HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUGLAS!

Doug turned 33 yesterday. I think he had a pretty good day. I drove up to Olympia and spent the day with him...the entire day. We had lunch together, went for a drive around Otown. We really live in a beautiful place. The fall colors are amazing. We headed back to his office and I just hung out while he worked. Sounds kind of lame...but it was really nice. Oh, I didn't have the kids with me, so it was really enjoyable. We got home and Doug's sister had made him a delicious batch of cinnamon rolls. THEY ARE RIDICULOUS!!! Gonna be hard to not eat them all day long.

We topped the day off with a 7lb cake from Costco. Yikes. We were all on a huge sugar high!!!

Happy Birthday, baby!

~DADDY MOMENTS~

Who Is Payton?

In Payton's class they had to come up with a poem to describe themselves. I read through his, and just couldn't help but grin. Here is what he had to say about himself...

~

Pizza Lover.

Available when needed.

Yells sometimes.

Tells information.

Only two vowels in my name.

Nobel.

~

Team Player.

Rides a motorbike.

Optimistic.

Young.

~

Good student.

Into rock music.

Friends with Josh.

Freaky.

Ordinary.

Rough.

Dashes a lot.

~

I asked him if he came up with all of these on his own and he said yes. It is so fun to watch him mature and really start to understand who he is as a person.

Pumpkin Pickin'

The kids and I headed up the road a little ways to find ourselves some pumpkins. It's funny how something so simple can cause them so much excitement. They had a great time picking the ones they wanted, but the girls LOVED the really little ones. So, we ended up getting a few of those too.

They had some rows of corn, so I made the kids go pose in it. And then they wanted to run all over.
(Just to let everyone know, Jillian dressed herself today!)

(The nice lady that owns the place, took our picture for us!)

Goodbye Grandma and Grandpa!

~

It's official! As of the 30th of September, Doug's parents are Elder and Sister Gifford. Most of their kids were there when they were set apart by President Hansen last Wednesday night. I think it was an incredible thing for their posterity to be witness too.

They left the next morning and came to say their goodbyes before their road trip began. It is very bitter-sweet to see them go. The older kids understand what is happening, but the two little ones just thought they were saying a normal goodbye.

Mom and Dad were able to attend 2 sessions of General Conference and are reporting to the MTC this morning. They will only be there a week, and then it's off to the Colorado Springs, Colorado Mission. We know they will be awesome missionaries!

The Schuck and Run 5K

Doug's First Race

Doug had been preparing himself for a 10k that was supposed to be held in little ol' Onalaska, but it got cancelled. So, our friends, Tom and Stephanie Williams told us about this little run in Shelton. We haven't seen them in years and thought it would be fun to reconnect with them.

We knew that none of us won, so we snuck over to the trophy's after the race and took some pics. It made us feel like real champions! They are oyster shells with little oyster picks spray painted gold. So sad that I don't have one to display on the mantle. I did, however, win a beanie that says SCHUCK and RUN '09 on it in the raffle drawing!

Tom

Stephanie





Doug found a throne! Even though, I should have been sitting in it, because I beat him! Oh, I wasn't going to brag about that!!