Christmas Eve with the Battles - 2013

Becky always sets a beautiful table.  Becky reads a story as a reminder of the reason for the season. 

 

Always a fun variety of gifts.

 

Mike never misses a beat!  Hahahaha!

Swedish Tea Rings

Many years ago, Bill and Teri wanted to give gifts to the employees of the Eatonville Post Office.  Somehow we started making these Swedish tea rings back in the early 1980's.  To have enough for every employee to have their own, we made 16 tea rings each year.  There have been a few years that we didn't do tea rings but now we make about 8 a year to give to family and neighbors.

Merry's 16th Birthday

Merry turned 16 on December 12, 2013.  She had a special celebration with some of her friends and family.  The house was decorated with a special touch for the birthday girl.  Happy 16th, Merry!



Christmas Shoes - A German Tradition

Kathleen told us that in Germany there was a Christmas shoe tradition similar to our Christmas stocking tradition.  The shoes are set out on the night of December 5th and St. Nicholas fills them with gifts.

 

Thanksgiving 2013

Lots of family - that's what Thanksgiving is all about!!  The Battles and Sherwoods from Yakima brought their RV's to Jason and Courtney's to spend the weekend.  We traveled on Thursday so we celebrated our Thanksgiving on Friday.  Brett, Kelly, Kyle and Brian and his girlfriend spent a lot of time visiting with us while we were there.  Courtney's sister, Heather, and her husband, William, and their two children joined us, too.  

There was lots of cooking done in preparation for Friday's feast.  With everyone contributing their specialties, we had 11 different dishes to enjoy.  We are blessed with fabulous cooks in our family so the food was out of this world.

Some more pictures of family.

Jason set up a duck blind on the back of his property.  Even though there wasn't as much water as he would have liked, Brandon still got a duck.  Special treat for those who want to hunt.

Sisters and their Sweethearts

Bill and Teri, Coralee and Lance, and Kay and Lee met at Mazatlan's on South Hill for a nice lunch on Thanksgiving weekend.  Fun to get together every now and then!

Brandon's 8th Grade Basketball

Waiting to play.  Yay #52!!

Watching this team play was so much fun.  They have great skills and work very well as a team.  Brandon did a great job at making baskets, rebounds and assists.  

Becky's Birthday

Celebrated Becky's birthday with a nice lunch at Black Angus.

Hunting 2013

Mike was drawn for an any bull tag so Bill and Mike headed for the Rimrock area to find one.  They hunted hard - Bill would drop Mike off and he would hunt an area and Bill would pick him up.  Bill found lots of mushrooms but Mike never got that elusive bull.  Bill and Lee were drawn for cow elk permits for the Cowiche area.  The Cowiche area was totally new to them but there were several people who were willing to show them around.  It was a different experience hunting in the sagebrush.  These guys get an A+ for effort and there were some shots taken but they still came home empty handed.  Kyle hunted with Bill and Lee during the regular season.  He had lots of energy and was rewarded by finding a nice elk antler.

Merry took her hunter safety class this year and got a special youth permit for a doe.  On October 13th, she got one!!!  Jason said she did really well.  The first shot hit but the doe kept running.  Merry got excited and missed the next shots.  The first shot was enough though.  The doe only ran a short distance before dropping.

Jason got a nice buck on Halloween.  Yay!!  Glad he was successful because a trip to Wyoming earlier was a no deer, broke down truck experience.  Ugh!!

Cool picture that Jason took with his phone and binoculars while out scouting!

Brandon's 14th Birthday

Who is happiest about this cool gift?  Brandon or his Dad.

Instructions being given for the maiden ride down G & G's driveway.

Brandon, Kyle, Lindsey, Kathleen and Lena played a good game of Yahtze waiting for birthday dinner and dessert.  Kathleen told us that in Germany it is bad luck to celebrate your birthday on any day but the real birthday.  Brandon didn't seem to mind.

Yep, tiramasu for this guy's dessert.  Yummy!!

Football Fun

Brandon loves football.  He played on the West Valley 8th Grade team and on the Grid Kids.  It's a family affair to support him at the games.  Brandon did take a hard hit at a school game and suffered a severe concussion.  He was out of school for about a week and then went back 1/2 days for a while.   It took a while for him to heal but he is doing great now.

Celebrating Coralee's 70th Birthday

Coralee, Teri's sister, turned 70 on October 26, 2013.  She was celebrated with a surprise birthday party at the apartment complex where she and Lance live.  There were high school friends and family as well as her special friend, Beth, who flew in from California.  Tia coordinated the potluck and invitations.  Teri made a collage of photos as a gift to Coralee and the photos here are some on them.  Happy Birthday, Coralee!!!

This is one of the few pictures of Teri and all of her siblings.  From left to right, bottom row - Kay, Teri and Coralee, top row - Jeff, Greg and Doug.  This was probably taken in the 1970's since that was the only time Teri had shorter hair.  The three sisters picture was taken in the late 1960's.