Leaf it to Bridger

Who needs fancy toys when you have leaves as great as these?

Pumpkin Time!

Bridger is old enough to actually enjoy the Halloween/Fall Festivities this year. Last year, he was more of an impartial spectator. We went to Lee's Farm in Tualatin to pick our pumpkin, and had a lot of fun along the way.

Running through the hay maze...

Riding the pony...
Laughing on the carnival rides...
The Pick...
The Cut...

The Carve...

Bridger was a little hesitant to jump into the slimy innards - which surprised me - but remained excited during the whole process.

And, the final product!

Now, we love saying goodbye to the pumpkin whenever we go somewhere, and of course have to say goodnight to it when we go to bed. Bridger loves his "Pun-pan".

A Special Message

Happy Birthday Grandma! We love you!

T.P.

Dear Friendly Neighborhood TPee-er(s),

Really? This is all you got? Now I admit, I haven't woke up to toilet paper on my yard since I was in high school, and was somewhat flattered some-teen somewhere would think of us. However, after inspection of the damage, I must spend a few moments on my soap box to hopefully influence the up and coming generation to take a little pride in their work.

First, we will start with some information for Wikipedia: "Toilet papering (also called TP'ing or Yard Rolling) is the act of covering an object (usually a tree, house, or other structure of similar size) with toilet paper. This is typically done by throwing numerous toilet paper rolls in such a way that they unroll in mid-air and thus fall on the targeted object in multiple streams."

Your first misfortune is only using two rolls of TP. Two rolls! What damage did you really expect to do with only 2 rolls? I know that the economy is tight right now, but if you are going to steal from your family's emergency supply - make it count. At least it was 2-ply - that only slightly redeems you.

Your second major mishap was the disappointing lack in vertical arrangement. Sure, there were a few strands hanging from the lowest branch in the shortest tree, but you completely ignored the BIG one and the possibilities that could come from the roof. Most of your job was wrapped around the mailbox and strategically laid on the grass. If you can't handle the height of the tree, get creative, or go home. Or are you in my son's nursery class, and the little tree felt like a giant to you? In that case, you did a great job for a 2 year old.
Why, in my day... I would have 6 or 7 friends come over, we would load up with 2 or 3 rolls of TP each and then recruit my mom to drive us around in our big yellow van (we affectionately called "the bumble bee" because of its bright color and fat black horizontal line that went around the middle of it). We could hit a house and be done in less than 5 minutes. We always chose friends that could not join us that night, or a member of the bishopric - just to make sure they knew we were thinking about them. The operation was a thing of beauty. In later years, my mom started to feel guilty about being a part of vandalism and then refused to be a part of the mischief, even though we usually would go help clean it up in the morning.

For future experiences, we expect to be dazzled by your TPing performance. Multiple rolls, vertical lines, biodegradable ammo (this is Oregon after all), silent delivery, and of course - you better be back at my house at 9 am to clean it up!! I am pregnant and have a toddler take care of for crying out loud.

One final note, when doing a proper Toilet Papering, stay off the vacant neighbor's property - we all need to stay friends long after you are gone.
Until next time,

J & M

26 weeks and change

Okay, okay... I don't know why people like to see this kind of thing, but I figured I would show some proof that my belly has certainly "popped". Sorry about the dirty mirror in the bathroom, but you get the point - the belly is out there, and that is why I am officially wearing maternity clothes and Jim's jackets. I feel this is how big I was with Bridger at week 36 or so (since I am tall and wide to begin with, I hid the belly pretty well before), but this girl certainly is using all the space she can take.
And this is my daily personal perspective. January here we come!
Have a great week - and be grateful you can see your toes!

Fall Fun

Fall has arrived in the beautiful Northwest, and we have been enjoying the fruits of the local farms labor. I love that you can go the farm directly and buy produce grown, especially when they have fun little activities to keep Bridger entertained.
We have especially fallen in love with the variety of apples and sweet corn available in the fall harvest. I never thought about the fact that Jim grew up in Ohio aka "Corn Country" and this would give him a great fondness for corn on the cob. I don't think I have ever made it more than once during the course of our marriage, but have had it 3 times in the past week and a half and we all still like it.

We had a really fun FHE the other day that featured an apple bar and scripture chase. There were 7 varieties of apples, and a scripture that more or less related to the name of each apple. It was a fun way to taste a bunch of different apples. Thanks to our friends that came and played along.

Also, Bridger is getting pretty fun to watch with animals. He could not take his eyes off this horse...

Happy Autumn!

Waterproof Camera

Well, we got the pictures back taken by our water camera in Mexico, and unfortunately they did not all turn out. In fact, only about 10 of the 27 pictures had an image at all. Bummer.

Oh well, here are a few of the survivors.

Jim swimming with the huge Sea Turtles.
Mel swimming with the turtles. I kept thinking of Crush from Finding Nemo: "Cuz we were like, "woaaaah.", and I was like, "woaaaah." and you were like, "woaaahh..."”
Jared, Dani, Jim & Mel swimming at Tulum.
Last, but not least, sailing on the Catamaran in the ocean.
Thanks again Jared & Dani for a great adventure! And thanks again Rebecca & Daven for making it possible by watching Bridger for us.