Loooong post

 So, this is a loooong post, but its mostly pictures. : )

First, Dad and Jean's visit - TONS of fun and now the house is so quiet with them gone. I wish we had other visitors planned so I could look forward to that and it wouldn't seem so quiet (hint hint). We got up to lots of fun things:

Went antiquing in Aurora, a small town outside Portland.

Dad and Ashley installed the dimmer switch in the dining room, hurray! So excited.

We were also dog sitting for Josh and Michelle's dog Oliver and we all took a walk up Mt. Tabor.

We drove up to the infamous Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood (where the movie "The Shining" was filmed). Brrrr.

Dad and Jean wined and dined us - this was one of MANY delicious meals and glasses of wine.

The nightly routine: watch the news about the protests in Madison while Carmen cuddles with Jean on the couch.

Carmen and Oliver guard the house.

Ashley and Dad workin in the garage.

Miss them tons already, although I think we'd all gain 30 pounds if we kept eating and drinking as well as we did when we were all together. It was such a nice time.

Natale also visited us a few weeks ago - lots of yummy food, staying up late talking, a short hike in the gorge, shopping, etc. Ashley got some fun photos of the dinner Natale and I cooked for friends one night with his fish eye camera lens:

We made Julia Child's boef bourginon and opened the first bottle of wine from a case Jeff and Ryan gave us for a wedding present - so they were present en totem with Natale (had to represent the high school friends :)

 And lastly, apparently this is enough snow to shut Portland down - schools were closed, we had a mandatory work from home day. It was great. Our first photos of our house in snow: