The fam

Mom and Ole playing with the busy bee in the dark

The official Lokken family photo

Around the farm

We're enjoying the warm weather but wishing for more snow.  Ole wore his new snow suit nevertheless.

Christmas in Minnesota

 

 

The entertaining begins

Hanging with Grandpa

Lily is tired of it already

Meeting Uncle Josh

We've been here less than two days, but we've already had the full holiday experience...visits by friends and neighbors, wrapping presents, baking cookies, passing the baby around, and relaxing.

The Krumkake iron

Delicious crunchy krumkake

Mmmm....cookies.  Mom always makes the jam drops I love.

Getting so  big!

So many eggs every day.  Where do we put them all!?!

A visit to Mom's yarn shop.

Yarn made from Mom and Dad's rambouillet sheep

Breaking news: Foot reaches mouth

My best spot

Everyone has a favorite room in the house, a favorite spot that really feels like home.  Mine, embarrassingly enough, is the bathroom.  There's a clawfoot tub in the corner and the best view in the place.  It's perfect for a sunset bath. 

Lunch date

I love going out to eat and I didn't realize how much I would miss it.  Living in the country and having a new baby both make it much easier to just stay home and cook.  There are those times, though, when the most delicious meal is one that someone else makes.  So Monday we up and headed to Stevenson for lunch at the Big River Grill.  Ole sat in the high chair like a big boy and contentedly played with his toys while we dined...it was glorious!

I know, let's all look in different directions!

A nice moment

Christmas babies

We met up with our birthing class group for the monthly potluck last night and took advantage of an  opportunity to dress up the babies in cute outfits.  Ole was such a trooper.  He has started teething but his flushed cheeks just looked festive in his holiday duds.

Kalos, Cormac, Linnea, Ole, Niko

Ole tried to hold Linnea's hand as she fussed.

Linnea's mom, Kristen, crafted cute matching hats for everyone.  We ate good food and listened to Christmas music.  It's amazing how much each baby has changed from month to month:  Mac can drink water from a glass now, Kalos rolls all over the place, Niko can nearly stand on his own, and Ole has become the Brawny man.

Thankgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends last night.  Nathan and Ruby hosted the annual potluck.  It's an ever-shifting group of friends, but we get together most holidays to share food and drink.  As usual, all the food was delicious. 

Ole and Arlo finally meet.  They're just two months apart--Arlo turned six months and tried his first real food today.  Ole was pretty interested in that other baby.  

It turns out that leftover cheese grits and pumpkin pie make an excellent Black Friday breakfast. 

These grits make me wonder if I have some secret southern roots.

Cheese Grits

Boil one cup of quick-cooking grits with 3 cups of milk and one tsp salt.
Add 2 beaten eggs and 3/4 cup milk, cook and stir over medium heat until thickened.
Remove from heat, stir in 1 1/2 cups of grated sharp cheddar, 1/4 cup of parmesan and 2 Tbsp butter.
Mix and fold into a buttered casserole dish.
Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Foggy morning

Fog settled in this morning.  I love how quiet and private the fog makes everything feel.

And I really tried to get Ole interested in the size of this leaf, but he just didn't seem to care.

Jumperoo!

My little jumper...

Splish splash

Ole takes after his old Mom and loves his bath time.  It's getting tough to take him out of the water as he just wants to splash and splash even after the water has gone cold.

Even drying off is fun.

The littlest pubster

I hadn't been to town in a while, so I drove in to meet Alex after work.  We ate a quick dinner and Ole had his first awake visit to the Lucky Lab.  He bellied up to the bar and jokes about putting him to work at dad's pub quickly ensued. 

I also drove downtown to Powell's to show off Ole to former co-workers.  On the way, just over the Hawthorne Bridge, I drove right through the Occupy Portland protest.  I'd seen coverage on the news but I was truly blown away by the scope of it.  It's at least two full city blocks, hundreds of tents clustered together with sidewalks serving as main street through the miniature city.  Tarps were strewn everywhere (it is Oregon after all...rain!) and there were hundreds of signs.  It has been pretty cold by Portland standards lately and not exactly camping weather, but people continue to rally and march. 

Growing boy

It was so nice to get a visit from Mom this past weekend.  Ole showed off his new skills (reading! bouncing! cooing!) and had some quality time with grandma.  She even babysat so Alex and I could have a nice dinner out.

A quiet moment.

Ole reading his current favorite.

We visited the Fall Carnival at the elementary school across the street and enjoyed seeing all the kids dressed up.  Turns out we were all too old or too young for the games and the haunted house, but we checked it out.  Ole founds lots to look at.

Happy halloween!