Gobble-Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving All!!!

Luke has been learning to make the turkey sound lately in honor of our upcoming feast. I have to admit, hearing him say gobble-gobble is pretty cute :)

Jason's parents are traveling over the break this year, but we weren't going to miss out on being close to family for the first time since we got married and had an early celebration with them a few weeks ago. We had a great time enjoying all the traditional fixings and especially the time with family ...

For the actual holiday, we've graciously been invited to hang out with our friend, Allison and her family in western Washington (read: I invited our family over when Allison was here last month and made the mistake of asking what we were doing :) ). We are super excited to be spending our second Thanksgiving with Allison who was such a special part of our lives in Guatemala. And we're truly looking forward to getting to know her family better who we met when they visited Guatemala.

Jason - at the top of San Pedro volano with Allison and her Dad last year.

Sunny Seattle

Earlier this month I got to do something I haven't done in 12 years ... hang out with my sister, Bonnie, for a weekend - KID FREE. It was also my first time away from Luke for more than a few hours and a much needed break from being a mom.

We met up in Seattle and had awesome time! Something strange for this rainy city -- I have never been there without it being wonderfully sunny.  This weekend was no different. Definitely chilly, but gorgeous, crystal-clear days.













Although we'd both been to Seattle before, it had been awhile, so we did most of the touristy things -- Pike's Market, Pioneer Square, Westlake Plaza, rode the Monorail to Seattle Center and got an up close look at the Space Needle. Plus, just explored on foot as much as possible and ate some amazing food. And, of course - lots of coffee! It all ended much to quickly, which I guess God knew as my flight got delayed a couple hours leaving :)

The line outside the original Starbucks was craaaazy! But, the people waiting had some awesome music to entertain them.

Goodbye beautiful Seattle!!

Fall Family Photos -- Moscow, Idaho

Last month, we had the incredibly good fortune to get in touch with an AWESOME word-of-mouth photographer {Kelly Taklo} who was unbelievably affordable and had availability during her busiest season to take some pictures of us. We are so pleased with the pictures she took -- here are some of our favorites.

Finding Thankfulness

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, it's easy to start to get into the "thankful" mindset ... it's also something I try to do when I've been feeling discontent. I find it works wonders on my attitude in mere minutes when I start looking around me and focusing my brain on how much I have that I have done nothing to deserve. {Don't you wish our "thankful" feelings could carry over at least through Christmas?? Seems like they run out as soon as the day is over ...}

We have had some very, very gray days here lately and I have been incredibly thankful for our cheery pellet stove, both for it's ability to keep our cabin cozy, but also for how the firelight somehow makes our space seem happy even when it's so gloomy outside.

Another gloom buster has been the view from our living room window -- it amazes me how much being able to SEE out (for a long ways) does for my mental well being on these days where the sun is in hiding.

























My third gloom buster has been the fall foliage. While it's certainly not Vermont, it has been spectacular, especially in contrast to the dreary skies.  I've been cutting bunches of the beautiful branches off, bringing them inside and shoving them into every corner and window I can.

The one thing I DO know about living in gloomy places is that when the sun does actually come out, it makes everyone so happy - you feel like you've been given a special gift and you have.  The below afternoon we spent at the Virgil Phillips Farm was one of those days --

 

Meant to be?

Jason went to a U of I football game this weekend and saw a little boy wearing a bright yellow U of I t-shirt. He came home wanting to find this picture -- when we found it we had to laugh. Perhaps he was always meant to live in Idaho :)