New Tradition

We decided to make a new tradition this year. In the past, we have done our Christmas cards while staying in Kent while Sherman or Sarah performed in the Nutcracker. Those days are behind us now, so our card sending has been a bit sporadic as of late. This year we went away to a B&B in Port Angles for the weekend and spent time relaxing, watching Christmas movies (to set the mood), sipping tea and sodas, and just communicating. It's been a busy couple of weeks for us both. I'm up to my elbows in a tutu and cavalier project (I know, I wasn't going to sew ballet anymore, but--it's the one passion I just can't seem to walk away from) and Sherm had a week long workshop that he had to travel to Seattle to attend. We spent the 3 day weekend serving as cooks at the Senior High camp and last Friday we served food for the Junior High Frenzy (aptly named!). So, we just decided to go away. We stayed at the Inn on Rooster Hill, a very quaint B&B with big squishy beds, a garden tub, and view of a quiet serene forest to look upon. We got all our cards done in no time at all, (Makes me wonder why we've been so lazy lately) ate some very spicy Indian food, watched the Santa Clause 1 and 2, and just reconnected to each other. Thirty-three years is a very long time to be together. It seems like it's only been a few years since we met, if the kids weren't all adults we could even pretend time hadn't raced on by! Ah, reality, their grown, we're older, and now our focus is on all the little ones in our life. I must admit, Grandkids are much more fun! Here are some pictures of us--hard at work!

Boo to You!

Sunday was our annual pumpkin carving day. We went to Deryck's cub scout troop pancake breakfast and then over to the Tacoma Family house to do our creations. I delivered the Halloween costumes the kids ordered and we had a grand time doing our pumpkins. It's always fun to see what everyone comes up with. Sometimes we get very creative! This year, I used light-brite type lights in my pumpkin--not much carving involved, but I love the results!

Halloween night we will fix chili and cornbread and wait by the door to see all the goblins that come by. I love sharing the holiday's with the kids. Hope they don't outgrow all this too quickly, as you can see by my last few blogs I really like Halloween! Besides, how else would we get our yearlong candy supply!!

Pumpkin Patch II

We went for our second Pumpkin Hunt of the year a couple of weekends ago with the B'ham family. Deryck went along with us for some fun cousin time. It's very sweet to watch Theo follow Deryck all around. Anything the big boy did, the little boy was right behind him trying his best to keep up. I think that they should be very good friends when they are older!

It was a very sunny day and lots of people were hunting with us. We found the perfect pumpkin, of course! Theo was a little wobbly that day but had lots of fun.

These are the days that stay with us long after the lights have burned down in the Jack-o-laterns! Memories made here!!

Fashion Sense?

So you know that you have a boring life when you keep posting pictures of your dog......here is George, ready for Halloween. He has two outfits to choose from. I like the pumpkin sweater best!
It always amazes me that he lets us do dumb stuff to him. Ah, puppy love!

Picking the Perfect Pumpkin! Sunday Oct 7th

Ahhh--Fall has arrived. Today we went to the pumpkin patch at Spooner Farms to select our first Jack-O-Laterns of the season. Papa and I seem to make several of these trips each year. It's not that we can't make a decision--it's that we like to go with all our grandkids, so sometimes it takes a couple of visits to get all the pumpkin gathering done right! Deryck was meeting the members of his new cub scout troop today, so we tagged along.

We spent lots of time in the corn maze. We were looking for clues to where the treasure box was hidden after the great train robbery of 2007. We found all the special mail boxes and got our cards punched so we each received the reward offered for capturing the elusive Ketchum Gang. A bag of "500 Gold Nuggets"! They tasted suspiciously like bubble gum!?!

We spent the end of our visit shooting at targets with the pumkin slingshot. Now that is an experience everyone should try! My try was a dud, glad the camera didn't catch that one! Jim almost had a bulls-eye!

We all headed back home, and when we reached the city limits of Tacoma it began to rain in earnest. I guess if you love the Northwest, you have to love the fall rain. Once again it was lots of fun to spend a crisp fall afternoon with some of our favorite people. Can't wait until carving day!! I need to get some good ideas for pumpkin faces---always a challenge!