A Durango December: Snow fun, Christmas cheer

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." that's for sure! And I don't just mean the white lights lining the downtown streets or the ornate homes on the block. Since the beginning of the month we've received more than a foot of snow in our yard, and the cooler temperatures are keeping the dreamy soft, snowy banks from melting for the time being. In true Colorado form, snowy spells are followed by crystal clear blue skies and a warming sunshine -- making it perfect for after-school play for the girls!

We wanted to give you an idea of where we are located, so follow this slideshow from just south of downtown -- where the rocky terrain freshly dusted with snow is a spectacular sight -- up the "hill" to our neighborhood, which is about 7,500 feet in elevation. It's quite a change from our neighborhood in Portland's southwest hills, where we were lucky to get a dusting of snow about twice a year at 500 feet above sea level.



Besides enjoying the snow, we're also getting a headstart on celebrating Christmas with festivities at school and in town. The day after Thanksgiving was the official start of the season's celebrations with a parade of Carolers downtown -- accompanied by Santa himself -- which kicked off a town procession to the lighting of the city's gigantic Christmas Tree (a live one, of course -- it's Colorado after all!) The girls are attending St. Columba School, which does an excellent job of honoring Christmas with class performances. Claire sang in the Star Choir with her pre-K friends during the day, and Audrey performed as one of the "Good News Angels" with the rest of her first-grade class in an evening performance. Here are some of our favorite moments from those performances:



But the highlight of our pre-Christmas celebrating will be a ride on the historic Durango Railroad next weekend, when it will be decked out for a "Polar Express" themed train ride. We'll let you know how it goes!

We're here... and so is the Snow!

After enduring a stressful moving-truck loading experience in Portland (that's truly one for the books), we finally took to the road late into the evening on Saturday, Nov. 17. But once we were on the road and endured some rain and a little snowfall past La Grande leaving the green state of Oregon, the rest of the road trip was smooth sailing. Highlights of the road trip and photos will be posted on our travel blog sometime this week, but for now I'll just say that we were wowed by one of the most gorgeous sunsets I've seen in a long time as we drove through Boise, Idaho.

We arrived in Durango on Monday the 19th just in time to see the sun set in our new forested backyard, and breathed a large sigh of relief! A large U-Haul moving truck, our Toyota Tacoma and our Subaru Outback survived the drive -- along with their occupants: the Gotchers, my sister Carol from Vail, and my wondefully helpful Mom Yolanda! We spent the rest of the week, including enjoying an amazing Thanksgiving meal, with our dear friends Darren & Valerie McKinnis, who got their way and lured us out here in the first place.

Friday morning as we woke up to start the serious unpacking at our new home, we were welcomed by a fresh blanket of six-plus inches of puffy powdery snow! What a dream come true! Even though we still have lots of unpacking to do, we feel so, so blessed to be here, to have arrived safely and to spend Thanksgiving in the company of great friends. We will miss our Portland pals, but we are very grateful that God has brought us back to the state we have always felt we could call home.

More soon!
Renee

The Gotchers are Making the Dream Move!

You've heard us pine for the glory days of rocky mountain life... well, we're about to make our dreams a reality! We say good-bye to the Rose City of Portland on Saturday, November 17, and are due to arrive at our new mountain home in Durango, Colorado, on November 19!

Stay tuned for more news and keep an eye on our Travel Blog (to your right) for some fun highlights of our three-day road trip to our new digs. Here's a quick peek at the home we'll be renting until the time comes that we are ready to buy our dream home.

E-mails and cell phones will stay the same, here's our new mailing address:
132 Pine Ridge Loop
Durango, CO 81301

Take our poll (see right) and let us know what you think about our big move by posting a reply to this update! More soon from the Gotcher Five...

Celebrating Claire's 5th Birthday

Summer comes to a close with the celebration of Claire Isabel's 5th Birthday at our home in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday, Sept. 9. We celebrated with a "puppy party" theme -- Claire's favorite pet -- and her preschool friends and brought their own favorite pets to help join in the fun (stuffed pets, of course!) At Claire's request, everyone decorated their own cupcakes in lieu of a birthday cake, and the kids created their own Pet Shop Art Gallery by putting their coloring artwork on display in the dining room.

Her friends know her well: She was surprised with many new pets to add to her growing collection! From a rescue pet puppy that interacts with you to some new Littlest Pet Shop collectibles, Claire has succeeded in turning her play room into a pet lover's paradise!

Next on the agenda: Monday is the first day of school at Kingdom Kids for Claire in her new Pre-K class. She's ready to go: A new Rescue Pets Alarm Clock (an actual dog that sits up and barks to wake you up at the appointed hour!) will wake her every morning. She'll sport some new outfits from Grandma Yolanda and some she purchased with her own birthday money (thank you Great Grandma Marel & Great Grandpa Ken!) and she has pets lined up for "show & tell" for the next several weeks!

Thank you to all the friends and family who helped make Claire's birthday special!

The Eklunds visit Portland!

"Auntie" Cristina Eklund and Cousin Elijah come to Portland for a long-overdue visit, Aug 20-23: We were so thrilled to have the Eklunds (minus Daddy Jeremy on this trip) here in Portland for a family visit after their two-year stint abroad in Nicaragua. (Click here for more on the Eklunds' life in Nicaragua.) Cristina, seen here with her new niece baby Elise, arrived from sunny California on Monday. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as inviting as the warm & sunny Gotcher girls were: It rained for the first two days of their stay! However we managed to have lots of indoor fun despite the cloudy skies and wet weather.



Claire, Elijah & Audrey hit the mall: We spent the first wet days hitting our favorite indoor hang-outs -- Washington Square Mall and the infamous Oregon landmarks play area, the new Pump It Up Jr. for hours of bounce, and the old reliable Gotcher Girls Playroom -- until the final and sunniest day, when we all hit the Wilson Pool for a family swim. We planned to debut Elise in her new watermelon swimsuit, however she decided to nap instead. Audrey & Claire showcased their swimming talents, having spent the past several weeks sharpening their swimming skills with daily lessons. Audrey is perfecting her freestyle stroke -- complete with side-breathing! -- and Claire is paddling about bravely with her face under water, bubbles blowing furiously. However, the best part of free swim time is the abundance of floating paraphernalia found drifting about, just waiting to be commandeered for a water war.

Twenty-month-old Elijah was content to play with "agua" on the sidelines for the most part, pouring water back and forth between a plastic pink teapot & cup rescued from the playroom's "no-agua-allowed" kitchen to be enjoyed with unrestricted splashing at poolside!

Having re-connected with their cousin for the first time since he was a six-week-old newborn, the girls were thrilled to have a boy in the house and loved showing the ropes to cousin Elijah, though I think in the end Elijah was slightly more enamored with his "Uncle Kenny." Every time we arrived home from an outing, Elijah would immediately start calling for "Uncle Kenny, Uncle Kenny!" until he was found. Maybe he needed an occasional break from the princesses! Elijah wasn't the only one who needed a break: The Mommies got their "night out" Wednesday with a quick shopping escape at the shopper's paradise Pioneer Place in downtown Portland, thanks to Uncle Kenny's offer to keep watch over the flocks for a couple of hours.

We were very sad to see them go on Thursday, however now that they are back in the states, we are hopeful that it won't be another 18 months before we see them again! Click here for a Kodak Gallery Slideshow of the Eklunds visit to Portland.

Here's to our "second step" in recording the exciting happenings at Casa Gotcher in Portland! I hope to keep the news coming regularly as events of note take place in our busy family lives.
--rg

Welcome to the Gotcher Family Chronicles!

I have to admit it: The journalist in me has been secretly envious of friends who have been flourishing on the Web -- despite the fact they have no publishing experience -- when all I have to my name online is a three-year-old solitary home page gathering dust in cyberspace. It's time to get back behind the keyboard and flex my publishing muscles!

Enter the Gotcher Family Chronicles, our family's new Web "living room," where I welcome to you to "sit down" for a quick visit with us and catch up! This is just a beginning, and with two-month-old Elise Gabrielle keeping me off my laptop most of the day, it may be a very slow start. In other words, don't hold your breath for reams of clever content and up-to-date online photo albums. However, that is my goal -- so stay tuned!

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
-- Chinese Proverb

Here's to my "first step" in this new journey!
--rg