The Thanksgiving Watermelon

Tonight Steve was prepping the turkey by soaking it in a "brine" of salt, brown sugar and water. This is why he is the master chef on Thanksgiving. I would never be this creative. Not the point of the story, though, so moving on. He brought the turkey in from the garage, still wrapped up in it's Jenni-o packaging, mainly green in color. Isaac could not get over this thing sitting on the counter and kept telling Steve (in a tone of voice like he had just seen a ghost) "Look at the huge watermelon!" :) We thought this was cute, so I was going to post a picture of him standing next to it. Do you think I'd charged my camera battery yet, though? Ugh! It's charging as we speak. Since I can't capture that one after the fact, you'll just have to use your imaginations!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends! Enjoy your Thanksgiving meal, watermelon included.

Speedy Delivery

We have another new baby to report in our extended family. Signe's godparents and my good friends, Kelly and Mike Kennedy, welcomed their daughter Tatum Jo Kennedy on November 25th at 6:15 am. Why the title to this message? Because they got to the hospital around 5:50 am! Dr. Penkus was swimming laps at the YMCA when he got the multiple pages from the nurses. Kelly said the nurses were speaking in code so she didn't know what message was actually being translated to him. We figured it had to be something along the lines of "get up here now!" We were trying to figure out how he would have gotten the page if he was in the pool, though, and Kelly decided she was going to ask the nurses to find out. (Kelly's family has had some exciting childbirths this year. Earlier this year, her older brother and his wife had their second child....in the car on the way to the hospital!) After all of the quick-paced panic, though, everyone is doing well. And I haven't charged the battery in the camera yet. I will have to post pictures later.

Welcome Reid Loren Wills!

This morning at 12:35 am, Steve's sister Ann, husband Brian and our nephew Ian welcomed a new addition to their family. Reid Loren (Loren is Ann and Steve's dad's name) was 8 lb 15 oz and, I think, 20 1/2 inches long (I could be wrong on that last stat). Steve and Brian's mom, Meredith, were at the hospital when he was born and got to see him right after they wheeled Ann out of the operating room. Where is the picture, you ask? Here's a word of advice to everyone: check the batteries in your camera BEFORE you leave the house. Once I get some I will post them. He's a cutie and everyone is doing great!

Happy Birthday Isaac!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Buddy! I can't believe how fast time flies! Dad, Signe and I love you and hope you have a great year learning lots of new and exciting things!

Happy Halloween!

We had quite a full day on Halloween. I helped out at school, we carved pumpkins (nothing like waiting until the last minute), Cousin Ian came over to visit and then, of course, there was trick-or-treating. Isaac even did a couple of his scary dinosaur impressions when he was out and about.

Signe and her Big Partner, Chantell, from Gustavus, before heading out to a Halloween party on Thursday.

Here I am, helping out a group of Second Graders explore the inside of a pumpkin on Friday. As you can see, I definitely do not have control of the situation. We'll see if Mrs. Bly invites me back:)

Mrs. Bly and Lathe read "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything" to the class.

Mrs. Bly's Second Graders (Signe is in the back row, second kid from the left- the tiger)

Isaac the Dinosaur, Ian the Cowboy and Signe the Tiger

Excited for trick-or-treating!