Snow Day!

New Year's Eve

For New Year's Eve we packed a lunch and hot chocolate and drove up to Mount Hood for a day of sledding. We brought our own sleds and found a great snowpark with both small hills for little kids and some huge hills for the more daring. Mira loved is and had no problem going down on her own. Annah on the other hand was a a little unsure about the whole thing. The weather was perfect and we all had a great time.

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007 was spent at home with both our families and my sisters friends coming to our house for Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful week with family, friends and lots of great food.

The girls received a horse stable with lots of horses from Grandpa Dennis and Tammy and it was a bit hit!

It even started snowing on Christmas Day! Even though you can't really see it in the picture, Mira and Annah insisted on getting all their snow gear on and going out to catch snowflakes.

More pictures from the last few months:

A visit to the Oregon Aquarium

Mira turned 6 in September! She lost her first tooth on her birthday.

Mira took horse classes in the fall and both she and Annah loved visiting the horses.

Both girls were unicorns for Halloween

I also celebrated a milestone by turning 30! I finally feel like an offical adult.

Annah turned 3 on December 8th!


A holiday visit to the Pittock Mansion in Portland.

Home Exchange

Welcome to the home exchange section of our blog. Although new to the concept of home exchange, we've been looking forward to doing this for several years. Now that our two daughters are a little older we are ready!

NOTE: As of September 2007 we've arranged our first home exchange for next summer. We'll be exchanging homes with a Danish family and spending 4 weeks - the entire month of July - in Ringkobing, Denmark. Click here to see the website of the family we're exchanging with. We'll be about 30 minutes from where my Dad lives. We can't wait!

Places We're Interested In For Future Exchanges:
*For International destinations we're interested in going in the summer months. For places withing the U.S. we're open to holiday breaks and for the West Coast we'd be open to almost any weekend.

• Denmark (anywhere)
• France (anywhere rural area, small village)
• Italy (prefer rural area, country village)
• England (small village)
• Hawaii (Anywhere - December 2008)
• USA East Coast (any small town on the East Coast - Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, etc.
• USA - Any lake cabin
• San Francisco
• Berkley, CA
  
• Oregon/Washington - open to anywhere
  

Our Home

About Our Home


** This post was intended as a way to provide details on our house and community for possible home exchange. We went on home exchange to Europe in 2007 and plan to do it again in the future.

Our home was built in 1920 and has 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. It can sleep six people. It is around 2000 square feet. Three years ago the home was completely remodeled keeping its old fashioned character. We have a large backyard with a swing set, slide and sandbox and also a small vegetable garden. Our home has two living rooms and an office in the upstairs guest room.

We live on a fairly quiet residential street, just a five minute walk from the center of our small town. We enjoy walking to the coffee shop in town for a morning bagel and coffee or into the old fashioned - one screen - movie theater in the evenings to catch a movie.

We have one cat named Skeleton who spends most days outside although does like to come inside in the afternoon if you let him. He does not need to come in if you'd prefer not to. Tirza's mother owns the house next door and lives there with her husband Chip. They are in their late 50's and will be helpful in giving directions, telling you about local attractions, etc. All the neighbors are very friendly.

We also have a car that can seat 7 people that we would consider exchanging.

We are non-smokers and don't permit smoking in our home.

Our Home



Front of Home
Wide front porch with white wicker furniture

Dining Room

Front Living Room

Has TV

Kitchen


Family Room

Family Room Part 2
Has TV, Woodstove and French Doors to Backyard



Downstairs Bath
Has Claw Foot Tub & Shower

Upstairs Bathroom
Sink, toilet and bathtub (no shower upstairs)

Guest Room & Office
Twin bed with trundle that pulls out underneath to make it into a double bed or two separate twin beds. Room also has desk with computer.



Master Bedroom - Queen Bed

Bedroom - 2 twin beds

Backyard Garden

Backyard
Firepit

Backyard
BBQ, Swingset and Patio Table With Pergola

The Neighbors Next Door
My mom, Marlee, and her husband Chip

Our Family

The Wibel Family

Tirza, Shane, Mira (11), Annah (8), West (3), Silas (16 months).

We are a couple in our thirties with four children. In the above photo you'll see an extra little girl who is not our child but that we care for through foster care. (She would not be coming on the exchange). We love living a simple life and traveling. We often go to Denmark where my father lives and my sister lives in England. We enjoy camping and traveling in Oregon as well. Shane works for a local university, Willamette University.

Our children enjoy reading, playing outside and taking walks into town. We don't watch much TV, preferring to read and explore our community. We are close to our families and friends and are active in our community. We live next door to my mother, Marlee and her husband Chip.

About Silverton

Silverton Summer 2007

A covered bridge in a town park
(leads to a great ice cream and espresso shop!)

The Silverton Farmers Market - Every Saturday in town

Farmer's Market

One of Silverton's many historic old homes

Our favorite place for farm fresh produce- EZ Orchards

The Summer time shortcake stand at EZ Orchards Farm - 10 minute drive from home

Downtown Silverton

The newly restored Wolf Building with a great yarn shop, coffee shop and other great shops

Downtown Silverton is about 7 blocks or a 5 minute walk from our home

Silverton is the quintessential small town with an old-fashioned friendliness and charm. Historic Victorian homes and beautiful gardens surround the historic town.

A community of 7,400, Silverton is Oregon's "Mural City". Beautiful wall paintings adorn buildings throughout the community. Downtown Silverton, designated a Historic District, offers antique shops, art galleries, fine dining and pubs plus pedestrian-friendly streets.

Silverton is located in Oregon's countryside, The Willamette Valley. The area is famous for wine and for its numerous historic covered bridges. About an hour from Portland and 1.5 hours from the beautiful Oregon Coast, Silverton is surrounded by wineries and farmland, yet an easy drive to most places in Oregon. Silverton is the gateway to the largest state park in Oregon,Silver Falls, a lush nature area with ten waterfalls to exlore. Silverton is also home to one of Oregon's premiere tourist attractions, The Oregon Garden.

Most weekends in the summer you'll find something happening in the town's park including the weekly Farmer's Market on Saturdays, The Davenport Festival, The Annual Art Festival, Pet Parade, Strawberry Festival and much more.

Silverton has a wonderful community library that rests above Silver Creek and across the bridge from the big Coolidge-McLaine Park. A community swimming pool is just steps from the library and is uncovered in the summer months. There are two major grocery stores in town and numerous restaurants and coffee shops. Silverton is a laid-back town and easy to explore on foot. If you feel a need for the high energy buzz of city life, simply drive about 45 minutes - 1 hour north to downtown Portland, an urban metropolis with much to see and do. Salem, Oregon's capitol is also close by (less than 30 minutes) and Lincoln City is the closest town on the coast, about 1.5 hours away. Eugene and Corvallis are both an hour's drive and also fun places to visit.

Silver Falls State Park - 15 minutes from Silverton