christmas round 2

being that we come from such great families we have many christmas's. this happens to the schmutz family christmas. we feel so fortunate, and lucky at the same time. i feel blessed!

HO HO HO

do you believe? some do and others question the big surprise. in the schmutz family we make santa cookies and leave milk for santa. we have a tradition that you wait on the stairs until mom and dad come down, seek out the gifts and are ready with camera in hand! we also believe that santa leaves all of his gifts unpoened, he is so busy delivery gifts, how can he imagine wrapping gifts for all children. this has been a trddition since steph was a child.

christmas eve

christmas eve in our home with part of the schmutz fam

we love mike

our great friend and colleague in Aruba, now lives in monetary, ca, he was part of our life for two years. he became part or our extended family. we love that mike is still apart of us. thanks for the christmas shirts mike. we love you. xoxo

the leagues

it is always so fun to witness grandkids and grandparents. we wonder if and when we will be there, i know that we will be there faster than we think. i love that i can relish in my nieces and nephews.

my good friend

julie has been a great friend of mine for years. she shot the league family over chirstmas in spokane this year and has done my christmas photos the last 2 years. i love you jules! i value your talent and what you have to offer.

the holidays 2007

the holidays bring about great memories. we had fun in spokane with league family and what nots. you could be the one that schucked crab, or held babies, or drank beers, it didn't matter, as long as you were along for the ride.

grand kids

we love them no matter how they come. we think they are the cutest kids alive!

4 decades

here is my grandmother june with her youngest great grandchild, wyatt(jenny's baby). the holidays bring great snapshots of life.

stick my head

i think these are so funny. we find them in strange places around the world, yet we feel drawn to them. why is that? still love it!

New Years Past

new years 2004, with the collins, in aruba. too much for the little ones. how they have grown. rained like no other that night, will not forget it. hurried back to the hotel to get them into bed before the big tick of the clock into a new year. smoke filled the air, due to all of the fire works. thank god the aruba winds blow at an average of 19mph each and every day. i had never seen anything like it before in my life, that is the fireworks i mean.

Christmas's of past-2004

taking a look back on christmas is so fun. some of these i have just seen for the first time. steve and i have begun to put all of our photos on discs from the past 3 years. these are keepers. the collins family in aruba, 2004. i also have to say that i miss my swimming partner koen, from holland, he was a great soul mate my first year in aruba. miss you koen.

the tree

we cut our tree down this year, as always, in the wenatchee national forest. took a few years off due to life in aruba and are back at it. i apologize for all you tree huggers, but if you do have one, it was cut from somewhere, if you have a fake one, most of it is lead. the funny is that when you cut it down in the forest, it never looks as big as it does when you bring it home. so here it is.

Thanksgiving 2007-Rockaway Beach, Oregon

we made it! some came together, others waited at airports for hours getting here. all in all, we made it in one piece. the collins, the schmutzs', the toillions', mike mills and adrian freuen, ......oh and can't forget collins dog, 'keller,' who by the way never stayed in the yard. what a relief as we stayed awake the first night for the stragglers. a thanksgiving to go down in the books. a great house right on the beach. plenty of room for all. more than enough food to be had, and the most amazing weather for the oregon coast this time of year. a few great crabbing adventures, some made it to the tillamook cheese factory, others only out the back porch, and a few too many, down the street to larry's market. all in all it was a success. adults and kids alike had a blast. i hope you enjoy the pictures that follow, of our great thanksgiving adventure. happy holidays to come!

Thanksgiving dinner, Rockaway Bay

here we all are, eating, after preparing for the big event. some toasts were done, some gave longer toasts than others, i will not name any names on this one.

old friends from aruba

spending time with mike over the weekend was grand. we loved seeing him after leaving aruba over a year ago.

great thanksgiving weather

we were very lucky to have experienced a rare weekend at the beach over thanksgiving. men playing dominoes out in the yard, some girls doing gymstastics, others being naked, and still others taking walks on the beach under open blue skies. we thanked out lucky stars.