I Finally did it! Yippee a new blog posting!

As you notice my background still says Merry Christmas.... That is because I don't deserve to have it changed yet. One of my daughters usually sees that it needs changed and does it without my even asking (last time it was Erin) but I went through the whole season and never blogged even once!!! So it showed Thanksgiving all thru the Christmas season!!! So here is Christmas!!!.... but wait first is Dave's birthday November 18.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE

I took Dave on an all day Seattle City tour! We started at Pikes Place Market where we found a handmade journal as a birthday gift and we ate a goodie (breakfast) at a wonderful quaint bakery. Then we went on a wonderful tour at the Seattle aquarium (That is where Janice and Matt volunteer dive but this wasn't their day darn it.). Later we went on a boat trip out in the bay to see the cityscape and hear all about Seattle. After that we had a fish and chips lunch out on the Pier at Ivars Acres of Clams.
Next we went up in the Space Needle and enjoyed the cityscape from above! Afterwards in the City center science museum we saw "A Christmas Carol " in 3D at the IMAX theater! We loved it so much... It started our Christmas season for us. After another trip up the Space Needle for a night cityscape view we headed home.
Of course on the way we had to stop at Applebees for Dave's favorite dessert... Chocolate Volcano birthday cake!!!

CHRISTMAS!!
We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Janice and Matt and Matts mother came and spent the night. It was so fun to have people here on Christmas morning.

I didn't do good with taking pictures but Sheri and Joel and the kids also came over to open presents and enjoy the day with us.
After opening presents we all went over to Dorell and Stephanie's house for a Christmas breakfast they plan for the whole family. We had a fun relaxing day. We invited everyone and the missionaries to dinner that evening. Yep it was a good day.

Lee and Trisha coming!
We knew we had company coming but didn't worry about having enough room. Janice proved that we had plenty of space for everyone to have their own private rooms if they want.

Who needs leg room anyway? That is way over rated. She had a little too much fun with Seth and Ellie's toys I think!
Lee and Tricia left SLC at 4 in the morning and got here in the afternoon the day after Christmas. They probably think we were staying up nights thinking of jobes they could do!!!
Mom and Pops got new flooring from Jack and Deloers for Christmas and we were all excited to have the experts put it in. Tricia was in charge and was so good at figuring it all out.

Dave cut where he was told...

Mom kept a close eye on things and OOHed and AAHed and loved what she had picked out. I don't have a finished picture but it looks so good and washes up so nice and doesn't have any holes to drive us crazy. It totally changed the look even though you can't tell in the picture.
The kids and Randy and Lisa's kids all love Grandma Wrights bed and on demand cartoons! They had a ball together!
We took a little time out to do a bit of sight seeing. They went to Darrington and also we went on a ferry ride to Friday Harbor. But mostly they WORKED!!!
Lee had to show his kids what logging was all about so he and Randy cut a couple of trees down for us. It was work but Lee was having fun anyway.
We appreciated it so much. They cut the trees down and sawed them up so the could be split into firewood.
The kids helped fill the shed with firewood plus fill and stack wood in the barn.

As the guys were falling the trees they had a good audience.

This is the best place to be.... watching where it is warm! After tackling the trees the guys started a new project. Remember the problems we had with the septic system in the downstairs bathroom? Well they set out to remedy that! Right by the house Randy and Lee dug the dirt and moved huge rocks and finally found the old sewer pipe. Lee and Dave worked for a couple of days uncovering it and digging a big hole and putting in a pump to pump the sewer stuff up to the other big septic tank. Lee had to go home but didn't leave until he had the new pump in and ready to just add the pipes.

Dave decided to add another rock that was in the pasture to the rock wall by the new pump. It was so heavy it is a wonder he didn't break the tailgate.
Here he is leaning against the new rock by the pump talking to Lee on the phone. It is all ready to be buried and was at that point already working perfectly.

Since this picture was taken he brought in new topsoil and made it look so good! I'll take a final picture of all the finished projects for a new blog.
Here is where he hooked the new system to the old one. We had the old one cleaned out so it is all just like new!!! Whew!!! Okay company you can come and you can now FLUSH TO YOUR HEARTS CONTENT!!!

Thanksgiving

This year we were invited out to Meledies house for Thanksgiving dinner. We really enjoyed the meal with her and the Missionaries. The only problem was that we didn't get cell service and missed several of your calls. We had a wonderful meal and ended the evening teaching our missionaries the fine art of playing Chicken Foot.

Cannery

Dave and I were just called to extend our service mission at the dry pack cannery for another year. We were supposed to be released November 9th but are happy to do it another year.

Right after we came to Washington last year to take care of my parents we called Shelf Reliance in Utah and ordered some shelves for the #10 cans and a bunch of food storage. We set up a storage room and have been working hard to fill it but we are still lacking enough shelves and would like to get a better variety of food. We are working on it and hope all you kids are doing the same!
I'm sure you have seen www.shelfreliance.com
We love these shelves and use the same ones at the dry pack cannery! It might be a good idea to think about for your families for Christmas!

Two Weeks of Bliss

Erin was so nice to change my background so I decided I'd better post something new. Doris (My wonderful sister) came here from North Dakota on Amtrak so she could stay with my parents and let Dave and I go visit our kids. She was here for 13 wonderful days!!
Now the embarrassing part. We went on a wonderful trip and didn't take any pictures! It was so crazy because we planned to but all we did is take some as we drove down the coast and then we never pulled out the cameras again.
Here are some pictures of the Redwoods. Dave took all the pictures in this blog. He is enjoying his photography.

The trees are so big and it was so quiet and restful there.

As we came to the Coast in Oregon this funny little motel was right across the street from the first ocean view we saw. We stopped and wouldn't go another foot. It was so beautiful there and the roar of the waves was so wonderful. It was wonderful and dumpy and cheap and we would do it again! We truly relaxed on this vacation!
So beautiful! You know how much dad always liked doing panarama shots... now his camera helps him. Isn't it pretty? You can see why we relaxed so much!

Not a bad picture for a beginner is it?

This is what Dave did most of the trip. I drove and he relaxed!

I mean really relaxed!!!

On our trip we went to David and Julies home in California. He got us into Disneyland the next day then we met his family at Disneyland for dinner. David got us a fancy suite at the Paris in LasVegas to stay on our way to Utah the next evening. It was so fancy that we just stayed in our room all evening! We went on to Utah and saw the rest of the kids. Everyone had fun things planned for us. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! Lee took Dave to enjoy a U of U football game in box seats, I went trick or treating with Erin's kids, We went to breakfast with Tracy and Steve, went out to Lunch with Lee, Had a fun family home evening and dinner with everyone, Had a fun day and dinner at Jared's, Dave talked at a youth fireside in Erin's ward. We were only there a few days but it was a whirlwind and wonderful thanks to the kids! I think it was a perfect trip.

Moms projects

Remember our cute little chicks??? Guess what? They grew up and now we have 12 hens and 2 roosters! One rooster reminds me of fried chicken but so far he has been spared. Mom gathers the eggs every day and counts them. Here we have 7 eggs.
Today's eggs are more like it. Eleven!!! We have even had 12 eggs twice. We sure do love them and so do our neighbors and friends!
Mom decided she wanted to do something with her dining room curtains. They look much better in this picture than they really were. They were faded and even broken in some places so we knew we needed a change.

The problem was what to do?

We put up 3 new cordless shades that are so easy to put up and down and we took a trip to the thrift store to find the perfect valance. Boy did we luck out. It is hard to tell in these pictures but the fabric on these valances is so rich and beautiful. WE LOVE IT!

It is so much better in person so come on over!!! After that mom was getting pretty confident so without saying a word to Pops or Dave we took a hammer to........

Moms wall!! IT LOOKS SO GOOD AND DIFFERENT! Can you see what is gone? The Amber plastic panels that went to the ceiling are now gone. Pops heard the banging while he was outside but looked all over the living room/dining room and couldn't see what we had done. Whew! He did seem okay with it though when he found it. Okay mom now what?

Mt. Ranier, Herman, Sheri leaves

Last Monday we took a little adventure down to Enumclaw and stayed overnight with Uncle Ron and Aunt Alice. Our plan was to take a drive up Chinock Pass and enjoy a picnic while looking at Mt. Ranier. The mountain looks so huge from there but we never did get to see it because after having a beautiful week the clouds decided to obscure our view. This was the most we saw of the mountain!

We saw a few huge trees however!!!

And the scenery was breathtaking! The Mountain Ash were full of berries and looked beautiful.

Oops! Still no Mt. Ranier!!! This was the view most of the day.

But this view was what I saw when I turned my back on Mt Ranier!! So pretty! We didn't feel slighted in the least.

We drove up into the clouds and stopped for our picnic. I thought it was so beautiful! Here is a real cute guy on a rock!!

Isn't it beautiful up there?

Aunt Alice made the most wonderful picnic lunch that we really enjoyed!

It wasn't as cold as it looks but it was damp from the fog. The type of damp that goes right through ya and yells I need a jacket!

Dave, Aunt Cathern Harston, Pops, Mom, Aunt Alice & Uncle Ron Brownell
It was a perfect day and now we must go back to see what the clouds hid!

Herman Gets a New Family Look

Herman has been stuck in that tree for years and finally received a new "Family" look. The hairdu seems to fit. I have been watching for a new face for a long time but they were all too scary and grotesque. This week I finally found this one at the thrift store for $1.25. Was it worth it? Pops says he looks a little too happy but I'd be happy too if I finally got a new face after wearing the one he had for so many years!

Oops I guess you can't really see his face. Sorry... mom says it isn't happy but a grimmise. Whatever?!

Sherilyn and Joel leave for Nauvoo

Friday Sherilyn and Joel took their 5th wheel (after living in it here on the property for a year) and left on a long extended vacation. They will go see Lynn and Sharon in Nauvoo then go down south.
Ellie wasn't sure she wanted to travel in her carseat that far but Seth was already asleep by the time they left!

It was quite a job hooking it all up and unpluging from life here after a year!

There they go!! That is one BIG travel trailer!!! We already miss them.