Fall in the Great Northwest

With Fall upon us, there's pumpkins to be carved, leaves and pine needles to be raked up, sweaters and coats to be dug out of storage, and (most importantly) post-season soccer games!

East Valley girls soccer is the #2 seed going into Regionals which start Saturday. They will be playing North Central again, whom they beat last Friday 4-1. From here on out, it's loser out. The game last Friday was the last regular season game and the seniors were all recognized. All 9 of them!! It seems like just yesterday we were doing the same for Kaylyn. It's hard to think that we won't have EV soccer a part of our lives for at least five years. Come on McKenna, grow up, would ya?!

It's a great bunch of seniors who are very close and have played together for a very long time. In fact, most of them have played together since they were eight! Thanks for the memories, Lexi! We love you!

For Family Home Evening last night, we invited the Novakovichs over to carve pumpkins. You should have seen it: pumpkin guts were flyin' all over the kitchen! And there was a lot of "Yuck", "Gross", and "It's slimey!" But in the end, there were some fine looking pumpkins that are ready to sit on the porch and greet trick-or-treaters.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

New House Colors

Wow! Can I just say "I LOVE MY HOUSE"? We've been in our house for ten years and it needed a little TLC before winter comes so we replaced some corner boards, took down the old lights, painted it these beautiful warm colors and put up new lights. Okay, so WE didn't paint it, our nephews helped with that. But doesn't it look like a different house? Every time I drive up to it I ask myself, "Whose house is this"?




Before




After






New Light


We had a fun weekend in Portland, Oregon. We took the whole family, including grandma, and drove down to watch the Whitworth women play some soccer. Even though Kaylyn isn't playing, we can't stay away. It just kills Kaylyn not to be out there but she is out for the season. She dislocated her patella (kneecap) and needs six weeks of therapy so that puts her at the end of the season. No surgery though. She is medical redshirting so she technically will have three more years of athletic eligibility, however I don't think she'll have that much schooling. Who knows? We'll have to see. The Pirates won both games this weekend and are still ranked 16th in the nation this week.

On the way home we stopped by Multnomah Falls in the Columbia Gorge. Here are some pictures. It is absolutely beautiful. The older girls and Rob and I hiked to the top a couple of years ago but the little girls had never been here. We didn't have time to take them to the top but they enjoyed hiking up to the bridge. I really enjoy the drive along the Columbia River to Portland. It was clear enough that we saw Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. There's always lots of wind surfers and kite surfers to watch too. They are amazing! The wind always blow through there and there are huge white caps and these guys are cruising on the water and in the air. It had to be COLD! The trees are all starting to change also so fall in the great Northwest is great.













Two Cute Kids!











Columbia River