We arrived Wednesday afternoon, Mark and family showed up later that night. We did most of our usual cabin traditions, like a long nature walk, hacky sack (this years record was 9), and Letterman’s mom’s pie guess (Jeff and Jen tied with 1 correct guess each, Pecan and Peanut Butter). We also added a late night, pitch dark walk to the biggest tree, Allie cried all the way back as we found Grandpa hiding behind a tree in a ditch. We also brought up a Christmas tree, Wendi lit it and Abbie helped decorate it as usual. Dinner was fabulous, the turkey was great. Mark and Jen had to leave right after we finished. Jim and Nathan showed up as we were having Dutch Baby breakfast, we had a short chat and they split. Overall a very relaxing time,  next time we are bringing board games to keep the kids settled.

Hey Nick put together a new video for YOU TUBE, check it, it’s cool:

Well Halloween was very busy this year. We waited until late to hit Sauvies Island Pumpkin Patch, instead of going over the weekend, we went on a Monday afternoon. That was fabulous, no huge crowds, waits, or long walks to your car. Allie brought a friend, Mahala from school. The pumkin patch was also dry this year, that was awesome. The kids were able to run through the corn maize in record time. The kids all got their pumpkins and we carved them Wednesday before Halloween. The kids all looked great in their costumes, Nick was a murderer, Allie was a goth, and Abbie was a pirate. We went to Kim and Linda’s Halloween night and wandered through Alameda for treats. It was packed! Nick and Coleman were able to do some trick or treating alone this year. Click here for more pictures!

Abbie turned three on Sunday, grandma, grandpa, our friends Kim, Linda and Abby, Noah and even Uncle Tommy came to her party. The party was at our house, She wore her pirate costume from Halloween. Wendi made cupcakes and Nick ate approximately 12 of them. Abbie has already started talking about next years birthday……Thanks to all who came.

In August we spent a few days down at the beach, Nick’s friend Coleman (Coolio) came down with us, and Kim, Linda and Abby joined us over the weekend. The weather was very hot in town, in the 90’s, but the beach was freezing and fogged in. It took us two days to convince our guests that there were rocks in front of the house. Luckily the Olympics were on, we were able to see Phelps win all his gold medals. We were able to spend some time on the beach, the kids dug holes and played in the surf, baby Abbie loved playing in the waves with Linda.

Processing the images in Photoshop was very hard, they were all lacking color and contrast….sorry for the delay! View the rest of the images here

I found my long lost 50mm 1.4 lens so I took some shots of Abbie in natural light. She displays a wide variety of looks for the camera, including the famous ‘Grandma Eyes’ and ‘Crazy Eyes’. She said that ‘Blue Steel’ won’t be ready until Spring. Having the bottle in her hand really reminds me of Nick when he was a baby. Shot all images at 1.4 for shallow depth of field. Daddy did her hair, could you tell?

We visited the cabin in August, had great weather, we were able to take some nice walks in the forest. We found the biggest tree on Mt Hood. The cousins were there, we had a BB gun competition (don’t tell Marko), we shot balloons out of trees. I think Allysa won the contest and the grand prize, a ten pound bag of M&M’s (don’t tell Marko). The kids did some fishing, Nick caught a two inch trout. The huckleberries were everwhere, the kids picked a bunch and Grandma put them in muffins. We played hide and go seek in the pitch dark, Abbie ran off in the woods. A large tree fell below the house and blocked one of our paths to creek, the kids had a good time clearing brush and playing in the remains.

Nick in waves

Hey we spent four days at the beach house, we met Bill and Christal Graham, who were staying at the Daydreams cabin. The kids all played together and we enjoyed a great night on the beach watching the sun set and enjoying Smores at Nicks camp. Allie and I walked to the jetty the first morning there and then walked north to Rockaway the next day. Long walks but a great time. We golfed in Tillamook, Nick had a bogey and Allie had a few doubles in a row. Rockaway is  a buzz with new businesses, there are 2 candy stores now, a few new restaurants and the arcade moved to a slightly bigger location. We had dinner at the Pirates Cove (Nick and I split our crab plate), the Mexican joint, and then tried the new Beach Bite.

Allie and her friends Abby and Rachael spent all week at the gorgeous University of Portland campus at their soccer camp. The weather was great, except for Friday, it was really hot. The girls spent the first two days at the younger camp but were promoted to the older girls camp for the last few days. The girls played real tough against the older girls and took second place in the tournament. It was fun watching the girls turn blonder as the week went on. The afternoons were spent hanging out, watching movies and splashing around in the hot tub, the week ended with a relaxing evening at Kim and Linda’s……Much needed! Thanks!

Jim Day turned 60 and many friends and family turned out to wish him well. Jane, Emily and Jan all pitched in to organize a great party. Jan put together a fabulous ‘Memory Book’ for Jim, most everyone sent in pictures and wrote their favorite memories, creatively placed in a nice photo album. Joanna surprised him by flying in from Japan with her boyfriend Andy, what a great guy! We all really enjoyed meeting him. The weather was perfect, a warm breezy evening, it was fun watching all the kids playing together.