The pumpkin patch and halloween costumes

Here are a few pics of the kids with their pumpkin carvings and their halloween costume. Nick is a pirate and Savannah is a fruit bat. Mind you not the evil vampire type but a FRUIT BAT!!! Okay then!



Nick looks like he might just crawl right in there!!

Having great weather!

Normally, October begins the ugly months here. Loads of gray days and rain, rain, rain. But this month we've have some really great days! Sunny, relatively warm, amazing days. The fall colors have been more intense too, or maybe I just appreciate them more!!! Here's what I mean:








And looking north and west over Olympia from Tumwater Hill:

Family potluck

It's been a while since all of the Jensen/Downs descendants from these parts got together, I think it's been about five years or so. High time we did it again. Cousins Bev and Doloris suggested it, cousin Tim and his lovely friend Nina volunteered to have it at their house, and what a great time we all had. The weather even held for most of the day, only finally raining around 4:30! Around 40 people showed up for long overdue visit and a wonderful family potluck meal. Man, we have some great cooks!

From Louise's family:

Dick and his family:



Doloris:



And Bev's family:



From Alta's family:

Donna and her family:



From Major's family:

Pat, son Joe and wife Wendy:



And from mom's (Jennella's) family:

Randy and Karen, me and Ralph



Kiesha and her grandma Donna having a chat:



Brother and sister Tim and Cyndy:



Donna with new greatgrandson, Ryder:



And greatgrandaughter Elleah:



Thanks to Tim and Nina for being such great hosts!

Royalty in the family

We always knew cousin Tim was a prince, good that others are finally acknowledging it! He was crowned prince of his homecoming court at UMC! That's Prince Tim on the left, I wonder if he gets to keep the crown?

Savannah's birthday

Can't believe she's eight!

The party had a dog theme, only stuffed dogs as gifts though!! Mema made this doggie cake specially for Savannah:



Even cute dog themed napkins:



A cute shirt on a cute kid:



A picnic on the living room floor:



Greg always cuts their birthday number in the front lawn:



Opening the presents:

A family visit

Ronnie, Julie and Ryan stopped in for a visit to see the new place. It was good to have some time to catch up with one another!! Ryan is now in kindergarten and loving every minute of it! Julie walks him to and from school each day.

They also brought along this great photo of the whole clan. It was taken this spring when they all went to Disneyland for a few days. Good looking group!!



TJ, Billie Jo, Evan, Julie, Ryan and Ronnie

Ramona Joy

Let me tell you a bit about our cousin Ramona. Joy was an inspired middle name for her. Wonderful wife, mother of four, daughter, niece, sister, aunt, cousin, daughter of the King of Kings. Valedictorian in high school, got her degree in Fashion Marketing and was fabulous at it, working at local family clothing store. Indispensable employee.

Shall we talk music? Beautiful singer and musician teaching those skills to her children. She served on the board of her local civic music league, played the organ at church, sang in the choir. She taught Sunday school and worked with the youth group. A fine arts booster in her community and also worked with the local fire department and VFW. Too much more to mention.

She really enjoyed cooking and baking, scrap-booking, sewing, gardening, entertaining, helping with fund-raising efforts, and serving as her family’s historian. She was a campaign manager for a local politician.

She was a GREAT letter writer, the only person that I still was writing to, actually putting pen to paper and WRITING. And she wrote back. Wonderful letters filled with community activities, growing children and a loving husband. The kids' various adventures and their own. Visits to their farm for the weekend, the latest from the garden their youngest son planted and harvested all summer long. Something great she'd whipped up in the kitchen. The pride in her family, they had all grown up so well and are such great kids, so accomplished, each one of them. So blessed.

She never got the hang of e-mail, never really wanted to and lately, we'd been talking more than writing, long conversations on the phone once or twice a month. I'm really thankful for those conversations.

Ramona was struck down in the crosswalk in front of the store Friday morning on her way to work. Dead at the scene. The driver of the semi says he never saw her, never felt the impact. He just kept on going. He was stopped several blocks later. The whole thing is under investigation.

As her youngest, Tim, put it: "There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief", quoting Aeschylus, ancient Greek dramatist and playwright. Well said.

To say we are all devastated would be a massive understatement. We are stunned, heart-broken and angry. Add to that we can't be there for the family. We can only call and e-mail. What seemed like a great way to communicate on Thursday has lost its meaning entirely. Doesn't make the grade. We want to be there to dispense hugs and cry with them. But we can't. So, we are staying here, touching base with the west coast cousins, vowing to see one another more often. Life is shorter than we think.