Thanksgiving

This year we let Hayes handle the photography for Thanksgiving. After weeding through about 30 pictures of his feet, this is what we came up with.

We spent Thanksgiving in Yakima with Joe's family, the kids were excited, as always, to see Grandma and Grandpa. We had a fun time. Dinner was great, and I contributed the pies this year. I do enjoy making and eating pies! We even got a couple of days of sunshine, which was so nice!

Boise/Halloween

On Thursday the kids and I flew to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Boise. We left Joe at home to study for his Cardiovascular final, fun! We had a great visit. Grandma and the kids decorated sugar cookies to look like pumpkins. We also were able to visit some friends, including Hayes' girlfriend Annie (ask him anytime who his girlfriend is, and he will tell you it is Annie, it's pretty funny).

Thursday night, my parents, my friend Melissa and I went to a dinner for Idaho Humanities. It was great. We heard prolific writer and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer speak about the relevance of Lincoln today.

Friday I hit the Idaho State Archives for some research. It went well, now I just need to finish up my paper!

Saturday my dad and I went to the Boise State/San Jose State football game. I was so glad to be back at the blue turf. The game was a blast. My dad got picked to go on the field at half time to kick a 35 yard punt into the back of the orange Bronco truck to win it. He did a pretty good job, but we didn't make it home with the truck.

That night I took the kids trick-or-treating. They dressed up as their favorite band KISS. They had their guitars, tattoos, face paint, wigs, and black fingernails. They were the coolest kids on the block. We got to see a lot of friends from Boise, and the kids were glad to get a lot of candy!

We had a fun time in Boise!

*5*

So big! Madison turned five last Tuesday. It was a big day! Hayes and I took cupcakes to Madison's class at school. We got to sing happy birthday to her and Hayes and Madison passed out the cupcakes to her classmates. After school we opened presents at home with Aunt Melissa. That night we went to Madison's favorite spot: Chuck E. Cheese's. She had a blast playing the games and riding the little rides. We decided to hit Trophy Cupcake instead of making a cake this time. So we each got a birthday cupcake. Madison and Hayes had to have the Halloween-themed cupcakes and Joe and I split a snickerdoodle and red velvet cupcake. It was pretty fun. Madison is getting so old now! She loves school, playing with friends, watching movies, and reading.

Madison opening her present: Hayes all wrapped up!

Pohm School Field Trip

Last weekend Liz (SVU college roommate and friend-but that may be stretching it, J/K Liz) paid us a visit in Seattle. We had a whirlwind of adventures and were able to "catch-up." We got into Crush, a top Seattle restaurant, and got to participate in their tasting menu ($30 for 3 courses). Each course just got better and better, but the chocolate they gave us with the bill that contained Pop Rocks, was probably the most innovative. We hit Pike's Place market with the kids, and that was an adventure. The produce stands were gorgeous with the farm-fresh wares that all looked so good. Their were also a couple of stands crammed full of bouquets of flowers, which seemed like an unnecessary extravagance, but eventually I caved and bought $5 bouquet of oranges, yellows, and reds. We had a lunch of donuts that were pretty delicious and then headed to the waterfront park and Olympic Sculpture Park. The sculptures were impressive, the weather was beautiful, and we got great views of the Puget Sound.

The next day we took the ferry to the peninsula. While there we went to Fort Worden and went out on the beach. Liz and the kids really enjoyed playing in the sand. We could see Canada (it didn't look like they were up to anything, but you never really know). After that we got ice cream in Port Townsend and walked around the little shops.

Sunday night Mary came over and we really had an SVU reunion going. It was really fun to talk and hang out. Finally Liz had to go home and I think she took all of our sunshine because it is GONE. It has rained every day since she left! Thanks for coming out Liz!

Fan Appreciation Night

Last Friday night we went to Fan Appreciation night at Safeco Field. This was Hayes' first Mariner's game, and I think he wouldn't mind going again. We got a bag of peanuts and he was in heaven. The game was not very good (it was kind of boring and we lost), but we did have fun.

Whidbey Island Weekend

Two weekends ago (?) we took the Mukilteo ferry over to Whidbey Island for the weekend. We had a blast and the weather was pretty nice. We stopped at a kid's festival on the southern part of the island, which the kids loved. They got all kinds of free stuff, and got to do a bunch of fun things like play drums, go down big slides, and play with bubbles. It was definitely a hit. We went to Deception Pass State Park, and played on the beach for awhile (alright, I read), and then toured the bridge that connects Whidbey Island to another one. At Fort Casey they were having a kite festival so we went to check that out, and it was impressive. I had no idea that people did competitive flying to music (it was like couple's ice skating or something) it was pretty cool. Madison and Hayes also got to make and fly their own kites too! We definitely had a great trip.

Last Day of Summer

To celebrate a beautiful Seattle day and the last day of summer we went to our favorite park (Carkeek) for some beach time. The kids played for hours while I was able to lounge in the sand and read in the sunshine! A perfect afternoon.