And then came turkey

We were really lucky and took some time off to spend Thanksgiving with Grandpa Steve (aka Little Steve's mentor) and Grandma Rosy (his other favorite grandma). He did so well on the drive up. We stopped over in Boise to sleep and then stopped in Bend to see our nephew Justin (yeah, no pictures - too much time visiting). We arrived late on Wed, but Cole settled right in with his Grandma, just like he spend every day with her.

The next day being Thanksgiving -- we ate (what do you do?). Dad and Rosy throw a mean spread and the house if filled with family and friends until it all blends together. It was great to see people we haven't see in years and great to see (aka meet) new people we look forward to seeing again.

This is not Grandma Rosy's typical attire, but special for the day and a lot of fun and very festive for the day.

Natalie and her husband Duane came and we were lucky enough to sit with them for dinner, breaking up our time throughout the day with various folks.



And Shawn, right at home even away from home, with Cole snuggled in, teaching him in the ways of enjoying the rest after the meal.

Not having enough to eat the day before, Dad and Rosy treated us to dinner at their restaurant. It was all good, but having seen / tasted the food before, Grandpa Steve was checking out our latest gadget, courtesy of black friday sales (thank you Costco).

Grandma Rosy and Cole, again nearly inseparable all night and enjoying checking out the view in the window behind us.


That is, until we talked about heading home the next day - then as you can see, not too happy about that.

Luckily, Grandpa Steve distracted him by describing how we might mount our new 32" TV (another black friday purchase, thanks again Costco).

We had such a good time and can't wait to come back up or them to come back down. Thanks Dad and Rosy for letting us pilfer a few pictures from your blog (your nicely updated blog).

Don't hate me because I'm covered in sugar...

At the risk of calling attention to the absence of posts, I thought we try and catch you all up with some pictures and details of what's been going on in our little happy lives over the last few months.

October brought about another cotton candy fiesta, well maybe not a fiesta -- then perhaps there would be flan

or churros, but it was a big party none the less. It was unseasonably warn -- warning, warning -- that means lots of extra kids! Luckily, we started really early and started spinning around noon, that's right while you were enjoying your hot dog or taco (again with the latin reference...) we

were busy spinning the flavored sugar.

Each year we get a little bit smarter in the cotton candy making. Seems fair, I'm pretty sure we're getting a little dumber in other assorted areas of our lives ... love getting older! This year we devised stringing rope across the garage and with a few hundred clothes pins, we could spin up and have at hand 250+ bags of cotton candy. That came in especially handy given we gave away close to 350 bags of the fluffy stuff.

Luckily we got a few shots before the crowds star

ted but then spent 5:30 - 8:30 non-stop spinning or bagging and then spinning again. Fortunately (or unfortunately for us) Aunt Jeni and Uncle Brendan came by with their phones and took a few shots to complete the whole scene. Cole got off easy with the Cat in the Hat, while Shawn and I stayed warm as Thing 1 and Thing 2 (we'd like to apologize right now for what you're about to see).

Just to clear out your eye palette, here's another picture of someone much cuter!

And then of course, while we get things cleaned up outside, Ellie and Cole hang out together revealing in their sugar smell high.


I still contend, we have the best smelling garage for DAYS after and there's nothing better.

Five is our lucky number

We can't believe it's been about a month since our last post. It just goes to demonstrate how busy our lives have been. We had a last minute shunt replacement in the middle of Oct, and I mean last minute and we were in and out of there so fast it's hard to imagine.

It started on a Tue when we had been in for a follow up Neurosurgeon visit. Everything looked great, his scan was good, his head looked clear. We noticed that a few of his stitches from his surgery in August were working themselves out from the inside out -- like they do. Not a big deal normally ... but the next day, Grandma Jacquie noticed Cole's head was a little wet on top. Not a lot, but not easily identifiable to what was causing it. Shawn found the same thing around his recent shunt site. So back to the hospital the next day. As soon as his NS nurse saw it, she called in Cole's NS, who cleared his schedule in the morning to move Cole's shunt. The issue ... to many procedures in such a short time had created an area that wasn't scarring up as quickly as it should / might. But the little guy has had 3 surgeries this summer, so not too surprising. His doctor's concern was that the hole created by the stitch would be open too long and could create a tunnel to allow an infection to travel down directly to the shunt. So the option was to address this quickly and cross our fingers. So this time, they moved it to the back of his head. And now were watching him and watching for any signs that we weren't quick enough. We were admitted on Thu morning and out by Fri ... that's right the next day. It's amazing and still remarkable to consider overnight brain surgery. And of course the other goal was to get out before any of us caught a flu bug. Which we've also been lucky enough to avoid.

So now we're just hanging out, keeping low and staying healthy and hoping our only visits to the hospital revolve around check ups.

Who's Bernice...?

We hope you'll forgive this small trip back to Bear Lake for a funny little story and new addition to our home....

When we arrived at the condo and we're running around checking it out and getting set up and noticed this sign on the wall. Shawn repeating the wording back to me asked 'who's bernice'.

Coming into the room, I asked him he was talking about. He pointed at the sign and repeated the message back ... do you see it? Neither did I, because the sign reads "Be Nice" not Bernice!! We laughed and didn't think much of it until Jennifer showed up with the kids and one of them repeated the question asking who was this Bernice character. Then when Brendan showed up and repeated the question - that sealed it and it was one of the running jokes of the trip.

So once we got back home we began settling in to the 'daily grind' of work, doctor appointments, etc. Then early in the week Shawn sent me a note letting me know that the Humane Society had for some reason been overrun in cats of all sizes and colors. So much so they were selling any cat (over a year in age) for $10.00 which included shots and neutering.

I know what you're thinking -- how many animals are they going to have, aren't they nearly a zoo now? But while we were getting ready to leave for Bear Lake we noticed Jacob was acting odd -- bad odd, not good odd. He wasn't eating much and drinking only a little bit more and sleeping more than normal. The day before we left we could tell he was disoriented and so we suspected what was coming. That morning as we were packing up, we noticed he was getting worse. Not wanting to leave him home to struggle more or worse yet leave him with our dear friends who had agreed to stop in, we decided to do the most humane thing and put him to sleep.

It was very hard - Jacob (and his brother Jasper) have been in our homes and lives for 19 years.

That's old even for cats. Jacob (and all of the animals in our home) live a pretty good and cushy life. But we love them very dearly. And when we were so desperately trying to have children and add to our family, they provided a lot of comfort. But it was the absolute right decision. And while we had both decided we wouldn't add another cat to our lives for a while (we've got another 19 year old cat still at home) we melted with the news from the Humane Society. I went online and picked out a few candidates and then headed down to the Humane Society to check them out human to cat. Most were pretty aloof (typical cat behavior). But I was greeted by this little cat who not only walked up to her, she stretched her self up to head butt me on the chin -- she totally knows how to work this system!!

I called Shawn at home (with the sounds in the background giving away my location) and told him to check out "our" new cat online. As I drove home I began to think of possible names (she came with the name "Boots", but that wasn't sticking. Thinking about Jacob and our trip, the name jumped into my brain ---- Bernice! Shawn loved the name too and she (Bernice) began responding too it the next day. Clearly, she was not fond of 'Boots' either.

She's a spunky cat (~2 years old) who'd playful and not too afraid of the dogs or Jasper. Why should she be, she still has her claws. Ellie, who wants to be friends with everyone is trying to be patient before he gives her a big lick on the face :-). Jasper's trying to keep his distance.
And she's fitting in nicely. She's great with kids and most patient with Cole - even when he's petting her extra hard. We think she might even be 'channeling' Jacob as we find her in sunning herself at the sign of any sun streaming in from windows or doors. But we're glad she found her way into our homes. Hopefully she's be just as much fun as Jacob been, she's certainly making great strides in that direction already.

We Love Vacations and Think Everyone Should Take One

We had spent weeks planning for a trip to Bear Lake in August with my sister and her family. We had planned all of the activities including swimming, sailing, hiking, bike riding, checking out the cave, meals - we were giddy with excitement.

Then little Cole got a shunt infection just over a week before our trip. As we waited in the emergency room we calculated how long we would be in the hospital if it was an infection (we'd been down this road before) - once they addressed the infection, we estimated we would be in the hospital at least 10 days after that. So of course we had two options 1] kiss Cole goodbye and head off for vacation (he's little, would he really know if we were there...) or 2] resign ourselves to a change in plans and make the best of it. We were pretty worried though because the cabin/condo we reserved & paid for included a clause in the contract which said NO refunds. But after we got admitted to the hospital we contacted the bear lake facility and explained what happened. Then once we established that we DIDN'T want a refund just to reschedule -- we really needed a vacation -- they were very accommodating and we were very thankful. And with the reschedule, we moved into the fall season (lower rate) and thus we're able to extend the trip by one day. Woo Hoo!!

We headed up Tuesday. We had plans to get everything ready and leave early in the day- the rental facility indicated we could get in early because the place would be pretty empty this time of year. But early on Tue ended up being mid-afternoon, of course. Luckily the storm that was blowing in ended up coming in later that evening so hauling the sail boat wasn't quite as treacherous. We got in and started getting settled and Shawn realized he forgot his cPap (for his sleep apnea) so back to SLC he drove (2 hour drive) while we waited for Aunt Jeni and Uncle Brenden.

The place was pretty nice and BIG - which was great for all 8 of us. We put all of the big kids in their own room (with their own TV & video player)

and then Shawn, Cole, and I had our room with yet another TV and DVD) and Jeni & Brenden in yes, you guessed it, their own room (with TV and DVD) and then two extra TVs in the family rooms - up and down.

Somebody was thinking when they designed this place! All of that entertainment along with the games, puzzles, and video games came in very handy given it was rainy the first two days and we managed to arrive about 2 weeks after the town pretty much shuts down. But all of that rain / storm ended up being good to help us all unwind. We found the indoor pool was open and empty. So by the end of the week when the weather was nicer, we were ready to do a little sailing.

Uncle Brenden was so good to help us get the boat set up, even with Shawn barking out orders (he likes to think he's the captain, but that's clearly me)

We've always found sailing very, very restful (in fact the ride home is the hardest, we're struggling to stay awake). Cole agrees - he fell asleep in Aunt Jeni's arms before we even got underway

The other kids found ways to distract themselves with the Carp swimming near the store / cafe. Jordan CLAIMS he had one of the slimy guys in his arms but we never caught it on film (although he was wet enough to suggest it may have just happened)

Here's Aunt Jeni inspecting the work - Is it ok, make sure you tell us BEFORE we get too far from the marina.

The kids were really good to stay below as we were getting out of the marina. See we gave them tootsie pop suckers to occupy and reward them

Everyone took a ride on top (one of my personal favorite spots). Matthew looks more worried than he was ... someone below was getting a treat that he wanted

It was a little cooler (highs were in the 60's) which is lovely unless you're sailing and looking for wind (which we found) but they didn't seem to mind as you can tell ... where are all of these suckers coming from ...

This is one of my favorite pictures of Jordan - really having a good time .... and yet another sucker.

Cole hung out below in the warm of the cabin. We have two of these life vests for him - one for the pool and the other for the sailboat. He doesn't mind wearing it in the pool, but apparently it's not his favorite on the boat. I gave him a little break for a minute ... and the kids looked on.

We ended the week going out to dinner and playing some video games -- some of us clearly play more than others. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until the next time.

Don't let Brenden's expression fool you, he's a monster on the video games. Without even breaking a sweat he's keeping up with Jordan who's a video pro.

This is such a beautiful lake - that water color has not been digitally enhanced - it's one of my favorites.

The end of a really fun trip. as we're packing up and Jordan watching the storm rolls back in for a ride home (we had snow in the canyon on the way through Logan Canyon and rain in Sardine canyon) but the colors in the canyons were so bright and nearly electric.

Through the miracles of modern science ...

[ok,this picture does not do all of this golden fruit justice]

Our eyes are too big for our feet. You've probably heard the old saying, my eyes were too big for my stomach as a means to shift blame for overeating (albeit temporarily). But in our case, it's the feet - in terms of canning, that is.

[too bad you don't have smell-a-vision]

A few years ago we canned some vegetables and we were converted to the idea that it was cheaper and easier and created less stress on our old bodies to go to the local market and buy the stuff already bottled and in cans. Last year however, we tried one last ditch effort - but stuck with peaches and peach jam -- only. It was a hit. The peaches were delightful and the jam well we couldn't get enough of. And it was a hit with our neighbors and coworkers who were recipients at Christmas (at least that's what they told us).

[We found a recipe for peach & raspberry jam... which we've already cracked open... one less to go into storage our to the neighbors, oh well]

So we took the time honored strategy if 3 dozen jars of jam is good, well then 8 dozen (1 1/2 bushels of peaches, which doesn't sound like a lot until it's all loaded into your car) would be totally fantastic.

That was however with little regard to how much standing, peeling, cutting, and cooking would be required... And of course, being on some euphoric high from last time, we decided that we could venture out and try some new bottling. And since we make a lot of pasta and use a mix of bottled and fresh tomatoes, we decided to bottle ours.

[our little garden runneth over ... especially the grape vine going over the trellis and the tomato plants almost 5 feet high - those stakes are 7 ft with a foot buried, and the squash plant -- single squash plant (in the second photo) sneaking out of it's 6x3 ft bed over to the herb bed, as it didn't have enough room]

So we're up to 26 quarts of tomatoes (with 4 more to go) and still a garden producing probably another month's worth, to mention the bottling of peaches and 8 bags peach filing in freezer for pies later this fall / winter.

[yeah, it doesn't look too good now, but when we're eating a peach tart in November or a peach pie in Dec or peach shakes in Jan... well you get the idea ... then you'll want to be our friends]

And then what would be crazy without more experimenting so we proceeded with pickled okra (that would be for Cole and Shawn) and regular pickles -- but somehow we settled down enough to just make about 6 bottles of each. But of course now my dad mentioned he has my grandmother's mustard pickles (which I recall as very delicious) so as soon as he finds them, we'll be switching back off peaches temporarily to make up the yellow concoction.

[here's the other scary thing ... pears and apples waiting for us in the yard]

So we're looking forward to putting our feet up, scrubbing out the peach and raspberry jam spatters off the stove top, and getting our skin back to a more routine color (and less red, tomato red, to be exact) much later this month.

And Cole, well he just sits back and thinks we're all nuts!

Happy Canning and think of us fondly as you're playing with your family!