A Day in the Life...

Drew had a conference in Sun River OR this past winter and we made the call to tag along for a little vacation.  Things were slightly dampened by the fact that it appears Cole has developed car sickness since the summer. Ugh.  The drive was so long! However, it was worth it in the end and we had a wonderful time relaxing in an amazing little chalet, enjoying the snow, sitting in the hot tub, sledding and skating!  Couldn't have asked for more fun!  A stop at our favorite in Mt. Hood - El burro loco! A glass of wine after our 6 hour road trip turned into 10 hours due to car sickness!  Right before our Owl Walk.  We were told we could walk into the wood and hear the owls. What a bust!  3 cold and tired kids in the dark woods and no owls!  It's now a running joke in our home as the  tour guide kept 'hooting' trying to draw the owl's attention.  If we want someone's attention in the house we often hoot at each other now...

This little girl likes to dress herself...often in multiple different outfits every day! Love the mismatched socks!

North shore School District hosted an art walk this year to highlight student work.  The theme was Imagine and students were tasked with creating some sort of 'art' that reflected the theme.  Sam came home one day and told us that he had submitted something.  What came as even more as a surprise was when we were contacted to say his piece was a qualifier to represent the school in the district art walk.  Sam was pretty thrilled with it and with his ribbon and didn't mind at all that his piece didn't move on to the next round of judging.  His best bud Owen had his work submitted as well and they enjoyed hanging out at the art show.  

Eliza took her first dance class with her friend Addy this past winter/ spring.  It was so cute watching them together.  Nothing more adorable than little girls in pink dancing!  

We had a wonderful 2015 but on December 30th we received news that our sweet dog Jasper passed away at the kennel while we were on vacation. It was heartbreaking and so terrible to hear that news from a far.  We felt so much guilt that we hadn't been there with her and that she had been alone.  However, we are beyond thankful we had 10 amazing years with her.  She was aging but she was still full of energy.  We are also grateful we got the best years of her. She wasn't sick or lethargic. Our kids didn't have to see her age.  Ultimately we are also thankful we didn't have to make a hard choice.  We always knew it would be an impossible choice to one day say goodbye to her and that decision was taken from us. Jasper died of something called bloat.  It's when a dog inhales too much air while eating or drinking.  Their stomach can become bloated and ultimately twist.  Often this happens in the middle of the night as is what happened to J...

It was probably the most last minute trip our family has coordinated.  In almost 3 weeks Grandpa managed to get 12 people booked to Florida and found a last minute house rental that could fit us all. It still amazing that it was pulled off as smoothly as it was. There had been a lot of talk with where to meet as Grandma (at 98.5) is finding it harder to travel and it was decided very late in the game that Florida would be the best option. So off we went to Florida.  We flew out on Christmas Day and met up with most of the crew that evening at our rental.  We often feel very lucky that my mom and Drew's family get along so my mom came and joined in the Hiller fun too. Our house was perfect for our needs and had a pool in the backyard which the kids loved.  It was unseasonably warm there while we were there so it was truly nice to soak up the sun!  We had a great time celebrating Grandma, swimming, playing mini golf, shopping Downtown Disney and checking out m...