Heaven loves familes/Oregon day trips

So there we were in Oregon with 5 days to kill.  It was time for day trips.  Our first day trip was over to Washougal, WA to spend some time with the cute Listons.  Megan regaled us with tales of Liston Christmas traditions.  Did you know that at the Liston house the elves leave Christmas pajamas for the kids in the yard on Christmas Eve?  There might be a shirt on a bush, pants on the lawn, another shirt on the lamp post.  It's as if someone threw them out the window.  The Liston kids must be a favorite with Santa's Elves.  No one ever brings Christmas pajamas to the Stoker yard.  And if yard pajamas weren't exciting enough, there have been actual Santa sightings from the Liston's window.  Those Listons are very nice indeed that Santa comes to their house early enough that they can see him outside.  Ho, ho, ho.

After a bit, Megan, baby Eliza Jane and I snuck off  to the Camis Antique Boutique while the Dads and the kids watched Despicable Me II.  They were laughing when we got home so they must have been okay without us.   We had a delicious pizza and wings dinner, visited a lot and then home to Portland we went.

Megan and Me

For our anniversary date, Paul, Brandon, Mallory and I went downtown for a Portland experience.  We started at Powell's Books.  Imagine a bookstore that is a block long and 3 floors high.  It has new books, used books, rare books, music books, every stinkin' book that you can imagine.  For any book loving readers their website is www.powells.com.  We were all happy to be there, although we were on different floors.  Paul was in sports and art.  I was in music and bestsellers.  Brandon and Mallory were in children.  We all left with a resolve to return.  We ate dinner at Tasty and Alders.  It was served with sharing in mind.  The steak was delicious as were the little fried white beans.  I liked the goat cheese dumplings the best.  For our Portland dessert, of course we had to go to Voodoo doughnuts.  We knew it was going to be a good experience when we got a parking spot right by the door.  We didn't even have to wait outside the store very long, (I know, right?  Waiting outside in the winter for a doughnut?) and the doughnuts were delicious.  If you go, get the McMinnis cream fillled.  It was sugar heaven.  We ate a lot that night and a lot the next day and I wish I had one right now.

Powell's Bookstore

Tasty and Alder's

Voo Doo Doughnuts

Saturday was the day for the super explore.  We drove through some beautiful pacific scenery to the coast.  We started with a tour through the Tillamook cheese factory.  This is a very popular tourist place.  It was so popular that Andrew was confused, "A lot of people are coming here.  This is a cheese factory.  Why is it so crowded?"  What's the problem, Andrew, don't you and your friends drive to tour cheese factories?  For one thing, the first thing you smell when you walk in is freshly made waffle cones.  We resolved to get ice cream on the way out and then started the tour.  We learned many fun cheese making facts. Did you know that cows produce 6-8 gallons of milk per day?  And also it takes 2 gallons of milk to make a baby loaf of cheddar cheese.  And of all the samples I tasted I like the smoked cheddar the best.

Gabe and Brandon

Paul and Andrew

Can I get a little help here?

Thanks for the boost, Andrew

The nice lady in the factory waved at us.  That's why everyone stops here.

I'll never be the same now that I've tasted fresh waffle cones.

Next, we had to take the kids to see the Pacific ocean.  We hadn't been since Eliza was a baby.  We bundled up to protect ourselves from the harsh winds.  As usual, when you think you're going someplace where the kids won't last, they have a blast and don't want to leave.  Well, not my big kids, but the 1, 3, and 5 yr. old.  We touched the water with our finger,  did a little sand art, listened to the percussionists on the beach, (I guess that's normal in OR) and wondered at God's beautiful creations.

Super Dad (I mean that)

Just soakin' up the sun.

I told Brandon I wanted to walk closer to the rocks to get a picture.  He responded, "You know that's really far away."  I just wanted to try.  Paul and I walked and walked until we came to a little river.  There's no getting wet in those temps so I snapped my picture.  Brandon was right.  We weren't much closer.

Andrew's Mona Lisa

Rebecca's caricature

Gabe's Picaso

More from Rebecca

The greatest Artist of all

Heaven loves families/ On to Oregon

In designing our mammoth plan we realized that Christmas would fall between the weddings and we were already in the west so the obvious place to spend Christmas was in Portland, OR with our grandchildren who believe in Santa Clause.  December road trips through the mountain west are always beautiful and exciting.  We put Rebecca behind the wheel on the drive between ID and OR because she needed experience with a hydroplaning car in a rainstorm on a mountain pass.  And if she didn't need it , she got it.  I'd say, "Umm Rebecca, you're crossing the line," and "Stay in your lane!"  She calmly explained that she wasn't doing it.  The car was floating.  She actually is a great driver and probably is the reason we stayed safe.  Driving into Oregon along the Columbia River was thrilling for me.  My dad went to Dental School in Portland and practiced for 5 years in Corvallis.  With my spending the first 10 years of my life there, it's actually the place I've lived the longest.  I had just not been back to visit until Brandon and Mallory moved there.

We arrived Monday evening and woke up Christmas Eve morning with some Christmas jobs to do.  December weddings=Christmas lite.  Paul and I headed out to Wal-mart.  Brandon and Mallory live conveniently next to a lot of great shopping.  We plugged "Wal-mart" into the GPS and were confused when it said, "11.6 miles."  We commented that our GPS was acting up again and we'd probably drive past 3 Wal-marts on the way to the one listed.  When we got there we found that it was surprisingly manageable crowd-wise in the store, and we were able to get groceries and a few little things quickly.  We breezed through the line with everyone who we came in contact with acting cheerful and polite.  Weird.  Later Mallory explained that Portland (Seattle's little hippie sister) eschewed big business and did not look favorably on Wal-Mart shopping.  Who knew?  Well, that made for a great Christmas Eve shopping experience for me, so thank you, Portland.  I guess.

Christmas Eve dinner

This was my first year being in an adult child's home for Christmas.  Well, we were in Aaron's home, but he was a single college student and Paul and I were still in charge of Christmas Eve.  It was very rewarding watching Mallory and Brandon establish Christmas traditions with their children.  Christmas Eve activities consisted of acting out the nativity with emphasis on Mary and Joseph finding a place to stay.  They had to knock on the coat closet door 3 times before they met the inn keeper who would let them stay in the stable.  We played a snow game which is similar to "Dumpit to Crumpet" but more exciting because children were playing.

Christmas pajamas

No room in the inn.

 Then Brandon had everyone choose a scripture or song about Christ to share.  That was really wonderful, but the most powerful moment for me was listening to my child testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ to his children. The windows of eternity opened up in my heart, and I saw the power of God in families who love him.

Christmas Morning came surprisingly late.  It was past 8:00 am before the littles came down to find that Santa had come.  There was delight and surprise to find that Santa knew that they liked nerds candy and had brought them a big movie-sized box.  My children, aged 13, 16, and 19 were not as delighted to find that Santa had brought them Brandon and Mallory's Halloween candy and a mandarin orange that looked suspiciously like the ones in the fruit bowl, Christmas lite, remember?  Present opening was very fun.  I'm so thankful that Mallory got a nice camera for Christmas because she's been taking some adorable pictures of her children, so Merry Christmas to me.

It's Christmas, It's Christmas!

This year our children drew names and gave homemade gifts.
Gabe got this "Jack Frost" hoodie from Joseph.  He wears it all the time.

These were not taken with Mallory's camera, but I love them.

The boys didn't really want a hug, but they would let me sit by them.

Paul and I received the "Frozen" soundtrack but were instructed not to listen to it before seeing the movie.  The obvious next step was to go to the movie on Christmas Day.  I join with all of the other reviews that I've read:  So great!  I loved it!  See it now!  And that was Christmas.

Heaven loves families/Idaho Falls

We arrived in Idaho Falls on Saturday night and the very kind Joneses made Paul's dreams come true by going to the gym to play volleyball.  The next morning Jeff made a delicious breakfast.  Mary had a little emergency, and she took Kristen to urgent care.  Mary's suspicions were confirmed-strep. Kristen was masked and other masks were offered.  No one else got strep, but we missed Kristen as she kept her distance.

When it was time for church, for a split second I felt little sorry that I wasn't at home to go to church on the Sunday before Christmas, because I knew they had a special musical program planned, and I love the feeling I have when listening to beautiful sacred music that testifies of Christ.  As luck would have it, my sister Mary's congregation also has a lot of musical talent and their Christmas program was powerful.  There was a cello, a double quartet, and some of the most lovely arrangements I'd ever heard.  It was a good day.  Even better, we had family caroling on Sunday evening, with some impromptu talent and not so much talent numbers that just made me feel like families are forever and heaven was smiling down on ours.  I just love these people.

Kyle, Rebecca, Olivia, Katelyn, Anna Lisa, Natalie, Andrew, Gabe
Jones/Stoker kids Kristen was quarantined with strep :( 

Katelyn and my festive Christmas sweaters
There's no such thing as an ugly Christmas sweater

Gabe and Natalie Rubix cubing

We needed some cookies.  These girls took care of it.
Rebecca and Anna Lisa

Poor little sick girl, Kristen

Me, Mary, Rebecca

In home caroling

Heaven loves families/One more day in Utah

Bryson Stoker, (nephew) Stephanie Stoker, Paul, Me, Gabe, John Lilienthal, Rebecca, Jacob and Alexa Stoker

There is something we really wanted to do before we left UT so we did it.  The BYU Museum of Art has a special exhibit on display right now called "Sacred Gifts."  It features religious art by Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofmann, and Frans Schwartz. "Most of the paintings have never been displayed in the United States and come to the church-owned University 'under extraordinary circumstances' from churches and museums in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and New York."  "The oratory paintings are on loan from the Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark and have never been out of the oratory.  Officials at the castle said they have no plans to loan them out again."

It was a moving experience.  The name "Sacred Gifts" refers to the artistic gifts of the painters, the gifts of the many churches and museums in loaning the works of art, and the ultimate gift-the gift of the Savior.
Some of the paintings will be traded out in February.  I would highly recommend going if you can.  It's free although it's best to call ahead and reserve tickets.  And if you're wondering if you should pay the 3 dollars for the Ipad tour, I vote yes.

We then had a delicious lunch at Zuppa's with Brandon and Mallory, dropped our good friend, John Lilienthal, off at the airport and headed north.

It's been awhile since we've been in Tremonton, UT and we had a fantastic 45 minutes of love and fun with my sister Melinda and her family.  Gabe was happy to meet the "number 3" Miller.  He doesn't remember meeting her when he was younger.  Her home was so Christmasy, I was inspired to class up my Christmas decorations a bit, less junk more awesomeness.  She showed me her impressive vintage clothes collection which has actually been on display at BYU, and that made me want to spend more time in Goodwill.  On second thought, lacking an eye for value, it probably wouldn't bring the same results for me.  Sweet Katherine made us some delicious cookies, and it just did my heart good to hug this family.

Ashley, Rebecca, Jed, Erin, Katherine, Matthew, Andrew, Gabe

Paul and Dan

Me and Melinda

Heaven loves families/ Aaron's wedding

So on Dec. 20th (Aaron's wedding day) we started the day with breakfast, compliments of John Lilienthal, and Joseph and Eliza Erickson, at Joseph's aunt's house.  It was actually the same place we gathered for Eliza's wedding only this time the hostess wasn't related to the bride and groom.  A million thanks to her for her kindness and generosity.

The wedding wasn't until 2:00 which made for a relaxed morning with plenty of time to get dressed, find shoes, identify what clothing items I had failed to bring, find emergency replacements, and get the groom to the temple.  That's when I started to relax and enjoy the blessing of having a child being married to a wonderful girl with a great family for eternity.  As if life wasn't good enough, there was a little bonus when I saw my college friend and roommate from my home stake in the waiting room.

The ceremony was wonderful in a place filled with beauty and forever and people we love and abundant smiles and happiness. Afterwards there were pictures in the frosty air.  Pictures to remind us of being together and how much we love each other and how we should try harder to be together more often.

Dana Rees, Clarissa Rees Stoker, Aaron Stoker

Andrew Stoker, Mary Miller Jones (sister), Stephanie Moore Stoker (sister-in-law)

Rebecca, Mallory Dickson Stoker 

Janet Miller (mom) Aaron, Rob Miller (Dad)

Me, Paul, Barbara Stoker Ford (Paul's sister), Clarissa, Aaron, John Stoker (Paul's brother), Stephanie, Don Stoker (Paul's brother)

Next came a family dinner.  Clarissa's family and friends had decorated and set everything up so beautifully.  There was the slightest amount of excitement when we were at the church waiting for the caterer, and I got a message on my phone saying the caterer was at the church waiting for us. Just a little misunderstanding.   Minutes later the food was laid out and smelled delicious. I like feeding starving people.  They always love your food. Some astute brother-in-laws noticed that there was no water and no cups.  If I have a caterer, do I actually need to provide cups and water?  Apparently.  Luckily, Mormons know their way around a church building and pitchers and cups were located and we were in business.

Andrew, Brandon, Rebecca (children)

It was fun to visit with everyone in a relaxed setting before the big shindig (reception.)  Speaking of brother-in-laws, Paul's brother almost got the chance to be a really big helper when the caterer mistook him for Paul and started to give him the bill.  So close.

The final event was the reception at the Bella Vista in Lindon, UT.  The reception was wonderful. We ate cheesecake and watched polynesian dancing and danced and sang a little.  My favorite parts were talking to my own personal friends, seeing Aaron and his new bride so happy, dancing with my son, and watching all the cute kareoke-ers (not me).  We sent the couple off with sparklers.  No one got burned, and the day was done.  Most important day in the life of my 4th born son-check.

Eliza, Paul, Rebecca

Alexa Rodgerson Stoker, Jacob Stoker

Andrew, Brandon

Heaven loves families/Christmas 2013

Well, we did it.  Christmas 2013 happened.  You know those 2 weddings I was telling you about?  We had 'em.  And of course it was wonderful adventure and of course I'm going to tell about it.  So I'll start at the beginning.  We all know December is a big deal, and December 2013 was looking like a mammoth deal, and we had a mammoth plan so no worries at all :)  Plans are good.  They give you a place to start, and then there's what really happens which is usually just as good or better than the plan.

Aaron and Clarissa's wedding was in American Fork, UT.  Rebecca and Gabe took their finals early so we could fly from Atlanta to Salt Lake City on Thursday, Dec. 19.  Paul was to drive to SLC and pick us up from the airport at 2:30 pm and we would start the festivities by having dinner at Clarissa's, attending the temple at 7:00 pm and then wedding fun on Friday. Well, that plan worked, kind of..Paul drove to Salt Lake City, we flew to LA and then things got interesting.  We were told that all the people travelling to SLC could get off the plane because the flight had been cancelled.  The SLC airport had closed for a time because of ice.  We were to get information from the gate agent.   Then the internet information started buzzing around: a plane had slid off the runway at SLC, and our plane had already been redirected to not Salt Lake.  The line of perplexed travelers was not moving very fast and the gate agent looked a little stressed.  We waited patiently (outwardly) while she got the boarding process going for the new destination.  Then she took a second to speak into the microphone.  "Those of you waiting to go to Salt Lake City, your bags are at baggage claim.  I don't see you getting out of here until Sunday or Monday.  Your best bet is to get on the internet and try to reschedule."

Umm, that was not very helpful considering my child was getting married on Friday.  That's when I normally would have started freaking out, but for some reason I felt calm and strong and had perfect clarity.  My baby was getting married the next day and I would be there. My two children and I gathered in a circle and prayed that good things would come of this day and we could make it safely to UT.   I would simply rent a car and drive, and the thought occurred to me to take some people with me.  I identified 2 females who were in line that I should invite.  One was a beautiful student at the front of the unfortunates line.  I introduced myself, told her I was renting a car and driving to UT and asked her if she would like to join us.  She happily accepted the invitation.  There was another woman who was clearly distraught at the frustrating circumstance.  I made her the same invitation.  She said she needed to talk to her son, who she was visiting because his wife had just had a new baby. Her son told her that it was a good option so we were on our way.

There we were, 3 Stokers trying to get to a wedding, 1 student trying to get home for Christmas and a Grandma trying to see her boy and her grand baby.  It was a Christmas homecoming movie in the making.  I realized this when we were driving on the 8 lane highway in SoCal singing along to the chorus of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer."  It was only made better when we realized we had a DVD player in the van, and I had some Christmas and Hallmark movies in my purse.

The car was filled with Christmas cheer.  It was a blessing to have our new friends with us.  Cute student girl was darling and had an I phone with GPS to help us get through LA.  Brooklyn Grandma friend majorly contributed when it got about 10:00 pm and I was really tired. She chatted with me and told me about her family and  kept me awake.  And honestly, there was nothing better in this whole wide world than seeing these family members reunite at 1:00 am at a snowy Maverick gas station in Provo, UT,  unless it was the Stoker reunion on wedding morning in Lindon, UT.  Christmas season made.