Early Birthday Dinner for Marcus

Marcus got to choose where his birthday dinner would be.  He chose Red Lobster.  The reservation was made and our party showed up a few minutes early for the dinner.  The hostess told us the wait would be about an hour.  Crazy talk.  We all patiently waited our turn until several couples came in and were seated without a reservation.  Tracie checked with the hostess and said we would be happy to split our group up for a quicker wait time and the hostess just said "nope".  We left.....

Headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings and were seated immediately.  Yep, we took our babies to a bar!  The place was crazy loud and so much fun!  I loved how they served the food on jelly roll pans.  The food was excellent and the waiter was great. 

Olivia whispered to the waiter we were celebrating Marcus's birthday and along came a giant slice of decadent chocolate cake with two huge scoops of ice cream.  Marcus loved it when we all sang Happy Birthday to him.

The Oergel Grandkids, pretty fun crowd! 

Pendleton

After lunch at Zip's Drive-In, Grami, Poppi and Olivia headed south to Pendleton, Oregon.  The rest of the family headed back to the Red Lion for some R & R and swimming. 

The 65 mile trip was just what we needed on such a sunny day. 

Of course, you know me, can't drive by a Pendleton store, especially the Woolen Mill store.  Olivia was excited to explore the place.  We visited the museum part and peeked into the factory.  I checked out all the blankets and didn't find anything I couldn't live without.  Seems like they had a lot more clothes in the shop this time.  Olivia found some beautiful socks and was pleased when she found out no sales tax in Oregon.  I loved shopping with Olivia, she has a great eye for a bargain. 

The early sunset was spectacular.  Olivia took these pictures as we zoomed back to Kennewick.

Great job with the photo's Olivia!  

FBU Sixth Grade Team representing Eastern Washington

Blue Team Photo - the Eastern Washington team.  Love all their individual school's helmets.  Especially the Riverside Ram helmet and player. 

A couple of months ago we heard that Marcus was going to try out for a select football team that might get to go to Florida for a championship game.  After a few try-outs with the team and coaches Marcus was chosen to join the team.  Marc and Marcus drove to the Tri-cities every weekend for practice.  This weekend was the start of the tournament. 

The first game was scheduled for 9 am on November 30th.  The sun was shining and it was less than 25 degrees at game time.  The Fan Club was dressed warm and ready for some action.  Eastern Washington was playing Oregon.  Lots of fans! 

I have to say I was so smart packing for this trip.  I brought along two Hudson Bay Blankets.  One for sitting and the other for snuggling.  We were not cold at all.  

Marcus was ready for action from the get go. 

Ready coach! 

The first half was a blow out and I started to check out my surroundings.  Isn't this the coolest sprinkler you have ever seen?  Lot's of train traffic too at Riverview High School.  Bruce used to work on this track so lots of memories rolled along too. 

Marcus on the field ready for action. 

Eye on the ball.

Look at those golden shoes flying through the air! 

Time out - Love the flag above the kids.

This little dog had the cutest coat I've ever seen. 

Marcus with his eye on the ball.

Marcus stopping the run.

Grabbing hold.

Oergel with the tackle!  Actually the announcer said Oerjell.  Just fun to hear Marcus's name over the loud speaker. 

Flying across the field.

Yep, he's a fast boy!

The Ram helmet is so awesome. 

A Ram and a Richland Bomber - Blue Team.

Marcus never walks anywhere, he has such great spirit and style.  This game had no surprises with a win by the Blue Team 49-0.

Lady with her coated dog put him in a special purse to go home.  Crazy!

So proud of this kid!  One more win for a trip to Florida!  Playing Seattle tomorrow at 10 am. Seattle played Northern Washington in the game after ours and beat them 46-0.  Tomorrows game will be a challenge for sure! 

Black Friday

Bright and early Friday morning we headed to the Tri-cities for some 6th grade football.  Sven was excited with the blue sky and the chance to spend the day with Grami and Poppi.  

Since we were going right by Cabela's we decided to stop in.  Holy Cow!  Can you say CRAZY?  The check out line wrapped the entire perimeter of the store.  Hundreds and hundreds of men shopping.  Not fun at all for me. 

The only place that wasn't crowded was Santa's workshop with beautiful reindeer.  Bruce was so frustrated by the commotion he would not even pose with me for a very beautiful Christmas picture.  Scrooge indeed!  Back in the pickup and headed to Washington within 20 minutes.  

Thanksgiving in Bonners Ferry

Tracy and Tracie took their kids to the Annual Turkey Trot 5K run Thanksgiving morning.  Five and 1/2 month old Archie joined the group. 

This is a picture from the newspaper.

Before the run.

Another newspaper picture.  The group did great, running with a couple of hundred others.  Ceci and Emma posted the fastest times for our family.  Pumpkin pie at the end of the race and hot cocoa to warm up.  I forgot to mention it was about 15 degrees Thanksgiving morning but the sun was out. 

This is a flashback picture from a few years ago.  Colby's job requires everyone to work on Black Friday so it is a rare occurrence that the Sheets get to join in. We sure do miss them!

This is the grandchildren table this year, they are all growing up so fast.  Each gave a blessing and what they were grateful for.  Sophie was grateful for Grami's gravy!  Grami was thankful for all the help and the amazing dinner.  We are blessed.  

Logging

 Last week we took a little trip up to Hall Mountain to get some cedar logs for Bruce's latest projects.

 This gorgeous pile of cedar was easy picking.

 Bruce cut a couple of blocks before his saw died.  We headed back home with good intentions for a return trip.

 In the meantime we had a bunch of rain and not so nice weather.  Sven got a new carpet so he wouldn't fly off the dash when we go around the corners.  This is an old mouse pad for my computer.

 Bruce got the power saw fixed and with a big storm predicted for tonight we headed back up to try and get some cedar this afternoon.

 When we arrived at the log pile it was a pile of ash.  We were both disappointed.  The fire must of been amazing, not a log was left behind and it was still smoking.

 On a positive note, nobody was parked by the road signs on Copeland Plateau so we could take a look.

 The viewpoint right on Hwy 2 is amazing!

 I've seen this church from the highway and had no idea how large it really is.

 Beautiful rocks walls.

Breathtakingly beautiful!  I love this rock wall with the valley just behind it. 

 At Three-mile we stopped for the light and spied this great shed at the builders.  Super cute!

 The Old School House Bed & Breakfast is under new ownership and looks so inviting.

 And, because Bruce has the saw running he decided to do some hillside trimming.

 A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do!

While Bruce was logging I was busy with my camera when I saw the kitchen window from up on the hillside. At first I thought it was a TV set. What a great reflection of the pond!