Praying for Jane

Grandma Jane, we love you, love you, love you. Prayers for you tonight, you darling girl.

Dear Mom

Dear mom,

Thank you for being such an amazing friend. Sharing laughter, music and beach walks with you are some of the best moments in my life. Humor is omnipresent, and for that I am so very grateful.

I put together a few photos from this past year. What a fun year we had! I love you. :)

First beach 'experience' with the new grandbaby. Mom and Grandma liked it a whole lot better than baby. I think this was in January. Superbowl weekend perhaps?

And, a sunnier day at the Mariners' ballpark. We love baseball. We love beer. It's so great they keep both of those things in the same place. Very convenient.

Look at how alert grandbaby is, staring straight into Grandma's eyes (or, ya know, in the vicinity of the eyes, since he couldn't focus on day 1).

Lake Pleasant. Always a wonderful treat.

I am blessed with such a wonderful, beautiful and charming family. Love you ladies!

Aww. This makes me smile all over.

Have a great day, mom!

Love,

me

Orange Lump Acquisition

Every year I trek to a pumpkin patch to partake in the annual orange lump adoption ritual. I adore pumpkins and their bright leathery orange skins, but didn't make it out last year as I was waddling around with my own pumpkin, so to speak.

This year we made it at last! And while we saw mostly sad, questionable and rotten pumpkins we sure had a fun family outing.

There's nothing quite like a red barn for a photo op:

Every promising-looking pumpkin turned out to have a rotten spot on it somewhere.

I think this one requires a caption:

Naomi: "Do I need to reapply my lip gloss?"

Toddler: "Hey, can someone please turn down that weally bwight light? kthxbye."

Finally, and after much searching, we found our pumpkin. Our son picked it out and we paid the 50 cents and made our way home.

"Which one, son?"

"Dis one, dad!"

Happy Birthday, Baby!

For you are fearfully and wonderfully made. ~ Psalms 139

(thanks for the photo, Chiko. Your little man is next.)

Mariners Game - Griffey's Last

What a gorgeous day for baseball; and what a day it was. It was Kids' Appreciation Day, so little D got a poster upon arrival. It seems no tot is too young to be appreciated.

The sun was out in all its October glory, a little chilly, but easily combated with some clever layering, hoodies and scarves.

Safeco never looked so good:

Ken Griffey, Jr. was at bat 3 times today, but it wasn't until the 8th inning that he stepped up for that final swing of the bat. See, Junior might not return next season. The crowd knew it, the team knew it and an emotional Junior knew it.

When he stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the 8th inning, every person in that crowd was on their feet. You could feel the collective silent wishes, "please let him get a hit" as he took his stance in the batter's box. And, boy did he deliver! The standing ovation went loud and wild and we cheered for several minutes as a pinch runner swapped places with Jr. at 1st base. The crowd began chanting, "Griffey! Griffey! Griffey!" And, no surprise, he came out to tip his hat. We roared our emotional awe. My father would have LOVED to see that moment. And knowing that made me tear up right along with Griffey.

Here's Griffey's 'potential' last at bat with the Seattle Mariners:

The tip o' the cap. It's moments like this that make me love baseball!

After the game, the M's took a walk around the field, shaking hands and high-fiving the fans. Near the end of their farewell loop, they hoisted Griffey onto their shoulders and we nearly missed that for trying to leave the ballpark and get our tired son home. Luckily, the adoring crowd got good and loud, alerting us to the happenings on the field.

I am so grateful we didn't leave early to miss traffic. To miss this moment would have made for one sad Naomi. Hooray for sticking it out to the final out!

And, here's our little family, enjoying the game. Love, love, love the perks of my job.

What a look!

This is the new scrunched up face D makes constantly now. Sometimes when he's eating, sometimes just because... you can find this expression in our lives now. So cute. :)

Um, cute.