Winter Wonderland

It was a White Christmas.  This snowfall came just in time for the 2012 holidays.

We had about 14 inches after this snowfall.  Makes everything quiet and peaceful.

Christmas Eve

Surprise present for Lindsey and Brandon.  He is eight weeks old and a real cutie.  Grandma and Grandpa got to hide him for several days until Christmas Eve. 

Look at the smiles.  The surprise was a success.  It didn't take the kids long to decide on a name - Mac. 

Pajamas are the gift for Christmas Eve at the Battle house.

Mike and Becky lost the guessing game when they opened this gift.  Brandon had to search every page of this Mad Lib book to see if there was any cash still hidden between the pages.

Carol Fletcher (a friend, day care for kiddos, dog and house sitter) shares Christmas Eve with us.  She was surprised with a ticket to the Carrie Underwood concert in Yakima in February. 

"Smacked by an Angel"

Why do we forget the camera?  This was a special occasion where a camera was needed.  Crossroads Community Convenant Church presented their 6th Annual musical production (presented during the Christmas season) with all money raised helping the local community.  Our daughter-in-law, Courtney, and granddaughter, Merry, were part of this production.  They both dedicated many hours to practice and it was awesome they could experience this together. 

So many people worked on this musical to make it a success.  Courtney was the angel, Sarah, who got to do the smacking.  At family gatherings, she manages to make us laugh with her antics and we love her for that.  Merry played several parts - Frank's daughter and a 50's girl.  She will follow in her mother's footsteps in being able to create and entertain.  The production was fun to watch and always with a special message for the season.  Congratulations, Courtney and Merry, for a job well done.

Family Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is all about family time and food.  Our dinner was "fit for a king" (Courtney's description) and it was truly great.  Such good cooks in our family and everyone contributes something special.  We tried some new recipes (Becky's Yummy Sweet Potato Casserole - it's a keeper) and relied on the tried and true favorites (Courtney's Sausage Stuffing).  Merry and Lindsey put together the turkey veggie tray.  Thanks, girls.  You did a great job.  This table is just the appetizers.

Brett, Sabrina and Courtney take a minute to visit in the kitchen and Courtney enjoyed having her aunt, Debbie, and uncle, BJ, join us for dinner.  It was the first time for Debbie and BJ to see Jason and Courtney's new home. 

Ahhh, Sabrina enjoyed a few minutes with the new kitten.  Sabrina is an animal lover, too.  Lindsey is relaxing on Friday.  Little did she know that she was going to get the flu the next day.  Lindsey and her mom didn't get much sleep Saturday because the flu hit Lindsey about midnight and lasted most of the night.  Poor girls. 

The youngest of the kids, Jordyn and Megan, are enjoying a video game.  Usually, it's the guys you see involved in a video game but these girls can compete.  The oldest of the kids, Jayden and his girlfriend, Promise, are such a nice couple.  We were glad they spent lots of time with us - eating, playing games and visiting. 

 

The last two years for Thanksgiving, we rented a house for all of us.  This year Becky and Mike and Bill and Teri took their travel trailers to Jason and Courtney's house.  They have one RV hookup so it's very convenient. The setup was perfect for everyone to be together to enjoy the weekend.  The weather was great for towing over the pass.  We went over together on Thursday.  Becky and Mike went home on Sunday and we went home on Monday. 

Mt. Rainier

Can you take too many pictures of the majestic Mt. Rainier?  Apparently, there's no limit.  These are pictures that we have taken in the last year.  There's no counting how many more we have taken over the years of living on every side of this amazing mountain.

These pictures were taken when we drove through Mt. Rainier National Park one afternoon in July 2012.  It was a beautiful day but as you can see, the clouds come and go so you had better snap those pictures when you have the opportunity.

A few more pictures of the mountain - one on a cloudy day and on a sunny day.

Becky's Birthday

We celebrated Becky's birthday with a night out to eat with dessert at their house.  It may look like there were two desserts.  The tiramasu was homemade by Becky and Mom.  The bundt cake is actually a huge candle.  Brandon's personality seems to be showing.  Sorry that I cut off part of your head, Mike.  Guess you deserve that for beating Mom all the time at WWF.

All smiles for the birthday celebration and a great evening.

Elk Hunting

Kyle was excited to get his first grouse.  Grandpa said he is a good hunter - being quiet and paying attention to everything around him.  He is good at spotting grouse and rabbits but hasn't spotted an elk yet.

Lee and Jason both had cow permits this year.  Bill and Lee hunted 6 days in the rain and cold without seeing a bull or cow when that season opened and Mike hunted 4 days that week.  So Jason comes over after work on Thursday so he can hunt on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Guess what - he shot this cow elk on Friday several hours before dark.  He was hunting with Mike.

They had to wait until daylight on Saturday to pack it out.  Kyle went along to help them. They were down in a bowl and it was a good, challenging hike.  They did a lot of work getting it on their packs but were able to pack everything out in one trip.  Good job, guys!! 

We have sort of a tradition of celebrating Brandon's birthday at elk camp since his birthday is often during elk season.  Awesome sister and brother picture.  What a decadent chocolate cake!  Happy 13th birthday, Brandon.  Yikes, another teenager.  Actually, all of our grandkids are teenagers or older with the exception of Megan.

All good things must come to an end!!  Packing up and getting ready to head home.  Couldn't resist taking this picture of Lee.  Guess he was trying to see how everything was going under this canopy.

Always need a few pictures before departing.  Kay and Lee beside their trailer and Teri and Kay by our car.  The guys hunt hard and keep the camp going - refilling water tanks, etc.  The gals enjoy walking, talking, reading, etc.  It 's a great week. 

Brandon Plays Football

Brandon played for the West Valley 7th Grade football team as quarterback.  He is number 19.  They are in their huddle making plans for the next play. 

A couple pictures of Brandon getting ready to pass the football to one of his team mates.  Brandon did a great job as quarterback.

The West Valley team worked hard and won this game against Zillah.  We really enjoy watching the grandkids in sports and other activities.

Westport Fishing

We decided to go to Grays Harbor for salmon fishing in September.  They had a special season that allowed you to keep any silver or king salmon.  Jason and Megan came down during the first few days we were there and it was a lot of fun.  We caught 4 fish in the two days they fished with us - two nice kings and two nice silvers.  We caught one of the kings in 2 feet of water.    

A picture of the first fish in the boat. 

We had several days that we didn't fish because of fog or wind.  The fishing was slow with an average of 1 fish per day. 

We really like the marina in the Port of Westport.  The docks were really maintained and we were able to camp near them.  We could see the boat from our trailer and we could see the trailer from the dock.

Fishing in Grays Harbor was entirely different than fishing at Sekiu.  Grays Harbor has two channels - the north and the south.  Sports fishermen typically fish in the south channel.  The channels are marked with numbered buoys.  The depth of the channels averages about 35 - 45 feet.  Outside the channels, there are many, many sandbars. 

Since the port is located near the ocean, you have to contend with ocean problems - fog, wind and tide changes.  This was a scene from the RV park.  Don't think we went out fishing this day. 

Adjacent to the RV park was a seafood company.  It unloaded the commercial fishing boats.  Most of the fish were sent by refrigerated trucks to processing plants.  We discovered quickly that this was a 24 hour a day operation.  Surprising how loud frozen tuna can be when tossed from one bin to another.

On the days we couldn't fish, we tried fishing and crabbing on the dock by the boat.  It was fun but we didn't get a crab big enough to keep or catch a salmon.  We did see other people catch fish and get legal crab so we must have something to learn.