Surprise Visit

Aunt Becki loves to surprise us and that she did a few weeks ago. They were in town for a conference Dallas had to attend, so she spent a few hours with us while he was gone. Here's everyone at ballet class. Ashley thought it was really special that Aunt Becki was there to watch her.

Isaiah is a 3 Bee now!

Isaiah moved into the 3 Bee class the beginning of November. It was a little earlier than we thought, but they said he was ready and so were we. The Panda room had just gotten a few younger kids and I'm not sure if it was that or something else, but his behavior changed, he was acting up more and taking less naps (maybe because he was getting distracted). Who knows, but he's doing great in the 3 Bee room and loves the time he's in there. He's lucky to have such a helpful big sister through the change, too. I drop them off together in the big room now and she takes his hand and they wave good bye, then she takes him over to where her friends are playing. Now he knows more kids in his class, but in the beginning I'm sure it would have been more difficult without her there.

She's 5!

Ashley Cakes, how did you get to be 5 years old already!? You are such a beautiful person inside and out. We've been teaching you to pray lately and you have taken this very serious, just like most things in your life. The other day Papa was telling you about a patient he had to operate on that was very sick. He couldn't tell you his name, but you prayed for him anyways and he got better. Another morning you woke up telling me you didn't dream that night, you just prayed for those who were sick and so they would get better. You are so sweet and such a good helper at home and school. You love when your teacher gives you tasks to help out in the classroom or when mommy asks you to help out at home, folding laundry, making your bed (this one you actually do without me asking!) or your favorite... washing windows! You take pride in the work you do and like positive feedback. You encourage Isaiah to do good things and lead by example. He looks up to very much! Papa is teaching you to read "Green Eggs and Ham" and your deal with him is that when you can read the whole book you get to paint your nails. You are a very girly girl and have a great sense of style. The ladies at the grocery store comment on your outfits and with a smile on my face I tell them "she dresses herself!" Mama and Papa were blessed with your birth 5 years ago and we continue to admire the little girl you've become.

Ashley's 5th Birthday

Ashley had her birthday party at Precision Elite Gymnastics this year. It was the perfect place for 15 kids to run around and have a great time! You could see the happiness in Ashley's face having all of her friends there to celebrate. They had free time to jump on the trampoline, play on the mats, swing and jump into the foam pit. At the end they have they gave the birthday girl a medal and stood her on the podium with all of her friends. The Saliba's and Powell's also came down to celebrate, so the party continued when we got home. Sunday was gorgeous (about 70 degrees), so we took the kids for a walk to the park and said goodbye after lunch. For dinner we went to Grammy and Grandpa's for another birthday party with Bonnie and Lucas. Then on Monday (her actual birthday) we took her to her favorite restaurant, Red Robbin, for dinner. And on Tuesday her class celebrated her birthday. There were a lot of celebrations for our special little girl this year and we are so thankful to have those people in our lives.

Halloween

Our usual Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins, eating pumpkin shaped pizza, candy corn and nuts while making a huge mess did not happen this year, but we did have a ton of fun on Halloween night trick- or treating with Uncle Dan and handing out candy until bed time. It was the first time we had taken them door to door and it was so cute to watch them. Isaiah followed whatever Ashley did and Ashley being naive to the surprises you sometimes get, bravely went up to each house. Every so often she would come across a house that was a bit to scarey for her liking, so quickly learned to avoid those! She did a really good job explaining to Isaiah that even though it might be a little scarey it's wasn't real, but that they would avoid it anyways! After making our loop we went home to finish handing out candy with Papa. We only ended up with about 10 pieces of candy because when the kids dumped their loot on the floor to see what they got, Isaiah picked it up to hand out to the trick or treaters that came to our door. Ashley stopped him when he started going into her stash, but I wasn't going to say anything if he wanted to give out his candy!

Steph made Ashley's fairy princess outfit, which turned out really cute!

Ashley and her friend Kate

JJ & KK's wedding

I flew out to Chicago for my cousin's wedding Oct 27th. JJ and Katelyn got married in a beautiful church downtown followed by a reception at the Chicago History Museum. No detail was left untouched as Katelyn is a planner and she did an amazing job. I'm so happy for the two of them, it's obvious they were meant for each other and are very much in love. Of course the wedding was the highlight of the weekend, but the rest didn't fall far behind. I flew out Thursday morning with my Mom and Dad as Brian sadly was unable to get out of call. We stayed with Dick and Linda Thursday night and had a nice dinner with them and Maureen. It had been years since I'd been in Geneva, so it brought back a lot of memories from my childhood. Friday we checked into our hotel and helped Maureen set up for the rehearsal dinner. It was at Harry Caray's and they rented a room upstairs to host about 85 people! The theme was "Wrigley Field" since that was where they had their first date. A lot of thought went into this dinner and it turned out great. There were cracker jack boxes with our name and table #, a surprise guest (their favorite beer vendor that serves them at the Cubs games), a 7th inning stretch were we sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", but with words about Katelyn JJ and of course many toasts, including the traditional presentation of the bar boy. Maureen and Kim put together a video with pictures of JJ and Katelyn growing up that was really cute. Then after the rehersal dinner (at midnight!) Mom, Dad and I weren't quite ready for bed, so we closed down a piano bar not far from Harry Caray's. That was a blast. Sunday JJ and Katelyn invited everyone to one of their favorite bars to watch the Bear's game and cap off the weekend. I flew out at 4:00 and arrived in Portland to my beautiful family. They surprised me in the airport with the kids in their Halloween costumes. Of course I cried, they looked so precious standing there. It was a wonderful weekend seeing everyone and being a part of my cousin's special day, but I really missed my family!!!

Spiffed up toy room

Ashley helped me spiff up the toy room a little bit. I had found this chevron fabric and fell in love. Steph helped me make curtains, we matched the paint with the fabric and Voilà, we have a totally new look. I kinda like it!

Special Guests

Uncle Dick and Aunt Linda came to visit from Chicago a few weeks ago and we had the privelege of having them over for dinner. They had never met the kids, but it was as if they had known them their whole lives. This is a picture of my Dad and Dick singing all sorts of songs with the kids for about an hour. I think they got stuck on "Old McDonald" making sure they got every animal they could think of! We were getting dinner ready and they were having a blast just singing their little hearts out.

Liepold Farms

Since Isaiah didn't get to go on the field trip to the pumpkin patch with Ashley, we took him to Liepold Farms to help pick out a few more pumpkins. He picked some biggins and pushed the wheelborrow the whole way! We went on a week day, so it wasn't as crowded. The kids played in the little play area they have there and saw the animals. It was a really nice day, so it was just good to be outside!

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Ashley's class took a field trip to Lee Farms in Tualatin. Since it was on a Friday I was able to go. Even though it was pouring down rain (after being sunny and 70 until the day of) we had a lot of fun seeing the animals (especially the baby chicks that come in the mail! and the baby calfs), picking out pumpkins and drinking fresh apple cider! Afterwards we met up with Grandpa at their house for lunch and then headed to see Grammy at her new office in Wilsonville. We took her out to coffee and then headed back to school to pick up Isaiah.