December 2012

Being way behind on blogging, I thought I would at least get the rest of December recorded before moving to 2013. 

First up was the holiday version of the Paula Piano Recital!  One of the funnest parts of this one was Liyan Huynh who has decided to learn to play the piano so that she can teach her grandchildren someday!





Paula even did a duet with a couple of her students as well.



20 Students including 15 grandchildren and one daughter-in-law!



With the Larson crew out from Vermont, we decided to participate in the Christmas Bird count on the weekend before Christmas.  Brig, Anders, Kennedy and I were a team and were assigned to a territory south of Hillsboro in the Forest Grove area.  We counted a total of 56 species before lunch and had a few that no one else saw.  Among them we saw:

American Kestral



Northern Shoveler



Scrub Jay



And I learned something about the Pied Bill Grebe.  Where most Grebes have a distinctive way of diving,  this Pied Bill and his friends were playing submarine.  Kennedy and I watched them for a good 30 minutes, and over and over they just sunk into the water and then after some time rose back up like a submarine!






















We also saw the White Breasted Nuthatch



And the winter Golden Crowned Sparrow



Christmas Day had many of us at the Lodge, where we celebrated with the whole family.



We unwrapped gifts, played games and just generally enjoyed being with each other.





Paula rented several condo units at Mt. Hood, and we spent the last couple of days of the year playing in the snow.  Several learned to ski for the first time, and seeing the fireworks at the mountain on New Years Eve was a real spectacle. 









Lot of folks sitting in the snow!



Chelle had me take this shot as she was sure that it would be some time before she would be looking this "hot"!



One morning Anders and I took a walk around the loop and stopped to talk to Mike Welch, our Native American friend who has done the story panels for us.  He had asked me to take a picture of Paula reading to grandchildren last summer which I did.  He is doing a panel to trade a dentist for some work he needs, and used Paula's picture as a model.  Weston, Bree, Ava and CC!



So after the fireworks, the year was over, but early the next morning, we went to watch Nate and a few of his friends race motorcycles in the mud and cold.  Pretty amazing.




Another very full year!