Where Does My Time Go?

 There's no answer here.  I'm just mourning all those pretty fall days that are probably over with for this year.  The rain started yesterday afternoon - just a sprinkle - but it was gloomy by 4:00.  The red leaves showed up beautifully on all the streets I walked on or drove on, but I'm missing the blue sky.

The crunchy leaves on the sidewalk in front of my place have made it more fun to walk.  Kate still likes gathering up handfuls and throwing them.  The cats are on high alert as they try to nap on the porch, since every falling leaf could potentially be a critter to chase.  

I was going around the house to the car yesterday (because my remote garage door opener once again needs batteries), and Bowie was walking alongside me.  Just as we got to the drive, we both saw a small deer just standing there watching us.  He then kept on nibbling on the ground cover and hardly paid Bowie any attention.  I spoke to him and walked a little closer, and he then looked down to show me Wuffie lying there between us.  They all seem to be acquaintances - just three little boys enjoying the morning sunshine.  

Wuffie is between the deer and Bowie.  I shooed him away then since he was getting a little too close to my little pot of geraniums beside the car. I'm not sure they care about geraniums, but I do have a really pretty hosta out front that he would probably like to sample.  

One day last week, Ryan texted and asked me if I had any polyester batting.  I looked and had only cotton batting on hand and none of the polyester bags of stuffing I like to keep around.  I did find a pillow form which was 100% polyester that I knew I would never use and offered that to him.  He said he had decided to just buy some for his project, and it's a good thing he did.  That little bit would not have made a dent in what he was planning. 

There was a lot of trial and error on his part, and Emily ended up helping him pull off the surprise while Gray was at soccer and Kate was over here.  It was VERY impressive!

The sunset appeared right on cue to make for some beautiful and unusual pictures.

During the afternoon, the girls worked on designing a video game.  I have no idea what they're doing, but they love it and impressed me!

Kate has graduated into a red outfit for DMW instead of the white one and is pretty pleased with her new status.  She explains it all in the video below - if it works. 

I wish I could see Graysen's cross-country finals this afternoon, but it was too hard to work out the times and distance.  I am expecting some pictures and videos.  She's placed in all four meets so far, 3rd, 2nd, and two 1sts.  Hoping this speedy girl will get another first place and that all the girls and boys will have fun and maybe bring home an award for SMS.  

Field Day is Thursday at their school, and then there's a Halloween dance on the weekend.  This is new for me.  I should volunteer to be a chaperone, so I can see what this is all about.  I thought Homecoming was last week at the local high school, but the elementary school is having Spirit Week this week.  I really can't keep up, but then I'm not expected to!  

Finally, I had the 2-week checkup on my wisdom tooth extraction, and the biopsy was negative.  It was some sort of cyst that had gotten infected, so I hope it's taken care of now.  I do have bone loss in that jawbone, but I'll try not to worry about that until someone tells me I should.  

Busy Girls

 After years of seeing the girls almost daily, I've now reached a time when I'm lucky to spend any time with them.  So far, they're filling up their spare time with sports and activities, and as long as they're happy and getting the required schoolwork done, I'm happy too.  I hardly ever am involved in practices or games and for lots of reasons.  Some practices are out of town and end up late, and Emily and/or Ryan are able to take them - and enjoy it.  It's hard for me to keep up with schedules of practices or games, and I just depend on someone to tell me what's coming up or what happened and cheer from a distance. 

I did get to one of Graysen's soccer games last Saturday.  Katherine had had one earlier that morning, but besides being early, cool, and foggy, it was located in a place where I would have a lot of trouble getting up and down a hill.  Gray's game was at 12:45, and the weather had settled into a nice crisp fall afternoon - blue sky and warm-with-a-jacket temps.  I got my chair set up and tried to keep up with the action.  The other team was much better, and our girls lost, but they held them at bay for a long time.  

My pictures aren't so good from a distance, but this is the best I could do.  Gray gave me a grin when she noticed I was there, and I got a nice hug later.  She's found some sweet friends through this team, and I'm glad she's having a good time.  It's hard not to win more often, but she is making some goals and trying to figure out the different positions.  I think she plans to play middle-school soccer as soon as it's offered - maybe this winter.  Club soccer takes a tremendous amount of time for all the practices and always a game on the weekends, usually not in Snoqualmie.

I don't have any pictures of Katherine's game Saturday, but she did make a goal and they ended up losing by one point.  She had an excellent game the weekend before and got two goals.  They ended up tying that one.  I'll try to post the videos of her best goal.  It's impressive that she stays aggressive even after the goalie blocks her first attempt and barrels right in and scores - and then jumps up and screams with joy.  I love this girl.  

Kate's Goal.

I might have to work on videos a little more. 

Graysen joined the cross-country team when school started, which is really the only after-school choice for 6th-grade girls.  Luckily, it's the one that she loves the most and is quite good in.  They've had 4 meets, and she came in first place in two of them, 2nd place in one, and 3rd place in one.  Unfortunately, the school has not won a meet, but they've tried hard.  The finals are coming up in about a week-and-a-half.  We don't know any of the details of how it's done, but we'll be pulling for her.  

 Snoqualmie Middle School has only 8 girls on their 6th grade squad.  Some schools have as many as 50.  They're a sweet group, I hear, and are out there trying every week.

I can't wait to see them run in person.  I'm so glad they're getting this opportunity to get out and exercise and learn about competing and encouraging each other. 

Gray at the finish line with Maija only 2 seconds behind her.  

The second meet.  Still smiling.

 

Delicious reward for a job well done.

I don't have pictures from the last two meets, but I'll work on getting and learning how to store all these downloads.  

Katherine's favorite still is her martial arts classes, but she's joined a new sport now - lacrosse - and is pretty excited about it.  I think Graysen will do that too when she's free.  It helps that their two sister friends are joining up too.  I hope it's everything they think it's going to be.  I know zero about lacrosse, but I guess I'll be learning something new.  

Not sports related but Emily's favorite hobby.

Following Up

 I covered so many things last week that I wanted to remember what happened to our plans and some new things to record.

Unfortunately, this whole week was spent in (unnecessarily) worrying about my wisdom tooth extraction.  It was just so strange, this need for surgery when most people get theirs out young.  I'm not even sure if I mentioned any details here.  I'm sure I did, but I don't want to take the time to find out what.  After I had a routine dental cleaning last year, I developed some sort of abnormality in my far left gum area - where a wisdom tooth had been found during surgery about 15 years ago for removal to be fused to my bone and "impossible" to take out.  My current surgeon had no trouble and wondered why that happened, but I just went with the flow, and they took out the tooth next to my impacted wisdom tooth.  No trouble all those years until then, and even then it wasn't uncomfortable - just a small area where it felt like a tooth was coming in.  I waited until the next 6-month appointment and went back, only to get sent to an oral surgeon.

Having had osteopenia and maybe likely osteoporosis now, I was twice on Fosamax and Alendronate to help with the thinning of my bones, which can also be troublesome in later years when it somehow affects your older bones, especially your jawbones.  Two dentists have mentioned it to me, and, of course, I had added it to my worry section of the brain that in case I ever had to have jaw surgery, I might be in trouble.  So here I was looking it right in the eye and imaging all sorts of bone grafts and years of healing - if not worse - especially when I heard the word biopsy in the surgical instructions.  I'm not making light of this.  I haven't heard from the biopsy yet, but I have more faith in the surgeon after having the procedure done and talking to him.  Or having Emily talk to him since I don't even remember seeing him the day of the surgery.  

There will be no pictures ever of me with my mouth full of gauze and an ice pack wrapped around my head like a big white hairband, but I was not too concerned.  I asked Emily if I was too crazy on the way home, and she said I was just normal, which somehow doesn't answer that question.  She said we did talk about medieval broth and chicken bones once though.

I think the worst part of the whole day was the IV, and I'm usually preparing for the serious faces and sometimes panic on the faces of people who take my blood samples or put in IVs.  Mama's veins were the same way, and I think it's harder on the phlebotomistsfd than us.  No one seemed too worried, but after tries in both arms, the first nurse gave up and turned me over to the other one.  They were gentle, and it didn't bother me, but they were so concerned and kept bringing up subjects they thought would distract me.  When they found out I had cats, they entertained me with tales of their cats and asked questions about mine, but it just didn't work.  I offered up the backs of my hands as a choice, and I'm really not sure why they were reluctant to try there.  When I had my cataract surgery this summer, that happened fairly soon, and on the next visit, they just went straight to my hand.  They must have had a stricter schedule than this office.

After a few more tries, the nurses decided the doctor could come try.  She was very sweet, and her name was Dr. Brown, but she was not my surgeon.  I just kind of go along with things and figured out they knew which was which.  She finally found a vein on the side of my arm near my elbow, which is a new spot, but it worked, and that took care of getting me ready for anesthesia.  I was really a little concerned there would be talk of having something that didn't require an IV, but that would be a deal-breaker for me.  Anything to do with bones, I do not want to be awake at all.  Or with my mouth open.  Before I realized that they would not have to go to another medical office to find someone else, Dr. Brown asked me to take some deep breaths for her to test it.  The next thing I remember is someone telling me to open my eyes, that they were going to get a wheelchair.  I was still under the impression we were still waiting on a vein, so I said, "Where are we going?"  Dumbest question of the day!  Answer was, we're finally getting this troublemaker out of our office!  

So I've been home, pretty much alone and even out for a few hours of babysitting yesterday without a single bit of pain.  The bleeding stopped within 12 hours probably, and I've just had a dull headache in spite of taking some Advil for any expected discomfort.  There's something about getting through an ordeal that you've dreaded and realizing you've survived it that give you (me, anyway) an extra shot of adrenaline.  I can't remember what I did, but I first got some food that Emily made for me as soon as we got home.  I think it was awful boxed chicken broth - that I added nothing to,  Maybe some yogurt and a popsicle.  I've missed coffee and tea and all good food.  No caffeine, carbonation, or hot things for a week, so that limits me some.  I did get some little protein shakes that were not good, but I wonder if anything would have been good.  I tried making decaf coffee with some milk and part of the chocolate protein shake, and nope, that didn't do it either.  It's probably good, because anything I've tried to drink has ended up on my shirt or chin.

I think this is going to be a good day though since there's no numbness and no gauze and no ice to wear around.  I still have to swish some vile-tasting mouthwash around twice a day, but that makes me feel like any germs that got in there are being well destroyed.  

Noreen, who knows me well, gave me two little jars of Oui yogurt, which are bought not only for the flavor - mine is raspberry - but for the fact that their containers are cute little jars that you can turn into vases or anything holders.  There's also a chocolate-covered yogurt bar that Katherine and I sampled yesterday.  That's to save for when I really need a soft-foods boost.

That's been my favorite thing along with some Safeway clam chowder, which was good, but I was a little concerned over the little pieces of potato and clam in there.  It worked though and was much better than the broth.  I made a packet of cheese mashed potatoes last night which were just okay, as expected.  Emily makes good mashed potatoes, so she's promised me some of those when she has some time.

The only thing I've asked for for my birthday is that the girls take me to the Swirl down the street for a frozen yogurt.  I've been taking them there since they were old enough to hold a cup, so it's payback time.  The store has been under a couple of other names but in the same location.  I usually just supervise the cup-filling and try to avoid paying for toppings of gummy sharks and M&Ms that they know they can't finish.  I think in these 7 or 8 years, I've only gotten one taste - when they had peach - so I think it's my turn to have a real cup.  I did taste some boba things one day and like those, so I'm already planning my attack.  Our big problem will be when we'll fit it in with all their after-school activities.  It may be this weekend, but that will be even better.  

And that's enough about my head repairs.  First got the cataracts behind me - but no new glasses yet - and now have this surgery over with.  I'm still waiting to hear about the biopsy, but Emily was told my gums looked healthy, for whatever that's worth.  So we wait a little longer.  

Maybe we'll try a picnic at Mike's Tree.  I found a news article about the City of North Band planning a new development for the area.  I thought I had mentioned that here but don't see it.  Some condos and apartments have already gone up nearby, and it looks like some decisions are going to be made soon.  I hate to lose our place.  The actual tree looked bad last year and was losing limbs.  It's so special though, and just picking out another area is not going to be as nice.  Not much we can do about it, I guess, especially if the tree is dying.  That whole area is so beautiful though - the surrounding mountains and the tall fir trees, the Snoqualmie River running alongside and that big swath of pastureland perfect for little girls and a dog to run in.  I might have to find another place besides St. George's for my ashes when the time comes. 

I'm just melting some candles instead of burning them for some fall flavor and not cooking any anything.  I wonder if everyone is just tired of pumpkin bread.  The office and maintenance workers here seem so happy to get it and even come begging sometimes, but we have a whole new crew now, so who knows what I'll pick for a little gift during the autumn days - maybe cranberry bread or banana bread.  That always seems like a good breakfast gift.  I hope I'll still feeling good as we go into October.  

Noreen and I went out to eat last week at a place I went to long ago but is under new management and has a new name.  Buckshot Honey.  I didn't read the whole menu because Noreen had earlier loved the smoked brisket sandwich with "greens" on the side.  That sounded way good enough for me, so I ordered the sandwich but forgot the greens, which were collards.  I never liked those growing up better than turnip greens, which I like very much, so maybe subconsciously I forgot to order them.  She gave me some of hers, and those were the best things on the menu.  Who knew?  With vinegary bbq sauce on them - just like our pepper sauce we always had on the table growing up. 

I'm not sure what the theme is supposed to be - it says barbecue, but it's pushing the Old West theme, not the Southern barbecue flavors I'm used to.  Good sandwich though and big.  I had to bring half of it home.  The sides are where I messed up!  I got potato salad, which again was a quite different salad than I'm used to.  I discovered almost too late that it was much better with that barbecue sauce on it.  I also ordered cornbread because I love it and never get it, but alas it was not my type of cornbread.  I think it's rude to make cornbread sweet, but this was like a piece of cake.  I tried to trade it to Noreen for the collards she gave me, but she turned it down and said she was not a cornbread person.  I think maybe she needs to try another kind!  There probably wasn't a lot of that in California.  

It was a nice lunch though and good conversation, as usual.  

This is a pretty nighttime picture of it.  When I first noticed it open years ago, it was a soup and sandwich place, much lighter, but I never did eat there.  It's located in Old Snoqualmie, and it seems like I'm always just passing through to get to North Bend or taking someone to school, etc.  I'm glad Noreen introduced it to me.  There's a nice place to eat outside, but it was shaded and a bit too cool for that.  At Christmastime when they have the tree lighting night, that area is filled with open fires and good smells and carolers.  So pretty.  

We left and walked over to Carmichaels Hardware.  Again, I don't go in there much either.  It's very different - kind of like an old-fashioned general store but with a pretty well stocked, it seems, hardware store.  I'm always needing little things I would normally pick up at a Wal-Mart, but there is not one within my driving range, so if I don't want to drive to an Ace Hardware, I just order from Amazon.  As we were poking around in there looking at all the touristy and cute things just floor to ceiling, I remembered that I had a difficult light bulb for a lamp that had burned out.  It's hard to remember the right size when I'm out, but this time I did, and I found it for $4.00.  And it worked.  My last one had a little tip to it that pushed my shade sideways - along with the help of cats knocking it over.  When we first moved here, we were missing a lamp part when we unpacked along with some little electrical piece, so Mike and I went out searching for a hardware store.  He had been up here long enough to know where the nearest Wal-Mart was and wasn't willing to drive that far.  We didn't have much hope for what looked like a little gift shop, but we ended up finding just the right little parts and old-fashioned toys for the babies.  Don't ask me what, but I'm sure they were much appreciated!

I'll catch up on the girl's athletics on the next post.  They're having fun and doing well these past few weeks.       

They were over here briefly one day last week when Graysen had a day off from cross-country.  They came in and got the biggest hugs ever.  I hadn't realized how much I missed seeing them.  The soccer and cross-country events are in locations that aren't easy for me all the time, or the weather is bad, so I've had to skip those, but it looks like the weekend is going to be perfect.

Anyway, they were thrilled to see the decorations up and had to go around and admire every little thing and remember where it was last year or where we got this or that.  The little velvet pumpkins were a big hit, and they picked out 3 or 4 each to take home with them.  Then they opened a little gift bag from Aunt CC that had Halloween wigs and some candy and just trinkets - lip gloss, etc. The best thing was her critiquing of some fashion drawings they had done - Carly and Katherine mainly.  They had asked me to judge each set, and I hate doing that.  It's an awful job.  I can see their hopeful faces and have to pick one is just too hard.  It's fun for them though.  Elise had taken each doll and written her opinion of the clothes or artwork or something on the back, and they spent a long time on that.  

After all that, I got myself a cup of coffee and them a snack, and out came the books.  They take every chance they get to read, and I don't mind if I have to ask for an appointment to talk to them!  I'm so glad they love it. 

 Before long, Katherine was in the chair, and Graysen was cuddled beside me, and it was happy time.  Then Katherine looked at Graysen and patted the chair and said, "C'mere."  They are so precious to me.  I love that they have each other.  Especially when Katherine comes in and tells me she wishes she were in kindergarten where it didn't matter what she wore.  It seems that the girls in her grade (4th!) are all into "trendy" things and popularity, and she just wants to be comfortable in what she wants to wear.  I know how she feels, but I did have to admire her little short skirt and white shoes and necklace.  They are always nicely put together and clean - at first - when they go out, but they do like just pulling old shirts and soft leggings out to wear.  She said Graysen didn't care what people thought about what she wore and she wanted to be more like that.  I hope these girls never hurt someone's feeling because they aren't "in" and accept one another.  Graysen and her friends have come a long way and have gravitated toward friends that build them up instead of leave them out and criticize.

This has taken a long time, so I'm going to do some cross-country videos and soccer game ones to post next.  I don't understand all the rules and what's going on, but it's fun to watch them do what they love.  

Weekend Results

 Most of the things I mentioned last post were tried, and most of them either didn't happen or failed to have the results I wanted them to.  Luckily, no one cared.

Our trip to Mike's tree was put on hold since it had rained so many days that the field would have been soggy and not fun to picnic on.  Emily and I were busy pulling out stuff and donating and throwing away, so we were glad to have another day stuck inside.  I'm not sure what happened on Steller, but I heard a few of the comings and goings.  Graysen's team won at soccer.  Not sure about Katherine's.  No one reported.  She hates losing, and she didn't call, so I have to guess that they lost.  They just play in the rain.

The two-ingredient pumpkin bread "worked," but it was certainly nothing special.  I poured cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree into a bowl and stirred it around.  I wanted to make half for the girls without nuts and the other half with pecans, so I waited until the batter was in the pans or muffin tins to poke the nuts or chocolate chips in.  The result was an unappetizing-looking collection of muffins and a small bread.  I should have taken pictures, but I didn't.  It was quite yellow, and those chips and nuts poking out didn't do much for the appearance.  While it was warm, it tasted okay but nothing like the kind you make from scratch.  I haven't even shared any since we didn't have our picnic, and I have a few bites with coffee in the mornings.  I probably could have done a better job, now that I've tried it, but it takes just a few more minutes to make the real thing so why bother.  It's just as quick to run down to Safeway and get something already made.  In fact, Carly, my former upstairs neighbor, brought me a box of pumpkin biscotti from Trader Joe's Sunday morning.  Her dad is a sucker for seasonal goodies and is always sharing what he finds with us.  That's a much better choice than what I made.

Elise and I watched Emma Saturday night.  It was the second time for me, and I loved it just as much and noticed a few things I had missed before.  It was such a nice couple of hours.  Elise made us a cup of espresso with whipped cream - espresso con panne? - and it was soooo good.  We didn't care how strong it was, and she's really good as grinding the beans just right and gauging the right amount of sugar - just as I've gotten used to drinking my coffee black. We love all Jane Austen's books and most of the movies made from them and enjoyed comparing the different ones we've seen.  

I got her to take down my box of fall decorations with the idea that I would make a wreath and see what I wanted to use.  Before I know it, she had found a home for every little acorn and pinecone, and I had to go behind her and calm it down a little bit.  I'm at a point in life where I don't like a lot of clutter and don't feel like I have to use every little decoration I've collected.  

This wreath is going to take a lot of work, but I do like the fall eucalyptus stems.  They're velvety and will look good when I do a little poking in the ends and maybe putting a bow on.  Or maybe not.  This was about halfway through, and I was still trying to tame those stray branches.

The same with Grandma's churn.  I just brought out the premade stems and poked them in the hole on top.  I was still in my pajamas, and it was cold, so I didn't want to spend any more time out there than I had to.  It will go by the front door with my ceramic pumpkin and the yellow one Elise and I thought we needed in Safeway Saturday along with some cinnamon-scented pinecones.  That was a good purchase and makes the house smell so good even without making the potpourri.

I got a bag of these baby velvet pumpkins from Amazon, and they are so cute.  I like the colors, and they're perfect for just poking in places where I need something else.

Mr. Pilgrim disappeared long ago, but Mrs. P shows up every fall and ends up - somewhere.

I saw Mama's trifle bowl that she liked so much sitting out and started just piling things in.  It makes me happy, so I'll probably leave it alone and put some candles with it.

That eucalyptus again and the cinnamon pinecones.  So easy to just lay them down and get instant fall vibes.  Debby gave me these plates when I lived in Montgomery simply because I admired them, and they are one of my favorite things.  We use them all the time, and they look cheery year round.  

Emily found the towel year before last at her favorite hospital gift shop and the acorn candle last year and gave them to me.  We love that shop, especially in the fall and at Christmas.

Another baby pumpkin, green this time, with a bowl Mike brought from Mexico and the glittery acorns Elise gave me when we lived in NC.  Most everything has some good memory, and I'm always glad I take out things and scatter them around. Between the cats and grandchildren, those acorns have turned up in unusual places through the years.  I think I still have about half of them.

It will be fun for Graysen and Kate to come over and go from room to room and table to table finding their old favorites.  And I'll have to go see what amazing things they're done this year - besides a whole new kitchen, laundry room, and bathroom.  

The cats are unimpressed with the new look and want only the fireplace on and their little islands of comfort.  Sort of like me - plus a cup of coffee.

Fall Spirit Lifters

 We need an extra shot of happy this weekend, and I'm going to work on that as soon as I can.

It's a little early for wassail to add some holiday cheer to the apartment.  I'll definitely be stockpiling apple cider, cranberry juice cocktail, oranges and all the spices, but I think I'll wait until closer to Thanksgiving.  Who knows?  Life is rushing by at such a fast pace I might just have wassail whenever I want to.  

In the meantime, I'll make the house smell good with some potpourri made from some orange peel I've saved and a couple of apples.  I need to trim my rosemary, so that will be a good addition.  I'll just keep adding things until the mixture pleases me.  

We're going to Tanner's Landing Sunday afternoon to spread out our blankets and chairs and remember Mike and cry and laugh and watch the girls go crazy with the dog.  I know this won't happen, but I would like to take Gus with us.  I have a little cat playpen now, and he might enjoy that outing.  He would love to climb Mike's Tree, but he would also like to run wild in all those open spaces.  We saw an eagle last year, and that's too scary to think about, although Gus has gotten to be a really big boy and might not appeal to birds of prey.  It seems like after this annual trip, we can perk up a little and get on with all the Halloween and Thanksgiving activities.

I have my pumpkin pillows in the chairs on the front porch and worked on my wreath today.  I don't have the bow on it yet, and it needs some more filler, but I hung it anyway.  

I hope I get myself organized enough to make pumpkin bread and cranberry bread to give as gifts.  I'm going to experiment on one that's so simple it can't be good!  It's a box of spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree. That's it.  I bought a couple of boxes and cans to try and might try cupcakes for the girls for Sunday without pecans and some with for the rest of us.  

So now I have a plan - several plans.  I'll see how much of this I get done tomorrow.  I feel like it will take at least one trip to the grocery store and maybe one to Mount Si Nursery.  I would like to have a decorative cabbage for one of my pots but don't really love mums.  I think the porch is okay without having to worry about killing things or bringing them in for the winter.  

It's already Saturday morning, and I'm not sleepy.  I think the family has something planned with some other families and soccer games out of town that afternoon.  I've missed seeing the girls this week and can't wait to hear all their school news.  

I was going to find some pictures of past years' visits to Mike's tree, but I typed in the wrong year and got lost in these memories.  

We were visiting for a couple of weeks in September of 2014 and having quite a good time.  Graysen and her funny friend Pop-Pop.  I think he had already started his chemo at that point and was staying in WA a lot, so GG was very familiar with him and his antics.

This precious baby with her auburn hair wearing one of the many, many monogrammed things she was forced to wear!  What a sweet age and how thankful we were to have her in our lives.

It was my birthday week, so we went out for Indian food where Graysen tried some mango drink with a catchy name.  It was the first time I had seen her since the summer, and it was just the best time ever.  I got to walk her around outside up and down the sidewalks with her holding my hand, and I thought life couldn't get any better.

But it did.  We babysat one night so Ryan and Emily could go out and have a night away from pets, baby duty, and parents.  The next morning, they came in with a bouquet of birthday flowers for me.  I almost missed what was attached to the stems.  A pregnancy test announcing a new baby in May.  One of the best birthdays ever.

And there was a lot of this..... Jack loved having Emily all to himself for lots of long naps, and we were glad to keep Graysen entertained.

We went for lots of walks around town through the falling leaves.  We walked by these apartments a lot, and we never thought that one day we would be living there - right on this street.

Lots of walks with Griffin and the whole family.

Some of these pictures make me sad, but this one is a good one.  Mike made the most of his doctor's visits.  We were at the Starbucks next to the Cancer Center in Seattle.  I'm not sure if he had already started chemo or not or if we were there for blood tests, but once he got his coffee and newspaper and settled in to entertain the nurses, he made it a fun day.  I think he was getting lab work for a port before the lung surgery, if my memory is correct, so it would have been a good day.  

It's good to have these memories, but it's hard too.  The things we didn't get to do and the Pop-Pop the girls didn't get to grow up with.  

So we'll just remember what we can and feel lucky we had all those years.  At this point, we had been married 47 years.  Still not enough.