Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I realize I'm about a week late, but we had a good long weekend. For Thanksgiving day, we went to Jeanne and Norm's house. They had a great meal, with excellent company, and cousins the girls hadn't seen for a long time.

Then we went to my Mom and Dad's for the day after Thanksgiving, which was another great meal! First though, we got crazy and stopped by Fred Meyer for some things we really needed. It was payday, they had sales going on left and right, and Peter (rightly so) thought it would be a great way to save some $$. Fortunately, the Newberg Fred Meyer is really big, so although most of the town, including nearby Dundee, and environs, were there all at the same time, it really wasn't insanely crowded. Remind me to stick to the outlying regions for any future "Black Friday" shopping. Can you tell I don't usually do this??? I can't imagine doing this in downtown Portland.

My Mom and Dad had a great spread, although my sister and her boyfriend Mike weren't feeling well enough to join us. So we had lots of extra food. A good mix of work, relaxing, and spending time with each other. A great weekend to be Thankful!

On a side note, I was late in writing this because I also got a sinus infection, which is making me a total space cadet. Hopefully, I'll be more consistent about writing from here on out. As the holidays loom, I might be several days behind.

Casise's Birthday

Wow! Cassie is 10! Who knew that this little tiny cute girl would turn out to be the director of a play??? On her birthday (November 19th), her drama club acted out a play that Cas wrote and directed. It's called "Alien School" and I won't even attempt to transcribe it here, but the whole thing is in another language that sounds like "Bleep bloop bleeeep!"

The actors had to show the story by acting! Unfortunately, one of the main actors didn't really understand the plot, but that's part of the learning process! Fortunately, Cassie got a chance to explain the play to the audience, and answer their questions before performing it again.

Since Cassie's birthday was on a Wednesday this year, we had her kid party on Saturday. This time we took everyone to a children's museum called A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village. Named after the inventor of the erector set, the entire indoor and outdoor experience is designed for hands-on play. Check out photos here!

November- A Month of Birthdays!

I want to take the opportunity to save Happy November birthday to all of you with your special day this month. My Grandpa Kaake, Grandma Beard, Aunt Nancy, Ruth, and of course Cassie! are all celebrating this month. Whoo Hoo!

Last weekend we went to my Grandpa's 89th birthday party! We converged on his new assisted living apartment building. Mom & Dad, my sister and her guy, my cousins, and aunts all brought a potluck to the activity room.

Let me tell you, this place is NICE! A huge restaurant dining area, tropical fish by the mailboxes, a movie theater, and a classy lobby all add to the excellent atmosphere. Zoe especially wanted to stay and live there, and kept running around from area to area. G'ma and G'mpa's apartment is really nice too, well laid out to maximize their space.

This weekend we met Mom & Dad for breakfast and has a pre-birthday party for Cassie, as they are going to have their Willamette Pass house delivered on Monday, and they expect to be on site for most if not all of the week. Cassie is thrilled, and can't wait for her actual Birthday, Wednesday the 19th. She will be ten (10!) years old, can you believe it? I'm still struggling with the concept. . . . ;)