Thanksgiving

It was such a treat to have Aaron and Courtney with Hank and Max as well as Amy and Jasper come for Thanksgiving. We wish all of our family could have been here, but were grateful for the ones that were able to come. Thanks for making the holiday enjoyable. We love you all.

Thanksgiving

Hank and Max were excited to meet the dog.

Max at his highchair having breakfast.

Aaron with all three boys.

Amy taking a break from making a relish plate to get Jasper happy again.

The boys played.

Jasper got parked on the kitchen counter in a bumbo while we peeled, chopped, boiled, and baked.

Doesn't look like this should have taken hours of preparation but it did. Anyway I had the help of my daughters and we enjoyed the process. The food was yummy. Traditional Thanksgiving fare is always a treat.

Resting after eating.

A few years ago we started the tradition of making a craft after the Thanksgiving meal. They guys are watching football and the girls are being crafty. This year it was cute little half-pint jars of french pears sauce that we made and decorated for gift giving.

The finished product.

On Friday I took the girls to a Christmas Bazaar followed by lunch at a neat place we discovered in Umpqua called the Lighthouse Bakery. We had a good time and left the big boys at home.

Amy snapped pictures of the Grovers for a possible Christmas card photo.

Not an easy task to get a picture of three active little boys at the same time. They are in motion!

Successful Humanitarian Night

Last night the sisters of the Newton Creek Ward came out in full force to support our Humanitarian effort. It was great to have 37 sisters attend, and know they had a good time while being so productive. We completed 8 fleece quilts to benefit our community cancer center, with 8 more taken home to be finished and returned, 20 scarf kits also for ccc, 36 cakes in a jar for a hospice organization, 22 on of a kind birthday cards for hospice, and finally 35 Christmas cards will be sent to servicemen and women. We had fun and food too! I made my sugar cookies in the shape of leaves, chocolate zucchini bread, and the presidency brought various goodies too.

Utility Room Window

I made this valance yesterday for the window in the utility room. I didn't have a curtain rod for it, but was anxious to see what it would look like when it was all hung and done. I looked around for something--anything-- to thread the valance on temporarily. There was the broom. Perfect. I threaded the valance on the broom and I liked the broom as a rod!

The Office is Functioning

We have a little office located just off our entry that is very pleasant and useful... except that it wasn't organized. I've been working on it for the past few days and now it looks great. We sorted through old papers and shredded them and put items on the shelves and inside the closet. We found a nice little desk that just fits the space perfectly. Little by little we are getting moved in this house and finding a place for things. What we can't find a place for we sell on craig's list!

Pretty Window

I bought this fabric about ten years ago in Milwaukie on a clearance table not knowing when I would ever use it. I was going through a box the other day and discovered it and thought it would be perfect for this bedroom window valance. The furniture is the set I refinished this summer. It all turned out pretty good if I do say so myself!

We had ONE trick or treater. Luckily I had bought some candy just in case. Even better than Halloween (which I think needs to be replaced by a harvest celebration), was the fact that our Stake Conference saturday night meeting was scheduled that night. We were blessed to have Marlin K. Jensen as our visiting general authority. He was outstanding and we enjoyed the meeting more than just about any conference we've ever attended. Glad we were able to be there. Sunday was just as good if not better.