Christmas Craft

I started a tradition a few years ago of making a tree ornament each year.  Matt, Scott and Johnny have cheerfully (well mostly cheerfully) been willing participants.  This year Monica asked to be in charge of the 'Craft Night'.

Next year Matt and Scott say that they want to be in charge of the ornament making.  Mmmm....I wonder how that will work out!  They are both quite artistic and I think it would be interesting!

Actually they all have been good sports and made very unique and beautiful ornaments over the years.  We had many over achievers this year.  

Johnny was very supportive and helpful to his wonderful wife!

George made an elaborate unique ornament.

Mark looked for inspiration with the glue gun!

Mary worked hard and came up with a wonderful addition to their ornament collection.

Aren't they pretty?

Bonfires on the Beach

Another Lewis Christmas tradition - A bonfire on the beach

Matt built a wonderful teepee fire!

 What is it about fires, boys and sticks?

 Perhaps we should have gotten Mary a hat in Ecuador too!  I'm glad her brothers agreed to share for the evening.  Mark didn't ask to wear one!

Sisters-in-laws

Isabella was enchanted by the fire!

Isabella - Christmas 2016

I remember last Christmas holding a two month old Isabella on the beach in Lincoln City and thinking ahead to how much she was going to love being on this beach in 2016!  Boy was I right! She absolutely loved it!

She reminded me so much of her Dad at this age.  I always said that I could be on a huge parking lot with little Johnny and if there was one puddle anywhere he would manage to find it and splash in it.  Isabella was exactly the same.  She wanted to be IN the water! Dad and Mom had to keep a close eye on her so that she didn't succeed!

Her favorite thing was to walk towards the ocean and then let her Dad scoop her up and run away from the waves.  I think she would have done this all afternoon and giggled the whole time!

She had no fear! And if left to her own devices she would have taken the 'polar plunge'! This little girl is very independent!

We were able to slow her down enough to take a couple of photos.  One with Mom and Dad.....

One with Grandma and Grandpa! Now I'm dreaming of a family holiday in Hawaii where running into the ocean is allowed!

She loved everything about Christmas.  Lots of attention from doting grandparents, aunt and uncles and of course her parents!  She also liked the front door of the house since she could see her reflection and she is enamored by any kind of mirror.  In this photo I think she was sad because she wanted to go 'with' Grandma and not be left behind!

The present Santa brought was a big hit.  Now I just hope all the music won't drive her Mom and Dad crazy!  I wonder how long the batteries will last!

She certainly gave us some extra joy and love on this my favorite holiday!

Hats off to Christmas Morning!

Until I looked back at the pictures I hadn't realized that we had a hats theme!

First Miss Isabella with her "Christmas themed" head gear!

In fact, Christmas themed head gear for all the girls!

A Stetson for Scott!

I think he looked handsome but I ruined it when I told him the hat reminded me of LBJ!

Matt's hat helped us remember to be healthy and socially conscious.  Drink more water but not water out of single use plastic bottles!

Mary looked cute in her hat from Ecuador! Did you know 'Panama hats' are actually made in Ecuador?

For years I have tried to bring the boys ski hats from the countries we've visited - from Nepal to Chile - and I've never gotten it right.  They never like them.  In Ecuador I found these great hats and thought they would make a great joke Christmas gift.  I was surprised that they really liked them.  I don't expect to see them actually wear them but they appreciated the humor!

Hats off to Mark for buying a Christmas gift for himself!  He pronounced them a perfect fit, the right color and just what he wanted!  And hats off to Mark who doesn't enjoy traveling but was willing to fly across the country to be with us!

Tipping our hats to Monica for adapting so easily to our American Christmas traditions!  Having her in our family is a true blessing! She puts up with us with grace and good spirits.

Hats of to George for making all this fun possible with his hours of hard work and dedication and love!  We are a lucky family to have him as husband, dad, father-in-law and Grandpa!!

A 'Puzzling' Christmas

One of our traditions is to do puzzles during Christmas vacation.  This year we actually did two.  First Matt and Scott started a 3D puzzle of that Barcelona iconic church, La Sagrada Familia.

Hundreds of intricate little pieces....

that made a beautiful replica of our favorite church!  This is the way it will be when it is finished in about 2026, which happens to be the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.  Our sons have promised that they will take us to see it when it is complete.  I think they worry that we won't be able to travel alone in 10 more years!

Scott and I helped a bit but most of the credit for this masterpiece goes to Matt.

We weren't finished yet.  Next we started on the 2000 piece nautically themed puzzle that Matt had deemed perfect for our beach house vacation.

Everyone worked on it.  Starting with Mary and Matt.

George and Johnny did a lot of it.  Scott and I put in a piece or two but there is not photographic proof!

Even Mark helped!

When we got ready to leave on Tuesday afternoon the puzzle looked like this.

I am one of those people who hates to leave anything unfinished so it just about killed me to think of taking it apart before we had it finished!  Matt and Scott had already decided to spend one more night in Lincoln City so I jokingly said, "I feel like saying that we'll give you $100 if you finish the puzzle before you leave tomorrow."  To my amazement, George agreed and Matt and Scott cheerfully accepted the challenge.

We got in our car and looked back to see this fun sight!  It may be one of my favorite photos of the whole trip!

Our two hard working sons did it!  They got it finished.  I think it took them something like 8 hours of both of them diligently 'puzzling'.  They had sore backs from bending over but they felt the sweet taste of success and were $100 richer!  I'm not sure they were cheerful about it anymore!

Next year I think we'll do a 1000 piece puzzle!

All Together

Our four children....Scott, John, Matt and Mary

 Mary and Mark 

They braved a cross-country airplane flight in winter to be with us.

 The love of my life - George

Matt, Jackson and Scott

John, Monica and Isabella...she was enjoying running on the beach so much that she didn't want to stop to have her picture taken!

Together is a wonderful place to be....especially at Christmas and especially on the Oregon Coast!

Traditions - Getting the Tree

We've been going to Lincoln City on the Oregon coast for Christmas for the past several years.  It has become a tradition to cut our own tree at a local tree farm.  Last year Isabella was 2 months old and stayed home with Grandma for the tree cutting!

 This year was a whole different story!  She loved it!

 Matt was our lumberjack and cut down a beautiful tree.

 It was a fun family event and the perfect start to our Christmas holiday!

 And made for  a beautiful Christmas tree!