September Rush

This is my attempt to catch up before the end of the year. We are currently at Dan's parents' house resting from our vacation in California.    

 September was both sad and comforting.  I had my last meal my aunt Di Ba made.  She is the most amazing cook and I told her that when her papers are done and she can come to the States, she could come live with me and be my chef.  She made us Banh xeo, a Vietnamese crepes.  It was the best one I've ever had.  And then it was hugs and kisses and tears and a 10 houir wait in Korea and a 34 hour trip total and then we were home.

 Home sweet home!  Sleepless in Seattle

 And then it was back to school shopping.

We came back to a lot of green beans to share with the neighbors.  Many of them helped water our garden in places where the drip system was not installed.

 We also got some Asian apples and pears, grapes, as well as a pumpkin to our surprise.  Reena planted the pumpkin seed so this made her very pleased

 

 We slept 'til 4:00 pm one day...and 2:00 pm the next day.  They get a little bit of play time outside and then it was dark.  They didn't get why the day was so short.

 Back to school was hard.  Everyone was so sleepy.  Debrie has pm Kindergarten so that was not so bad.  Reena was on time on her first day of school but we all slept through our alarm the next day and Reena physically was not able to wake up for school until 10:00.  She was an hour late to school :).  She is in 3rd grade.  I can't believe it.  She is tall and sophisticated looking with her glasses.

Brie was very excited to go to school.  She was mostly excited to ride the school bus.  Our community is growing very fast with new homes coming up each day.  The school did not anticipate this and built too small.  They have to send all the Kindergartners to a different school nearby.

Back to school also meant back to teaching.  My preschool is rather small this year due to the lack of marketing and uncertainty on my part.  My plan was that if my grandma lives past my allotted time in Vietnam then I would extend my Visa and change my return flight to stay longer.  I was uncertain about starting preschool in September and October and actually lost some clients.  With that uncertainty and lack of time for recruiting, my preschool is small this year.

Ronin misses his sisters a lot while they're at school.  He and I always play pretend and call his sisters.

Ronin can walk a few steps by this point.  His walker and lawn mower help him move fast.

Trouble trouble trouble when you walk in.  My pantry he can open,  Oh no!!  Napkins on the floor.  Plant matters pulled out of their pots.  Yeah he's a handful

Learning to sign.  He speaks a lot as well.

And so stinkin' cute!

Everyone grew!  They all had their check ups at the drs before we went to Vietnam.  Reena was still 80% for height and Ronin was too.  Debrie is right on.  New pjs

We meant to give Reena a new set of scriptures for her baptism but didn't get around to buying them before we left for VN

She got a nice set of leather bound scriptures.  Hers are nicer than both of ours

Women's General Conference

Because of the recent changes, girls 8 and older can attend WGC with their moms.  Reena and I and a few other moms in the ward got to attend it together.  It was so much fun.  Our Stake provided yummy treats afterward as well

The moms and their daughters at the Women's Conference

The weather was still very nice in September so we got together with our friends the Strobells for a little lake swim.  Dan took more pictures on his phone but I'm too lazy to pull that off right now.  We also spent hours showing them pictures from Vietnam and we also went out to eat some Viet food.

 These sisters are inseparable.  Such pretty little sweethearts

The girls's friend Vivie Spinner had a birthday party this month.  My friend Alicia goes all out at her parties as well, and she and her husband make a lot of money so $1000 for a birthday party is nothing to them.  She rented out the whole entire playdate restaurant/playzone for the party.  The place was amazing.  The kids always have such a good time. She always sends the kids home with more gifts than we brought.

Who wouldn't have a good time with a 6ft tall pinata filled with candies and goodies

I started attending night and Saturday lectures on investments and life insurances.  Boring but interesting

 Also interesting is this 6 ft wide nest we found on our walk.