Arctic Blast '08!

Arctic Blast 2008 rolls like a powerful Yeti through the Pacific Northwest. With temperatures falling eight, nine and sometimes ten degrees below 40, Sandy and surrounding towns hunker down for a severe winter full of light, intermittent snow showers sometimes accumulating in over one full inch of snow on the ground. Grocery stores run low on supplies. Hot cocoa mix, marshmallows and beer are scarce… until the supply truck shows up in a couple days to restock.

Sometimes it’s hard to convey sarcasm in written word, but I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job here. It seems that Oregonians in the Portland area aren’t used to dealing with inclement weather. Most of the Sandy area stores and businesses have shut down due to recent intermittent snowfall. Sandy High was closed most of this last week and has used up all of its allotted snow days for the year. From here on out, any more days off will add days at the end of the school year. The snowstorm here is mild in comparison to the hearty winters we sometimes get in Tulsa. There is little ice here and driving conditions more resemble a rainy day than an “Arctic Blast”, which is what the news stations are calling this storm. Me? I hope a real arctic blast hits. One that resembles time I’ve spent in Colorado. It’s been since the winter of 2005 in Chicago, when Nan and I started dating, that I’ve seen any real cold weather. But right now, Mt. Hood is getting nailed with fresh snow powder so we’re gearing up to hit the mountain ski resorts for some fun sometime in the next couple weeks.

But for now, all systems are nominal. Nan will have the next two weeks off work for the school’s winter break and I’m still working temporary jobs from time to time. There isn’t much else to report. We are going to miss everyone during the holidays as neither of us are used to being away from Tulsa this time of year. We will, however, enjoy spending time with Karen and Chris and celebrating baby Olivia's first Christmas. The Zorn/Smith family has invited us over for Christmas eve festivities, so we're looking forward to that. Then, early in the new year, Nan’s parents will be up here to see baby Olivia and visit for a couple weeks and we are very much looking forward to spending time with them.

Now, as promised, here are some pictures of recent happenings on our side of the country.

With love and well wishes to our loyal readers!
Chris and Nan

Me about to flip the very hot and very wet Thanksgiving turkey at my parents house in Tulsa

Michelle holding Olivia during her visit to Sandy

Karen, Chris, Terry, Joe, Adam and Nicole awaiting Olivia's arrival

Karen, Delaney and Olivia Hunter at their new house in Tulsa

Karen with Olivia decorating the tree

Our Kitchen - The color is called "Sea Foam Green" other wise known as "Ugly"

This is just too pretty not to post. Nan took this picture as we left dinner one evening.

Thanksgiving, Baptism, and a Visit from Michelle

The last couple of weeks have been filled with fun times. We hope to post some photos in the next week or so. Presently the cord that connects our camera to the computer is MIA, so for now we’ll just have to inspire images in your minds.

Thanksgiving in Tulsa

We flew to Tulsa on Thanksgiving, saw some of Chris’s family and then headed to Jeff and Erin’s to rekindle some friendships and play a game of Risk (that Lovelace missed because he didn’t show up until 2am). For the record, Chris won said game. On Friday afternoon we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner around a beautiful, new table at the Clendenin’s. Lauri brought senior pictures of Ian to share – what a young stud!

Saturday morning we met mom, dad, and Kevin for breakfast at Savoy a little earlier than we were ready for. On Saturday afternoon we went to my parents’ to visit with the family. While we were there, Grandma reminded me that she had given me some dresses that would be perfect for Fiji. Though I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, I found 4 Hawaiian print shirts for Chris and a dress that matches one of the shirts for me!

On Sunday, we went to Olivia Hunter’s baptism and baptism party at the Hader’s. Then we headed to Meagan and Jason’s to see how big their kids had grown and visit for a few minutes. After three whirlwind days of seeing family and friends we headed to the airport for our 7:15pm flight. We were expected to arrive in Portland, OR at 11:50pm, but were delayed and didn’t arrive until around 1:30am. By the time we got our bags and made it to the train station, and then realized the train was not running, it was 2am and we had no way home. Chris Z. to the rescue! He came to the airport in the middle of the night to pick us up. Thanks Chris!

We finally made it home and were in bed by 3am, which was just in time for me to sleep 3 hours before work on Monday morning.

Michelle’s Visit

One week after Thanksgiving, Michelle (my sister) visited us! Well, she was actually visiting our new baby niece, Olivia Lynn, but we got to spend time with her too! We even got to see her on she and P.J.’s 10th anniversary! Congrats, guys! While Michelle was here, Olivia Lynn went one her first outing to a restaurant- she was so good. We also put up all the Christmas decorations at Chris and Karen’s house, which look fantastic. Again, pictures when possible.

More updates soon.

Nan (and Chris)