Fun With Family

There were some gaps around the table at Thanksgiving this year. We missed those of you who couldn’t come, whether you had other plans or just couldn’t get here because of the snow. But we’re grateful for those who braved the weather. Here are a few pictures of our time together.

Day one (Thanksgiving day):

The little ones:

Gideon, almost 10 weeks old 

Jill with Charlotte (2 months)

Lani and Gideon

Annika, being a worm with Hailey

Hailey, pretending she’s some other animal

Learning to hold up 3 fingers

Coloring together

Saben and Nathan, having loads of fun together "now that Nathan realizes Saben can talk”

Josh and Gideon

Fortieth anniversary party. (Without the guests of honor) unfortunately.

 

Sorry you missed it, Sandy and Dave!

Playing Sequence, a new favorite family game:

Day two:

Playing Sequence again.

Lunchtime:

"

Joe: “I can’t believe you hid my plate in the oven, Ben!

Ben: “Well, it’s only because you hid mine in the cupboard, Dad!”

Joe: “Well, I knew that if you couldn’t find your plate, you’d open the cupboard to get another one, and then you’d find it…”

 

Just visiting:

First Snow of the Season

 

We had our first snowfall of the season last night, and it’s not even winter yet! We got four beautiful, fluffy inches! Joe and I took a walk with our camera this morning to try to catch some of the beauty before it had a chance to melt away. Here are a few of the many shots we took.

Our House

 

A snow-kissed rose

Tree branches in the sunshine

“Porcupine” plant

The “mushroom effect”

Rabbit tracks

Berries

Snow-dusted leaves

Joe

Tree in front of our house

Throwing a snowball at the camera man.

Congratulations, Ben!

 

Joe remembers warning Ben before football season began, “You’ve never played football before, and many of the other guys have played for several years. Expect to spend most of your time watching from the sidelines.”

Joe has definitely had to eat his words. Because Ben quickly became Sehome’s number one receiver. In fact, he was barely beginning the season when his coach asked if he’d ever considered playing football after high school. Ben’s response, “Well, no. I’ve only played three games in my entire life!” (Evidently a scout from the UW had asked about him.)

But it wasn’t until the post season football banquet this past week that we heard this additional story while the coach was listing the accomplishments of each Varsity player. When it was Ben’s turn he revealed that a former NFL player had been at Ben’s first game. “Who’s number 22?” he asked the coach. “That’s Ben Wilson,” the coach responded. “It’s rare to see a player with size, speed, and good hands!” exclaimed the NFL guy. “How many years has he been playing?” “This is his football game ever!” said the coach.

Not only did Ben have the athletic ability to excel. He also had the brains. Ben could be trusted to carry out new plays during a game because after having been told a new plan only once, he always “got it.”

It was a short high school football career for Ben, but a memorable one: He had 30 receptions for 448 yards, most of them for first downs! He scored three touchdowns, including an unbelievable reception with only 3 seconds left in the game, to give Sehome their only league win!

Congratulations, Ben, on earning Sehome’s 2010 Offensive MVP award!! 

How to Diaper a Ducky

 

Step 1: Put a diaper on your lap. Place the ducky face down on the diaper, and then try to fold the diaper around it.

Step 2: Realize you forgot the change pad.

Step 3: Go get the change pad. Try to lay it out flat on the carpet. Pick it up and try again. Do it again. And again. Finally succeed (with a bit of help from Grandma).

Step 4: Put the ducky face down on the change pad and place the diaper on top.

Step 5: Remove the ducky from the change pad, and sit on it yourself. Then place the folded diaper on the change pad in front of you.

Step 6: While remaining seated on the change pad, put the ducky on the diaper, keeping a second diaper close at hand.

Step 7: Give up and go do something else.

Lani’s Birthday

Our family pumpkin patch misadventure:

Pumpkin carving was the birthday girl’s idea. She’d chosen an outing to a pumpkin patch with the hope of carving jack-o-lanterns together afterward. But Saturday wasn’t at all like we’d planned it. It was rainy and muddy. I guess that’s to be expected in this area. But who would have anticipated that there’d be so few decent or affordable pumpkins left at the pumpkin patch? And none at all at the grocery stores. We couldn’t even find a pile of pumpkins at Fred Meyer or Safeway or Albertsons or QFC to set the kids in for pictures!

At least Isla stayed dry, thanks to this umbrella.

Lani kept Gideon under cover inside the pumpkin patch store, at least at first.

We did find a few ornamental pumpkins, but they were warty and not so good for carving.

Too bad this pumpkin wouldn’t stand up.

We still managed a fall theme for the day, though. We warmed up with some hot caramel apple cider at Kelsie and Graham’s after our chilly pumpkin hunt, played “Apples to Apples,” and then made pasta with butternut squash for dinner. Yum!

Isla: 14 months old.

Isla continues to be fascinated with her cousin!

Busy Grandpa

Happy Grandma!

Proud Daddy!

Loving mama!

Gideon at 6 weeks: asleep…

Awake!

Kelsie’s new haircut

Cake time!

The birthday girl!

Who needs to carve pumpkins to have a good time, anyway? Just being together with family can make for a great day…at least for us grandparent types. And we’ll find those elusive pumpkins next year…won’t we?