Snow Day

I figured that it is about time to add some pictures from our trip to Wyoming; which seems appropriate since we are having a snow day today. My boss called and told me to stay home, and that they don't want us driving.

Forrest and I arrived in Wyoming and spent the day hanging out with family. On Sunday we had a football party, and invited some good friends to come over and watch Minnesota play (that was for the Wachobs and Kollin) and then we watched the Seattle game. Forrest then got to play dodgeball with Kollin and Jenn's rec team. It snowed Sunday night, and Forrest and I tried to make a snow man, but the snow was way too dry. On Monday we got to eat lunch at my favorite place - New York City Sub Shop. While I was there, I realized that there are two New York City Sub Shops in the Bend, OR area, which gives me two more reasons to visit my friend Shara.

The rest of our time was spent hanging out with family and friends, shopping for Christmas presents, and trying to figure out if we could stay longer.

Odd truth of the week: Forrest and I shared Thanksgiving dinner with a monkey.

Newest addition to the Arnold's

Yesterday, Forrest and I decided to get a puppy. His name is Wallis. He is a German Shephard mix, and is three months old. So far, all he does is sleep. He seems to like his crate, and is not that interested in toys yet. Forrest is excited to teach him how to play fetch, once he becomes interested in the tennis ball.

WYOMING!

I am so glad that today is Friday. My office is having a major audit done in December, which means that all of my files have to be in tip-top shape. I have been staying in the office late to get things done. But thankfully, today is my last day of doing paperwork for a whole week, because tomorrow Forrest and I fly out to go to Wyoming. I am so excited to see snow, and the mountains, and my family. I will post pictures of our trip after we get back.

Welcome Kai!

Kai Gavin Willcox was born on October 29th! He was 9 pounds, 10 ounces, and I don't remember how tall. All I know is that he is really cute, and I am excited for Kat and Travis!

47 Gallons

That's right. 47 gallons of apple cider were made this past weekend. Forrest and I went down on Friday night to Nate and Ramie's house in Salem with a carload full of apples. Our car was so weighed down that I could barely make it up Nate and Ramie's steep hill. Then on Saturday morning, the four of us went to Nate's uncle's rental property and picked more apples so that we would have more than one variety. Justin Birch and his dog Barkley came over, and we made lots of cider on an old Mennonite press. As soon as I upload my pictures I will add them. Forrest and I took home 17 gallons of cider. It's a good thing that Frank and Lona have an extra freezer otherwise they would have gone bad. Making cider was a lot of fun, and we all wished that the other people who were invited could have made it. I will refrain from posting the silly names we called them. However, everyone should be getting prepared for next year because Birch plans on making 100 gallons.

The man from what??

This week I went to Walmart to buy Forrest an early birthday present. While I was there I saw both the Man from Snowy River and Return to Snowy River for 7.50 each on DVD. I LOVE both of these movies. I was so excited that I bought both of them and raced home to tell Forrest. Forrest has never heard of these movies. WHAT?? How do you not know about the Man from Snowy River? I thought everyone our age had grown up watching these movies. And, Forrest doesn't want to watch them. I think this is very sad, and I think I will have a talk with my inlaws (once they return from Hawaii) about depriving their family by not watching these classics.

Apples continued...

Just in case anyone was wondering how many apples we actually picked this weekend... here you go. My niece is surrounded by apples. She actually got upset shortly after this picture because she couldn't get out of the apples. Forrest and I are going down to Oregon this weekend to turn these apples into apple cider. My only question is... if we filled the back of a suburban with these apples, how are they going to fit in my car? And if they fit in my car... are we going to fit?

Apples, Apples!

This weekend, Forrest, Colleen, Elisa, Michelle, and Ryan and I headed over to Yakima to celebrate the life of my Uncle Rex, who recently passed away, with the rest of the Forbes Family. There was a wonderful memorial service on Saturday, with lots of memories shared about my fantastic uncle.


On Sunday, the four Forbes (and Forrest and Elisa) spent time with our cousin Dennis, his wife Mindy and their two kids, Jacob and Joelle.

After lunch, the six of us went up to my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Fay's house. They took us to my dad's junior high principal's orchard to pick some apples. We had a great time.

Uncle Jerry told us stories about how my grandma

picked 287 boxes of apples in a day when she was 8 months pregnant with my dad. I also learned that a tree yields about 15 boxes, and he used to get paid 10 cents a box. Uncle Jerry was the fastest picker, but we all had a lot of fun. Forrest and I had rented a suburban, and we filled the entire back of the car with apples. Uncle Jerry told us to lay out the apples when we got home, so that they could dry out since we picked them in the rain. We filled most of our downstairs room with apples. Now our house smells really yummy!

28

Thursday was my 28th birthday. I think I have been mentally preparing for this day for months. For some reason, in my mind 28 seems A LOT older than 27. And way closer to the infamous 30. But although I turned "old", I had

a lot of fun. Forrest woke me up in the morning with presents - a hot pink ipod and an itunes gift card that had a permanent marker with it. Forrest explained that the marker was to throw me off in case I was snooping. My sister Colleen and my niece Elisa flew in on Thursday afternoon. Elisa is a lot of fun, and she was a great birthday present. Forrest came home and we made sushi for dinner and had molten lava cake for dessert. Then, Michelle and Ryan came up from Newberg to spend the night. It was a pretty fun birthday for being so "old." :)

A new sink

It all began on Saturday when I was cleaning my kitchen. I noticed a leak underneath my kitchen sink. Forrest took the old faucet apart to find the leak, and took the sink out to see if there were any problems with it. We discovered that the faucet was the culprit, but decided that if we were going to buy a new faucet that we should buy a new sink too... especially since I didn't really like the old one.

That decision led us to five hardware stores on Sunday, and a countertop full of dirty dishes. My mom suggested that I do the dishes in the bathtub, but I wasn't feeling that desparate. Anyway, Forrest has been working like crazy on installing the new sink and faucet since Sunday (and he has found new leaks in our house in the process) but tonight we have a new sink! I think Forrest did a great job, and I can't wait to use it!

The beginning...

I have decided to start blogging for a few reasons... The first is that I am completely addicted to other people's blogs, I find myself checking them every day. Which makes me think that I have too much time on my hands, or that I really hate doing paperwork for my job and I would rather do anything else. The main reason is that I like the idea of being able to express myself, and share what Forrest and I are doing with all of our friends. Amd the last reason I decided to blog is that people have been telling me that journaling would be good for me for years, but I have never taken them up on it. So, for all of the people who have bought me journals that have remained empty and dusty... here you go.