Hi everyone. As you can tell from the lack of updating, we've been busy. Brian's working today and I have the day off, so I'm catching up on some odds and ends. (Including blogging.) To catch everyone up....

• Rachel and I spent a weekend together at the Washington coast. It was really nice to catch up. We had a very relaxing three-day weekend. We camped right on the coast and took daily walks on the beach, collecting driftwood and watching the sea lions. We also toured two lighthouses and had a very enjoyable mini-vacation.

• Brian's parents came to visit in the beginning of October. We also had my friend and her dog living with us at that time, as she had just moved out from Kentucky. We all had a ton of fun together. Brian, his parents and I took a weekend trip to Northern California to visit the Redwoods, and then we drove back along the Oregon coast. The Oregon coast is truly amazing. There are tons of rock formations fighting for survival against the wind and waves just off shore for the entire drive. (Think goonies times two.) There is also a multitude of sea lions. Unfortunately we didn't see any on that particular trip. We did go through some little sea towns, reminding of Northern Michigan lake towns. Brian's parents did a lot of sight seeing while they were here, and I believe had a very nice time. The only downer for me the whole time was that I had an infection in my tear duct. No idea how that happened but it wasn't entirely pleasant.

• Brian and I have been invited on another Grand Canyon rafting trip, so we have been preparing for that. We'll be on the water from Nov. 23-Dec. 23. I've been collecting warm clothes as it will be absolutely freezing while we are down there. We're both starting to look forward to it though. We'll be on the water over Thanksgiving and we'll be in a car full of smelly people for Christmas though, so unfortunately we won't be able to spend the holidays with family. I'm hoping that we'll be able to next year though.

That's about it in the Tappan saga. The fall has been beautiful here. All of the leaves in town are changing and other than snow on Oct. 10 it has been surprisingly mild. You gotta love an Indian Summer.

Enjoy.