Thanksgiving with Gma and Maynard....



"Help me, Jesse." Julie...going up the down slide.
Jesse and Julie wanted to play on the rocket slide (newly repaired and painted this summer) that Jesse fondly remembers playing on when he and his siblings were little...always a favorite place to go when visiting Gma and Gpa...Sunset Park.



In the entrance to the incline leading to the big curvey slide.



A newly painted rocket slide. Julie, as you can see, is a free spirit.
Upon reaching the top of the slide, ready to come down, Jesse notes that "this slide is smaller than I remember".



At the bottom...




I was strongly urged to go down the slide...still a thrill. Guess this famed rocket slide is ageless.




Hey, who's the new kid in the neighborhood? Shall we let him play? Yah, as long as he can push us on the merry-go-round, too. He looks like he can make it go really fast! Plus, he's cute.



"Faster!!!"



Centrifugal force maximized by 2 men...Maynard and Jesse




Ok...our turn. I begged Kevin to slow down...but see the evil in his face? It's still a scary ride when it goes too high.




The log cabin in the park. It's closed for the season.



Still, there's a way to see the inside because there was a will.



Julie and Mom/Gma. They do egg each other on. Mom can hold her own, believe me! Julie knows how to keep Gma on her toes. And that's a good thing because Mom is still very spicey. Her eyes dance when she's having fun...a good thing to see. She reminds me of how Gma Widmer used to get that same look when she was having a great time with family.
We all had a great day together! Mom and Maynard are still very young!

As Jesse was looking at my kayak hanging in the garage, he noted: "I see your kayak came with instructions."

Birthdays come once a year...which is becoming too frequent for my liking. But when they're as fun as mine was this year, it's ok. Kevin pampered me (of course, I reminded him throughout the day that it was "all about me".)


I did have to work that day...so here I am ready to leave. Kevin was home because he had the day off. But then....



...since it was the day after Thanksgiving and we had no patients scheduled after lunch, Dr B said we're closing shop and we all got the rest of the day off. It was an unusually warm November day, so Kevin loaded up the kayaks and we took off for Palo Lake. This is our view from inside the car en route.



The conditions were perfect...a real gift (I like to think it was a birthday gift from God)...it was warm ( I don't remember it ever being so warm on my birthday), the sun was shining for the most part, and the water was like glass. And we pretty much had the lake to ourselves.



The colors reflected in the water were so vivid.



We paddled back in the swamp area and Kevin spotted this young bald eagle. (Sorry, but I don't yet know how to crop and enlarge [i.e. edit] photos to post. Can you see him?) We just sat in our kayaks and watched him for several minutes. But then he flew up into a tree and tried to perch on an upper branch. Instead, this inexperienced adolescent broke through the branches all the way to the ground. Poor thing.



That evening Julie and Jesse met us at Red Lobster for my birthday dinner. (I love the Lobster pizza there.) And it was such a treat to get to see them again
.


Birthday girl with the man who made it all about me. Thanks, Kevin for a great birthday! (Thanks, Julie for the great pic)

It's too cold for Kevin to go for another ride :o( but he wants to be outdoors so badly that he decided to rake the leaves. Hey, who am I to keep him indoors?!



Dee, notice the red rake?

A new tradition in our home....

A few weeks ago we started taking turns preparing and serving breakfast in bed for each other on Saturday. It was such a good thing that it has become a Jordan tradition. It's "our" time to kick back and just veg and enjoy each other's company and visit without interruptions. Here's yesterday's breakfast...French Vanilla Cappuccino, orange juice, and almond crescent rolls. Kevin would speak longingly of the warm almond crescents he would have in NY (almost drooling as he dreamed of them), and decided one day he would make his own. And let me tell you....those pastries are addictive! (Oh, and who does the dishes, you may ask? We haven't a tradition on that part yet.)




Today was the first opportunity in a very long time that Kevin has had to paint in his new studio. He hopes to devote more time to his art over Thanksgiving break.



He has great light that comes through the studio windows. He's so focused on what he's doing that he hardly notices my presence. I'm delighted to see him back at it.

Our annual Christmas shopping day....which has really become our annual day to just hang out and have lunch together. But this year Mom was not able to join in on our fun because of a back injury. We really missed you mom. Anyway, the pics below kind of recap our day for mom and the other female relatives who weren't able to be there. So, here's our day....



Lori, waiting for our arrival



Marti joining the party



Trying on clothes



checking the tags



Checking the goods



Checking out



Found some great bargains. We would initially gravitate toward the sale racks.


Trying on some frames. What do you think?




Lunch time!!! (the highlight of the day). Lori, Marti, Penni in front of Red Lobster



Looking over the menu



Nikki our server, giving Marti some helpful suggestions. Nikki was a great waitress....and was a lot of fun.



Mom, we wanted you to see what we ordered.



Sweet Nikki brings us our bill. I think she understood how we felt about it too! Of course, Mom wasn't there to pay for it and it was hard for us to fork out the cash. Nikki tried to explain that she has nothing to do with the prices.



Sorry girls, but that's the way the cheddar biscuit crumbles.


Mom...hope you can join us next year...and maybe we'll even pay for your meal. ;o)

Ready for a ride...never mind there's a chill in the air. This boy has to get outdoors while the sun is shining!



This may well be the last ride of the year...And he's off.



Friday was the last night of Stu's and Skip's
successful hunting trip to Iowa.

Sitting at the table, after a delicious meal. (Papa John's pizza, homemade applesauce, cinnamon bread, and pear crisp).



Gene graciously cleaned up after the meal while the rest of us visited.

KEVIN SAVES LIFE IN DARING WATER RESCUE!!!

It's true! Kevin did save a life. Ok...so it wasn't daring, but it was a rescue. And the life was that of a frantic little bird that couldn't make a break from the water to fly away. He was in the very middle of the lake, far from shore. We have no idea how long he was out there floundering on top of the water. See below:



Here he (she?) is. Kevin scooped it up with his paddle and set him on the kayak. That little creature was so exhausted, he just sat there, too tired to move or to even be afraid of Kevin. He just closed his eyes and slept as soon as he was set down.



Anyone able to identify what kind of bird this is? It doesn't show in this picture, but his feathers are a medium blue.



Rescuer and rescuee.



Keeping a watchful eye on him as Kevin paddles him back to shore.



Kevin put the bird back on the paddle to safely transport him to shore. At first, he grabbed onto Kevin's finger as he tried to put the bird onto the paddle and Kevin had to grab him to pull him off. He just sat right where Kevin put him on shore and did not move. I said a prayer that God would look after him and we paddled to the dock to leave for Kevin's sister's and brother-in-law's house.



Here is Suzy and Gene...he's trying to identify our little bird in his bird book



Kevin's cousin (in-law) and friend are visiting from NY for a week of hunting. (l-r: Kevin, sister Suzy, Gene, Skip, and Skip's hunting buddy, Stu). I finally got to meet Skip. We stayed at his and Karen's (his wife) house last summer on our trip to NY. He was gone, lending his many needed talents at a camp.



Suzy and Skip


Skip, Gene, Kevin in the kitchen. Is there any better place to gather to visit? (Skip would probably say yes...in a tree stand)



Sorry Gene, but this one's for you. This is what you get for trying to duck out of a shot. (back row, l-r: Stu, Skip, Kevin..of course, Gene is the front row)