Happy Fall......Now Winter

I know we haven't been good at keeping up with this blog - so much to do and so little free time. We had a good fall, good weather and beautiful, amazing fall colors. We spent Thanksgiving with The Goldsmith's in Bellevue. That would be Chris's brother Steve, wife Carol, and their family. We were able to meet our new great niece, Ella Rose. Very, very good baby, who is now 4 months old. She was accompanied by her older sister Sidney, age 3, who is a very smart little gal! It was good to catch up with the comings and goings of the family and we had a great meal. Heidi and Joe joined us for desert as they spent the day with Joe's side of the family. Jeff was able to join us for the entire day. He is re-couping from shoulder surgery - left shoulder and he is left handed. Bummer. He started back to work today...finally. Now we are quickly approaching Christmas. The tree is up and some of the decorations as well. Still lots to do and not enough time. Both of us have been sick with horrible colds/coughs, which we can't seem to shake. Dorothy is facing serious budget cuts at WWU - the worst she has seen in her 22 years there. Don't know how we are going to do it. Time will tell. We will try to do better with our blog. Hopefully with Christmas will bring some new photos. We have none to post now. But just wanted everyone to know we are alive and well and we have so much to be thankful for. Until next time...........

Our Beloved Alex

We are sad to report that our beloved cat Alex, named after our first grandchild, died yesterday after a very brief bout with cancer. He stopped eating a week ago and after going to the vet and getting x-rays as well as I.V. fluids, the x-ray showed he had spots on his liver which the vet felt was cancer. We just couldn't prolong his life and so we took him in yesterday to have him put to sleep. One of the hardest things we've done. I asked the vet why we get so attached to our pets. Her answer was because animals give us unconditional love, which is something even humans can't always give us. That's why it's so hard to say good bye. He gave us 8 good years and was actually Chris's "guide cat." He always would alert Chris if someone was at the door or in the driveway. He woke him at 5:30 every morning because he knew Chris had to get up to go to work, AND that meant breakfast time for Alex. We NEVER had to set our alarm. Today we received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from our Vet with a nice note. Shows that she truly understands. Thank you Alex for being such a loyal companion.....you will be missed.

Arrow Update & Other happenings.....

Well, the police called me to say they found out who shot the arrow thru our bedroom window. A neighbor, up the street, who's back yard is adjacent to ours. He was target practicing and "lost" one of the arrow. Umm...why would you target practice in the city??? Not bright. The police were able to make a perfect match with our arrow and his and he said he had "lost" an arrow while practicing. He will be charged in court with "reckless endangerment" and will have to make restitution. It could be months before this happens, so we are out a lot of money right now. We are just glad to know it was an "accident" and that someone wasn't trying to kill us.

Busy times at work. Chris said the Bellingham Airport is very busy and most flights are full which means Hertz is doing good business. Classes at Western start on the 24th, but the fall sports have already been here a month so Dorothy has been very busy with all sorts of paperwork, etc.

Our cat Alex has become very sick and he is at the doctor as we write this. Hopefully it's nothing serious. He just doesn't want to eat anymore, which, if you have seen Alex, you know he is a big boy and loves his food.

The weather is beautiful but fall is in the air. This is a good time of year.

All for now................

ARROWS!

Tuesday morning I awake to find a hunting arrow lodged in our bedroom window & TV. I froze in horror and thought perhaps I was dreaming. There it was....a very expensive hunting arrow in our bedroom window. After spending the entire day with the police and crime scene detective, I felt like I was on CSI. "Who would have done this" was the question that kept coming to mind. Even the police said this was one for the record. Had it not been for our TV, one of us would of been dead as the arrow was aimed right at our bed. We now have to special order a window as it is an odd size, and co-ordinate the new window being put in with a detective so he can come and remove the arrow. This has been one of the worst things that has ever happened. Very unnerving. I haven't slept in our bedroom since.....and actually, I haven't slept much at all. It will be interesting to see where this leads. I would post some pictures of this, but frankly, I don't want to have a visual reminder. "Every day's a gift" keeps playing in my mind.

Wednesday we celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary. We had a quiet dinner at Anthony's Hearthfire on the water and watched the sailboat races. A nice repreave from the arrow incident! Here's to another 31!

Winery in Prosser, WA. Very Good Wine!

Battle of Little Big Horn

Custer's Last Stand

Our Wyoming hosts, The O's. Thanks for the great time.

Wyoming Wild Donkey (?)

Wyoming Buffalo

Onward to Wyoming

Trying to stay cool in Breckinridge

Next door neighbor to Bill and Janet's idea of a B&B - The Morris's had much better accomodations. Thanks guys for the great time.

Hilary and Payten in Palmer Lake CO. Isn't she a cutie?

Bill & Chris in Breckinridge CO

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

We just got back from our two week road trip to Colorado. We covered 7 states in 2 weeks and it was exhausting, but fun. We stayed with our friends Bill and Janet in Palmer Lake CO, just outside Colorado Springs. Beautiful country and a great time. We got to visit with Hilary & baby Payten, who is one year old now and so very cute & smart. Chris & Bill got to see the final day of the Senior U.S. Open at The Broodmoor in Colorado Springs. Thanks Sam for getting those passes! And thanks to Bill for driving us all over Colorado, even though Dorothy got car sick. And Janet's homemade taco shells were the best! We then ventured on to Wyoming and stayed with our friends the Oliveira's in Gillette. George took us by the Big Horn Mountain range and on to his mother in law's huge cattle ranch in Ranchester WY. We even got to have lunch with Nancy and it was good to see her after so many years. Some of the most beautiful scenery we've ever seen was in Wyoming. George and Dorothy were great hosts - thanks to you both. And those buffalo burgers were great! We saw so much of our beautiful country but glad to be home

Cake time!

Birthday Dinner

Some of Heidi's friends at Family at the Lake Union Bar and Grill

And more presents.......

PRESENTS!

Heidi turns 30!

Heidi turns 30 & she gets a big purse! Joe threw a nice birthday bash for Heidi and a few of her friends and family.

Lummi Ferry Terminal

Looking at Gooseberry Pt while waiting for the Ferry.

Lummi Island

Waiting for the Ferry to go back to Bellingham, looking back at Lummi Island and a few of the older homes.

Another view of Mt. Baker and the Twin sisters.

Lummi Island

When the weather got hot in town, we decided to take the little ferry over to Lummi Island where it was 12 degrees cooler! This is the view from the ferry terminal, looking back at Bellingham and Mt. Baker

Speaking of the beach, this is our favorite picture of our grandchildren taken at Semiahmoo Resort the day before Heidi & Joe's wedding.

CANNON BEACH

On a hot day like today, this is where we would rather be. The beach!

Chris, Heidi, Hilary, Baby Payten & Bill @ Heidi's wedding. Our girls grew up together (even though distance was a factor) and were in each other's weddings. We have fond memories of beach vacations on the Oregon Coast. Hilary and her husband Todd made the trip to Heidi & Joe's wedding with 5 week old Payten. Thanks for doing that guys...it's not easy. The wedding would not have been complete without them all.