We celebrated Mike’s Birthday at Laurie and Scott’s house.

Sunny and I joined Chris, Angela, Brian, Katie, John, Jessica, Alvin and Nora, Andre and Carrie for Angela’s Birthday at Outback. We had a great time and the food was terrific. The photos below are missing John and Jessica who were hiding from the camera… I’ll get them next time… For now, they are stick figures.

Sunny and I spent our three month anniversary on a road trip to La Conner and Deception Pass. We ate lunch at an outstanding brewery, which we found by accident. Sunny ate French Onion soup and I had a tasty salad and a beer. After wandering the beautiful streets of La Conner, we drove to Deception Pass, reaching there by sunset. We walked across the bridge, crossed below, and walked back. The view was incredible, we had an awesome view across the bay.

Sunny had never visited La Conner or Deception Pass before which made this trip even more adventurous. And I love road trips! We will have to come back and spend a day at the State Park.

In order to get my condo ready to be shown and hopefully sold, Sunny and I cleaned and staged my condo. We went with a different, more colorful look, than what I had when I lived at the condo. We moved around a few plants, added new pillow covers, new paintings, and boxed anything personal. If the condo sells, we will be on our way to owning our first home together.

Thankoween is a Verhoeven family tradition, a combination of Thanksgiving and Halloween. Thankoween is traditionally a large Thanksgiving dinner with yummy desserts and fun family games. This year Thankoween was at my Mom’s house. There was nearly 30 people around the three tables set in the living and dining rooms. We had a great time and dinner was outstanding.

After dinner we played shuffle board (another family tradition). I would have won the entire contest, but Sunny cheated so I lost to Aunt Marilyn… Next year I am going to keep track of the score myself… I love spending time with my family and can’t wait until next year’s dinner and shuffle board rematch.

Sunny and I carved pumpkins at my parent’s house. This has become a small tradition for us, and one we really enjoy. We had purchased two perfect pumpkins two days before and with our family gathered around the table, we began to clean and carve our pumpkins. My design was a cute face while Sunny carved the word love. They were two beautiful designs. Afterwards we gathered the pumpkins together outside, lit the candles, and took photos of the scene. Since Sunny and I were low on space we decided to leave our pumpkin at my parent’s house.

Sunny had a class in Philladelphia which gave us an opportunity to tour the first Capitol city of the United States. The first day we toured the historic city center, where we saw the Liberty Bell. The next two days I toured the city on my own while Sunny attended her class. Philadelphia is not a large city, and it is not too difficult to tour on foot. The city center is organized in a grid pattern with long straight streets and wide boulevards. The hotel we stayed in was gorgeous, we had a great time.

Click here to see more photos from our vacation to Philadelphia…

We are settling into our new cubicles at work…

Sunny and I joined Jason, Jennifer, and Stacee at Andy and Jennifer’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Andy and Jennifer are great hosts, we had a fun time, and the turkey was gorgeous. Although Thanksgiving isn’t for another two weeks, this was the only date that would work for our schedules. And the date is not as important as spending time together. I really miss all my friends and hope that we can do more of these dinners together over the next year. I am thankful for my wife Sunny, my family, and especially all my friends…

Sunny and I had a free facial from Gene Juarez Salon. We had a great time relaxing while we were pampered.