Dougall Family Fitness Challenge

It's that time of the year to set goals and make new year's resolutions. Those of us home for family dinner tonight thought it might be fun to do some kind of a fitness challenge amongst the members of the family and work on increasing our overall health. For some that might be losing weight or for others maybe just increasing cardiovascular endurance. I know we are all busy with jobs, schooling, raising children and what not, but there's always time to squeeze in that 30 mins of exercise whether it's playing tag with the kids outside, taking a family walk, or parking the car a little farther away. They even say you can accumulate 30 min of exercise doing short bout of exercise throughout the day so no more excuses for anyone!
For those of you unfamiliar with the benefits of exercise here they are:
Reduces the risk of heart disease by improving blood circulation throughout the body
Keeps weight under control
Improves blood cholesterol levels
Prevents and manages high blood pressure
Boosts energy level
Helps manage stress
Releases tension
Improves the ability to fall asleep quickly and sleep well
Strengthens muscles, increasing the ability to do other physical activities
Sounds good right! So I'm thining as a family we can help to encourage one another and even get some of the older grandkids involved( Brandon, Tanner, Troy, Mason, Jessica, Sarah, Tyson and Conner ). For every 30 min of exercise you'll get a point that then adds up to different rewards(water bottle, sweat towels, t-shirt...). Then come July when we gather for the family reunion we'll all check in and have a fitness challenge- maybe a 5k race/walk for fun to check up on our progress. Come the end of 2008 there will be a grand prize for the person or family that accrues the most points(gift card or short stay at one of mom and dad's timeshares are a few ideas).
What do you think? Would anyone be interested in joining in on the fun?? Send your comments or suggestions and if it comes back positive I'll post a final draft of the plan soon so we can get started!

A Night in Bethlehem

Times have changed here in Portland. In some ways it will always be the same with Alison around with early morning wake up calls and cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for breakfast, but long gone are the days we ventured to Mt hood for Christmas Eve and held Christmas our tradiational program. This year for Christmas Eve we celebrated "A Night in Bethlehem" complete with costumes(bathrobes and bed sheets), mediterranean food(spinach pie, pita bread and hummus, olives, meat skewers etc), and a props to immitate the setting(like the canopy set up over the table to represent the marketplace). We watched clips from the nativity movie to help the image become more real.

It was a very memorable night and I'm sure will be repeated for years to come. So if any of you are planning on coming to Portland for Christmas next year you can look forward to our new family tradition!

Is it over yet?

In London today is still a holiday. December 26th is Boxing Day, historically the day to deliver gifts (a 'box') to friends & domestic helpers. Now it is the day to recuperate & recover from the stress of the season. I'm sure that when we were young, by the time we hit mid-day on December 25th Mom was ready for a day off to relax.

The first picture is from 1973. The family was pretty young, and fairly small at that point. But it sure looks like we managed to have quite a pile of presents and wrapping paper. I think I can see a bit of exhaustion in Mom's face.

This picture is from 1979, same situation but more kids. . . . Mom seems skilled at keeping us focused & contained here. Maybe the gift opening is just beginning, or maybe we had paused to organize the room-- I can't say I ever recall the living room looking so tidy on Christmas morning. Two year old Kathryn is thrilled with her little toy car. I also seem pretty excited with things, so excited that I don't even notice that I have no pants on.

Geoff's Family Christmas

I belive most of you have seen pictures of our house earlier this summer - I'm too big an idiot to figure out how to turn these pictures the right direction so don't crink your neck looking at them.

Anyhow, our open top HVAC system was fun for a few days but had the kids scared of monster squirrels before it was all over - Tyson became convinced that squirrels were going to jump into our house and attack us at night. Personally, I came appreciate how much noise a little bit of insulation can block out.

After too many months of grinding through this we finally saw a bit of light around Thanksgiving. Little did we know how much more time all of this was really going to take!


Well our family is thrilled to nearly have this project complete. As it currently stands our floors will get finished the two days after Christmas and hopefully our appliances will get hooked up shortly after that.

So this will actually wind up being more of a birthday present to me than a Christmas present to the family, but we will surely remember this chaotic Christmas as we've juggled trying to establish Christmas traditions here in Portland along with a remodel.

We have carried on some longtime Dougall traditions and have begun to establish a few of our own. Peacock Lane is certainly one of our kids' favorites. We have watched the Christmas ships each year here - although this year was certainly an adventure - maybe a later post will elaborate our experience of having a fire on MAX while heading downtown. We really enjoy seeing all of the lights that the Zoo puts out each year. I've been unsuccesful getting anyone to attend the Tuba Christmas - so if any of you up for it - it's generally the 2nd Saturday in December!

Merry Christmas to everyone this year!

Before We had the Internet

A short time ago I was speaking with David about the way we made a Christmas tradition out of poring through the pages of the Sears Catalog (also known as the Wish Book). Yes kids, before there was a world wide web, and before Amazon.com came into existence, Americans shopped from home with the guidance of catalogs published by Sears & other stores. For generations and generations, this brought children loads of fun, and the Dougall children were no exception.

I recently came across a website were someone has scanned and posted all of the pages from a number of old catalogs. Finding the 1985 issue was a fun walk down Memory Lane. I remember the cover with the excited child (yes, I would tear open the pages with the same amount of excitement & awe that this child displays). I remember having to flip through too many pages of terrible fashion for women . . .

. . . until finally finding the toy section!!

In 1985 there were lots of Transformers and other common toys that excited us. But for me and David there was one item that stood out amongst all the rest, the OMNIBOT2000. We were obsessed with this thing, and dreamed about what life would be like with our very own robot. We would study this particular page everyday, memorizing the features of the little guy (26 inches tall, a vocabulary of 140 words!), and wishing we had $499.99 (roughly equivalent to $1,000 in 2007) so we could have this handy little device to "bring us things like drinks and hors d'eouvres". I wonder if this childhood fascination planted a seed that eventually led David into the field of robotics.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas at the Dougall's...

Another memorable Dougall Christmas traditions? Our Christmas Eve program.

Highlights always included:

• The Man Who Missed Christmas


• The Grinch Who Stole Christmas


• The Gift of the Magi


• Numerous Christmas songs, both reverent and rowdy (that Rudolph piano duet...)


• The Night Before Christmas


• The Christmas Story (the Biblical version, not the 1980s cult classic)

Remember how we'd dole out roles and rehearse as though Guffman* were to attend? And remember how we'd throw in the same clever comic relief year to year? ("throw up the sash" and "turned with a jerk," if you need a refresher...)

But I think we kept the Christmas Story relatively reverent, minus the year Heather played Mary and birthed baby Jesus, played by 6-week-old Brandon.

Sorry, no pictures of that year. Instead here are pictures from the mid-80s:

*If you don't get the Guffman reference, ask Rob.

Somebody help me name this post

December is a month when young adolescent hearts are all a-flutter. I don't know about current trends, but I do that in the 80's and 90's, young lovers saw the month culminate not with Christmas day, but with the annual bash known as "The New Years Eve Church Dance".

This picture shows Heather with a couple of eager young men struggling earnestly for a bit of her attention. Good luck, Brian. Good luck, Jay. I hope the Santa hats help the cause.

Grape Jelly Does Make a Great Gift!

Tonight, Matt and I saw What Would Jesus Buy, a documentary about mindless consumerism in America, especially around Christmas.

Did you know that 60% of Americans have more than $13,000 in credit-card debt? And that the entire US population can easily fit inside all the country's shopping malls?

Since the Dougalls are known for frugality, I won't preach to the choir. I'll just say it was entertaining and thought provoking.

In fact, it made me get nostalgic about some of our childhood gifts to each other: saltines, packs of gum, and packets of jelly. (compliments of Charbo's restaurant.)

The Cabbage Patch Kid pictured below is an even better example of a WWJB-approved gift. Handmade (By mom. Wow!), thoughtful (I *LOVED* dolls), affordable...and functional? Yes, dolls make great pillows. Right Sheri?

Our New Movie: The Friendly Beasts

Some of you may recall the Parker & Ethan production from last summer, "True Blue". The follow-up movie is now ready. It is a song about the animals in the stable when Jesus was born, the donkey, cow, sheep & doves. It showcases two of Ethan's Christmastime passions: drawing baby Jesus & putting together his nativity set. The music is from a contemporary musician named Sufjan Stevens. He has done four or five Christmas albums, all of which feature very nice music. We hope you enjoy it!



Here are the lyrics:
Jesus our brother, strong and good Was humbly born in a stable rude. And the friendly beasts around Him stood.

"I," said the donkey, shaggy and brown, "I carried His mother uphill and down; I carried her safely to Bethlehem town."

"I," said the cow, all white and red "I gave Him my manger for a bed; I gave Him my hay to pillow His head."

"I," said the sheep with curly horn, "I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm; He wore my coat on Christmas morn."

"I," said the dove from the rafters high, "Cooed Him to sleep that He should not cry; We cooed Him to sleep, my mate and I."

Thus every beast by some good spell In the stable dark was glad to tell Of the gifts they gave Emmanuel.

Christmas Bikes, part 2

I agree with Kathryn, the Santa bicycle was the best. I have vivid memories of mine. I think I was almost 7 years old. It was a sweet looking red BMX dirt bike that said "Thundertrail" on it. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I seem to recall that it only took me a few hours on Christmas afternoon to learn how to ride it. As the photo below shows -- I had an excellent teacher, my big brother Rich. (You'll also see from the photo that I took safety very seriously -- I'm sure I went down on the gravel patch a few times that day, but at least my head was protected by the hood of my jacket.)

And to add to Kathryn's post yesterday . . . you can also see in this picture who my cheerleader was. Alison was right there beside me. I'm sure she was giving me encouragement. She was probably as excited about my new bike as I was.

One final thought while we're on the topic . . . When us boys were young there was a Christmas gift that came in a close second behind the bicycle. That, of course, was the Big Wheel. Here is David trying out his new Dukes of Hazard Big Wheel on Christmas Day 1981. Can you tell that this model even came complete with streamers hanging off the end of the handlebars? Beautiful!

Christmas! Goody Goody!

Today's post is a tribute to Alison. Here's why: The first holiday season I spent away from home, I noticed something different. Something like...excitement. And enthusiasm. Alison enthusiasm.

The mere mention of Christmas sent (or should I say *SENDS*?) Alison into a frenzy. Whether we were picking out a tree, caroling, shopping, sledding, or eating cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, you could count on Alison for infectious holiday cheer.

So this picture—a cute young Alison, probably playing with a big brother's new Christmas toy—is to remind us of the childlike joy that makes the holidays fun.

We Interupt Your Regular Program to Bring You Breaking News!

This seems like as good a forum as any to share some news from the Rob & Laurel Dougall family. Rather than me tell you, just see for yourself. Laurel is expecting, see for yourself in the ultrasound picture below.

Yes, a chip off the old block! No surprise that this little one is already into music, what with the house being filled with music all the time: Laurel teaches 3 kindermusik classes each week and practices singing frequently, Parker practices the recorder every afternoon, Ethan loves to sing christmas songs, and Sawyer has his own vast singing repertoire (ranging from simple kindermusik tunes to punk songs). So it was no surprise to us that this child's pre-natal development would include practicing the guitar.




Yes, the Dougall's are into music, and yes, Laurel is expecting. But, no, the image above is a joke. This is not her ultrasound (just someone's funny photoshop gag). I'll post more about my musical boys another day (be sure to stay tuned . . . some very adorable footage will be posted in a day or two), but today let me just pass along our exciting news.


Laurel is about three months along. Her due date is in June. We will likely still be here in London. So we'll have the joys of dealing with the healthcare system over here, and then the pleasure of dealing with UK & American beaurocracies to get the child documented before the big July Vegas Reunion. Parker and Ethan have been hoping for a sister, but it honestly won't matter at all to Laurel and I, we seem to have the whole boy thing down by now. When we find out the gender, we'll make sure to pass the news along.


Laurel has been healthy enough so far. She's had to slow down just a little bit, but she still manages to impress this town with the way she hauls the three kids about in our big bicycle (shown on the right, I'll have to post some footage of this beautiful piece of machinery, too). Honestly the only real complaint I hear regularly from her is that there is nothing to eat, the food here in the UK just doesn't sit as well in her stomach. As usual, I'm left scratching my head with some of her cravings -- last week she came home from the grocery store with a couple tubs of Ben & Jerry's and a jar of purple pickled cabbage! I don't know how the pregnant women are drown to the pickled cabbage, but I do hope that it works!

Sorry for the 'non-christmas' post. I'll make sure to get back on subject tomorrow or the next day. In the meantime, here's another photo from Mt Hood. I think this is Mom & David, Christmas Eve '81.

Who got a bike for Christmas?

Who remembers the year Sheri got a bike for Christmas? The catchphrase of the day, repeated over and over, was "Sheri got a bike for Christmas!?" Of course, it drove her nuts, but she couldn't really complain. After all, she got a bike for Christmas!

Getting a bike from Santa was like a rite of passage. Santa didn't bring one to the Dougall household every year, but the years he did, Christmas was extra exciting. He really outdid himself the year David and I both got bikes—a purple Huffy mountain bike for me and a green Huffy for David. If I remember correctly, Santa found them left behind by an evicted tenant at one of mom and dad's rentals. Santa is generous and resourceful!

I imagine the Christmas pictured below (1973-ish) was one of those extra-exciting years. You can sense the enthusiasm as John and Rich cruise around in their new bikes. And I notice the driveway wasn't paved yet, so it must've made for some killer terrain. Plus, the lucky guys didn't have older siblings to harass them all day with: "John and Rich got bikes for Christmas!?"

You Know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and...

What was always the best way to kick off the holiday season? With the Raleigh Hills Elementary Christmas...er, WINTER...program, of course!

Pictured here is me (sorry about the Kathryn overdose...) with my classmates singing a Mrs.-Jones-arranged/Ms.-Rojas-coreographed rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I'm sure Dave and Rob were featured at some point in this program, but probably with less-festive accessories. Weren't the upper grades too cool for antler hats and red noses?

*Bonus points for anyone who can name the kid pictured left of me.

Happy Birthday to Kathryn!

It's a big birthday for Kathryn today! Since women sometimes prefer to keep their age confidential, I won't reveal which one she's celebrating exactly. But if this post were done like an old episode of Sesame Street, it would finish by announcing, "today's program was brought to you by the Number 3."

To honor Kathryn on this special day, here are a few old photos:


I don't know much of the context of this picture which was taken in the late '70s. She looks a little similar to Sawyer (my youngest), who also loves to eat at night right before going to bed. Looks like a graham cracker in one hand, and a binky in the other (a tough decision for a tired child).



The next picture sheds a little more light on Kathryn's comment a few days ago. In her "Smart Santa" post a few days ago she wrote that a Ramona Quimby diary helped foster her love of writing. The photo above indicates that perhaps story-time with Dad helped to plant that seed even earlier. She is really enjoying this book!

Now some of you might look at this & think that Dad's look is pretty stale, but believe me, it couldn't be more current. The thick framed glasses are back. And I'd bet there are about 500 hipsters in Brooklyn scouring the thrift stores & vintages clothing racks for old colorful Puma's & western cut shirts. Way to go Dad - quietly blazing a fashion trail, 25yrs ahead of the hipsters.



Now speaking of fashion, I don't know who posed the final shot here, but I think it's pretty cute. It looks like it belongs in a Gap Kids (or Mervyns or JC Penneys) catalog. While David is busy flossing his teeth with the knuckle of his thumb, Kathryn is acting cool & unfazed in front of the camera. This was developed in early 1985. It think it shows how early in life a person's real personality begins to show.

Well, Kathryn, may you always stay so cool & unfazed. Have a Very Happy Birthday!

Creative Sledding

Ever notice how creative some people get with their sledding equipment. At BYU the students borrow cafeteria trays to slide down the Marriott Center slope. In New York's Central Park the kids just use flattened cardboard. A few years ago Laurel & I tried to use our landlady's flat shovel to sled down our steep street (I think I saw that on "It's a Wonderful Life", but it didn't work well for us).

Today's photo shows how creative we were in finding sledding equipment for the little ones. When the twins were little, they were put in a standard plastic dish bucket to brave the slopes.

Here is one of the twins, positioned in her bucket at the top of a slope (looks like she is preparing to push off).

Smart Santa

One of my most memorable Christmas gifts was a little something I got in second grade: a Ramona Quimby diary. Ramona happened to be my hero that year, and I think my love of writing began with that journal. Who would've thought it'd lead to a journalism degree 15 years later?

Santa always seemed to bring the Dougall kids toys we could learn from. Tinker toys, books, legos, even games like Monopoly and Mastermind (and yes, Risk, too!). Even the fun stuff pictured below turned out to be great learning tools. Is this where Rob acquired his skill for managing money? And the humble beginnings of Heather's domesticity?

Rob and Dave in 1979

Alison and Heather in 1977

p.s. Who else misses the living room's killer yellow/orange carpet?

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care

When looking at the Dougall's home in December there was no mistaking the fact that it was Christmastime. There were lights fastened along the roof, the wooden Grinch standing guard out front, a tree lit up in the front window. In the living room there a coule nativity scenes carefully assembled in straw, and there were as many as a dozen bags stuffed with presents. But the primary decorations on display in the family's main gathering space were the stockings -- all thirteen of them, individually named, hung on the fireplace in the family room.

Here we are in 1990, posing with our brand new Dougall Sweatshirts.

(this photo seems to indicate that when I hit puberty as a teenager, my growth began at the neck first - at age 15 it looks to be twice the normal length.)

Could there be a better tradition

There were many Christmas traditions that kept the Dougalls busy: cutting a tree, gatherings with friends, lights, decorations, carolling & music, delivering cookies, Peacock Lane, electric train set, the Grinch, the Man who Missed Christmas (please drop a comment and remind me some that I'm missing). The tradition that stands out the most to me was the annual Christmas Eve trip to the mountains.

The trip to Mt Hood was always the most exciting part of Christmastime. I loved taking the inner tube down the slope beside White River Lodge. But I don't know how mom managed to keep it organized. In the mid 80's there were 11 kids, and two adults. That means there were at least 13 pairs of boots, 13 hats, 26 gloves, 52 socks. . . . I can't even begin to fathom how to keep that organized within the big brown van.

In addition to keeping the family dressed, there was the logistical problem of keeping the family fed (chasing an inner tube up & down a hill burns a lot of calories). Not only did Mom have food covered at the mountain (I remember drinking copious quantities of hot chocolate and eating warm chex mix) but we were bound to be greated by the scent of a Christmas ham or turkey baking in the oven upon returning home. Ahh, what could be better than a traditional Dougall Christmas Eve.

Today's photo is either Emily or Julie (sorry, it's hard to distinguish at this age) in 1982.

The Hunt for the Perfect Tree

The Dougalls always kicked off the Christmas season with an outing. Dad, armed with a small saw, would gather the kids in the car, perhaps as early as Thanksgiving weekend, and drive the family out to the woods (or a tree farm), on our hunt for the perfect Christmas tree.

These trees weren't the full-bodied, symetrical, vivid green, well-manicured trees that are sold at your average Home Depot. These were trees that were bound to be a bit more unique and with a little more character. Finding the perfect tree could take quite a bit of hiking, because (let's face it) mother nature doesn't naturally produce full-bodied, symetrical trees all on her own. We'd have to pass by many unacceptable trees before finally finding a suitable candidate. Selecting the tree was a democratic process, someone would spot a candidate & others would have to vote on it. When concerns were raised, they would have to be addressed:


"this tree is no good, do you see how scraggly it looks on this side"


"well that scraggly side will obviously be against the wall"


"but three quarters of the tree is scraggly"


"then we'll have to position it in a corner . . . ."


Today's picture was taken during Christmastime 1980. We are posing with the Stevens family, who joined us for our expedition that year. (For some reason I recall that they chose a tree that was about 18 feet tall.)

On the First Day of Christmas

Happy December to all the Family. To kick off the Christmas season I want to post some photos of the Dougall's Christmas Past. The first one goes back to Christmas 1965. Here is the tree which decorated the apartment of newly-married John & Marilyn Dougall, for that sunny California Christmas.