Naughty or Nice?

Bill was Santa at the Festival of Trees again this year. Couldn't resist getting my picture taken on his knee. Hoping I have been good enough for Santa to be nice to me this Christmas.

Festival of Trees

One of our more recent Thanksgiving holiday traditions is to go to the Festival of Trees. Bill is a Rotarian and is in charge of the tree judging and has been Santa for the past few years. This year the festival is at the Pearson Air Museum with the trees all nestled up among the airplanes. Bill and I went Thanksgiving evening so that I could see them. Tom and I went so I could get my picture taken on Santa's lap. In the past, the gala has been held the Saturday after Thanksgiving to auction off the trees but this year it is going to be a whole week later. More pictures of me and Santa and Bill and I at the gala next week coming.

Give Thanks

We had a very pleasant Thanksgiving--just the five of us. We had dinner at Beverly's house. She did most of the heavy lifting as far as the cooking was concerned but I made a few things at home and went to help her with the final preparations for the day. We were very thankful that Tom could be with us. It has been two and a half months since we have seen him. The winter storm over the weekend and beginning of the week had me concerned about his traveling home but he made it okay. He and Maddy drove over Snoqualmie Pass Tuesday afternoon--by then the highways were not too bad. It only took them a little longer than usual to make the trip. He had to take a $60 taxi ride from Kirkland to the Seattle Amtrak station because the roads were still pretty icy. And his Amtrak ride took a little longer than planned but we were very happy to have him home when he got here Wednesday afternoon. We are so blessed to have each other. Hoping everyone had a wonderful holiday as well.

Veteran's Day Celebration and Remembrance

Many years ago, Jeff Oerding started inviting all his veteran friends and their spouses out for dinner to celebrate Veteran's Day and then took them to the Veteran's Day dance at Pearson Air Museum. At some point, Bill and I started to be included. Since their marriage a few years ago, Jeff and Julie have continued this tradition every year although the evening has changed a little bit in the past few years because the Pearson Air Museum no longer has the Veteran's Day dance. Jeff and Julie always wear one of their many vintage uniforms that they own. They set up displays, have readings--usually about WWII, introduce everyone attending and their contributions to the military and ask them to tell their stories. Neither one of them has ever been in the military but they are part of a WWII living history group and have such a passion for military history and keeping it alive. It is so wonderful that they think enough of veterans to honor them in this way. And it is an honor to be included in this group of veterans.

A Walk in Moulton Falls County Park

Bill and I took advantage of a break in the rain to go hiking at Moulton Falls County Park today. It has been three years since I went to Moulton Falls and we had never gone hiking on the trail there. Bill did the whole six mile round trip. Since I'm not much of a distance hiker like he is, I went three miles and had him pick me up in the car. It was a little too late in the season to see the change in color of the leaves so that was a little disappointing. The leaves were pretty much all on the ground by now. But it was a pleasant hike walking along the east fork of the Lewis River. There are a lot of rapids along the river and a lot of mini waterfalls coming off the hill going into the Lewis River. There are a lot of ferns and many of the trees are covered in moss. Moulton Falls itself is actually a very small waterfalls--only 10 feet tall. A surprise to me was Yacolt Falls which is also at Moulton Falls Park and is just up the road a little ways. It is much more impressive than the park's namesake. There is also a cool arch bridge that goes over the Lewis River and a swing bridge just down the creek from Yacolt Falls. As I waited for Bill to come get me in the car, I could feel that a storm was coming in with the wind coming up. It started pouring but luckily Bill came about 5 or 10 minutes after it started so that I didn't get too drenched. We really enjoyed having a nice excursion at the park today.

Veteran's Day

In honor of Veteran's Day, I thought I would post a picture of my nephew, Rhys. He is very into World War II at the moment and dressed up as a B-17 pilot for Halloween this year. The Smith family is always very creative with their costumes and this was a wonderful one as well.

Today is the big Vancouver Veteran's Day celebration and parade. Bill and I usually go to it but we went an Army-Air Force football game party instead. Unfortunately it was a very painful game to watch with Army losing by 20 points.

As we approach Veteran's Day I would like to tell all my family and friends who have served and are still serving, thank you for your service. I am proud of my service but am so thankful that I never had to serve during a wartime situation. It is with great admiration and gratitude that I thank those who did make that incredible sacrifice.

Digital Pea of the Week

I belong to a wonderful digital scrapbooking community at Two Peas in a Bucket. It is a place that I can share my digital scrapbooking layouts, get ideas, and enjoy "conversing" with other digital scrappers around the country and even the world. A week or so ago, I was approached and asked if I was interested in being featured as a Pea of the Week. I was so honored to be asked. So my interview and layout that I did for the feature is at this link. Digital Pea of the Week.

First Band Concert of the Year

Tonight was the first concert of the year. As usual it was standing room only with three bands totaling 250 students and their families. Chris got a new uniform this year--an added tuxedo jacket and new tuxedo pants to go with his shirt and vest that he already had. He looked very sharp. As usual, the band is outstanding.