CHA-LU-PA!

Having grown up a Blazers fan in the glory days of Clyde, Duck, Rick, etc., I gave up on the team when they literally became a bunch of criminals. While they now appear to be turning it around, I won't be ready to be a fan again until they can keep their noses clean and their butts out of jail for a while.

Having said that, I went last night with my grandparents and dad to the Portland/Golden State game (free ticket!). The game was great, the crowd was good and I began to feel some of the old excitement again. The guys play really well together - fun to watch. We creamed the Warriors, ahead by 15 or 20 a lot of the game! Chants of "cha-lu-pa, cha-lu-pa" filled the arena as we neared 100 points. We won 109-91, and the fans went home with coupons for free Taco Bell!

I'd really given up on the hometown team, but now I'm not so sure......

-Liz :)

Cartoon

My mom just sent me this from The Washington Post. Pretty funny. Pretty true.

-Liz :)

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Brad's sis, Jill, forwarded this the other day. I thought it's funny enough to share:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

DR. PHIL : The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.

OPRAH : Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH : We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL : Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road...

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY : Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE : That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN : To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART : No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS : Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY : To die in the rain. Alone.

JERRY FALWELL : Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth?' That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA : In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS : Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

JOHN LENNON : Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

ARISTOTLE : It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

BILL GATES : I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken This new platform is much more stable and will never cra...#@&&^(C% ........ reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN : Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON : I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE : I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS : Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY : Where's my gun?

AL SHARPTON : Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

-Liz :)

The Dark Side

A skiing friend sent this to Brad. If you telemark or backcountry ski - or know someone who does - we think you'll appreciate this video!

-Liz :)

Useful warning!

This sign, spotted on our weekend ski trip on Hood, made us laugh!

-Liz :)

Happy Birthday, Brad!!!

Today is Brad's 32nd birthday!!!!

We celebrated yesterday with a cross-country ski trip to Pocket Creek on Mount Hood. The snow and weather were perfect, as was the company! Michael, Kendra, Tim, Laura, Joyce, Sean, Karen and Eddie the dog (not pictured here because of dead batteries) joined us for snow fun and Mexican food.

Today was Round 2 with family and ribs at the Claim Jumper. Yum :)

-Liz

A white Christmas in Tigard?!

We don't get white Christmases in the Portland area's valley floor. This year, I was opening a gift at my grandparents' house in Tigard with my back to the window when Ma suddenly yelled, "It's snowing!!!!!" My gift-opening moment was lost when the entire family ran to the window and started screaming. Still, we never expected those flakes to stick or pile up outside. The commotion died down and we went back to presents. But every once in awhile someone yelled, "It's still snowing!", "It's starting to STICK!" or "It's really snowing out there!" and we'd all run to the windows for another glance.

The flakes started slow:
But they were soon piling up:

By the end of the morning, we were all giddy, enjoying the rare Christmas morn snowfall:

The neighbors turned their flakes into a giant snowman:
The next day, the newspaper confirmed our discussion about never before remembering a white Christmas. The last Christmas-day snowfall was in 1990. But the last time it stuck in Portland was in 1937! Truly a once-in-a-lifetime treat!

Even without the snow, the rest of the day was awesome! First stop: Mom and Dad's house. Eryn's looking for a comfy spot on the floor:
Dad's sporting his new Christmas undies - on his head:
Next up: Ma and Pa's house. The cousins have to put their ornaments on the tree before we can start:Next, we headed to Vancouver. Steve opening shirts he bought, wrapped and gave to himself:
Brad trying to stay awake as we neared the end of our marathon:

Donna laughing about something:
Grandpa cuddled with his new bear:
Mocha wants to be a present:
We hope your Christmas mornings were as wonderful as ours!

-Liz