Festival of Trees

We had the opportunity to attend Portland's Festival of Trees yesterday--a fundraiser for the local hospital. It was beautifully decorated with incredible Christmas trees that were auctioned off ($3,000-20,000) to raise money for the hospital. I've never seen such carefully-crafted trees. To help the kids get more comfortable with doctors, they gave each child a bear and they got to take it through a whole hospital visit!
Jose had fun taking pics, so if you need any tree decorating ideas, take a look. Kily loved all the excitement--especially getting to see "ho ho ho." That morning as we prepared to go, I told her who we were going to go see, and soon found her standing at the front door (with odds and ends loaded up in her hands) saying "hohohohohohoho" as fast as she could.

One of my favorite parts was watching and listening to the band play Christmas carols. They were amazing! I had fun watching the little old men on the saxophones and remembing my grandfather and the very similar band he had played in.

Cousin Time

We decided for our niece's birthday this year to give her a special coupon for a little birthday celebration with just her at our house. We had a blast--UNO til 10pm, watching movies, eating pizza, making cookies, and going bowling. Kily loved having one on one time with her cousin! Both had their first bowling experience and both scored higher than me and Jose! ouch :) I highly recommend this type of gift---(quality time instead of another toy or gadget) and plan to continue it whenever feasible.