Mt. Rainier

This is the very mountain that Matt and I drove to 12 years ago today and he asked me to marry him.

 

 

Best mountain ever!  And the best 12 years ever!

First Thanksgiving

We went to Yakima last weekend to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with my grandparents.  We had such a great time!  My mom drove over with us and we got to see lots of snow and ice all through the gorge.  It was beautiful and the kids loved seeing all the white.  But the icy roads were pretty scary and traffic was SO SLOW.  However, it only added about another hour to our drive.  We made it to Yakima by dinner time Friday night and were so glad to be done with the drive!  I love that my kids get to experience time with their Great-Grandparents.  My grandma treats my kids exactly like she treated my sibling and I growing up....spoiling us and giving us all the treats that we don't get at home!  Erika, Laurel, and Levi were welcomed to Great-Grandma's house with hot cocoa ready for them....complete with a ton of chocolate syrup and sugar!  There were so many desserts and nuts and bolts and orange soda for them....they loved it!

 

Levi was ready for dinner by the time we were out of the car!

 

Saturday morning, Mom and I took the kids out for a bit.  It was beautifully sunny but COLD!  We still had a great time at a local park.

 

When we returned to the house, Aunt Sarah surprised us by driving over to celebrate early Thanksgiving with us!  We spent the rest of the day laying in bed watching movies, playing games, and chatting. 

 

Saturday night was the big feast.  Matt got the job of carving the turkey.

 

The kids had a Thanksgiving play planned for the big day.  They brought costumes and performed before we sat down to dinner.  Erika brought home a sheet of paper describing the first Thanksgiving with the pilgrims so I read that as they acted it out.  Adorable!

 

 

Sunday morning, we went to church with Grandpa and Grandma.  Then we drove home.  We drove back a different way, as there was still ice on the roads through the gorge.  It was a wonderful early holiday!  I am so thankful for my grandparents and the time we get to share with them!

Laurel loves her Great-Grandpa and insists on pictures with him every time we see them.

No Snow - No School

Last week, we got an unexpected day off of school!  We woke up to a super cold day, but dry.  However, some of the hills around our house where some students travel from were pretty icy so school was cancelled.  One of our girls was extremely excited about this!

 

Laurel loves staying home!  Erika prefers being at school with her friends, but she still enjoyed her special day off.

I made the kids do some school work even if they weren't in the school building.  Laurel sounded out a sentence I dictated "Today is a no school day."  Erika helped her spell "today" before I asked her to let Laurel sound it out herself.

There were lots of time for movies, games, and crafts as well!  It was fun to be home unexpectedly.

Raking Leaves....With a Reward

Monday after school, the girls asked if they could have their rakes to clean the (30) leaves in the yard.  I love that they love to help.....although it was more like playing as the rakes became horses to ride on shortly after they started to rake.  But, we did eventually get the leaves off the lawn!

 

 

As a treat for their hard work, Daddy took us out for a chilly ride in the Model A!  It was so cold!  But they loved it just as much as riding in the car in the summer.

Just Because

Laurel went to a friend's house after church of Sunday.  Her friend had a new ladybug costume so Laurel wanted them to be ladybugs together.  Such an adorable little bug!

 

 

Apparently the thing to do in second grade right now is wear fake glasses.  Erika had some gift cards and bought, among other things, these glasses with non-prescription lenses.  Strange fad to me, but she looks so cute!

 

Monday mornings I get to help in Laurel's kindergarten class.  I love seeing my little girl amongst her classmates.  Here is my kindergartener in action!

Go Bruins!

George Fox Bruins had their final home football game of the season this past weekend.  It was a perfect day for a football game!  It started off pretty chilly, but then the sun came out and warmed us up!  The kids did pretty good in the stands...Levi got a little bored from having to stay still, but the girls are great fans!  It will be fun to go to games next year and in the future!

 

The George Fox mascot

Laurel's favorite part was watching the cheerleaders

Erika loves everything George Fox!  She had a ton of questions about the football game....she loves being part of the fans!

The best spot to watch the game....the kids could stand up and move around without bothering people

They had this statue of a football player up at the game.  Not sure why, but I had the kids pose with it.  Laurel obviously wanted her popcorn to be prominently displayed!

End of Soccer Season

This past weekend was the last soccer game of the season.  It is crazy to think that our first soccer game at the beginning of September was 98 degree weather while the last soccer game was pushing 50.....so cold!  The girls did amazing this year!  Erika really improved and found that she really likes defense.  Laurel was so fast and really played well with her teammates.  They are both already looking forward to next year's season!

 

Laurel was so happy to get a donut for her end of the year treat.

And then when she got a trophy, she was in heaven!

My sweet little soccer player!

The Red Roses

Erika with her coach.  Her soccer party was at the local swimming pool.  Laurel and Levi got to join Erika and I in the pool, which was so fun!

Great season, Thundergirls!

Halloween Week

This was one of the best Halloween weeks we have ever had!  We started on Tuesday evening by carving our pumpkins.  Matt broke out the power tools and set to work carving what the kids drew on their pumpkins.

 

The finished products

 

On Wednesday, the girls had Halloween parties in their classrooms.  The school had parent/teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday so they only had a 3-day school week the week of Halloween...brilliant!

Erika as WyldStyle from the Lego Movie

Laurel as a rainbow

Laurel decorating her place mat for her Halloween party

The kindergarteners were absolutely adorable in their costumes!

They made these "graveyard" pudding cups

Erika not quite sure how she feels about her pumpkin art

Her party was less thrilling in the food department...oranges and bananas

 

The kids got to spend the night with Grandma Parnell on Wednesday night while Matt and I attended the girls' conferences.  They are both doing extremely well in their classes and their teachers are so happy to have them in their class!

 

Halloween morning, Daddy went and bought donuts and surprised the kids with Halloween donuts.

Levi was ecstatic!

We wore out costumes to have lunch with Daddy and run some errands

Delicious pizza lunch at Abby's

Ready for trick or treating

The night was beautiful and perfectly comfortable.  No rain, no wind....lovely!

All three kids started trick or treating together and then they dropped off one by one.  Levi ended the night with 35 pieces of candy.

Laurel was the second kid to come home and ended with 85 pieces of candy.  Erika lasted the longest and came home with 126 pieces of candy.  It was a very successful Halloween!