Kamden in October

I'm a tad late getting this posted, but it's pretty amazing to see the changed since October! Here's the month in photos.

Stroller rides were really fun in some great weather. It usually put him to sleep fairly quickly.

Oh look, a leaf.

Wow, that tickles!

Time with Grandpa also tended to put him to sleep. They nap so well together.

They also play well together.

We are enraptured with every facial expressions and cooing chatter.

And another nap.

We enjoyed family time with Auntie Steph...

Nana...

Uncle Eric...

The 5-month picture taken by his mommy.

 A photo shoot at the pumpkin patch!

 I love the way the whole family dotes on him!

The next four were taken by Summer Rae Photography. She is a relative of Christina.

Our family and Christina's mom.

 Kodak the puppy joined Kam's family in October.

 Kam started rolling all over the floor this month. Funny how he kept ending up with the floor blanket wrapped around him.

 He loves to sit and play in the walker but doesn't go anywhere yet.

 Yay, another stroller ride with Nana!

 He loves Papa!

 And let's roll up in another blanket!

 It's a tough job training Koda to play nice with the baby but someone has to do it!

On Halloween, Kam paid a visit to Nana's work.

What a happy, loving baby boy!

Apple Fritter Day

Thanksgiving Family Fun continued on Saturday, with Mom inviting everyone down for homemade apple fritters on Saturday afternoon. The crowd was lighter than Thanksgiving Day because people had things to do. Once again I will post a link to the Facebook photo album, but I just have to comment and show a few here.

My brother Mark is always so much fun to have around. And what a good great-uncle/grandpa kind of guy he is! He and Kamden hit it off quite well! Thanks for coming all the way from Lethbridge, Alberta, Mark and Paula!

 This one was actually on Thanksgiving Day.

I also love seeing my sister's children play with my grand baby. Such fun and giggles!

 The apple fritters were sweet and very delicious, but the sweetest thing I saw all week was Serena chatting with her Aunt Linda, telling her all about the upcoming day with her Baker aunts and cousins to to make and dip chocolates for Christmas. Linda refers to Serena and Jamison as her grandchildren!

 Later that night, some of us went to dinner at Los Dos Amigos. I got to sit by my niece Lucy (from Hermiston), who I believe is in 4th grade. After we did this selfie, she informed me that she didn't give her best smile, because she saves that for really special pictures, like school pictures.

 Lucy is beautiful no matter which smile she choses to display!

We took some sibling pictures, but none of mine turned out very well, so if anyone has a good one, could you please send it to me?  Thanks. 

Even though the other group pictures I didn't post are goofy and not very good, I enjoy them because Linda is smiling and looks so happy. She absolutely loves being with her family.

Ok, here's the link to some more pictures.
Apple Fritter Facebook Album

Thanksgiving 2014

What a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! It's the first Thanksgiving in quite a while that I haven't hosted, so I took advantage of the freedom and signed up for the Oregon Mid-Valley Road Race 5.2 mile hill challenge, which started at 8 a.m. That was a great way to start the day, and the rain even stopped just before the race started. I tripped on a big rock about half a mile from the finish line but managed to windmill myself to stay upright and didn't cause any damage other than to raise my heart rate even higher than it already was. Thank you, guardian angels, for once again protecting me from myself.

When I arrived home, I received a call from my brother Galen that his wife was sick and not up to hosting, much to her disappointment. The location was changed to Mom's house in Brownsville. We missed Carol and are so sorry she was unable to enjoy Thanksgiving with the family.

We don't usually do a big extended family Thanksgiving dinner, but with my brother Mark and Paula joining us all the way from Alberta, Canada, it was an extra special occasion. And of course, the baby grandson Kam's first Thanksgiving made it special as well.

I'm trying something new here, I posted the pictures in a Facebook album and put the link here. Even if you're not on Facebook, you should be able to see the pics. (This is for you, Jean!)

Thanksgiving album

How blessed we are. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Black Friday shopping or not!

A Brenden and Jenna Day

Great-Uncle Will and Great-Aunt LeAnn were so lucky to spend a beautiful sunny Saturday back in May with Jenna and Brenden. Great-Aunt LeAnn just noticed that she wrote this blog and left it as a draft instead of publishing it, so here it is, nearly four months later!

Brenden and Jenna wanted to play with Zeek first, then go to the park behind our house.

Jenna and her doll Brittany (who Jenna dressed to match her own white pants and hot pink top) enjoyed swinging together. Jenna spoke at length about different hairstyles she gives Brittany, and wished she would have put a matching headband in her hair today instead of the barrettes.

Brenden is an amazing big brother. He helped out so that Jenna and Brittany could play basketball against each other. With his assistance, Brittany made quite a few baskets!

After a little more time with Zeek, we went to the store to get some snacks and Little Caesers pizza to take to Brownsville for a noon baseball game with Great-Aunt Hope's two youngest boys, Justin and Brandon. We were so happy to see that Great-Aunt Jean and her children were there too. Jenna had been concerned that she would get bored at a long game, but she loved it. The game was barely long enough for her to get through her snacks.  Turns out that Great-Aunts bring more interesting snacks than moms do. Poor Serena. Apparently her mom didn't take her to the store and let her pick out a drink and three snacks before the game. But we shared. Who knew that those little cheese and cracker packets were so wonderful?

Brandon and Justin hit and fielded and pitched amazingly well as always and their team won. My nephew Jamie, barely 3, was walking around and then standing around singing "Blessed be the name of the Lord" over and over. It was so cute, and he finally got in a position where I could video it, but it didn't take him long to notice me and get shy and stop. Unfortunately, I can't seem to upload the video. I put it on Facebook though. (Way back in May!)

Back home, the children had a long conversation with Will while I did some gardening. I overheard them taking about directions (which way is North, Northwest?) and about landmarks. Very educational.

 Jenna loves to water plants, and when we got done here, we headed over to water Tyler's memorial at the park. Jenna was a great help.

Will and Brenden helped by shooting hoops.

Brenden and Jenna helped some more by brushing Zeek. Again. And again.

Zeek had a busy day and looked a little exhausted by dinnertime. He was petted, had his tummy rubbed, was leashed and taken for walks around the yard with Jenna, chased the ball that was thrown for him over and over, and was petted some more. Jenna asked Will, "Aren't you glad we love your dog?"

These are two well-mannered children are a pleasure to be around. Way to go, Jody and Kevin, you should probably teach parenting classes or something!