A Note From the Neighbor

... upon kicking his soccer ball into our backyard a second time.

Birthday Bash

 We finished off the birthday festivities with a party last night. One of Joshua's good friends at school, Larry, also has a birthday in October, the day after Joshua's. So they decided to have a party together.

 We hosted the party at our house. I made mini treats, Larry brought ice cream, and one of the other girls volunteered to make a cake, so we had dessert covered and everyone else brought a beverage or snack to share. We invited the first, second, and third year philosophy students and had about twenty people here. It's a great group of people and we enjoy spending time together.

Here are the birthday boys, Joshua and Larry.

Maggie made a funfetti cake, which was enjoyed. It was a fun party and nice to have a casual time to hang out with friends and get to know some of the new students.

King Estate

 We used a Christmas gift to go on a lovely afternoon date to King Estate yesterday. It is outside of town, but the drive to get there was beautiful with all the trees changing colors. The restaurant sits on the top of a hill, surrounded by vineyards. It was quite pretty. We started off with a wild boar terrine and goat cheese plate.

 We sat outside and had a great corner table. It was mid-afternoon, so the patio was pretty empty.

I got the lobster roll and Joshua got the braised lamb shank, then we switched plates halfway through. Everything was delicious.

 After lunch, we strolled around a little and admired the views. It was cloudy, but not too cold and quite beautiful.

And here's the view from the parking lot as we were leaving, not too shabby. It was a wonderful way to get away and enjoy a little time together in the midst of a busy term.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

I found this recipe for Asian Lettuce Wraps the other day and we made it last night for dinner. The combination of ingredients seemed a little strange, but I went with it. I used a store bought hoisin sauce and regular green leaf lettuce since I already had it and didn't want to buy a different kind of lettuce. These turned out great. We were both impressed by how good they were and since I had done all the chopping earlier in the day, it was easy to throw together after we got home. This recipe is going in my recipe box. 

Birthday Day

Joshua's birthday was on Sunday and we had birthday brunch with presents after church. I got him a new game for his birthday, so we enjoyed playing that and generally having a nice relaxed day together.

Of course, we pulled out the good dishes and had a meal in courses for birthday dinner.

Then we played another round of the new game, Through the Ages, and got so involved in it that we almost forgot to eat rhubarb pie. Thankfully, we remembered just in time. It was a wonderful day and so nice to celebrate together.

Joshua's Birthday Weekend Begins

 We headed over to Reedsport yesterday to start Joshua's birthday weekend with the traditional birthday breakfast with Grandad and Judy. This year we went to a little place in Lakeside with good food and huge portions.

 On our way back to the house, Joshua saw a sign that said the library was having a book sale. So we headed over there and found all kinds of books for a great price. We spent the afternoon looking at our new finds, setting up Grandad's new computer, sewing, chatting, and listening to the rain.

We headed up to Florence for dinner at Mo's and enjoyed sitting at a table with a good view and eating shrimp salads. Joshua and I drove the rest of the way home from there. It was a great way to start off the exciting weekend.