Thanksgiving At Karl's & Ruth's new home in Sultan, Washington

Thanksgiving morning dawned and there was discussion of who was going to do what. Karl handled the turkey. Ruth made stuffing, deviled eggs, frozen peanut butter pie, and pumpkin whipped pudding (to name a few things). Uncle Jeffery made his famous clam dip. I brought cranberry nut bread. Dorothy made the potatoes (no masher! Gasp!!). Kyria and Kevin brought wine. (I gave Karl some dilly beans, but they didn't make it to the feast.) Everyone kept the coffee pot going.

After Karl got the turkey into the oven, we'd eaten and cleaned up from breakfast, and everyone was ready, we all took a walk down along the river. We were greeted at one point by a very spirited miniature horse. As we arrived back at the house, Karl's Navy friends Todd and Craig drove up tand joined in on the feasting and festivities. Kyria and Kevin gifted the KVP's with the game Cranium, and most of us played several games after dinner.

Ruth, Karl, & Aunt Dorothy on Thanksgiving morning.

The making of the stuffing has begun. Ruth uses an old family recipe.

Kyria meditating.A momentary lull to watch Bond, James Bond.More planning must be done.A later stage of stuffing creationKyria & Kevin having a heart to heartPre-feast walk along the river.

The gang wearing hats (K&K wanted to be different)
One of the homes along the river had this out front.
This little guy whinnied and ran all over his paddock when we walked by.
The path to where you can launch a boat.
Back at home, Todd & Craig arrive and the football game starts.
Seattle vs. Dallas. Seattle eventually lost.
Kevin & Uncle Jeffery on the back couch, Todd and Craig on the front (l-r).

Ruth has a gab with her Mom back in Rhode Island

The turkey comes out of the oven!

The biscuits go into the oven

Ruth, Uncle Jeffery, & Karl

The Bird

UJ does the honorsGrant dishes up...a rare picture of Craig to the left of Grant.

The feast...at table one, going clockwise:
Karl, Ruth, Dorothy, Todd, Craig, and JefferyAt table 2: Sara, Kevin, Kyria, and (missing) GrantLet the games begin! Karl, Dorothy, Todd, & Sara on one team, Jeffery, Kevin, Ruth, and Kyria on the other.
Kyria & Ruth look on as Karl tries to guess.
Uncle Jeffery acting out "2nd syllable"
"Use a teammate as a puppet to act out the clue" (If you guess "bobbing for apples", you'd be right)
Kevin attempts to sculpt something in clay to illustrate his clue
Todd obviously feels confident that the other team is doomed. Or is he just playing with clay?

Our trip to McArthur via Lassen National Volcanic Park - October 10th

Lassen National Volcanic Park website

On our way to visit friends in McArthur, we decided to take the route through Lassen Park because we'd heard it would be snowing there. In fact, the thermometer dropped 10 degrees F as we climbed the road. I'm so glad Grant got the idea to do this! Check out the website link above if you are interested in hiking to Bumpus Hell or ascending to the summit of Lassen Peak. There's also the Loomis Ranger Station at the north end of the park, where you can see some of the pictures Frank Loomis took of the last time Lassen erupted.

South gate into the park

The Hot Springs

Red Fir and Mountain Hemlock

The long and winding road

Beautiful Aspens

Autumn goings-on

The mystery plant that took over my garden this summer was finally revealed for what it was...not a squash, but a pumpkin! My friend Murf calls it a "squapum". I also grew yellow and acorn squashes, but they were hidden by the pumpkin leaves.

The 42 pound pumpkin.

Hobart likes Dad's new recliner!

Paws

This tree is nature's gift to us every Autumn.

A bountiful harvest (this was only one of many pickings)

This is the covered bridge on the Honeyrun Road that runs between Paradise and Chico. Although the trees below the buttes look autumnal, they are that color because they burned this past summer during the many lightning fires that started that fateful June day (see the June 21st blog from this year)