Merry Xmas!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good year! We celebrated Christmas eve over at my brothers house, but started the day off by buying some chains so we could actually get around in this mess and then we went to visit and have lunch with Xavier (our nephew on Ben's side), then we went to pick up my very good friend Tev from the train station. We adopted her for Christmas this year! On to more celebrations today but so far it has been a very fun Christmas with all the fam and some friends!

Ben snuggling by the fire, or aka the yule log channel!

Ginger the jester and Bob the reindeer

The cutest couple at the party!

Delayed B-day...

Happy Birthday Babe! A few pics from a delayed birthday party on Sunday. Delayed from the relentless weather that will not go away. Ben got some great gifts and the coolest tupperware for lunch time at school with a special slot for a sandwich. Ah the simple life.

Arctic Blast 2008...

Saturday 9am

Saturday 2pm














Sunday 10am














By the time this is over it will probably be 2009! This weather is crazy, I feel like I live in Tahoe or should at least be on vacation there. But then I am stuck home all the time so the reality is that I am not on vacation and I live in Portland and there has in fact been snow falling for the past week. Yesterday was by far the worst I have seen, I think maybe worse than the Issaquah snow I have dealt for the past three years. I guess it followed me to Portland which is supposed to have milder weather than Seattle. Ben calls it "The Storm that Happens Once Every 20 Years", the media, "Arctic Blast 2008", the people that are from back east call it "Spring" and are laughing at us. Who knew we would see these conditions here.... and no I don't really want a white Christmas, I hope it will melt by then. I prefer sunny Christmas's, and who can blame me, I am from California :)

For the luv of pugs...

For those of you who really know me...you know that I am a pug lover. I just can't help loving those cute black smooshed up faces and big eyes. One of the directors at my work went to Denmark and Italy to see their families for Christmas. She has a pug named Bob which I volunteered to dog sit for the next two weeks. And really the $200 she is paying us is the 2nd best part. Bob is the 1st best part...adorable, half pekinese and half pug. Ben loves teasing him with the toys we just had to buy for him. Here are some pics with King Bob...

Thanksgiving in Arizona and Christmas in Portland...

So, once again I am behind because of my travels and wanted to share a little about what the Blake's are up to. A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to Arizona and be with Ben's family for Thanksgiving. It was so great seeing everyone and getting to visit more. And thank you to Rachel and Trent for letting us stay with you and pretty much holding new baby Brooke the whole time! We also had the opportunity to drive to Safford so that Ben could show me where he was raised and visit with the family there. It was truly the highlight of the trip! All the Blakes might know that I am kidding here...


Here are some pics of Ben and the town...

Then we came back from Arizona...a day later I was off to Long Beach for an event. When I returned Ben and I got to decorate for our first Christmas together (well married at least). We just got a little tree this year for our little apartment. Then we packed up and went to Seattle to get the rest of our things from the condo and to celebrate Ben's birthday! We had a little surprise named snow that we have been trying to outrun. We left Seattle just in the nick of time, but it finally caught up with us in Portland. And it seems to not be leaving...