Baby's First Halloween

Today is Halloween. Just in case you hadn't noticed. We were invited over to Jake and Merrie Beth's house, and they said Chloe would be in a costume, and we were welcome to dress up if we wanted to. Jason and I didn't, but I wanted to put Kayla in something. I had picked out a cute Tigger outfit but it turned out to be too warm for the heavy fleece, so Mommy got creative and Kayla went to the "party" as a ballerina. Here are the cutest monkey and ballerina you'll ever see. Chloe's outfit even had a removable tail. So cute!

Watching the Sky

This evening Jason and I decided to take Little Miss for a walk. She was supposed to be napping, but wouldn't actually fall asleep. So we thought putting her in the stroller would do the trick, as it has before. No such luck. We walked about a mile and a half total and she was still wide awake when we got home. Oh well! We walked to Safeway and got drinks, then sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful sky for a while. Aren't the clouds gorgeous?

Then, on the way home, the sky lit up with a fabulous sunset. I took several pictures to capture the sheer beauty of the autumn sky.

3 Months!

I can't believe it's been three months already. In some ways it feels as though we just went to the hospital to meet our little bundle, and in others it feels as though we've had Kayla as a part of our family forever! This picture makes me laugh. We were trying to get her 3-month picture with the giant teddy bear, but she kept lifting up her leg for some reason. I'd prop her up and grab the camera and she'd instantly stick her leg up in the air again. I have no idea why!

In Perspective

Today I did Kayla's laundry and threw in a few of our clothing items. I've never washed our clothes with hers before, and when I was pulling them out of the dryer I was struck by how tiny her things are. The difference between her pants and ours really boggled my mind.

End of the Day

The sunset was beautiful tonight, even though it was super cold. I think it was raining in the southwest, the direction in which this picture was taken. It looked like it might be decent, but when I went out to take the picture it was freezing! The thermometer said it was around 40 degrees. Brrr! It's going to be a cold night.

Grey Skies

It was rainy today and the clouds were gorgeous. Here's what I saw on the way home this afternoon.

Standing Up For Herself

It's hard to tell in this picture, but Kayla is holding herself up on her own legs. I'm just keeping her from falling over, because she doesn't have the trunk strength to hold herself upright yet. She's pretty good at it! We were practicing standing during playtime today.

Fall Fest

Today was an awesome day! We went to church and enjoyed a fabulous musical service celebrating all of creation and the God who started it all. Lunch was delicious; we had potato squash soup with Whitney and Rolie at Rolie's dad's house. Along with the soup we had wonderful homemade bread with berry pie for dessert (compliments of Whitney). After lunch we relaxed and while Rolie hung out with his dad and step-brother, Jason and I played a game and chatted with Whitney. It was super relaxing (especially since Whitney rocked Kayla to sleep!) At four o'clock we met Jake, Merrie Beth, and Melissa at Klicker's for a visit to the pumpkin patch. We walked around and took a bunch of pictures (mostly of the little'uns!) and then enjoyed some ice cream in the shop. It was super fun. Jake and Merrie Beth were kind enough to invite us over to their house for the rest of the evening, so we headed there for pizza, video games, and pumpkin pie (I made the pie - my first ever pumpkin pie on my own!). We had a really good time, and now I'm definitely ready for sleep...if only my daughter would go for that, too...

NOTE: For more pictures of today's pumpkin patch adventures, check my FaceBook account!

Talent

This is Jason multi-tasking. He's making dinner while talking to his sister on the phone. I was impressed...dinner was delicious! He made Mexican Lasagna, which is probably one of my new favourites. In the pan there is shredded meatless chicken and black beans. That was mixed with corn, onions, tomatoes, and tomato sauce, and layered with flour tortillas similar to Italian lasagna. Mmmm!

The Beginning and the End

The sun was beautiful this morning shining through the trees in our front yard. The yellows and reds of the leaves really glowed bright in the morning sun. I couldn't capture it with the camera, but believe me - it was gorgeous!

Tonight was date night. Jason and I went to see "The Informant!" starring Matt Damon. It looked super funny in the commercials and I was hopeful that it would be worth cinema prices. It wasn't a bad movie, but it was definitely not one I'd watch again. Unlike other really bad movies ("Tropic Thunder" to name one), they didn't show you all the funny parts in the ads. There were a few parts of this movie that were really funny that weren't shown in the commercials. But the movie wasn't what I expected and I was a tad disappointed. It was still a fun date, though...Jason bought me nachos and a drink - we very rarely get snacks at the theatre. Thanks to Damie and Jared for watching Kayla for us!

Through the Clouds

I went to Safeway tonight to get some brownie mix. I got a craving for them and thought we could enjoy them after dinner, so I loaded Kayla into the car and we headed the 4 blocks to the grocery store. (It was threatening rain all day so I didn't feel like walking.) This is the view I had on the way home. Isn't it beautiful? I love natural beauty.

Reverting?

This made me laugh: Jason was so tired tonight he just laid on the floor and closed his eyes for a while. But...he's holding a rattle. Kayla does this, too (minus the eyes closed part), but she's 12 weeks old. Oh man...still makes me laugh to look at the picture.

Play Date!

Today was my last expected weekly visit to St. Mary's Monday Mommy Group. I was very sad about this! From now on it will probably just be occasional visits because I'm scheduled to start work again soon. As of today I'm supposed to go back to work next Monday. I'm hoping to stretch it, but we'll see. Pictured above is Kayla (the all-pink chick in the middle) with Chloe (bottom), who is a day older than Kayla, and Isaac, who is 9 months old. Isaac is small because he was born with heart defects and has had trouble gaining weight between his surgeries. He's an adorable little kid, though, and certainly has energy! He was rolling around the floor like crazy today! Kayla and Chloe would have (unintentionally) matched this morning, but Kayla pooped all over her brand new Minnie Mouse outfit from Nana St. Clair. Sigh. It never fails. Every time I put her in something new she poops on it, though if I put her in an older outfit she can wear it all day.

Heat Wave

Today Jason went up into the Blues with his dad and chopped up a couple of trees. This may not look like much, but it took them about four hours to chop and load this and his dad's load. I helped Jason unload these and it felt good to do some manual labour. These are heavy pieces, and they weigh around 100 pounds each, I think. This goes with yesterday's post and would be the FIRST step, before chopping.

Wood wasn't the only thing he brought back with him. His mom had a box of warm clothes for Kayla that he brought back. When I saw the box, I had to laugh:

Don't you think she's a little too young for this quite yet? (Don't worry, there weren't any lacey negligees in there. Just several pairs of pants and some long-sleeved onesies. Super cute ones, I might add.)

Something else I noticed this afternoon: My crocuses are coming up!!! What the heck?!? Just because it was 70 degrees today doesn't mean it's spring! I hope they don't die...

Staying Warm

Today I will show you how we stay warm in the winter months. We do have heaters like normal people, but they cost a LOT more money. Enough wood for our stoves for the winter costs us $20. Our heating bill would be many many times that.

Step One: Cutting the wood. They must be small enough to fit into our stoves, which is about 12 inches long, and up to 8 or 10 inches wide.

Step Two: Though this photo isn't entirely accurate, we stack the chopped wood in the wheelbarrow and park it next to our back door. The wood pictured here is scrap wood from my dad tearing down the playhouse earlier this month. We're using it until it's gone and then we'll have regular wood chopped and stacked in here.

Step Three: Place wood in stove. Jason is good at stacking it in the stove so that it catches fire and burns best. I'm still learning, though I do have to say I'm capable of starting a fire. (And not just in places I shouldn't.)

Step Four: Give it some air. Here Jason is blowing on the flames to give them extra oxygen and get them going brighter and higher.

Step Five: Watch to make sure the fire keeps going. If it goes out this early, you'll have to start all over. Later in the game when there are hot coals in the bottom of the stove, you can usually start it again with just a wadded up piece of newspaper.

Step Six: Enjoy the fire!!! (Preferably with a favourite person and a tasty hot beverage.)

Getting Creative

Tonight I finally got the cookbooks out and attempted to put together a recipe for the soup Dad and I made up last week. It was delicious. We used these two recipes as inspiration, but pretty much made up our own thing. It took me a while to compare the recipes and remember what exactly Dad and I did, but I think I did a fairly decent job. Here's the recipe, as I remember it (of course, you may have to alter things to suit your taste buds...and to adjust it so it works best):

CREAMY POTATO ZUCCHINI SOUP
Serves approx. 6-8 people

Approximately 8 small-medium potatoes, peeled, washed, and diced
2 medium zucchini, sliced
6-8 cloves garlic, chopped fine
Half a medium onion, chopped
1-2 Tablespoon butter
2 bay leaves
Approx. 6 cups vegetable stock (you need enough to make it look like soup!)
4 oz. cream cheese
Approx. 1/2 cup milk (or heavy cream, if you have it)
Dash nutmeg
Oregano (fresh or dried, your choice) to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste (if you'd like to try something new, try white pepper instead of black)

In large pan, saute zucchini, onion, and garlic in butter until onion is soft, but not brown. Add oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

In large pot, bring potatoes, bay leaves, and stock to a boil.

Add zucchini/onion mixture to potatoes. Reduce heat and cook gently for 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Remove the bay leaves.

Transfer soup to blender and puree in batches until smooth.

Return the soup to the pot and add the cream cheese, milk/cream, and nutmeg. Stir on medium-low heat until the cream cheese is melted.

If you wish, serve in warm bowls garnished with chives, parsley, or croutons.

coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee.....

This picture truly makes me laugh! She is so intent on the Starbucks drink (which, by the way, actually has no coffee in it), and her eyes are so big, she's just ready to have some of that frappuccino! Ruth's visa came this morning, but it was too late; they'd already rescheduled her flight for next Thursday. So she'll be spending the next week in Portland. Since she didn't have anywhere to be, we decided to go out and spend some time together before Jason, Kayla and I headed home. Before we left, Ruth demonstrated the coolness of her new pants:

Yes, she's that awesome. After we said goodbye to her, we found our way to Jason's grandpa's house (his mom's dad) who lives just a few minutes from the Wills in Vancouver. His health is failing, so we figured we should take this opportunity to visit him.

Here is Jason introducing Kayla to her Great Grandpa Albertsen. She cried at first, but then we figured out it was because the arm of the chair was cold on her bare legs. So we got a towel for her to sit on and she was much happier. Too bad Jason's mom wasn't there to make a complete generational picture.

To Portland and Beyond!

This was my view for most of the afternoon today. Jason and I brought Ruth to Portland today in the hopes that her visa would arrive (she had the address changed to Nick's house) and she could catch her Thursday flight. This was our first really long trip with a baby. It took us seven hours to make the 4-hour trip.

I love the scenery on the way to Portland. Once you hit Hood River things really get gorgeous. No matter what time of year it is!

We are staying at Ruth's boyfriend's house, though he isn't here. He's in Ethiopia serving as a student missionary at a hospital there. He's actually the Outer Clinics Director and is managing somewhere around six clinics in the bush of Ethiopia. He's having a good time! At any rate, his mother is amazing at playing hostess. This is what she served for dessert tonight: Pumpkin mousse in individual pumpkins, and homemade pumpkin pie - made from a real pumpkin (provided by her daughter-in-law, Erin). Both were delicious and quite festive. I had to take a picture. I also had to take a picture of Paris (pronounced the French way, peh-REE), the family's Bichon Frise. He makes himself comfortable wherever he wants to!

Quality Time

Well I'm not a fan of this picture that makes me look like an albino frizz-head, but it's a cute shot of Ruth, so we'll go with it. Today Ruth and I went on a final sister shopping trip before she leaves for Poland. Tomorrow we're driving her to Portland to catch her Thursday flight to Berlin via Amsterdam. In Berlin she will catch a shuttle to her final destination, the language school at the School by the Sea in a Polish town on the Baltic Sea that I can only pronounce, but not spell. It's pronounced like this: ko-AWB-jeg (make the "j" a soft, French-like "j"). Anyway, we thought we were going to have to cancel our planned shopping trip to Tri-Cities because her visa hadn't arrived yet and it was to be delivered this afternoon. To make a long story short, it turns out her visa wouldn't be delivered today, so off we went around 2 p.m. to Tri-Cities, hauling Kayla with us. We enjoyed a delicious late lunch at Red Robin, then we hit up Payless Shoe Source and Target before heading to the mall to visit JC Penney and Barnes & Noble. Finally, we paid a short visit to Toys R Us, where Ruth has been wanting to browse for months. As this was her last chance until next summer, we had to go. We finally got home around 8:30 tonight. It was a fun day!

Culinary Prowess

Meet Melissa. She's a friend we recently made when attending a small group Bible study at Jake and Merrie Beth's house. She was an English major in college, just like Jason and I, so we have fun comparing notes as to what classes we liked, what literature we hated having to read, and whether or not the degree we earned is doing anything for us. Melissa is a baker. That should answer that question. The awesome part is that she is an amazing baker. I think she should open her own bakery, personally. At any rate, Merrie Beth invited Melissa and I to spend this afternoon hanging out at her house. So we did. Melissa brought ingredients to make caramel corn, and while Merrie Beth and I took care of our kids and watched, she turned a bag of unpopped popcorn and some other random things (including butter flavouring - did you even know they made that?!?) into two amazing cookie sheets full of buttery, caramel-y, gooey goodness. I think I need to have her make me some more.

Little Old Lady?

This picture almost needs no words. Just look and laugh. That's all I do. Ruth was trying on a bonnet my mom made for Kayla...that turned out to be a bit too big!

Out for a Walk

This afternoon Dad decided he wanted to go take pictures of the buildings on the WWU campus. So we loaded up and headed into College Place with our cameras. As we were passing the men's dorm, the wife of one of the deans, who we knew in high school, spotted us and came to see Kayla. She didn't know we'd had a baby, and she was excited to see her...and introduce her to Sophie, her little dog.

Around the same time we ran into Ted and Heather, who were out walking with their daughter, Veronica. We hadn't met Veronica yet, and she's 9 months old! Sophie and Veronica became fast friends.

The Wait Begins

First of all, please ignore my stupid-looking grin. I look like a rabbit, but don't let that deter you from enjoying this blog post. I'm trying not to. Okay, moving on. I am pictured here next to the spot in front of our house where Dad and I planted bulbs this afternoon. Next spring there will be gorgeous hues of red, purple, white, and orange-yellow filling this empty space. We planted tulips, crocuses, and hyacinths. We also found a few previously planted bulbs (tulips and daffodils) and replanted them along one side, so hopefully most of the area surrounding our front patio will be filled with colour come springtime. I'm anxious to see how it turns out, and of course I'll post another picture of the flowers as they bloom.

Then, tonight my dad and I made up a recipe for a creamy potato zucchini soup. We based it off of two recipes: Creamy Zucchini Dulcelatte Soup and Creamy Garlic Potato Soup. We just compiled what looked like good items in each recipe and just guessed at how much to use. Then we added cream cheese to make it creamy, blended it up, and served it. It turned out delicious! We were very excited. I'm going to try and put together a recipe so we can use it again...and so I can pass it along to others who have expressed an interest in trying it.

A Walk Back in Time

This afternoon while Jason and Ruth were at work, Mom, Dad, Kayla and I went to the Frazier Farmstead Museum in Milton-Freewater. We hadn't really known much about it before, but it's a great little museum that was willed to a foundation for use as a museum back in the late 19th century.

The stairwell in the museum is gorgeous. The Frazier family had this house built when they outgrew their original cabin. (Outgrew in both money and family size.) I loved the rug on the stairs and the gorgeous dark wood.

In one of the upstairs rooms, there were a couple of sewing machines and some clothes from the Frazier family's era (around the time of the Civil War).

This was the main room off to the left of the entrance to the house. Through that back room (the dining room) was the kitchen, complete with an old stove and sink. Past that was the bathroom - and yes it had a clawfoot tub!

The grounds of the museum had some outbuildings and beautiful landscaping. I loved this little shed covered in ivy and flowers.

The barn was also quite photogenic. It was red, of course, but I loved the effect of black and white on this building.

My parents were also having fun playing photographer. Here's my dad taking some pictures of the grapes growing on the museum grounds.

Here my dad and I are talking with the museum owner. (Kayla wasn't interested in the conversation.) She was really nice, though I didn't catch her name. Thanks for the tour, museum lady!

Watchin' the Game

Tonight Jason is watching the baseball playoff game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kayla wanted to participate, so we set her up in the Boppy and she settled right in and relaxed watching the game. She did really well supporting her head, and sat there for a good 5-7 minutes. She's doing a lot better with sitting/laying in one position/place for longer periods of time. She doesn't like reclining as much...she always tries to pull herself up so she's sitting up straight. She's determined to sit up! It's fun to watch her develop. Today she also laughed for the first time. It was adorable, and I tried to get her to do it again so Daddy could hear it, but alas...she would not. Most likely she won't do it again for another week or two, though that won't stop us from trying!

Note: The photo quality is poor because I took it with my phone, not my camera.

The New Bakery

This morning I met Merrie Beth and Chloe at the newest bakery in town: The Walla Walla Bread Company. Our friend Melissa works there so we went to check it out. We both got mini carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. We also got loaves of bread to take home. Melissa kindly sliced them for us on her giant slicer machine. It's a great little bakery, and I encourage you to check it out. It's at the east end of Main street on the North side of the street.

Little Bunny Foo-Foo?

Today we had some friends over for dinner and so they could help us get the camper off the truck. Sadly I forgot to get a picture of the guys taking care of the heavy lifting, but I did get a picture of the adorable slippers Merrie Beth brought Kayla. So cute! Thanks, MB!