Christmas in Eastern Washington

The first stop on our Christmas trip was Wilbur, WA.  We had a yummy lunch at the Billy Burger before we went to see Grandma.  Who knew the Billy Burger could make delicious cream of tomato soup.  I must find a recipe and make some myself.  I believe Paula Deen has a recipe for it in Alyssa's new cookbook. 

We had a great visit with Grandma. She showed us the new research she's compiled about her family's history.

After Wilbur we made our way to Loon Lake.  Christmas Eve is the big event in Forrest's family so we were a big group on the 24th.  Eighteen people opening presents makes a big mess. I had to hand off the camera to get myself in a photo.

Forrest puts on a cheesy grin for this photo with his mama. We persuaded all the cousins who were present to pose for a shot.  We were just missing Alan.

The ice on this shallow end of the lake was 6-8 inches thick.  The kids walked out quite far.  Alyssa and Savannah are great friends. Kris reluctantly posed with Noah.  He just turned 17 and said he felt very short next to this 13 year old cousin.


On our way home we stopped for a visit with the Presho cousins.  Margaret fed us a yummy lunch.  We had to take our traditional photo without Ryan as he was out with friends playing paintball.  In this photo the kids lined up by height:  Noah  13, Nicole  17, Mikala 14, and Alyssa nearly 18.  She's been the shortest in our photos for a couple of years now.  Noah is 6' tall so 19 year old Ryan who is 6'4" is still ahead of him.

Christmas at Warm Beach

Since we're heading east to spend Christmas with Forrest's extended family Mom and Dad came up and celebrated Christmas a few days early with us at home.  The children begged to open their presents first thing Saturday morning.
Dad got coffee and Mom got jewelry.
Noah loves the Hollister t-shirts Alyssa bought for him.

Forrest is smiling, but he was battling a bad bought of bronchitis.
Don't look too closely, my eyes are closed in this one, but at least Alyssa looks beautiful as always.  We ran a few errands after presents and then we were off to Oak Harbor for Noah's basketball game.    His team clobbered Oak Harbor by 40 points.  The bench players got to play lots of minutes, but Noah still scored ten points in limited playing time.   Then it was off to Applebees for a post-game celebratory dinner.  We were planning on going to Mitzel's, but it has closed and is being remodeled to be a Chinese restaurant. Drat!  The service at Applebees was slow, but we were a table of 11 so it really wasn't that bad. 

All that running around was too much for Forrest so he spent most of Sunday in bed or his recliner.  He was able to return to work on Monday and sounds much better.  It's off the grandmother's house we go tomorrow.  

Searching for the Tree

A trip to our favorite tree farm above the town of Silvana, Point Valdimar. 
Great trees and awesome prices.

Our 9' tree was only $25.00.  It was a cool, frosty day, but Noah of course wore shorts.

Alyssa did most of the decorating.  It's amazing she didn't fall and break her neck.

Thanksgiving

Forrest decided that he didn't want to deal with all the clean up involved with deep frying the turkey in the backyard to he searched for a new method on the food network website. He brined the turkey overnight in vegetable stock laced with herbs and spices. Then for the first 30 minutes it roasted at 500 degrees. The remaining time was set at 350. It's one of the best turkeys I've ever tasted. Amazingly juicy. Can't wait to make sandwiches.

We divided the cooking chores quite well. Noah did the green bean casserole. Alyssa made the stuffing and rolls. Mom made the pies. I took care of potatoes and appetizers.


After the feast the kids had just enough energy to play video games for awhile.

Then we all went for a walk to get some fresh air so we could work up our appetites for pie. Dad snapped some pictures for Christmas cards since our previous attempt last month didn't work out. Noah isn't really taller than Forrest yet. Forrest is standing in a hole. But he is a full 6 feet even now. I lost my bet with Alyssa. She was sure he'd be 6 foot before Christmas and I disagreed.

Some how mom and dad managed to avoid being in any pictures. I will have to remedy that today at Noah's basketball tournament.

Odds and Ends

This photo is our bountiful walnut harvest.  Last week's stormy weather knocked all the nuts off the trees.  Forrest cleaned them up.  The green outer coverings were knocked loose when they fell.  According to our internet research they need to dry in a cool, dry, place.  So they are currently residing on our front porch in one of the kids' old sleds.  This is the first big harvest from a tree we planted several years ago.  They should be ready to eat in 3-5 days.  Can't wait!

We braved long lines on Saturday to wait in our car for the drive-up  swine flu vaccination clinic.  The wait was three hours.  We are good multi-taskers and made the most of our time.  While Alyssa and I stayed in the car and snaked our way through town Forrest and Noah walked to the barber shop and got Noah a trim. Then I walked over to the hardware store and picked up a few things (and used their bathroom).  Alyssa and I went to Starbucks while Noah and Forrest stayed with the car for refreshments.

Alyssa has had some mild reactions to the flu mist.  A low grade fever and cough. My throat has been dry and scratchy.  But nothing like getting the full fledged flu.  We've had kids miss 7-10 days of school with high fevers of  103-105 degrees, high enough to cause hallucinations.  Some of our kids at school have developed pneumonia too.  So despite the long lines and some minor reactions I think it will pay off in the long run.

Football is now over. Noah's team lost in the first round of the play-offs on Saturday.  The field was a horrible mess and the other team handled it better than Noah's team.  They lost by two points.  The other team was able to convert their extra points and Noah's team wasn't.  Six games were played on that field in the span of five days of wind and pouring rain.  The sod just couldn't hold up under that onslaught.  We have tonight off, and basketball starts tomorrow.

I guess that's all the news for now.  I'll try to do a better job and not go so long between posts.

Homecoming

Alyssa poses with Noah before the Homecoming dance.  Alyssa and her friends didn't have dates, but they made quite the night of it.  They went out to a great seafood restaurant for dinner before the dance.  After the dance they went to a scary haunted house that's put on by a friend of ours.  One girl got right up to the entrance and freaked out and couldn't go in.  Then they all had a sleepover.  Needless to say she's exhausted and went to bed before 8 tonight.

What a lovely group of ladies.  What are the boys at their school thinking?

But who needs boys with this much energy and silliness?

So Hard to Get a Good Photo

Alyssa wanted this shot of her and Noah in their blue and gold.

Noah's eyes are closed. Forrest isn't smiling.  I'm gritting my teeth.  Alyssa looks OK.

Forrest still isn't smiling.  The kids and I look alright.

Noah's eyes closed again.

Three out of four look good here.

Alyssa is the only one who looks good here.  I don't know what I'm looking at, and Noah's eyes are closed again.

Maybe there's a Christmas card photo in this bunch. Or maybe we'll have to try again.

This is it, the end is in sight

This week Alyssa mailed her final two college applications.  She has applied to four schools.  Two state schools; Eastern Washington U and Central Washington U and two private schools; St. Martin's and University of Portland. Because she applied early she didn't have to pay the application fees or write the essays for the private schools.   Her transcripts have been sent, and now she just has to wait for acceptance  letters and offers of aid and scholarships.  She will most likely attend Eastern unless St. Martin's offers an amazing aid package.

Alyssa's yearbook photo has been submitted.  She still has to choose her quote and we have to send in a baby picture by the end of October.  Her Homecoming dress has been purchased and so has her ticket to the dance.  She is attending the dance with 6 girlfriends.  None of these beautiful, intelligent girls have dates. What are those boys up there thinking?  Her senior year is seeming to fly by.  She's retaking the SAT this weekend.  Her scores from last year are strong enough to gain her entrance to all of the colleges she has applied to, but she wants higher scores for scholarship consideration.

As Alyssa is getting ready to move onto college, Noah will be starting high school next year and we'll get to do it all over again.  I'm feeling very old that my kids have reached this point in their lives.  I can't possibly be old enough for all of this.

Catching Up

Alyssa planned a group volunteer opportunity for Honor Society. This past week she and her friends provided childcare during the kindergarten orientation and a PTA meeting at my school.

For those of you not on Facebook here's a photo of the antique table Alyssa refinished for her senior project.  It looks terrific in our freshly painted living/dining room surrounded by chairs my grandpa made.

Noah's game was a blow-out so he got to play different positions than he usually does.  Here he's waiting for the kick-off.  Too bad the kick was short and it didn't get within 10 yards of him.

Here Noah is breaking up a pass. He loves to play defensive end.

Noah making an unassisted tackle.  It was a beautiful day for football.  Sunny with a breeze, but not too hot.  After the game we had a great barbecue at the coach's house. Alyssa went shopping for a dress for the Homecoming Dance this afternoon.  It's beautiful!  I'll post photos of it later.

Weekend of Birthdays

What a great weekend!  Grandma turned 100 years old on Saturday surrounded by family and friends.  Mom and Dad planned a great party, cake, ice cream, and lemonade.  The Wilbur Senior Center looked beautiful with Michelle's and Enid's table decorations.  The photos Alyssa and I used with the flowers were a great success. It was so crowded at the party that we didn't get much quality visiting time done there with our cousins from out of state.  The best visiting took place at the Willows Inn sitting outside at the picnic tables and at the park where the kids could run and play.  My grandma is an inspiration for how to live a good life.  She has always had hobbies, her art, and is widely read and interested in the world. I know 60 and 70 year olds who won't touch a computer, but grandma keeps in touch with her children and grandchildren by email and reading our blog posts. 

My mom had to grab some "baby time" with Stratton as her youngest grandchild is now 6.

Here are some beautiful great-grandchildren: first row, Haden, Dalton holding Stratton, Gavin, Bryce sitting on Grandma's lap, Rowan.

Standing, Alyssa, Grayson, Ryan, Fuller, Noah, and Felicia.  Brandon and baby Myla weren't able to make the trip.Nine out of ten grandchildren were also present:

Katie and Suzanne sitting with grandma, in back are Leanne, Chris, Michelle, Jim, Me, Jay, and Mark. Leanne's sister, Debbie was the only grandchild not able to attend.

 Then the Jones family traveled onto Forrest's mom's house where we celebrated more birthdays:  Roland's, Mellisa's, and Anthony's.

 Austin and Noah are the cousins who are closest in age so I had to snap a photo of them side by side. They are both 8th graders this year, but Austin will turn 14, 6 months earlier than Noah.