October and November 2024

 October and November 2024

So grown up!

Mina and Lemon

It's that time of year!

Tim's happy place. State Fair and Elephant Ear time!

We brought Nixon back on a different day. 

Tim got to go to a state fair 3 times in a month between going in Yakima with his Mom before we left and twice here. What a lucky guy!

In October, Tim, Paige, Nixon and I took a trip to the Pocono Mountains and stayed in Shawnee, Pennsylvania. This was a very strange place. It is an old historic home that is a candle shop. But, the basement is a haunted tour where the original owner, in the 1800s, practiced medicine and tested it on monkeys. So all you hear is monkeys screaming while walking around the shop.

We drove over to Jim Thorpe for a day for their fall foliage festival. It is a very cute town.

This was the town square where we stopped to listen to a concert for a bit. They had bands in 3 different places.

We also took a train ride through the mountains and the fall colors were gorgeous!

We got in a couple days of fishing!

Paige brought her computers so while she worked all day we fished and explored!
At least she got to look at different walls while working right?

We went to a play at the local playhouse. It was a comical one about an Italian wedding and an Irish funeral being accidentally scheduled at a church at the same time.

Enjoying the rec room at the resort.
We were happy Nixon was able to get the week off from work. He works at Stafford Hospital in Food Service. He delivers the meals to patients. He really loves it. He takes time with them and tries to be a bright spot in people's lives when they are in a place that maybe isn't their best day. 

We went on a hike hoping to get to water. We didn't find water but it was a beautiful hike.

We played a couple rounds of mini golf at the resort.

Nixon saved this little guy. He was in the hole and my ball landed on him!

There was a local brewery right near where we stayed and they had great pizza and shuffleboard!

They also had the ring toss game where you have to get it on the hook on the wall. We love this game!

Back home now and at our favorite fishing spot at Dalton Pond.

Happy 22nd Birthday Simon!
We love you so much!

Opening Magic Cards.

Happy Halloween!
This year it was 80 so way too hot for a fire. I took all my orange lights and put them in the firepit, and people loved it. A lot of people walked up to see if it was a real fire. Where we live is at the end of our neighborhood in a culdasac and it's kind of hard to see for tricker treaters. People tend to go down a T road before our end so we sat closer to the end of the driveway and the fire lights people could see so more people came down.

This was my first time ever getting to vote in person! My first time voting we were already in the Coast Guard so I have always had to absentee vote. I was so excited to finally get handed an I voted sticker!

Walking around Alexandria for a day.

Happy 50th Birthday Angela!

Tim about passed out blowing all these balloons up. He was laughing because he had no idea the 50 was that big he thought it would be the same size as the letters. 

Paige found a perfect little chair for the kitties.

We are all decorated for Christmas and ready to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas and wrap up 2024!

Paige has this cute little fireplace she DIY'd and so it's the cats' spot for stockings this year.

I still don't trust Lemon not to pull a garland off the mantel. I still wanted greenery so I got creative and bought just the sprigs and laid them out across it that way I can have garland but it doesn't hang over the edge! Haha challenge accepted and won Lemon.

Tim loves decorating for Christmas almost more than me nowadays. He decided we even needed to decorate in the garage. This is in front of where we park our cars and I love it!

 Tim has accepted a GS Business Management position at Coast Guard Headquarters and will start on December 16th. So back to the CG he goes! He will be working in a different department than he was when he was on active duty there. He is looking forward to wearing civilian clothes to work, being able to have his hair longer, and facial hair if he wants! We are very thankful the Lord has blessed us and is providing for us with this next chapter in life as we adjust to the retired side of the military. We love the Coast Guard and are glad to still get to be a part of it. 

I am going to end this post here as we get ready to finish up the year and on to the next! 

July - September 2024

 July through September 2024

I would like to apologize to any family and friends in WA or OR that we didn't get to see while we were out there. With all that needed to get done to support Tim's mom, we just ran out of time to be able to get out to visit everyone. We did get some trips in with her to see some family and get her out of town to relax a bit for a break from everything. We spent the nights with Angie's Dad and Pat and the days with Lynne. This was our first time back in Yakima since 2012. I am not posting pictures of all the work we did just some fun ones. We did a lot of physical work at her house and also lots of meetings and paperwork and all that stuff that unfortunately has to take place when someone passes.

Day one Mike and Paige went through all her kitchen cupboards. We always tease Grandma about how she never throws stuff away and has expired stuff. I think something from 2001 or it may have been 2006 won that title.

Steve, Jaime, and the kids came from Seattle for 2 nights for the funeral. 

The day Steve and Jaime got here was also Steve's birthday so we put up some decorations. Simon and I were making a Happy Birthday banner.

The first time we had all been together in a very long time, minus Nixon unfortunately! This year is the first year since Mike, Steve, and Tim were probably kids Mom gets to spend each of their birthdays with them.

We got to see Tim's Aunt Pat!

We took a day trip down to Portland OR and Vancouver WA. We dropped Mike and Mom off at her brother Fred's in Vancouver and Tim, Paige and I went over and had lunch with Grammy and my Aunt Renee and Great Uncle Don. Then went back to Uncle Fred's for a bit and headed back to Yakima.

We didn't make it out for Grammy's 100th birthday party but we were glad to have a chance to come see her now.

Two former Coasties!

Always love a visit with my sweet Auntie Renee!

We stopped at Multnomah Falls on the way back.

We took Grandma, Mike, and the kids to Leavenworth WA for a day trip.  Mike had never been there and the kids remember going at Christmas time when they were young.

Big Foot is everywhere in the Pacific Northwest!

Tim and I took Paige to lunch at Twede's cafe in North Bend.

This is the diner from Twin Peaks. We had coffee and cherry pie of course!

Stopped off at Snoqualmie Falls on the way back home.

Time for the kids to fly back to VA.

Last visit for this trip.

Happy Birthday Tim! My Dad bought him a slice of chocolate cake for his birthday!

The Coast Guard had Grammy out to celebrate her with 2 awards at their Coast Guard Day picnic. She was given a Living Legend Proclamation by the Military Women's Memorial.

She was also presented with a letter and coin from the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Linda Fagan for her 100th birthday and thanking her for her service. That is pretty much the tippy top of coins you can get! Very impressive Grammy!

My Dad and I were able to drive down for the day to celebrate with her and some of our family.

I hope I am as healthy and happy as her at 100!  You are such an inspiration Grammy!

Got to squeeze a quick visit in with Brook! She is like a sister. We have been buds since she was 5 and I was 8 and she moved in next door to me!

My good friend from high school, Ben, helped us with an antique car, another car, a dirt bike, and a car hauler we needed to sell for Tim's mom.

I made a spaghetti dinner for Mom and Mike and us at my Dad and Pat's.

Ben didn't only help us he actually purchased it all! He is a car guy.

Ben and his Dad are going to restore Larry's car and put a plaque dedicating it to him on the dashboard and enter it into the Vintiques (an antique car club in the area). Thank you Ben!

Got another visit in with Uncle Fred!

And the boys' cousin Susan!

Mom and Larry had made a week-long reservation a year ago at Seaside OR. She asked if Mike and Tima and I would go with her.  So we did.  Mike actually flew back home to TX halfway through the week but we stayed the whole time.

This is Haystack Rock and Cannon Beach, the next town over from Seaside.

When Nixon was little he loved Haystack Rock. We even have a Christmas ornament he got there when he was little.

When I was a kid this is where My Mom, Dad, and I came and stayed each year.

This frog is over 50 years old! I played on him when I was little and this is what got me into liking frogs!

They were setting up the finish line for the Hood to Coast Relay so Tim and I stopped to take a picture as if we just finished it. Yeah right lol. It's a relay from Mt. Hood to the coast. Also, from Portland to the coast.

The end of August we made another trip down to Portland for a night so we could see my Auntie Pam (my Mom's sister). We had a wonderful visit and I always love getting to spend time with her.

I got a quick visit in with my cousin Noel (her younger son). We are 6 weeks apart in age and always used to stay a week together at my Grandparents. I am sure we drove them nuts, we were more like brother and sister when we were little.

Mom and I wanted to take Tim to the same place she and Larry took me when I was out there 4 years ago for a visit. The Benson. Larry loved this place. Funny story, that fountain you can each cover one up and it will make the others spray higher. Lynne was trying to spray Tim and instead, it shot right at my face behind my glasses and down my shirt. It was hilarious and unexpected! It was hot out so it felt refreshing!

Inside the Benson. We had the same waiter as we did when Larry brought me. Turns out that the waiter has been working here for over 40 years.

We ate dinner at a really cool place. I forgot the name now but Tim and I just saw it in a movie and were like hey we sat right there for dinner!

We squeezed in another visit with Grammy!

This was hard to leave. She really didn't want us to go and this was our last time this trip to get down there. She gives the best hugs.

In September we were able to go with Lynne to Coeur D'Alene Lake in ID. Well, that's where we stayed but we were driving over to visit family in Spokane.

We got two fun visits with Aunt Pat and Tim's cousin Annette in Spokane. We saw almost all his cousins at the funeral in July.

This is Mom's cat Shadow. He is an awesome good boy!  Except for 2 nights he gave us a scare and didn't come in til super late and we were worried about coyotes outside.

I was able to squeeze another visit in with Brook. A much needed girls visit.

Dinner for my Dad and Pat's anniversary at the Golden Wheel. Somehow I missed Lynne in the picture. This is Lynne and Larry's favorite restaurant.

These two are in their happy place. The State Fair eating elephant ears. Yes, this is where Tim gets it from!

Still our favorite state fair we have been to!

Got Mom all set up with a new office. Her office was in the barn so she had to walk in the weather over there to do any work. Mike, Tim, and I got it all set up for her over here in the house. We won't talk about all the stuff that had to be taken out of here beforehand! We love you Mom.

Shadow enjoying some love.

Back to the airport to head back to VA.

It was really hard to leave after being there for so long. It was so nice to be able to spend time with my Dad and Pat and Tim's Mom. Sad to not have Larry with us but really nice to spend time with family since we live on the other side of the country. We really enjoyed the dry heat and it reminds us we do not like the humidity out here in VA! 

I enjoyed my morning coffee with my Dad and getting to go to lunch on Saturdays with the guys from his shop. Tim kept Dairy Queen in business since we don't have one in our town he took advantage of it! We appreciate our kids taking care of things back home while we were gone.

We were able to help Mom with big things like selling 5 acres of land and the extra cars and stuff that would have been hard to do by herself. We helped sort through lots of stuff, clean and organize things, do yard work, etc. We were very busy the whole time but she did great through it and is doing well for the situation she finds herself in.