Fall Catch Up

Raf-gato disappeared for three days shortly after school started. It was a tragic time, Ryker came home each day asking if Rafi had returned during school and then cried when his cat was still missing. I had given up and had identified a Rafi doppelganger by the school to make Rafi II. DeAndra went on one last sweep of the neighborhood calling his name when she heard a little meow behind her. She turned around to see Mr. Meowgi running towards her. It turns out that Sra. Guerra was feeding him delicious Mexican food and grasa during his three day walkabout. 

This is the look of a cat that isn't quite sure he wants to come home.

 Ryker was very happy that Raf-gato was home.

 Very, very happy!

 Rafi seemed happy to be back with his Gyker.

 The hospital did their annual fun-run which the kids and I did without anyone having to be carried (despite numerous requests for me to put them on my shoulders) 

 Rock isn't in these pictures because he took off running with his "friend" Amelia. You can tell that Ryker and Jensley weren't quite ready for that much effort.

 After the walk/run they held a drawing and Rock won a freaking bike!

  The next day at church he proved that he really was human and needed sleep after all.

 Jens learned what selfies are and asks to take one every time she sees my camera.

 Papa Dale just had to visit Stehekin the last weekend that the bakery was open. The boys and I accompanied him to make sure the bakery was properly put to bed for the winter.

 It wouldn't be a helicopter ride without a sleepy Ryker.

 It was a beautiful stormy morning.

 The colors in Stehekin were vibrant.

 The Stehekin airport is pretty cool and rustic.

 Ryker didn't let a lack of forks keep him from enjoying his cinnamon roll, he just used a knife like a real man. 

 A cinnamon roll and 7Up, it shows how much say dad has when Grandpa is around.

 The sun started shining through the clouds on our way home to end the morning right.

Gone Fishin'

This guy loves fishing:

 

So does this guy, not as much as the first guy but still a lot.

Maynard graciously gave us access to his dock to try and pull some fish out of the lake. His dock is on Dry Lake which meant that DeA for sure wasn't going to jump in to save any of her children like she did in Lake Chelan.

The boys weren't sure about my method of using earthworms and pessimistically dropped the hooks in the water.

Jens anxiously waited "fowever" for a fish to bite.

Suddenly there was a sound like a clap of thunder, a great splash revealed a mighty beast on the end of Ryker's line. After an epic battle he shouted over the water "YOU WILL NOT BEAT ME!" and conquered his foe. Jens was impressed.

He was really excited about his catch, Jens was a little concerned.

The trophy catch.

She's holding it out in front of her to make it look bigger, just like a real angler. 

It was a successful day, Rock also snagged a couple of sunnies. 

Jens was more than impressed with the Rafi food that we caught.

She makes a crazy ex-girlfriend look way too well...

Rafi doesn't always love Jens, but he does when she's sleeping

School and House Keys (Finally)

The boys hit the school year running. This year Ryker is going all day in kindergarten and Rock is taking a swing at the second grade.

See ya!

Every day Ryker rushed home to see his Rafi and Mommy, in that order.

Rock is halfway to becoming a human Jack-o-lantern.

Jens is going to half day pre-school two days a week and loves it. If Mommy picks her up early she is ticked.

After a month of delays and pushed back closing dates we finally received the keys to the house!

 Jens was more that happy to model the first decorations.

 Rafi quickly found his perch.

 For now we have a pretty view from the front room and side yard. Once someone else builds we will lose some of the vista but not all of it.

 Jens found her favorite spot in the living room. 

 Here's her bed in the bedroom where she doesn't sleep. 

 Rafi has a few favorite spots.

 Jens loves herself some Cafe Rio.

 

New House Progress and Rafi

Among the summer story lines I think the new house was the most exciting. We went through a stretch where we couldn't sneak in and watch the progress so we took a lot of pictures like this.

The smoke meant that the kids had to spend too much time inside. They adjusted well with drawing and video games but DeAndra still had her moments.

We adopted a little kitty named Rafael. He was going to be a garage kitty and our mouser, but the very first night he ended up here:

He's not really a garage kitty.

  

 He gets lots and lots of love, sometimes maybe a little too much love.

 Despite the rough love he still loves cuddling with them when they are asleep and less dangerous.

Rock is warming up for deer season by spotting game from his seat in the car. "DEER! Not shooters, not shooters!"

Ryker loves his Rafi.

Life is pretty tough around here.

Mama Zista flew up to help pack the house for the upcoming move. After working hard they took a  break to visit the Stehekin Bakery with Papa Dale in Whirly.

Jensley knew what she wanted and Mama Zista delivered.

Papa Dale showed them around the valley and the fishes.

You can tell that she's a little lower on energy after all that fun.

This is a pic from Ryker while he was playing with Mama Zista.

More Rafi pics.

There was a lot of this during the summer because of the smoke.

Ruido and Irma's daughter, Celeste, had a birthday party with a princess dress and pinata. 

The pinata had spikes on it that Jens and Ryker (background) used as party hats.

Celeste was a cute little Elsa.

The boys were willing to put up with the princess stuff as long as they got the promised cake at the end.

With school starting the kids received blessings and Jens wanted to do her part.