A wonderful Halloween weekend!

 Hello November! 

We had a wonderful send off to October! Halloween weekend we had friends and family out for the annual Halloween Party that John and Karen throw every year! 

Friday we welcomed Diane, Eric, Christina, Seth, Holly, Avery, Mason and Chloe! We had a great afternoon and night. Way too late but that's the way it goes. LOL. It was wonderful seeing Avery again, it's been too long.Well, everyone else too!  

Some Halloween pics too. The cutest little
bear family 💙

The biggest pot of spaghetti sauce I've made in ages! A dutch oven full along with bread and caesar salad. I wanted the zuchinni noodles, everyone else had regular. 

Once the late night was over, breakfast the next morning and every morning after that was egg mc muffins and hash browns. YUM! There were also mimosas and bloody mary's. 

Saturday morning we welcomed Steve and Candy for 2 nights. 

 Saturday afternoon we headed next door, dressing up for the part. It was a great time as always. Good food and company. Even though we had rain, they had a great turnout of people! 

                                         Happy 23rd birthday to Chloe tomorrow

                              They went all out on decorations this year! 

Once we were done at the party, we came home to the outdoor kitchen and spent a few more hours with Seth, Holly, Eric and Logan (he's renting a cabin next door while working with John). We were awake long enough to see the time change which meant it was 0300 back to 0200. LOL. Christina kept Avery overnight in their room so Holly and Seth could enjoy the evening. Her first sleepover. 

                                                               

Avery enjoyed a nap on Aunt Chloe before heading home. 

Sunday morning after breakfast we said goodbye to Seth, Holly, Avery, Mason and Chloe. They had to work for a living on Monday. We sure enjoyed having them all! 💕💖

We spent the day in the outdoor kitchen enjoying each other's company and some adult beverages. Ken barbecued burgers for dinner that night. 

Monday morning after breakfast we said goodbye to Diane, Eric and Christina and then a little later in the day Steve and Candy. 

Ken did a few things and I enjoyed the fire in the outdoor kitchen and then eventually cleaned the dishes. After that it was lunch time so I talked him into coming inside and we watched a movie or two. I figured Tuesday was soon enough to change sheets etc. It was a relaxing Monday. 

One last picture before they left 💖💖

A few random pics to close out the blog for today. 

Very proud of our son for being Facilities Teammate of the year! If you know Eric
you know he doesn't like attention. He probably wouldn't have told us if Christina  didn't. This is Sutter Health where he's worked since he was a teenager and worked his way up the ladder! They made banners out of this so he was all throughout the hospital. 💙💙 Very well deserved honor! 

Cheryl and Bryan's granddaughter Mia flew 
out to Arkansas from CA. to visit for about a week. They
hadn't seen her in 3 years since they moved. A 
beautiful young lady she has grown into. 💖 Bryan's
wearing the RED Friday shirt now!  

ent

Stole this pic this morning of Allissa and Jacob before deployment

 😍

Last but not least, stole this one too..

                               Adam and Erin were out to dinner

There it is another Halloween in the books. So glad family and friends made it out! Now on to Arkansas middle of the month. Have a great evening. Almost Happy Hour! 🍺🍷

Red Friday! Adam visits before his trip and after. Ken works on the Midget cover and other things including Avery! :)

 These pics are from last Friday. I sent the boys (and Cassidy) "On Friday we wear RED. Remember everyone deployed. Especially now, that their cousin Jacob is deployed. We continue to wear ours every Friday anyway. 

Great nephew Owen 💙

My sister Wendy's grandson Phoenix

                                                 and Baby Shawn (he'll be 1 on 11/6)

Baby Shawn (He'll be a year 11/6)

Last week we made a couple of trips to Lowe's to get the lumber, cement etc for the cover Ken's building for "The Midget". 

Wednesday evening Adam came for an overnight visit before he started on his solo trip to southern Utah. He was meeting up with his childhood friend, Daniel on Saturday in Utah. Glad he made us his first stop. 😍

Thursday morning after breakfast he left and headed to Great Basin NP almost to the Utah border. 

Adam leaving, Lexington Arch, the view in his
tent and the view that night. He said it was
freezing but worth it for that Milky Way!

We had a good weekend ending of course with Champagne Sunday. We got the outdoor kitchen decorated for Fall while we had a nice fire going. 

Monday Adam called and said he was coming to our house on Tuesday. Weather was bad and Bryce Canyon was so packed with people he couldn't get to the overlooks. He enjoyed Capitol Reef National Park and the time spent with Daniel. 

Some Southern Utah pictures and one
happy Adam 💙

About 1030 on Tuesday he came through the back door. He spent the night about 5 hours from here near Rachel, NV. We enjoyed having him for two nights and he left this morning after breakfast. 

We ran to Lowe's one more time in Fernley to pick up the last of the tin this morning after he left. Ken's cutting the tin and hopefully if weather cooperates he'll get it tomorrow and the Midget will have a home to protect her from the weather. Maybe even today as I see him up on the ladder. We've got a little thunder going and black clouds as I'm writing this.

*As a note to me.  I sent Jacob a package on the 5th and 16th. Apparently #1 had made it all the way across the US to Richmond, VA and yesterday it was in Denver, CO? What kind of sense does that make? #2 made it today to Chicago today. We'll see where that goes. This morning I ordered from Amazon just to see if it makes it so #3. Hopefully by next mail call he'll have packages to share. I'm not the only one sending them. 💙 *

What would a blog be without pics of our Miss Avery. 

She got to go to her first pumpkin patch 💖

Family enjoying her company! Grandma Christina, Uncle Mike, Aunt Mel and Aunt Lori! 💖

Russell and Lori along with a whole lot of other 
people attended and worked I CAN Fight
Cancer Brewfest this last weekend. Steve,
bottom right works all year to make this 
event a success and it certainly was! 

That's it for today. Ken has a few more pieces to put up tomorrow and it'll be finished. Have a great evening. Happy Hour time here 🍺🍷


 

A Mini Vacation for us! Shopping, Avery is 5 months now!

 Last week we did a little shopping. Actually, we picked up the new couch we bought from RC Willey and then while there we bought a new range/oven. Our old couch we've had over 13 years so it was time. The stove was here when we bought the house 13 1/2 years ago and the thermo coupling went out again a few months ago. Ken replaced it a year and half ago or so. It wasn't fun! So time for a new one. 

I did get Jacob's first package out on Monday. Hoping to get #2 out this week. 

Thursday, the 8th we got up and headed for Bishop, CA. On the way we stopped in at Mammoth Brewing where we wanted to go the last time we were camping in Bridgeport. 

First, we had breakfast at Topaz Lake. OH yum!

Our view from the restaurant

The chicken fried steak is hand pounded and breaded and 
oh so good! 

Once that was done we headed down the road to Mammoth Lakes Brewing Company. We wanted to go the last time we were camping in Bridgeport but didn't want to buy gas in CA. Prices are ridiculous! 

It didn't disappoint! 

From there we headed to Distant Brewing also in Mammoth Lakes. 

The first two pictures are at Distant Brewing and then once we got to Bishop checked in at Mountain Rambler Brewery for a couple of drinks. Nice place in a little town. We ordered pizza for dinner from Dominoes. Not impressed. LOL. 

Friday morning after having hard boiled eggs in the room we headed for Lake Sabrina. Years ago when we would go to Mule Days every Memorial Day we would head there so Adam and Kade could go fishing. Thought we'd check out some fall colors. We weren't disappointed. 

Such a beautiful ride up the mountain. Lake Sabrina sits at 9128 foot elevation. Lots of people up there fishing and hiking. 

From there we headed for Tonopah, NV only about 150 miles from home. A nice drive through the mountains. There we visited the Bug Bar. Years ago we walked up the hill but didn't find it. Sits in the same parking lot as an old hotel. Beautiful views of town and cheap prices. They're saying is "Drink on the Brink" yep, we did. LOL. 

The drive from Bridgeport to Tonopah via highway 6. Another beautiful drive! Pictures on the right side show our view from the Bug Bar. Perfect day! 

  

Then on to Tonopah Brewing Company. We hit Happy Hour and outside seating! Great afternoon. Once we were done there we checked into the Jim Butler Motel. 

Later we walked across the street and ordered a pizza (I know we're being bad) Not as good as Memorial Weekend but it filled our tummies! 

Saturday morning we headed for Tonopah Station thinking we were going to order breakfast but instead had lunch which held us a long time. It's definitely a great place to eat. Time to head home and we were here by 1330. Plenty of time to get unloaded and then head next door for Happy Hour. A wonderful mini vacay for the two of us! 

Sunday of course, is Champagne Sunday. It was a cool 50 degrees so Ken started our 2nd fire of the year out here. Beautiful clear skies but cool. 62 for the high. 

Red potato steak fries cooked on the griddle 

Ken barbecued chicken and hot links 

Hot links for brunch YUM! 

Of course the Champagne for Sunday :

A few of our Miss Avery. She's five months already. We are so looking for the end of the month when she, along with her mom and dad will be here along with other friends and family!  

Such a cute little pumpkin! 

Mason was working on the 73 Dodge yesterday and sent this pic. It's got new foam and seat cover! Believe me, you should have seen before! 

You can't say Mason doesn't get "into" his work  LOL
He was changing out the ignition coil 💙

Adam's cousin Nick got married on Saturday. Love this pic of Adam and Erin 💕

And just because I love my nephew Jesse's smile I had to include this one. 

Jesse, Michael, Terrance and Mel. Don't think Jesse's smile was that 
big at the end of the game. Raiders lost. :( 


We had our 2nd fire in the house this morning and it hasn't warmed up all day. 

Well, that's it for today. Hope everyone has a great evening. 🍺🍷🔥

Jacob deploys, Mason and Chloe visit and take the 73 Dodge, A few Miss Avery pics!

Got two new flags for Jacob's Deployment 💙

The USS Theodore Roosevelt all lit up the night before deploying the next day. "Fair Winds and Following Seas" 💖

There's our Sailor and his fiancee. Looks like the start to a great dinner! 💙

They got to play golf on Saturday. 
Jacob and his dad, Russell 💗

Russell, Lori and Jacob 💗

     On the way home (well, not really) they got a visit in with Aaron 💕

     Aaron's at University of California Santa Barbara. 

     Sure looked like a great visit with both boys and Allissa. 

Mason and Chloe got here about 1130 on Saturday.  We visited a bit and then made some sandwiches for lunch. After, Ken and Mason went out to look at the truck. Chloe and I joined them a bit later.  Mason did some driving around the property and surrounding roads. 

Ken and Mason got the truck on the trailer and got it all tied down for the drive to Cool, CA on Sunday. 

13 years ago 

13 years later 💙

Mason and Chloe 💕

Loaded and ready to go to a new home! 😀

The afternoon flew by! We did go next door and visit with 2K (Rick)  and Elizabeth. They're renting an RV space from John and Karen while 2K is working on the same project John is working on. Very nice people and we had a great visit. 

We came home so Ken could barbecue up some burgers. Delicious as always. Along with some air fryer fries, it couldn't get any better. Then we enjoyed the outdoor kitchen until bedtime. 

Sunday morning we got up and had coffee out there and a fire. I knew Mason and Chloe wanted to not leave too late so I started cooking bacon and some smashed cinnamon rolls. Never made the rolls before but they were delicious using Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in the tube. I probably smashed them too much as a day later they were hard as rocks LOL. 

Once the kids were up I finished the bacon, egg, cheese and hash brown english muffins. 

By then we were watching You Tube to watch the TR leave San Diego. Russell and Lori along with Allissa were there in person. Sure there were tears there as there were here. Proud of you, Jacob! 💙

Mason and Chloe were here until we watched it leave and then it was time for them to head back to CA. It was a short visit, but so glad they came and the truck has a new home! See you two for Halloween weekend! Maybe some more family coming too! 

So, after leaving it was Champagne Sunday and we enjoyed that as we do every weekend. 

Yes, it's nice to be home 

Burgers and fries. YUM! 

A nice relaxing Sunday! :) 

Sunday morning we had a fire in the outdoor kitchen and 
then Monday evening we had our first fire in the house. 

Tuesday, Ken and I went to Dayton, NV to pick up a cord of wood. We 

took the trailer that normally holds a cord easily. This time we actually made two trips, there was that much wood! We got elm this time. Ken's spent a lot of the day today unloading the 2nd trailer as he will need this trailer in the near future. He'll be building covers for the Mansion and the Midget. 

Last night was John and Karen's 14th wedding anniversary so they invited us and others over to celebrate. It was a really late night considering most of the others had to be at work at 0630 this morning. Thank goodness for retirement! 😂

                     Last, but definitely not least. Miss Avery! 💖💖

She's such a happy baby! 

She's a Raiders fan like her Daddy! 

                                 Have a great evening!