Happy Halloween!

Here are our costumes.  In case you can’t tell, we are characters from Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat.  Susanna, obviously, is the cat and Scott and I are Thing 1 and Thing 2.  We taught Susanna how to hold up a cup and some milk and a cake, to hold up three books and a fish on a rake.  But we had a hard time getting her tail to hold a red fan—let alone to fan with the fan. (All the while, of course, she was hopping on the ball).  Honestly, though all that might have helped people guess Susanna’s costume: she never kept her hat on very long and the hat without the hat is, well, just a cat.

 

Look closely at the photograph on the above left and you’ll see that Susanna is holding her tail.  She wanted to be just like the Cat in the Hat (even though she would not put her bow-tie on).

Below Susanna is helping me make a pumpkin pie (she actually did very little except “snitch” some of the pie crust, but the apron is cute so you get some pictures anyway).  I thought it would be a fun thing to do on Halloween, but it turns out that the last thing people want to eat after a full day of candy is a slice of pumpkin pie.  I had one anyway.

And this last photograph is Susanna with her three cute cousins who live less than thirty minutes away, and with whom we spend basically all day on Halloween.  Thanks, guys, for letting us tag-along all day.

Distant Apple Orchards

Susanna and I visited an apple orchard just outside Sedro Woolley—a small town on the North Cascades Highway that is about an hour and a half away.  Well, we actually visited two.  After driving the long hour and a half, I helped a frustrated and fidgety Susanna out of her car seat, got her boots and jacket on, made sure I had everything I needed (wipes, our water bottles, a snack, etc), and then headed out to pick apples.  It turns out that the only part of orchard #1 that was open to the public was the store, so after all that hullaballoo (including the long drive) we simply bought a large box of jonagolds and found ourselves done with our outing.  What I am trying to say is that It was a bit anticlimactic.

Luckily, this is not where the story ends.  The nice lady who sold us the apples told me about a farm down the road that had a u-pick orchard so we drove the extra five miles for the farm experience.  It was a beautiful day and, except for the eerie music and witch cackles that occasionally wafted over from the haunted greenhouse, we felt like we had the farm to ourselves.  The lady at this farm was also very nice and she encouraged us to wander as much and as long as we liked and to eat as many apples as we could.  So we munched and wandered and picked a few apples.  It worked out just fine to go to both orchards: the apples at the first were less than half the price of those at the second, and having already gotten our tons of apples, we could roam around the second orchard without the pressure of having to do anything.

Here are some photographs.

        

       

Celebrating Six at Interrorem Cabin

To celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary, Scott and I spent a couple of nights in the Hood Canal.  It was a very fun place.  The locals were very nice (one offered to teach us shuffleboard sometime and another invited us to her husbands 80s themed birthday party at the Eagle Creek Saloon), the scenery was beautiful, and the fishing villages had a down-home, unpretentious feel that was refreshing and relaxing.

We rented a hundred-year-old forest service cabin, Interrorem Cabin.  Here are some photographs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a photogenic little water pump outside our cabin.

 

 

 

 

If you look closely in this one, you can see Scott in the window cooking up some breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This  pretty spot is just up the road from the cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cabin is right by the Duckabush River, and a short hike brought us to Ranger Hole.  Here are some photographs of the beautiful hike.

              

At the end of the hike was Ranger Hole—a place the ranger fished and bathed.  It was a bit cold for bathing when we went, but Scott did try his hand at fishing.  To the right, he’s looking for some fish.  We found a school of huge chums in the beautiful blue-green hole below him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also drove down highway 101 to see the rest of Hood Canal.  Here are a couple of photographs we took at Hamma Hamma Seafood Company where we bought some very yummy ice cream (but no seafood).

It was a fabulous trip.  It was wonderful for Scott and I to get a chance to spend some quality time together (many many thanks to the Christensens for taking care of Susanna while we were away) and celebrate our lives together.

Washington Park Arboretum

Thursday night I realized that Susanna and I had nothing on, and so we could do whatever we wanted. Yeah! We started slow, eating pancakes, doing somersaults on Jacob's poposan chair cushion, and reading lots of books. Then we headed off to the Washington Park Arboretum in search of fall colors. After a nap (we both got one in), we made oatmeal cookies, read more books, and did more somersaults. What a wonderful day! Here are some photographs of my little lady at the Arboretum.

My little sister's going on a mission!

My sister Sarah got a call to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Peru Piura mission! Piura is in northwestern Peru, close to the coast and Ecuador.

For any readers who don't know, that means she will spend a year and a half in the cities and villages of the Piura region of Peru, delivering the beautiful message of Christ's gospel to any who want to hear.
Here's a photograph of my lovely sister helping us pack when we moved out of our managing job last May. She came solely to help, can you believe it? (Click here to see more about this visit.) And she was indeed a great help. The same qualities that she exhibited on this visit (kindness, love, adaptability, ability to work hard) will make her a great missionary. I am so excited for her.

A trip to a pumpkin patch

Susanna and I went to farm yesterday to pick pumpkins. Here are a few photographs from the excursion. We had a great time.

Another Priesthood Conference GNO

It's conference time again! For those who don't know, General Conference is a meeting in five sessions convened by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The meetings are conducted by the president of the church, now Thomas S. Monson, and occur every six months in October and November. In the meetings, the leaders of the church address the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accross the world-- as well as the general population of the world-- giving guidance, love, and revelation. It is a wonderful time filled with learning, growth, and joy. I love General Conference. We're only halfway through and I have already been uplifted and inspired in many ways (and gotten a few good kicks in the proverdial pants).

It has been a pleasure sharing this conference with a two-year-old who is understanding more and more of the world around her. She talks about President Monson constantly and sings along with all the musical numbers. We had another Girls' Night Out as well. I explained to where Scott went and what we were going to do and she was very excited for a special night with just the girls (even though for us, every day is a girls' night out) It was a cold windy day so instead of ice cream, I decided to take her for hot chocolate at the lovely Fran's Chocolates in nearby University Village.

After we finished the hot chocolate (and bought a couple of chocolates to take home) Susanna buckled a stuffed mouse that came along into the stroller and took off full tilt around the shopping plaza. We both had a wonderful time. Click here to read about previous priesthood conference girls' night out events.

On another note, Scott and I celebrated our sixth anniversary this week. We had a little family birthday party again (click here to see the party we had for number five), and we've got a little getaway planned in a couple of weeks.

I am so grateful for Scott. He works dilligently on his research-- and has thereby gained the respect of his mentors and classmate, has great respect for his priesthood, and has an incredible committment to his family, to us. I love seeing the way he interacts with Susanna and to experience his delight at her budding personality. And I love and appreciate the great respect and love he shows for me. He's also so much fun! I am so happy to be yoked to such a worthy man and look forward to many wonderful years-- an eternity of them!-- with him.