A pumpkin of a time.

Yay for pumpkins! Tis the season to carve and get creative.

Last week we had about 20 people over to carve pumpkins. Everyone brought their own pumpkin and any carving tools they wanted and we set up and made a mess!

Some used patterns...
While others just went with what came to mind...

And there wasn't always enough table space...which seemed ok for some.

The final result was fantastic. Not one was the same.

He's so cute, and we're obsessed.

We put up a new towel hanger in our bathroom and since it looked like a good bird perch, we thought we'd let Kirby try it out. The following picture is the result. He slipped off the towel hanger and barely caught himself by his beak. Brian just stood there laughing and yelling, "Sue, get the camera! Come quick..!" Poor birdy.

And Kirby loves his baths. He's taken a liking to the kitchen sink, more room to splash...?

After his bath is the only time he'll let you come close to him with a towel, and he'll sit in one for quite a while as long as you hold him.

What a character...

Ready, set, ....chaos!

So, us girls love to shop and what better way to do it than for free?! Every once in a while, we get together with all our bags of clothes that we don't want anymore, organize them a bit, and then let everyone loose to see what fits.
As Sara's showing us, it's a pretty exciting event. :)

Before the maddness starts, everything is neatly in piles....not for long.

No, I didn't get any pictures of the actual mess but here's the pile of clothes that we went through one last time before they get bagged up and taken to the Goodwill.

Fun times!

Small get-together

Sunday evening, we had a few people over for BBQ chicken dinner. Ben Eastwood, the guy in the picture below with his hands in the air, was staying with us. He's from Australia, but has been living and working in Peru on and off for the last few years. He helps run a business there that puts together groups of volunteers that help build and/or maintain housing for the locals in Peru.

Sam and Ben eating on the front steps.

A few of the group, from left to right, Lee Ellen (standing up), Glenda, Mark, Meridith, Sarah, Robert, Laura, and Jolyn.

More Kirby...

He's just so cute, we keep taking pictures...

After his bath, Brian likes to style his feathers.

Kirby loves hoodies.

And keys...

And being a complete goof.

Sue's birth parents

Three weeks ago today, I received a phone call from Alice, a lady that runs the 'Canadian Adoption Registry' web site, telling me that my birth mother wanted contact. Two days earlier, I had put all known info on her web site search page in hopes that someday, I'd get a call or e-mail. So when the call came only days later, I was very shocked and excited. She then got some basic info from me; was I married, did I have any pets, what I like to do, etc. The next day, she called me back and asked, "Are you sitting down?" and proceeded to tell me that my birth parents had gotten married three years after my birth and that I had two full siblings. Since then, we've been e-mailing back and forth like crazy and finding out anything and everything. It has been thrilling for all of us, mom and dad want me to forward all our e-mails to them so they can get to know them too. And Joanne is excited too, when I told her, her jaw dropped, gave me a big hug and said, "That's kinda weird, you have, like, different parents than me...!"
There are no plans to meet yet, but we have talked about the possibility of when it might be time, and ok with everyone. This part is also very exciting because we've gotten over the initial shock and excitement of finally connecting and now thinking about meeting...it's a whole new set of feelings and emotions and an all new exciting. :)

These are my birth parents, Bruce and Mona. I don't know when this picture was taken but I believe within the last three years.

And these are my full siblings, Jenn and Mathew, taken three years ago at a graduation.

1st Anniversary trip

On the weekend of our 1st anniversary, Brian booked a surprise. It was a weekend at a tiny cabin right on the water near Southworth.

This is us starting to haul all of our stuff down a very steep little trail down to the cabin.

Isn't it cute?!

There was a rope swing but I never did try it out.

They had a canoe on the deck which was fun to take out. Brian took it out fishing a couple times.

Or not, if you can fish from the front steps why go out in the boat?