November was chilled. I can highlight the whole month in just a few sentences. We had a lot of indoor entertainment because the rain was upon us.
We had a visit from one of my leaders when I was a youth in Philly. He used to live in Sammamish
Dan did some wood working and some engineering and built an aquaponics system. This kid is talented! A lot of time and money went into that system
Introducing...AQUAPONICS. Here is a google explanation on what this system is: The most simple definition is that it is the marriage of aquaculture
(raising fish) and hydroponics (the soil-less growing of plants) that
grows fish and plants together in one integrated system. The fish waste
provides an organic food source for the growing plants and the plants
provide a natural filter for the water the fish live in. The third
participants are the microbes (nitrifying bacteria) that thrive in the growing media. They do the job of converting
the ammonia from the fish waste first into nitrites, then into nitrates
and the solids into vermicompost that that are food for the plants.
We bought some baby trouts to raise inside the tank of this aquaponics system and have kale growing on the top inside the planter section
Reena continues to enjoy flute lessons and Debrie was prepping for her piano recital
I upgraded to another camera, a full frame. Had a few sessions for Christmas pictures. See here:
http://seastevensphotography.blogspot.com. I sold my very first DSLR :(. Lots of memories with that camera but honestly I don't need 3 DSLRs.
Still the best camera is the phone bc it is with me all the time
We harvested a lot of kale for kale soup
My new Viet friend told me about a new popular place in Seattle for some amazing Viet food. This place "Thanh Son Tofu" is an absolute favorite and I could not believe I did not know about it all these years
I sang a solo at church. I Know that My Reedemer Lives was a the song
Debrie made a collage for school and wanted to show off her cuteness
The highlands expanded on Christmas lights this year. It is a highlight to drive down Christmas lane each night
We took the whole fam out to watch Trolls in the theater
Our return missionaries returned to Seattle and visited us!! We are unforgettable :)
Darion turned 1!!!!!
November had some nice warm days still so the boys and I do a lot of walks around the neighborhood and the beach
The face of "mom the grass is wet!"
Darion is thinning out but that's also because his body is focusing on growing tall. He is in the 99th percentile for height!!
I made him a smash cake - a cake that is soft that I could throw in front of him for him to smash. The rest of us had cupcakes
We had a combined Thanksgiving dinner and birthday party for him with some friends. I'm sure when he's older he will request it to be separate from his birthday party but for now it was a perfect fit.
Check out that turkey carving! Yeah! And the sweet potato casserole my friend Jana made with pecans was a hit! We got a free 20 lbs turkey for shopping at Safeway and buying more than $150 worth of food
Best part of leftover turkey and its juice was the turkey pho. Drain out the fat and the juice was full of flavor!
All throughout Seattle the naturally grown evergreen trees are decorated. I would often just go in to lunch with Dan and drive around and admire the decor
And that's it folks for November...See you on the next blog
