museum, the Family History Library and met up with some friends for dinner.

 Christmas is projects...

My amazing new apron from Mom. Adorable pocket and towel that attaches with a button. LOVE IT!!!

 Christmas is ice skating with the sistahs!

Love those leggings :)

Sistahs!

Ah, how far we have come from the early years where I spent hours hunched over, trying to keep this kiddo from falling. Now she zooms around all by herself.

Sneaky Jess...I knew you just wanted to hold James's hand :)

 Christmas is coming home...

Always a bit sad to come home to an empty house after spending an awesome vacation with family. We miss them already, but are so grateful for a loving family and reasons to celebrate!