A Happy 40th Birthday

Turning 40 is a milestone.  I had a great celebration spanning 3 parties. 

Turning 40 isn't so bad

First up is on the 3rd at Sandi's parents.  Lois made a great dinner of chicken (a healthy Paula Dean recipe!) and baked potatoes.  So good.

Amber has a Santa on her bum!

Next up is the OctoberFest.  Unfortunately, we didn't photo-document well, but it was a hit.  Sandi made beer-cheese soup and pretzels with salad and a cheesecake. 

John, a friend of mine, knows how to use real (non-point-and-shoot) cameras.  Let's skip the basics and jump right into 'ghost photography.'

Weird

Let's cap it off with a Casino night up in Seattle.  I wish I had more to show (Julie not only hosted it but did a great job blogging about it) but it was fun!  It was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones.  At one point, I wandered over to the blackjack table to see a) how Sandi was doing and b) watch Nathan ask for a hit.  Oh, I laughed.

All good blogs should end with a picture of Amber

 

(this one is on my desk at work)

I have much to be thankful for:
my beautiful and amazing wife, Sandi
Amber, who melts my heart
I have a great job doing what I want to do
We live in a comfortable peaceful home
in a great city

The 30s were great, I think the 40s will be even better.

Christmas with the family

A beautiful tree will all the gifts

In alphabetical order...

Amber (sleeping through it all). Notice the little bear on her bum.  So cute.

Brian

Kyla displaying the dragon fly she made Brian

Cecily

Cheryl

Denise

Dwayne

Gary

Janet

Joanne

Julie

Keith

Kyla

Parker

Piper

Sandi

Wesley (Finally!)

The aftermath (notice Amber is still sleeping)

What a great Christmas celebration!  It was so good to be up and see everyone. 

Guest Bathroom Cabinet: Finally finished.

Last Thanksgiving I finished the vanity for the guest bathroom.  I intended to work on the adjoining cabinet the following spring.  Then we found out that we were having a baby, then we decided to remodel our kitchen, then we decided to remodel the hallway, then we decided to re-carpet the bedrooms, then I traveled to New York City, then I began looking for a job, THEN I started working on the guest cabinet.

There has always been a need for a drastic overhaul of the guest bathroom.  We're not sure why they installed a changing table in the bathroom, but they did.

Ripping out the existing cabinet vastly improved it, but the empty space cried out for something useful.

The vanity took a lot of time and effort but I consider it one of my better projects.  The cabinet was just arduous. 

I'm happy with the way it turned out but I think I need a few smaller projects for awhile.

Wine Tasting

Sandi and I planned on going to the coast for the 'Stormy Weather Art Festival' in Cannon Beach last weekend.  We couldn't make it work out with a little one so we opted for a little 'staycation' instead.  Since we live so close to Oregon's Wine Country, we took a little drive Saturday afternoon to local wineries.

Beautiful Willamette Valley

It was Sandi's first experience wine tasting (and my first in a few years).  We were both surprised how approachable wine tasting was for us.  

The vineyards were beautiful even in the middle of a November downpour.  The trees were showing off their colors and the air smelled clean and crisp.  The actual tasting places were very warm and inviting.  

The wine we sampled didn't meet my expectations.  The first stop had a fairly good white, a mild Chardonnay, two Pino Noirs and finished with an ice wine.  I'm not a huge fan of Pino Noirs and I don't enjoy dessert wines all that much.  The second winery started with a blended white and had 4 varieties of Pino Noir.  The prices were in the $20+ range.  Though we hoped to purchase a bottle of wine for dinner that night we decided against it.

We tried to visit a 3rd winery but ran out of time. 

That night we got ingredients for a fine meal of pasta and shrimp scampi.  I bought a really good (less than $10) bottle of Syrah at the store.  A good way to end a good day.

Happy Halloween

For Halloween, Sandi's family has a tradition of chili and cornbread for dinner. The past Halloweens we have gone over to their place for dinner and a movie. This time Amber joined us!

Amber was supposed to be a pumpkin for Halloween this year. We bought a pumpkin at a nearby farm and I carved it out with 'Amber 2015'. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of keeping it in our house the week prior and it literally disintegrated on our kitchen table. So much for that idea.

Grandma had a family trip to Kansas over the weekend so Amber slept on Grandpa the entire time.

notice the cute cat on her bum

Amber's top says "Daddy's under my spell" so true.

We watched an episode of 'Sherlock.'  That's a perfect Halloween movie!