Halloween

Miss Savannah and her howling wolf pumpkin.



Nick's creation:



Indiana Jones and Slash, ready to trick or treat...though Indy was a bit under the weather.



Julie's son Ryan was a fierce Ninja!! Trust me he had all the moves down too. Very cute!

Stawberries in October

I planted a few strawberry plants this spring and they have been prolific to say the least! I've really been impressed with a first year crop. But now with our extended nice weather I'm getting another little crop! Strawberries in October no less!

These were from today:



And there are a lot more that are on the verge of being ripe but there's a really cold forecast for tonight, so I thought I'd get these in just in case it comes true! These may be the last, but they are beautiful!!

Nancy visits!

Woohoo! Nancy and her friend Jim visited with us today and we had a great time! We just caught up with one another and revisited family history and had a nice dinner out and then visited some more! They are on their way to Yuma for the winter (from North Pole, Alaska, talk about extremes!) but interestingly they went by way of Europe. They spent three great weeks touring Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and Switzerland. Did a little couch surfing as well and thoroughly enjoyed that! Now they are back to Camas for a few days and then off to Yuma! If we get that way this winter we'll definitely stop in for another visit!

Nancy and her Uncle Ralph:



Nancy and Jim:

Savannah's 9th!

Sheesh, where does the time go...the girl is now 9!

Birthday highlights, let's see if you can guess the theme! Hint: think pork.

Savannah taking a whack at the pinata.



Nick too.



Finally, the candy is set free!



Savannah with her trophy pig!



Mema made the pig cake for her:



Blowing out the candles!



Grillmaster Erik with the roast pig...



Presents!





And her age mowed into the lawn, a tradition with Greg, next year, two digits!

Doin' the Puyallup

Ralph and I haven't been to the Puyallup Fair for many, many, MANY years, and man, has it changed!! It seems bigger, but maybe because it's just been reconfigured...and it was so crowded we couldn't easily get around. We found out that there were 86,000 people there the day we went, no wonder it seemed busy! And it was much more spendy than either of us remembered: $6.50 for an elephant ear...come on!! Not to mention $10 (weekday) to park and $22 to just get in the gate!

Still we managed to eat some fair food, onion burger for Ralph (and a Krusty Pup) and a Krusty Pup and homemade taffy for me. I wanted a scone (picture freshly baked, hot, with butter and raspberry jam!) but alas, the lines were incredibly long at every stand and I decided it was not worth the wait.

We also saw two great shows, The Coats, a great a capella group and Billy and the Hillbillys, a funny musical show...kind of back hills humor, bluegrass and classical music all rolled into one. And of course we strolled the exhibits. We looked at miles and miles of quilts and all the 4-H baked goods and sewing projects but my favorite of all fair exhibits are the Grange exhibits. Such artistry with food! Here are some of the great one's from this year's fair.

Rainbow of variety:



A locomotive:



This year's fair mascot, strutting:



City pea patches:



And my very favorite:

In my boss's garden

Tiny froggy visitor! Too cute!

Mom, Dee and Arlene

I don't really remember life without these women in it. They were friends from the time my mom was 11 I think, stayed friends their whole lives. Each with their own families, mom with me and Randy, Dee with Rick and Steve and Arlene with Christine and Colleen. We were raised together, still count ourselves as friends even though we don't see each other often. Funny thing is, like with our moms, regardless of how many years go by we just seem to be able to pick up right where we left of.

I recently reconnected with Colleen on Facebook and we've been reminiscing a bit. It's been a blast to catch up with one another. Just fun. Remembering times we spent together as kids running with our moms all over the place. That's what summer was for, right?

This morning Arlene died. Long, loving, happy life. She'll be missed. I'm glad I can be here for Colleen and for Christine as well...amazing how the Lord works. Bringing us together just now.

I can't help but think of the happy reunion when Arlene arrived in Heaven this morning...with my mom there to greet her. Oh, happy day!