Westmoreland Asays

No Turkey Bowl I started off the weekend sick, working from bed on Wednesday with a fever, cough, and all my sinuses seriously clogged--so there was no Turkey Bowl action this year. And that broke Aaron's heart. For the last few weeks we've been playing catch, learning fundamentals, and practicing plays, all in anticipation of playing some football on Turkey Day. I was feeling better when we arrived in Sherwood around 2:00 p.m., so Aaron and went to the park across the street from the Booren's that has a soccer field with an artificial surface--not that we needed it, since it was sunny and dry (but a little cold and windy). The in-laws and cousins were playing soccer (three-on-three), and didn't want to play football at all. Aaron was so upset he didn't even want to play in the soccer game; he just watched on the outskirts, passing the football to himself and kicking it around and asking if we could go home. I offered to play football with him, but he refused, s

This was the ultimate week of parties at our house--and this doesn't count the party we had at the Booren's on Friday 11/9. Last Sunday we invited a family that had just moved from Okinawa, where the husband was stationed in the Navy as a doctor (he is originally from Georgia). Then on Monday, we invited another family that had just moved into our neighborhood (although they already lived in our Ward, so we knew them already). They have a daughter Edward's age, and they were fun to watch together. And then last night, Meg's birthday, she hosted her own surprise party with lots of friends and sisters. They are a wild and noisy group (although I made them laugh the most with one very timely remark while I was preparing a snack to take upstairs for Aaron), and I'm surprised that I was able to get to sleep--although they did wake me up a few times before the party died down around 2:00 a.m.

Today was another beautiful, sunny autumn day, so Meg suggested that we drive out to the Brigittine Monastery near Amity (not the Amity where Jaws was filmed ) and pick up some famous monk-made fudge for Grandpa Hanna (it's for his Christmas gift, so don't spill the beans to him), who has mentioned that he really likes their stuff. After crossing the Marion Street Bridge, we traveled up Wallace then west through Perrydale and north towards Amity --country that I had never driven through before. The monastery sits about a half-mile off the paved road, and upon getting out of the car Meg and I both remarked how quiet and peaceful the setting was. Both boys had fallen asleep, but Edward woke up when the engine shut off, so we took him in and left Aaron behind to guard the car. The "store" was manned by a single monk (from New Mexico), and he let us sample their product; as soon as the tray was offered, Edward quickly reached in and grabbed one--that kid loves his swe

Aaron was disappointed that he didn't get to accompany me to Autzen Stadium for the Fresno State game back in September, so I promised that I would talk him to a different game. He told me that as long as it was in a football stadium that would be good. I had planned on taking him to the McNary/South game, but that was on the same date as the ward harvest carnival that Meg was in charge of. So we went to the South/Sprague game tonight instead. It was clear and not too chilly for November, and we had pretty good seats in the Saxon section. I was really surprised how few supporters the Saxons had for such an important game (winner got the better playoff seed--the loser gets to plays Westview (would have been Jesuit, if they hadn't missed that extra point)--stinkin' Beaverton elitists)--and I saw very few parents. Aaron wasn't that interested in the game (kind of like all the students there "watching"); he had more fun running around the stands and on the tr

Our old Canon point-and-shoot camera died a couple months ago, but Canon agreed to fix it for free because it was a serious defect that they admitted to. The camera was returned to us today, but it was not the same unit that we had shipped them. In fact, it wasn't even the same model. They said they didn't have the parts to repair ours, so they sent us a refurbished higher-end model instead. Not such a bad deal. Its first pictures were of the G20 , of course.