Graham's birthday weekend

Monday the 22nd was Graham's 37th birthday, so we decided to spend the weekend with our friends Tim and Summer Gilstrap who just moved to Spokane, WA about two weeks ago. They're currently living with Tim's parents, so we were able to stay at their place in their nice guest room.

We got to Spokane from Ellensburg in about 3-1/2 hours, including a slight detour in Moses Lake in search of food. But in general, the drive wasn't bad. Highway 90 is pretty barren with the exception of Moses Lake and a few other very small towns. What's funny, though, is that as soon we saw the sign for Spokane county, it was instantly full of beautiful green trees.

Saturday morning we met up with Tim's brother and four kids. We headed north to a little community north of Spokane called Green Bluff which consisted of very nice homes and several farms hosting fall festivals. The first place we went had a corn maze, several craft booths, two different trains to ride, a pick-your-own pumpkin patch and a country store. Unfortunately the activities weren't free, so a few of the adults took the bigger kids through the corn maze while the rest of us strolled through the pumpkin patch. Hannah loved it and ooohed and awwed at all the different colored pumpkins. The only problem was that it was FREEZING cold, so we didn't stay there long.

The second farm we visited was an apple farm which had pony rides, a train ride, a U-pick apple tour, a corn cob launcher and the most popular attraction: outdoor heaters! They also had a live singer/guitarist which made for a fun, upbeat environment (by the way, Graham asked me to mention that the guy sang, "I am my own Grandpa" which was hilarious!)

By the time we got to the third farm, both of our kids had fallen asleep and I refused to get out of the car before my hands and fingers defrosted. But this place featured homemade apple everything: pie, cider, wine, apple butter and made-on-site donuts! Yum!


Tim - a pumpkin with a pumpkin :)

After a bit of rest, Tim's sister, Abby was sweet enough to watch the kids while we went to a movie. Yep! An actual movie, in the theater, just us adults. It was wonderful. We saw Elizabeth which we highly recommend if you're in for a good historical piece. We ended the evening with a good ol' game of cards.

Sunday morning we decided to attend the Episcopal Church in downtown Spokane. It was right next to the hospital where Summer works and is an old, Gothic style cathedral. The inside was absolutely gorgeous with beautiful stained glass windows, a magnificent pipe organ and gold threaded tapestries. I was in the nursery most of the service, but Tim, Summer and Graham got to hear a woman practicing "Ave Maria" for a wedding that was being held there that evening. Afterward, we were able to talk to one of the priests who explained a little about the structure of the church and some of their beliefs. It was really interesting.

For Graham's actual birthday we just stayed home and had barbequed tri-tip dinner and homemade cake. It made for a nice birthday celebration!

An Ellensburg October!

Fall is definitely here. Besides the even cooler weather, the town is just full of beautiful fall colors and harvest events.

Yesterday we joined two sets of friends at "Dusty's Nursery" for their 2nd annual harvest fest. Because we live in campus housing, a donated can of food each got us in with free pumpkins for the kids (by the way, even if it weren't for the benefits of free cable, utilities, etc., we really are starting to enjoy living here).
Although a fairly small property, the harvest fest included a pumpkin patch from which the kids chose their pumpkins, a vote-for-your-favorite-scarecrow contest, a small corn maze, a hay bale playhouse, a guess-the-weight-of-the-pumpkin contest, sack races, face painting, a balloon artist, a petty zoo, pony rides and concessions. It was great! Gideon's favorite things were the corn maze and the playhouse. At one point, we were keeping an eye on him at the playhouse, and just as Graham looked over, he saw him following some older kids into the corn maze. Graham ran over there as fast as he could, and after searching through rows and rows of corn finally found him on the other side of the maze in a parking lot. Yikes!

Over by the concessions was a box of free dwarf red apples to sample. They were so cute and just right for little hands. Both the kids loved them, and I think Hannah must have eaten two or three by herself. So we bought a bag full for $2. Hannah also enjoyed looking at all the flowers and did her usual "oooohhh!" at the waterfall there. So cute!



















Today we had weather in the mid-60s, so we went for a walk to the big park near our house. Wow, the fall colors are just so amazing, and we're wondering, does Fresno just not have this, or are we only noticing them here because we're somewhere new? I could talk about it all day, but I'll just let you enjoy the pictures.

Just havin' fun!

One of our favorite family pastimes is dancing. So here is a clip of our latest "Friday Night Fever."

Officially Washingtonians!

After $200+, many many forms and several visits to various government offices, it's now official. We now have Washington driver's licenses and Kittitas County library cards, and our license plates portray Mt. Ranier! We're also now insured, but have yet to figure out who our doctors will be. It's amazing how long all of this takes, but it sure makes the move realistic.

So becoming Washingtonians also requires getting some warm clothes (my colleagues have been making fun of me because I'm constantly wearing my coat and what I call my "Fresno winter" clothes). Because we all need everything, we decided to start at the second-hand stores in hopes of finding some good deals. We weren't as successful as I had hoped, but got some great winter play clothes for the kids. Graham got an "Ellensburg Rodeo" hat for $2 and I found a cute, black top. But, it looks like we're going to have to make a trip to Yakima for some serious winter shopping.

Despite the "cool" weather, events still go on! Yesterday before shopping, we enjoyed a fun little carnival sponsored by the university. They had two great comedian/jugglers out of Seattle, as well as a cake walk, fishing booth and carnival treats! Gideon's friend, Katie was there, too, so they had a good ol' time.

We also stopped in at the local library to check it out and get our cards. They have a great kids section including a train table which Gideon spotted instantly. The only way we could get him to leave was to show him that we had rented "Baby Van Gough," his favorite Baby Einstein video at Grandma and Grandpa Moes' house.

As soon as we got home, we went into Fresno mode and barbecued some tri-tip that we found at Costco. Oh man, was it tasty! We had planned on sharing some with our neighbors, but ended up eating it all (Hannah and Gidders ate as much as we did!). I'm sure we'll be doing that again soon.

Our first month-iversary in E-burg!

Today marks four weeks since we pulled into Ellensburg, so we thought we'd share some fun statistics about our first month here:

- Graham and the kids have visited a park 25 times

- Graham got his first ever flip-flop tan on his feet – in Washington, not California

- We enjoyed the first crop of locally grown apples

- Have been to the homes of "strangers" for a meal twice

- Gideon’s legs have grown noticeably longer and stronger (must be all that time he spends riding his "big boy" bike)

- We've only gassed up the car twice

- We've been to every grocery store in town

- We've been to Fred Meyer four times, once for "CWU Night," 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., with unlimited free hot dogs, pizza and Mountain Dew (...and check-out lines! Oi!)

- We've spent over $30 on pay-as-you-go laundry

- Graham has lost over five pounds (first house with stairs)

- Roz has seen her boss 6 times

- Graham has seen only 1 movie in the theater

- Hannah has acquired four new teeth

- Roz got to drive a 15-passenger van

- The weather went up past 80 twice

But despite all the fun we're having, we still miss all our of friends and family in California. We wish you were all here to enjoy these memorable moments with us. :)

Five great years!

Five years ago yesterday (September 14th) was when Graham and I said our "I do's." When we think back to the wedding, it seems like just yesterday. But then we think about all the places we've lived, all the fun we've had and the fact that we have two kids, it seems like forever ago!

Luck would have it that it was also the day that all of my new students arrived, so we got to spend a whoppin' two hours together yesterday. But before I left for work, there was a beautiful bouquet of roses on the table along with a lovely silver necklace for our "silver" anniversary.

We exchanged cards this morning and agreed that we would celebrate in a few months when we can afford a couple of nights away at a B&B somewhere fun.

Update: Graham said he saw on the Web that since the traditional gift for the 5th is wood, a modern practice has been to give silver.

Starting to feel at home

On the front porch with her pipe

This Monday marks three weeks since we arrived in Ellensburg, and we're starting to feel more and more at home. Looks like we're going to stay in the apartment a little while longer since we're just not ready to buy a house with the resources we have (or don't have...clear throat). I don't get my first full pay check until the 25th, so we decided to wait at least until then to see what we can actually afford.

We had our eye on a cute, new house on the north side of town and were this close to making an offer, but something told me (or Someone) told me to hold off. It was hard to let go, but we know that He was protecting us from potential disaster and has something better in store.

So now that we might be here a while, we bought a nice big rug for our living room and actually hung some stuff on the walls. I also made space in the little kitchen to bring in my baking pans and casserole dish from storage, so at least I can make some yummy fall treats!

We're making new friends each day. The funny thing is that our friends here remind us of certain friends in Fresno. I call Selmah (one of my co-workers) my E-burg Kristin, and believe it or not, Graham made a friend who reminds us of Tim!

Gideon's best friend here is named Katie (like cousin Cadie). She spent the night with us last night because her mom just had surgery and needed some time to rest.

We've also been adopted by a couple who have sons our age who I call our E-burg Arnie and Brenda. Of course it will take time to develop these relationships as deep as our "real" friends, but it's a start!

The funniest story is of a couple who the husband is a writer and was a stay-at-home dad, and the mom works at CWU. They have two kids, ages three and one, and the most ironic part of it is that our telephone numbers are exactly the same, except the last two numbers are reversed! What's even funnier is that when we first plugged in our phone, we weren't getting any calls and it seemed weird that even our moms weren't calling.

So I got on the cell phone and asked Graham if maybe our number ended in 68, not 86, so I kept calling both numbers trying to figure out which one it was, and poor John (our friend) kept answering the phone, which, by the third time I just hung up!

Come to find out that our ringer wasn't on (duh!), but when we exchanged numbers, I told him the story and he remembered the incident. Then I was really embarrassed, but thankfully he didn't hold it against me. We'll be having lunch with them next Sunday.