Pumpkin time!

Halloween seems to have snuck up on us this year.  But Becca, Eliana and I squeezed in a brief pumpkin patch visit on Friday.  Eliana was not a big fan of said visit, as evidenced by the lack of smiles and looking in the camera of my pictures.  Oh well, maybe next year :)

And my favorite one of the day :)

Real Germans

Moral of the story from Friday: real germans eat sauerkraut :)
This is a running joke in our family by the way.  Real germans do other things as well, like drink tequila, lol!

We enjoyed a friday night German dinner with fall-themed decor and amazing food, thanks to the chefs and the North Dakota sausage stuffers.

Home-made pickled goodness of course: beets, green beans and pickles.

Momma makin caramel rolls, even a gluten free and mostly dairy free batch.

These are the gluten-full kind :)

I love my sauerkraut!

Cream-free borscht.

Real germans drinking gluten free beer:

And eating home-made buns, roast brussel sprouts with apples, home-made North Dakota sausage and krautnip.  YUMMMMMM!

Eliana loves soothing carrots on her new teeth:

I am still smiling thinking of the fun day off that I had on friday.

Family time

Have I mentioned lately how cute this girl is?

She is crawling full speed ahead now!

And standing!

Hard to believe she will be 8 months old in just one week.

In the meantime, dad and Levi turned a little bit older than 8 months recently.  It's always fun to celebrate both of them on the same weekend, they don't seem to mind.  Happy birthday guys!

Uncle Ed cooked up some amazing steaks, potatoes, brussel sprouts and mushrooms.  As usual, some of the best food I've had. 

Eliana enjoyed her meal and snuggles with mom, dad and Unc.

I am so blessed to have my dear family close by to make good memories with.  xoxo to all!

Return trip to Poo Poo Point

Remember this hike?  Well, it turns out we didn't make it all the way to Poo Poo Point that time as we thought we had.
So, one weeknight after work, we ventured up the "real" trailhead from behind the high school with Karlie and Jordan.  Thank God for those two because I am pretty sure I would have given up if it weren't for them.  First, it was very hard to find the trailhead from the directions.  Second, it is a deceptively challenging hike that in the last mile seems to go on forever, especially if you are running out of daylight and really want to catch the sunset.  The weather was not in our favor, 80 degrees and very muggy.  I don't think I have ever been so smelly at the end of the hike.  Sorry, readers, I am sure that it is too much information.  Needless to say, getting into bed after a refreshing shower was so very rewarding.  And in hindsight, it was a fun night, complete with a bottle of wine at the top and our first headlamp-lit hike.

Here we are racing through the trees trying to catch the sunset:

Once at the top, here are a few shots of the beauty/reward:

That green turf patch in the middle is where para-gliders launch during daylight.

Overlooking Lake Sammamish, with downtown Bellevue in the upper left corner.

 Aliens!

Totally worth it.  Though next time, I'll be going up there on a not-so-hot day :)

Palouse Falls

On our way home from Lewiston, we ventured off the trail to visit Palouse Falls State Park.  With minimal effort, you get to see this amazing view of the falls.

We wandered around the area a little bit for a few more views.

Hope to go back for a visit in the spring some year, when more water is falling.

Congrats to Jean and Dan!

We ventured to Lewiston in early Sept to celebrate with Jean and Dan and hang out with the Eddys and Kaufmans, always a fun adventure!  The drive was beautiful!

Kevin and Joe were such gentlemen.

The happy couple being greeted by many friends and family:

Amy and Kevin and their beautiful voices.

I wish I had taken more pictures.  Here is Noah with a bunch of pretty cousins.

Amy and I hanging out with Pope Francis:

The reception was so much fun.  Tyler and I got to help decorate!  Here is my handsome man and his new hat:

Ellie, looking curious:

Kate didn't really want a picture with me, but I convinced her to semi-smile:

The first dance, with an awesome band!

Photo booth fun:

Well, some of us were happy, lol!

Congrats to Jean and Dan.  Thank you for letting us be part of your special day.