The end of 2013

Lots to catch up on.  The year has come to an abrupt end.  We did our usual trip to Seattle on Christmas Eve with Joelle and Eric and family to ride the carousel and see the gingerbread houses.  Afterwards we went to Joelle's house and played games for a bit. We got home at about 10:30pm.  Somehow we didn't get Shadow locked up and while we were gone she went on a rampage in the house, eating all the beef jerky I got for Gavin for Christmas.  Plus she ate candy and whatever else she could find.  Then she got sick and pooped and peed in Drew's room.  The whole upstairs reeked.  Gavin gave me his gas mask as I shampooed the carpet.  Not what I wanted to do on Christmas Eve.

Christmas was nice.  The kids enjoyed their presents and our tradition crepe breakfast.  Then we went to the Greenhalgh's in Issaquah.  Fun with the family and always a nice feast. 

New Years Eve we had a party here with the Richeys, Pedigos, Smiths and Platts.  It was crazy, tons of kids running around and making lots of noise.  They ran out to the barn and swore they saw a monster in the hay loft.  Then they left the door to the tack room open and we found Chuck in there the next day.  Not cool.  He ate the rest of the grain and pooped on the floor.  Seems like there's a theme to my week with the Greenhalgh animals.

Looking forward to more fun in 2014!

Drew and Sophia

Joelle's nephews and brother came to Seattle too

Cleaning up Shadow poo

Christmas jammies

Christmas crepes

Clouds that look like waves

 Cousins

Gilli and D at the bowling alley

I bowled a couple of strikes but mostly sucked

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Halloween

We had our ward Trunk or Treat on Wednesday night.  Drew was Super Girl, Gillian was a devil.  Gavin was just a redneck kid handing out candy from the back of his truck.  We had fun.  Darren was not too happy about the big handlebar mustache that I got for him to wear.  I was proud of him, he wore it for longer than 5 minutes.  He did complain that he kept eating hair.  We were a cowboy and cowgirl couple, not much of a stretch.  Roxy had matching horns with Gillian.  She did not like them.  At all.  When she got them off she tried to eat them.

Donut on a string eating

Devil twins

Octoberish

The chill is in the air and the leaves are bright orange and red and beautiful.  Jimmy has come back to sit on our porch swing for the month. We like Jimmy. 

Early this month I got to go to Huntington Beach and be with my family.  Laura graduated from nursing school and they moved to Pittsburg.  I'm glad I got to go visit before they moved.  

Especially glad I got to see my darling nieces.  Alice wears batman or spiderman shirts every day as well as a spiderman mask.  She also likes to put a water dish on the floor and drink from it like a puppy.  She also barks out the window.  Super cute.  So dang cute.  And Mary and Georgia are so cute and sweet.  I got to go to all three of their soccer games on the Saturday I was there.  And it was 80 degrees.  

Back here in Washington it is definitely sweater/coat weather.  We have had one week where it was solid fog.  Serious fog.  And now we have seen a week of bright blue skies and a sweltering 50 degrees for the high.  

We love having two wood burning stoves.  It really helps warm up the entire downstairs.

I've always wanted to have an old fashioned photo taken.  We had this taken at the fair in September.  It was back when Darren had his "choncho", which is what Drew named his lamb chop mustache.  I think this photo is very fitting, especially for Gavin.

We had to get Gavin to agree to take a picture to submit for his senior photo.  He didn't want anything fancy.  I kind of got some smiles out of him.  I'm sure that when the girls are seniors they are going to want a real photographer.

Can't believe he's a senior!!!

Fourteen

Drew turned 14 on September 26th.  I can't believe she's fourteen.  She's the most beautiful 14 year old girl ever.  Of course I'm a bit biased, but she just is.  She sprained her ankle just before her birthday and has been on crutches ever since.  She gets to have a key to the elevator at school that she wears on a blue crystal lanyard around her neck.  

She is a sensitive soul.  Everything that everyone and anyone says effects her.  I am constantly telling her to stop worrying.  She is so dang sweet.  It is hard to be mad at her for long because she is quick to apologize when she has been wrong and she is usually a rule follower.  She gets pretty frustrated that Gillian copies her so often but I try and tell her that it's because she's so cool.  I am so lucky that she is a good example to her younger sister.  

Love this girl!!!