Halloween Houseful.....

Sarah and co arrived just in time to experience a no-holds-barred American Halloween - and they were determined to make the most of it! After sourcing 2 very cute costumes and a lorry load of very scary temporary tattoos we set off with a witch and a Skelzor towards North Admiral for their annual Trick or Treat Treasure Hunt. I think Mike was the only one not phased by the whole spectacle (born and raised on extravagant US holiday traditions!). There were dogs in costumes, tiny babies in costumes, grown-ups (I use the term loosely!) in costumes and even a couple of transvestites (unfortunately I didn't manage to secure any photographic evidence of this so you'll just have to take my word for it!) Outstanding were the Wiener dog dressed as a hot-dog, the Elvis and Hound-dog combo, and the teeny tiny Scoobie Doo! It took Livvy and Josh about 5 minutes to get the hang of marching into the stores and simply having to say Trick or Treat to be rewarded with a bag full of sweeties! They got a little carried away and came away thinking that they will most definitely be crowned the winners of the best costume contest as well as winning the enormous Treasure Hunt Prize Basket! Well - in their Auntie kate's eyes - they deserve both anyway!!
We even managed to squeeze in some pumpkin carving although I think Mark and Mike enjoyed that just a touch more than the kids!
The candy bags and kiddiwinks have now made their way safely across the pond just in time for Show and Tell at school on Monday!

Red Rocks and Bright Lights

I had been beside myself with excitement since Sarah had told me that she and Mark had booked a holiday in Sedona (the closest their timeshare would bring them to the PNW). Even better, they were going to fly home via Seattle and spend a few days here with us :-)
So Mike and I headed off to spend a long weekend with the Twigges and Twiglets in Arizona with no higher expectations than being able to spend good quality time with my sis and Mark and the two sweetest munchkins in the world!
As it turned out we managed to squeeze quite a bit into the weekend; at least 30 games of Uno in the back of the minivan (with some pretty nifty tactical playing by both Josh and Livvy!), a visit to the Grand Canyon, some acrobatic sessions in the pool, a drive over the Hoover Dam, and a very exciting visit to Vegas. Sadly, the kids were not allowed to hover too close to the blackjack tables or slots, although with their card playing skills that probably turned out well in Vegas's favour! We managed to find a room at the Treasure Island which Josh and Livvy thought was 'way cool' - although I'm not sure whether the pirate show or sleeping in a bed with Auntie Kate and Mike held the most appeal! As Aunt and Uncle we were spoiled rotten with constant attention, ensuring permagrins on our faces for the entire trip.
It was very hard to leave on Monday - but we managed to drag ourselves away knowing that it would only be a few days before we could resume the wrestling and hairdressing sessions back in Seattle!

Hunting Rookie

So this year made our annual trip over to Colfax for the fun and frolics which is Opening Weekend of Pheasant Hunting Season - but this time we had the added excitement of bringing our own rookie bird dog, Fergus! As Cortez always says, 'It's all about the dogs' - and giving them the opportunity to do what they were born to do. I think it's a great sacrifice those boys make for their dogs - after all it's a pretty grueling weekend of firing guns, drinking beer, eating good food and tromping about the countryside - selflessness, pure selflessness ;-)
It was almost a full complement this year, (absence of the newlywed Leighs notwithstanding - honeymooning in Fiji is a pretty good excuse in my book!) with 8 hunters and 5 dogs (plus Sydney who was representing the Leigh household!). In addition, Heidi took advantage of her post-Masters free time and made it over this year, as well as Wendy and the boys (Blake wins the youngest participant prize yet again!) and Jenni and Baby Bump Lothbright (future hunter I'm sure!). Jenni and I joined the boys on Sunday morning to check out the progress of Gunther and Fergus and get some of the fresh Whitman County air. As it turns out the air was more muggy than fresh and by the end of the morning we had halved our number of layers and doubled our thirst!
In the end the rookie had a good first outing; he flushed a bird on the first morning (nobody mention beginners luck!) and did a good job of staying close to his Dad. His stamina needs a little work (but then again so does his mum's!) but it made for a very docile hound for the remainder of the week!

When two become one....Burleighs drop the 'Bur'..!

It was certainly a long time in the making - 7 and a bit years to be exact - but the long awaited union of Tiffany and Ryan was well worth it!!
The wedding was a wonderful combination of family, friends, humour and love. The PNW weather cooperated for a change and the ceremony took place under a vivid blue sky!
The chocolate and Granny Smith green wedding colours worked wonderfully with the country setting of Tesa Valley Farm and even though it got a little chilly later on - I dont think anyone really noticed.
Blake Stauff - Wendy and Frank's son - took the prize for the youngest wedding guest - at a mere 11 days old - whilst Tiffany's Grandma evened the score at the other end of the age spectrum! Megan was definitely the most beautiful pregnant bridesmaid I've ever seen - and showed no signs of the stress caused by having to find a seamstress to enlarge her dress by about 4 sizes!
Ryan wowed everyone with his dancing skills (way to go North Seattle Community College Swing Class ;-) )and his chocolate brown pumps, whilst Tiff just smoldered as a very serene and elegant bride.
My nomination for new favourite person has to go to Michael, the officiating priest. What a dude! As I said to him on the day - if there was ever anyone who could inspire me to set foot back in church - he would be the one. I wont go into the reasons here - for fear of embarrassing myself (and him probably) - but great job Michael!

Road Trip 08

14 days, 6789 miles, 22 States, 0 speeding tickets! Phew!! It was a challenge keeping ahead of the changing speed limits though - especially in the construction zones, where it's apparently instant castration if you are caught speeding.
For those who don't know - we had decided to head East to Mike's hometown of Greene which is in upstate New York. In a rash moment whilst walking Fergus one morning we decided it would be fun to drive and take him with us. For once, my naiveity served me well and I was totally gung ho about the prospect of driving coast to coast and seeing the full range of scenery this mammouth country has to offer. I can honestly say that apart from one fleeting instant in South Dakota - which is like driving in a scene from Groundhog Day - long and flat, and more long and flat - and yet more long and flat - when I did question our sanity briefly - I did not regret our decision once. Fergus was not surprisingly, an angel. He valiantly responded to the 'load up' request every time - even though I'm sure he was muttering doggy obscenities under his breath - and made the most of every second of freedom he was afforded in Greene with his Uncle Jake - and Joe, Mike's Dad!
It was a trip of extremes; we experienced temperatures ranging from 28 degr in New York state and 32 in Utah, to 84 in Nashville (note to self - check weather forecast before dressing in the morning to avoid looking like a twerp in long sleeves and boots in 84 degree heat); we traveled through the flattest of flatness in Kansas (plus tumbleweed the size of a house and winds so strong they removed a chunk of our roof rails!), to the dramatic steep crags of the Rockies in Colorado, and on to the eerie pink canyons of Utah.
The highlights were Mount Rushmore - a monument so symbolically moving it touches even a non-Yank's heart, Nashville, Tennessee - a veritable pilgrimage site for a Country Music disciple like myself, and New York City. Oh my gosh - that place is like no other. We did everything it was possible to do in 12 hours - food, sights, Broadway show - and came away totally invigorated by it's energy, and mish mash of cultures, styles, and people.
By far and away the most beautiful, however, was Greene and its environs. It was very strange being surrounded by towns with English names; Norwich, Oxford, Rochester, Newark and even stranger seeing small settlement towns which could so easily have been transplanted straight from the other side of the pond; Victorian looking houses, village greens, taverns and village shops. I had always hoped that I would experience Autumn in the north east as it is supposed to be a thing of legend. It is. Just in the 5 days we spent there the trees went through a multitude of colour changes - from pale greens and yellows to rich reds, ambers and golds. We spent several happy hours walking snowmobile trails and hunting grounds above Cincinnatus Lake and just marvelling at the views.
It was a wonderful experience, and made for some lifelong memories.

Hens, chicks and blokes.....!

It's been a while since I was on a Hen Night - and of course that was in my home country, so I really didnt know what to expect when we decided to send Tiff off in style. My first challenge was remembering that this was a 'Bachelorette' Party - no Hens involved over this side of the pond! All was going swimmingly well with this challenge....until we managed to adopt 2 nice young English chaps who would gladly have followed us home, to the wedding and who knows whatever else! Anyway - needless to say - it was all Hens, pints, bloody hells, cor blimeys, tomarrrtoes and snogs from then on (OK - I may have exaggerated with the snogs part - although I may have to seek clarification from Mandy Mae!)
We started the evening at Chopstix - a dueling piano bar in Everett. We greased the palm of the pianists and made sure they embarrassed Tiffany big style. I will never be able to hear 'She'll be coming round the mountain' in the same light again!
On to McCabes - which was surprisingly quiet (although that might have had something to do with the fact it was 1am). Tiff got her two-step with Brad Paisley (well he looked a bit like him), she and I cobbled our way through a cha-cha (feeling a mixture of sadness for the state of our country dancing skills and nostalgia for the Little Red Hen), and two sisters got to wow the bar with their very cute dancing!
We finally managed to drag ourselved away once the bar closed, just about managed to lose the Limey Limpets and set off to pick up the sleeping pregnant lady and head out to Patti's cabin in the wildnerness.
3am was a little too late for S'mores, we decided - and that was even before Heidi had realized she'd forgotten the key and treated us to her very best Spiderman impression. At least we managed to talk Tiff out of scaling the roof - although I was thinking a chocolate/green leg cast would have made for an interesting bridal accessory.
Instead we opted to seal ourselves into our sleeping bag cocoons in the loft and sleep for as long as our bladders would allow.
Heidi had done a grand job of arranging the whole event which was topped off by a sumptuous breakfast of fresh fruit, muffins, hairs on your chest coffee and chit chat.
I don't even think there was a hangover in sight - and we managed at least 6 hours longer than the boys - and we had Megan and her baby bump in our group! So way to go girls - we rock!

Homage to a grand old hound...

Peps has moved on. Without a doubt he is in doggy heaven. He did not have a mean bone in his body and was the kind of dog who would have kicked himself for those few times he was naughty!
He spent his glorious 15 years worshiping sticks. Ironic really as the only times he had any close shaves with death, they were as a direct result of his stick addiction; once when his Dad accidentally threw his stick into the path of an oncoming canal barge and once (or was it twice) when his stick retrieval was so enthusiastic that he impaled himself and had to have the shards removed from his throat.
Peps was a people dog. He couldn't have cared less about his canine peers - but loved human company. Consequently he was a great giver and receiver of love - and he banked lots in his long life - and from a plethora of fans!
My lasting memories of him are the quirks of his character; his love for cheese, his tree-climbing, his obsession with water, his hatred of cats (until Oliver came to live in his orbit), his stubborn determination to decide which direction we were walking on any particular day, and his ability to twirl his long feathery tail in a circular motion.
I regret terribly not being able to be with him at the end - but know he was probably in much better hands than mine - and will always admire and love Mark for being his support when he needed it most.
Peps' legacy lives on; in the 42 year old stuffed bear with one ear and one arm, in his striking resemblance (in character and appearance) to Fergus, and in the memories those people lucky enough to have known him, share regularly.
Rest in Peace, Peps - I hope he was watching from up there and had a basket full of sticks waiting for you!