Welcome baby Ben!

Our friends Jonny and Marina and their little daughter Amy have a new addition in the house, brother Ben! What a beautiful, blessed family!

Our first snow...

After a super summer and a very mild fall (except for these last two weeks which have been COLD and clear!) we have our very first snow. Let the panic begin!! Puget Sounders don't care much for snow and would prefer it stayed up in the Cascades and leave us lowlanders alone. Here's hoping the weather folks are right and warmer temps and rain are on the way Tuesday!

Tumwater Santa!

Every year the fire department here decorates one of their antique trucks and goes around the neighborhoods collecting for the food bank. Pretty snazzy truck, great music playing to, but unfortunately I didn't catch that on video, so we just have the snap:

Nick's Indiana Jones Birthday!

Nick is now 6, hard to imagine! Here are the pictures from his party:

Here is the cute Texas cake Mema made for his birthday, Indy in peril!



Greg, being the good dad, preparing to go outside for the pinata, it was VERY, VERY cold out, and he and Darane' and all the kids braved it! Grandma on the other hand stayed in where it was warm.



I love the expression on Nick's face in this picture as everyone sings Happy Birthday to him. What a sweetheart!



And then on to the presents.



We are so thankful the kids have kept his December birthday separate from the Christmas celebration. The won't even decorate the house until his birthday is over. Love it!

Are they cute or what?

Beau and Ralph both like to sleep in as I'm getting ready for work and leaving the house...they look pretty snug tucked away in bed!!



But for the next few mornings, I'll get to sleep in with them!! Woohoo!!

Stormy!!

We had a very stormy day! Wind, rain, thunder, lightning and even hail. Pretty big hail for here, larger than pea sized! Beau had just asked to go outside when a huge thunder boomer rattled the entire house. I ran to the door and he was cowering and quaking on the porch!! Scared him pretty good. Wouldn't leave my lap until the storm was over. Ralph was over playing pool in the clubhouse and said the hail on the metal roof there was REALLY loud.



I tried to take a quick video, but the worst of the hail was done by this time, still pretty weird:

Update on the strawberries

I took this picture a few days ago, Wednesday I think, and there were still a few more very close to being ripe. Our mild fall has allowed me to get a few tasty little strawberries every few days, although since the rains have started they are getting fewer and fewer and I have to compete with the slugs to get them! I think the ones I'll get later this week will be the last, but wow! What a blessing to still have fresh strawberries on the vine in November!!