At the beginning of the month there was a new exhibit at Pacific Science Center so I took the kids to it. It was Design Zone. The kids had fun building with blocks, testing the physics of their structures, exploring patterns, etc. They were also treated to a movie on the big IMAX screen. They saw Mountain Express and thought it was really cool. I'm not so sure which part was neater, the screen or the Mountain Express going through tunnels and bridges.
Reena got the rain coat and rain boots she wanted!!! Dinosaurs!!!!! And it didn't rain for weeks. How odd right? Seattle and all? We don't know what happened but that didn't stop her from wearing it so I took them here!! 'Yay it's raining" or so they said when they played and got wet.
Photography sessions (baby bump, baby, and kids) - On the same day that we got ready for the ward Halloween party I also did a quick mini photography session for the cousins. Earlier in the month I did maternity pictures for my friend JoLynn and had another session with another friend and her daughter. Months like this make me want to turn it into a more serious business. But the time?Hair cut - I cut Reena's hair and liked it a lot so I decided to get my hair cut also. It's been 8 years since I last had it this short.
Gymnastics classes for the kids are going well. Reena is excelling at a fast speed. Debrie usually always has more energy so gymnastics was just the right sport for her.
Kids and their daddy babysat a friend's ferrets - Dan LOVES animals. Let just put it that way. A friend of mine on facebook posted that her daughters were allergic to ferrets and that she was thinking about giving the ferrets away. I told him about it and he jumped on it right away. Doing what Dan does best he researched on ferrets and every little details about them.
Before Matt and Shelly, our cousins, came out we had planned an event that would take our families 3 hours away from Seattle for a BYU vs. OSU game. We purchased our tickets and got our gear on and went to the BYU vs. OSU tailgate party/game in Corvallis, OR with the cousins and ward members. Yes ward members!!! Half of our ward was there cheering BYU on. The kids got their face painted and ate a lot of snacks. Dan made "Beaver jerkey" and we bought orange (their color) reeses cups and ate them. The game was GREAT! AWESOME! FANTASTIC! and the best part was we didn't sit in the BYU section. I was so nervous about that and was walking with my face pointing to the ground to be honest. We were surrounded by BYU fans though once we got to our seat and every time BYU scored it was awesome! We had a lot of fun and some highlights were running into some acquaintances we knew from our BYU ward back in Provo and of course eating out with the cousins!!
Reena said she wants to be a cheerleader after the game, but a modest cheerleader. Hhm...yes? No?
Reena had a class trip to Jubilee Farm in October and I was one of the chaperones. I also got drafted as the PTSA and class photographer so I came to take pictures. Reena's quite popular in her class now that she's not so shy anymore. She's very good in class though and does her work well. She's got friends lined up for a playdate at our new house. She's already had 2 friends over (November news).
One of the funnest activities they had at Jubilee Farm was the hay maze. The kids could spend all day there. They also got to go on a tractor and pick out pumpkins their size. They had to be able to carry it on their own.
Reena and Eli.
Reena and Kaitlyn.
Switching wards - We declared our last Sunday in the Issaquah 3rd ward at the end of September so we started going to the Issaquah 5th ward. Our boundary includes the Issaquah Highlands community and Lake Sammamish area. We meet in a beautiful chapel surrounded by trees behind the temple. The kids love going to church because they get to see the temple also.
Ward Halloween party (bouncy house, made cupcakes, games, food, trick or treating) - Our Issaquah 3rd ward usually does a trunk or treat but this ward does a party. They had a huge bouncy house, ghost stories, food, desserts...I signed up to do the cupcakes even though most of our stuff w packed up. I decided to involve the kids in the process and we made cute little monster cupcakes.
My Pink Dragon
My purple unicorn - Pegasus
Nama and Papa's arrivalThe kids counted the weeks, days, and then hours when their grandparents would arrive. They anticipated their arrival and loved them from the start. They had so much fun in the time that we had together and it is PRICELESS. There are no words to describe how precious and priceless that 4 days together meant for our kids. Their little time together meant a whole world to them and it is so neat to watch that. Family bonds are the best. I love taking pictures of everything they did together. Games they played, books they read together, songs they sang together. PRICELESS!!!!
Class Harvest Party
Reena had a class harvest party that Nama and Papa also got to go see. She made skeletons out of different pastas and had fun with various different activities there.
Can you spot Reena's?
Leavenworth - The plan was that Leavenworth would be our getaway if we weren't moving in the weekend Dan's parents were here. Leavenworth was beautiful as ever. Dan's parents loved all the shops there and they treated us to dinner and Papa surprised us with some scrumptious cream puffs that I had my eyes on. We also tried some delicious Danish sweets.
Baptism - (Helping a friend with domestic violence/divorce papers) In between all the moving I found some time to help a friend in need and had some opportunities to share with her about the gospel. She later decided that she wants to be baptized into the church. She had gone through a lot of trials, domestic abuse, and then a divorce and when she met the missionaries, she felt inspired to let them in and was touched by the examples she had seen in her children's bus driver who happened to be LDS. I came in later in the conversion process and became her friend because she is also Vietnamese. It was a special day when she got baptized. I haven't had an experience like this in a while. Dan's parents also had the opportunity to go to the baptism as well.
We love our Northwest home. It turned out better than we had expected. There was a Final Meeting - Dan had a big meeting that involved landscaping, HOA, hard scape, and painting.
We made many trips to Home Depot/Lowes for Hardware and paint at Rodda - I made so many trips that the people who worked there seriously recognized and knew my name by the end of the week leading up to finish. Everyone was so surprised on how well the colors turned out. They (including myself) were all very nervous about the golden yellow. It looked very bright when first painted that I seriously considered repainting. I got 5 gallons of the trim color and almost had that go for the body, but a painter from Home Depot talked me into keeping it and I did and everyone gave me credit for picking out the colors when I think I just got lucky and trusted in someone else's advice. The HOA superintendent was so pleased and praised us for being "AMAZING" and knowing what colors fit well. Little did she know!
Cousin dinner and crumbly pirate cake dessert dish - The cousins invited all of us over for dinner before the kids Nama and Papa left. Saturday night after we got home from Leavenworth at 10:00 pm, I decided to make Dan a pirate kiddie cake to make him feel young since he was turning 32. My plan was to have a little party on Monday if we had moved in but since we weren't moved in I thought maybe I could bring the cake over to the cousins' house. Anyway I had exactly 1 egg left in my fridge and my car was parked at the church so I either walked to the grocery store at 10:00 PM or just make a crumb cake I usually make to put on top of truffle. I thought it could work...Needless to say it didn't stay its shape and crumbled. A pirate ship exploded. It was then I wished I had just made that peanut butter chocolate desert truffle he loves....even though he's convinced that the reason he put on 20 lbs when I was pregnant with Reena was because of this desert. Oh well, it was a good laugh. At least we had good bon bons and chocolate!!!
Halloween night we were at our new house handing out Chocolate (that's right, nothing but chocolate from us!) even though we weren't technically in yet. We told some of our friends we would be there to eat pizza on our porch and handing out candy. The girls went trick or treating around the neighborhood first with their dad and then helped me hand out chocolate. They were so excited to hand out the candy by the handful. I bought 6 bags of chocolate and it was gone fast. They were so excited to hand them out that they opened the door before the trick or treaters rang the bell.
Pizza pizza...
Fabulous Fridays - Since the crafting world got really extensive in many areas, our Issaquah 3rd ward decided that the Relief Society would fund the event. No sisters were left out because they couldn't afford to do a project. I think it is a fantastic idea, especially when I got to the 5th ward and saw some crafts costing $22 each. Needless to say I had as much if not more fun when the crafts were free as they were when they cost a lot. I think more wards should implement this.Rehearsals for He is Jesus Christ- Rehearsals for the cantata took a lot of time towards the end. Thanks to the wonderful hard working husband I have I was able to participate. I played the part of the Samaritan woman and at first I didn't think it was all that unique but after the concert I had many people tell me that they loved the Samaritan woman's part the most.
Teaching at Reena's school - Art Docent - So at the beginning of the year, Grandridge, Reena's school, sent home to us papers we could fill out to be a part of different committees. Well I signed up to be the art docent and assumed that her teacher would call me to help her sometimes. What I did not know was that I had to teach art to the kids once a month for the whole year!! Thank goodness I do have some experience teaching kids and we made it really fun. I taught them about primary colors and pigments and we had fun mixing colors using a folded paper. They made blotches on both sides, rubbed them together and created butterflies. Really fun stuff!!
A little touch of home
We tried very hard to get it all done by the time the kids Nama and Papa got here but it didn't happen. We pushed the builder's superintendent, project manager, and the painter guys very hard. I texted them everyday asking for progress. But when the inspectors showed up early, twice, the work was not complete so they couldn't pass us. We got the hotel for Nama and Papa but it would've been nicer to have been in the house. At least they got to see the house when it was about 98% complete. We've been in it now for over a week. The plants lost their leaves early due to being transferred but as you can see the railings and doors are painted.
Brie's favorite thing to do is to go upstairs, look down to you and say "Hello down there!" She and Reena have played Tangled, aka, Rapunzel many mornings. Usually involving Reena saying "Rapunzel let down your hair!" and Debrie replying "coming mother"
Dan worked so hard getting us all moved in that he caught a cold soon after. With all the trips to Home Depot and Lowes and all the dust he breathed in it was bound to get him. Moving day was beautiful and sunny and we couldn't have asked for more. We feel very blessed to have the two cousins in town to help. Dave and Matt gave hours to help and several people from the ward as well. We love the neighborhood and the Highlands is just beautiful and it is so nice that Reena's school is just walking distance.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!
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