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| A couple of years after the satellite dish was installed, our neighbor's tree grew tall enough to block the signal. No television! |
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| The blocking ligustrum was no match for Papa Tom and his chainsaw. |
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| The branches are down (with our neighbor's permission) and the television signal is back. Super Bowl Sunday is on for Papa Tom, Greg, and Roy. |
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| Christmas week began on Friday, December 21, at Sarah and Kirk's with "Tarka Night," in which we bring in food from the Tarka Indian Kitchen. Jim, Lucy, Jake, and Fox took turns choosing dance tunes on Alexa. |
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| Papa Tom worked from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Day. After he got home, he and Amon finished the 550-piece puzzle that we'd started a few days earlier. Turns out two pieces are missing. Left at the HomeAway in Westlake last year? |
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| The day after Christmas, we had lunch at Jan and Jim's with Sarah and Kirk, Beka and Scott, Liz and Jarad and the great-nieces and great-nephews. Here are Jake, Grandpa Jim, Jim, Sadie, GranJan, Lucy, Miles, and Hank. Luke is running around the room somewhere. |
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| Caught the Austin Blues Society Christmas party at the Skylark Lounge on Thursday, December 26, 2018. Will I ever be an accomplished enough blues guitarist to join the jam? |
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| Had a wonderful time on Friday, December 28, 2018, with Al, Joyce, and Emma at Dueling Pianos at the Hippodrome in Waco. They did not play Tom's request (Redneck Mother by Jerry Jeff Walker) but they had the audience rollicking with many other crowd pleasers. |
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| The upside of the Asheville Lewises not flying home on Sunday, December 9, due to a record snowstorm on the East Coast, was getting to spend time with LaWanda on Monday. She'd had major school deadlines the week before and we didn't get to see her at the HomeAway. Next year we'll check with everyone about potential conflicts before planning a family get together. |
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| At Portland's famous Powell's Books: the largest independent new and used books store in the world. |
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| Until recently, Austin had Leslie, a bearded cyclist in a bikini, who did his part to keep Austin weird. To date, Portland has the Unipiper, a unicycling Darth Vader with flaming bagpipes. Maybe the Unipiper could be coaxed to spend winters in Austin? To help us stay weird? Does part-time borrowed weirdness count? |
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| Our first drive to the HomeAway, after dark, on a lonely, winding road through the woods, took us under a railroad trestle manned by trolls who demanded a toll! Not so scary in the daytime, thank goodness. |
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| Or what? We never paid and nothing bad ever happened to us--so far! |
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| Leila, Micah, Otis, Ava, and Mason, on the safe side of the troll bridge |
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| The real trolls. The only thing more scary is Ramzi's purposely ugly Christmas sweater. |
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| Micah showed the kids how to make origami roses |
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| Ramzi gave the kids a moonwalk lesson |
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| We had a "make your own pizza" night thanks to Leila. Thanks, Leila! Mya and Ava got creative with their pizzas. |
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| Pitching balls into the wastebasket |
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| No family get together would be complete without our Nerf guns |
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| Retrieving Nerf gun darts |
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| The basement pool table |
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| Micah set up a BB gun shooting gallery on the porch |
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| Micah gives Mya, River, and Mason sharpshooter tips |
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| Piper on the porch |
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| While Ryder, Brandy, and Ramzi toured downtown Portland, the rest of us made Christmas cookies and shot BB guns at the HomeAway. Ramzi even found the perfect sweater for an upcoming "ugly Christmas sweater" party in Los Angeles. |
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| Somebody's keeping Portland weird. |
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| Leila rolled out Christmas cookie dough for the kids |
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| Somebody's been taste testing the icing before adding it to her sunglasses cookie |
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| Ava, Piper, River, and Mya. I think they're waiting for the cookies to cool before eating--er, decorating--them. |
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| The kitten cookie is to pretty to eat |
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| Micah chose Ninja gingerbread men for the kids to make and decorate |
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| A little alarming to peruse the Pedestrian--yes, pedestrian!--tsunami evacuation route posted just two blocks from the beach. Could I really outrun a tsunami in time to reach the high ground at Point A, some 12 blocks away? |
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| No family reunion would be complete without a "push the limits" challenge. This time, it was Fultano's Famous ghost pepper chicken wings. Leila cools Micah's brow after he downs two of the wings. |
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| Ryder and Ramzi partook as well. I took a tiny taste and my tongue was on fire for about 15 minutes! How can this be fun? |
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| We're at Cannon Beach! River, Otis, Piper, Ava, Mya, and Mason and the tip top of Haystack Rock behind them |
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| Fleeing ice cold surf! |
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| Mya stepped out of her boots |
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| Run Micah, River, Otis, Ava, Piper, and Mya! Mya? |
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| Otis the Viking does not fear numbing salt water! |
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| My view of Mya photographing Brandy and Ryder |
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| Mya's view of Brandy and Ryder in front of Haystack Rock |
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| We were so cold at Multnomah Falls! Mist had frozen on the path we took to the bridge above us. The Lower Falls is 69 feet high; the upper falls is 542 feet high. |
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| On our way to Multnomah Falls, we stopped at Vista House, where wind gusts reached 60 miles per hour. I wasn't sure I'd be able to hang on to my jacket! |
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| On the bridge at the Upper Falls. Not sure who took the photo, but Ryder, River, and Piper also were with us. |
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| We stopped for lunch at Edgefield, a former "poor house" renovated by the McMenamins brothers to become a hotel, restaurant, pub, golf course, and salon and spa. |
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| The Power Station Theater and Pub at Edgefield |
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| We explored the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry while Otis, Mason, and Ava were at school, Micah and Leila were at work, and LaWanda finished some school projects |
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| The chemistry lab at the OMSI was a favorite |
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| Ramzi and Mya experimented with invisible ink |
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| After school, Otis and Mya worked on his math homework |
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| Ryder caught up with his linear algebra homework and Ramzi read up on the Portland area |
