Halloween was a blast! We went to Jen and Matts for drinks and debauchery. Sadly, I was the photographer so you can't see my awesome Statue of Liberty costume :( At the end of the night someone decided it would be a great idea to go out to Dempsey's. That was the end of me for sure. Up until the GIANT vodka tonic I had there I was doing great. But I guess seeing the little angel grinding himself in the mirror was worth it? Right?

What a disappointing season, and this game was no different.

Eric and I went on a sister outing - with our sisters Natalie and Jen. We headed up to Greenbluff (http://www.greenbluffgrowers.com/) on a quest for some apples for Jen, and delicious homemade caramel for all. For those not familiar with Greenbluff, it is just an association of small family farms and food stands in the north part of Spokane. They have different seasonal activities like the Peach Festival in August, Apple Harvest Festival in September, etc.

We saw some very impressive pumpkins, Jen and I bonded with a large stuffed bear, sampled some amazing caramel, and found some interestingly shaped squash. We were disappointed to find that a trip through the corn maze is $6.50 apiece (out-rageous!), so we declined on that one. But that stop still resulted in a jar of pickled asparagus that was fabulous.

Afterwards we came home and made homemade spaghetti and meat sauce. Yum!

Eric and I woke up just in time to head down for the complimentary full breakfast at the hotel. Then we went back up to my room and I got to open my presents! I got a mandolin, and the BEST - a pasta roller attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer. Sooo exciting! Then we got ready for the day and wandered around the village. A visit to Leavenworth isn't complete without a stop at the hat store, so we went in there and goofed around for awhile. We also went to a couple of candy stores and sampled some wonderful cheese at the Cheesemonger's shop. We bought some Applewood smoked gouda, one other kind of cheese, and a couple different kinds of sausage to take with us out to.... the golf course!

Our original plan was to play at the Leavenworth golf club but they were plugging the greens and so we ended up going a little ways out of town up to Lake Wenatchee State Park. There was a beautiful course up there and Eric and I proceeded to make a mockery of the game. I don't know what our problem was but we were both playing like we had never before held a club.

Afterwards we came back and had a lovely dinner at Visconti's and then watched Monday night football from the comfort of the jacuzzi. Lovely day!

Sunday morning we headed out to Calvary Community Church in Sumner for Emma McMahan's dedication. Emma had a lot to say about it at first but was very well behaved and cute as can be.

After church we went to Emerald Downs and had a blast betting on the horses. We lost more than we won, but it was still a fun time. And it was a beautiful day for a picture of Mt. Rainier.

Then Eric and I headed back east, but this time we took Highway 2 and stopped in Leavenworth for my birthday getaway. Our room was sooo awesome, with a fireplace (operated by a light switch), a Bavarian teddy bear, a jacuzzi tub complete with its own flat screen tv.

Eric, Natalie, and I headed over to Seattle for a surprise birthday party to celebrate my dad turning the big 6-0. But first, we spent the morning at the park with my mom, Andy, and Barkley the three legged wonder dog. As we were leaving the park a little girl asked my brother where Barkley's leg was and he laughed and said something like "it's in the garbage at some vet's office somewhere." I'm pretty sure that little girl will have nightmares about that.

On the way to the party we stopped at Fred Meyer to pick up balloons for the surprise party. As we wandered around the party section who did we run into but my DAD and Joanne (his woman). Quickly tossing the balloons aside we made up some story about looking for shampoo. We thought our cover was blown but I think we managed to be slick enough that he was still in the dark. After Fred Meyer we stopped at Starbucks to meet up with Andy, and randomly came across this guy who has been riding his bicycle around the Benson Hill neighborhood since we were little kids.

The surprise party was a success, and my dad was very happy to see his whole family gathered to celebrate his official old man status. If you look closely on the cake there is an R (for Roland) written in that Rooster hot chili sauce. I'm not sure who the naughty person was who did that, but yuck.