Making Memories and Holiday Falls

Hello my friends, thanks for popping in for a visit!  My dear husband decided that we should make Christmas cookies and let the boys decorate them.  So, we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and found some bottled frosting, cookie cutters and sprinkles.  Dayle did the baking part and I was the decorating chairman.  Sharing duties is a good thing.  Below is one of my cookies.  :-)

But I digress.. let's start at the beginning, shall we? :-)  Grandpa is a brave soul, he lets the boys "help".  

Grandpa asked for my supervision a few times.. beat til fluffy.. is this fluffy enough?  No.. beat it more.  Is this dough ok?  No.. did you follow the recipe?  OH.. gee.. instead of a cup of flour, I was using the 1/2 measuring cup.. oh my.. but eventually they got to the rolling out and cutting part.  

Then grandpa pulled the cookie sheet out and.. oh dear.. he put them too close together on the pan and they spread and it was one huge pan of connected cookies.  The bakers.

I set up the decorating area - I got an old tablecloth and put it OVER the Christmas cloth, got all the icings, sprinkles and plates ready.  And then we began.

Both boys really enjoyed themselves and did a wonderful job of decorating.  This is Caleb.

Hayden with one of his masterpieces!

I couldn't figure out what this shape was, so I made a spiral design.

Hard at work being creative.

Smile for grandma.. awww.. 

Grandma.. here's my last one.. 

I wanted to share a few things from my volunteer afternoon at Multnomah Falls.  First off there were salmon spawning in Multnomah creek.. they were big, at least 3 feet long.  This year was a huge year for salmon returning to spawn in the Columbia River and it's tributaries, a record breaking run.  :-)

My sister Denise got a camera like mine and took it out to get some shots, she showed me one like this when she came back in, so I grabbed my Lumix and went out and got the same shot.. the bluffs in Washington across the river were illuminated in the late evening sun.

Hmm.. what if I moved closer to the lamp and snap some clouds with it?

LOTS of water coming over with all the rain we've been getting.

When we locked up the visitors center and headed to our cars.. I admired the lodge all lit up for the holidays.

I snapped this from my car as I was heading away.. I was hoping to capture the falls and the lodge in one shot.. with the lights.. love it.

Dayle and our son Travis strung up some lights on our porch for me.. sweet guys... our cozy little farmhouse.

I am heading out soon to visit Gracie at her home.  I'm taking my calligraphy supplies and we will do some lettering together.  This should be fun!  What are you doing for fun this weekend?  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)