Baby Announcement Celebrations

Back in September when we made our quick trip to California so Joshua could give a couple of papers, we also were excited to share the news of our pregnancy with our families. We got great reactions on both sides and some pretty surprised faces. After the news was out, it was time to celebrate.

Heather gave me a bag of her favorite maternity clothes that she had just gotten back from Michelle. 

Mom brought home two kinds of Cold Stone ice cream for a special mid-afternoon treat.

We also enjoyed a delicious family dinner complete with raspberries that Mom picked up and raspberry wine that Dad got because the baby was the size of a raspberry at the time.

Thanksgiving in Oregon

 We did something crazy for Thanksgiving this year. All of the Kerrs came up and we gathered in Reedsport to celebrate Thanksgiving at Grandad's house. It was a bit crowded at times, but we had a lot of fun. Since we were already in Oregon and other family members were traveling, I got to do some extra food prep on Wednesday including making my first pecan pie. I was a little nervous making pecan pie for the first time for such a special occasion, but I was happy with how it turned out.

As expected, we had a feast on Thursday. We ate out on the patio, so it was a little chilly but not bad.

Photo credit: Lamar

After dinner, Laura, Lamar, and I headed out on a walk with the kids. We quickly realized that we were all spouses of the Kerr family. Then we ran into Gayle, also a Kerr spouse. So all four of the Kerr spouses ended up going on a walk together: the Kerr spouse clan.

Friday afternoon we drove down to Shore Acres. We arrived in time for a beautiful sunset.

Photo credit: Bethany

All of us at Shore Acres.

After enjoying the sunset, we walked through the gardens and admired the lights. It really is impressive; so many lights in one place.

Bethany and Laura left to return home after viewing the lights and the rest of us got seafood for dinner before returning to Reedsport.

Saturday we enjoyed a day around Grandad's house and finished things off with the famous taco pizza. This is something the Kerrs enjoyed frequently on trips to Oregon and I'd heard about, but never experienced. It was fun to finally try some. After dinner, we headed back to Eugene and everyone else headed back to California, leaving Grandad to enjoy a little peace and quiet.

It was so much fun to have everyone in Oregon for Thanksgiving. I really enjoyed the time spent together and doing something a little wild for the holiday.

Edible Decorations

Time to eat our fall decorations and make room for advent decorations.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Last weekend I went to St. Louis for a Shields family reunion and to celebrate Grandma's 90th birthday. Due to having just a personal item on the flight, I didn't have room for my camera, so all of these pictures are from Heather and Nathan.

Photo credit: Heather

I flew out of Eugene and Mom and Heather flew out of Fresno, but we all happened to be on the same flight from San Francisco to St. Louis.

Photo credit: Nathan

Friday night we kicked things off by getting to meet Laura's partner, Al, and having dinner at his family's restaurant. It was delicious. We filled up about half the room.

Photo credit: Heather

Photo credit: Heather

 Mom, Heather, and I stayed at Uncle Dave's house in their basement suite. Heather and I shared this huge bed. It was just a normal king size, but we're both used to sleeping in a queen.

Photo credit: Nathan

Saturday we hung out at Dave and Brenda's and the rest of the family gradually arrived to visit and help make Thanksgiving dinner. It was a great way to get to spend time together. I felt like I had a good chance to talk to almost everyone and it was particularly fun to meet Al, Laura's partner, and Anna, Micah's partner.

Photo credit: Heather

Among other things, Laura and I helped make salad.

Photo credit: Nathan

The kitchen was crowded, but we had fun working together.

Photo credit: Heather

Photo credit: Nathan

We all managed to sit down and eat together, and what a delicious meal. After dinner, Aunt Alma read some of the memories that people had contributed to a memory book for Grandma's birthday.

Photo credit: Nathan

Photo credit: Nathan

We had cake and pie for dessert and Grandma impressed us all by blowing out a large portion of her 90 candles with the first blow.

Photo credit: Nathan

The group.

Photo credit: Nathan

Mom with her siblings.

Photo Credit: Heather

Sunday morning we had brunch, catered by Laura's friend, Loren, along with a few additions.

Photo credit: Heather

Photo credit: Nathan

The kitchen was full of people and food again.

Photo credit: Nathan

Photo credit: Heather

Photo credit: Heather

And what food it was! Heather's plate is a little less crowded than mine was, but it was all delicious and the presentation was beautiful. After the brunch, we relaxed and visited some more and people started leaving to catch flights.

Photo credit: Heather

Our flight was in the late afternoon, so we arrived in San Francisco in the dark and got to see the city lights. Unfortunately, my flight back to Eugene was delayed and then we hit a bunch of turbulence as we descended because it was raining pretty hard. I'm guessing it was normal for the pilots, but it was by far the most turbulence I've ever experienced and was pretty wild. Needless to say, I was glad to be home again. But it was a good trip and fun weekend and I was glad I got to go see the family and celebrate with everyone.

Coming Soon

Announcing our little pumpkin!

Baby Kerr due early May 2018.

Quick Trip

 Joshua and I made a quick trip to California at the end of September so he could present a couple papers. He started school on Monday, then we drove down Wednesday and had dinner in Modesto with the family. Thursday we had a quiet morning and lunch with Dave and Gayle, then Joshua gave an invited talk at Stan State. Dave, Mom, and I went to the talk and Joshua did a great job. Then I returned to Visalia with Mom while Joshua went out to dinner with members of the philosophy department and presented another paper at the PACT conference in San Francisco on Friday.

Saturday, he joined us in Visalia where we were spending the morning watching soccer games. Evan is number 2 above, speedy little guy.

Micah's game was next.

Thanks to the Nickells and Trevinos bringing shades, we were able to relax and enjoy the games without getting too hot.

Natalie's was the last game of the morning. It was fun to see how much all three of them have improved since we saw them play soccer last.

Picture at the games with the Nickell kids, then all the nieces and nephews. Gotta love being squished by such good kiddos!

We headed to Michelle and Jonah's house for lunch and to tour their new house, which is great. Good layout and plenty of space.

Emery's game was early afternoon and pretty cute, and chaotic. After the games, we headed to Mom and Dad's house for the rest of the afternoon and family dinner. The Nickells and Trevinos left after dinner and Joshua and I returned to Modesto.

The next morning we enjoyed Mr. T's donuts for Solace's birthday breakfast. It was fun to be able to be there and celebrate with her. After breakfast, we hit the road and headed home.

Cabin Time

The third weekend of September, some friends of ours invited us to join them at their cabin and we were happy to accept. We drove up Friday afternoon and met Chuck and Arlene at the cabin, arriving in time for a late lunch, a walk around the area, and a delicious dinner.

Saturday morning, we went for a hike with Arlene to Lucky Lake. It was about a mile to the lake, which was beautiful and peaceful.

We stopped for a small picnic lunch, then walked around the lake chatting about all kinds of things from childhood injuries to travel.

I loved that we were hiking in the Three Sisters Wilderness. There are three mountains in the area: North Sister, Middle Sister, and South Sister.

After another small lunch at the cabin, we went with Chuck to Newberry National Volcanic Monument. First we drove to the top of the crater and admired the view.

Then we walked along part of the Big Obsidian Flow Trail. It was easy to see why it's called the Big Obsidian Flow, there was obsidian everywhere.

Joshua wanted to take a picture of the piece of obsidian he found to show Micah, who always likes finding obsidian.

We returned to the cabin in time for another delicious dinner, followed by sitting around enjoying a fire in the fireplace.

The cabin was right by the river, which was perfect for sitting and reading in the mornings with a cup of tea.

Sunday morning it was foggy, which made it seem even more quiet. We had breakfast together, then played a couple rounds of pinochle before Joshua and I headed back to Eugene. It was a great, relaxing last weekend of summer before school started the next day.