I was so proud of Grant for running in a race. It wasn't very long, only 5K (he used to run marathons, before we were married) but it is just a beginning. I thought it was great that he got out there again. (We are both hoping to get in shape together, after this baby is born. Can't wait!!) He even received a medal for participating and won a trophy, which the girls love and are so proud of their Daddy! It is cute! Go Grant!! We love you!
We were able to have our end of the season team soccer party at Aimee's house. (Her family is so generous!) It was neat to hear Grant and Scott talk about each player and their accomplishments for the season. Riana's award this season was for "Most Versatile" and Sariah's was for "Miss Footie" for her sweet dribbling skills. After the awards, we all enjoyed some pizza and other goodies while the parents chatted and the girls went in the hot tub. It was a really fun party. We really enjoy the company of these neat girls are their families. We are lucky to have the team that we do! (Riana and Sariah especially enjoyed having two of their best friends, Aimee and Autumn, who are pictured getting their awards, on the team!) The next week, we were able to pick up their medals for winning second place in their league. It was pretty neat!
Grant picked out some matching dresses for the girls, at Costco. The dresses happened to come with little matching dolly dresses, which they loved, of course!! So instead of 5 matching girls, we had 10 matching girls!! :) Pretty cute!
We all made carmel apples for FHE one Monday night. Grant found these really cool wraps, which made it especially easy for the kids! They were simple, no-mess, and yet they still tasted great! Perfect! I'll be looking for those every year! :) (The girls chose different toppings- chocolate chips, smashed up smarties, etc. for an added bonus!)
We had some very sunny days in November, this year. The fall weather in general was pretty nice. We had a day or two of rain, followed by a day or two of beautiful sunny weather. It was perfect! It made up for the rainy summer we had. Anyway, we decided to enjoy one of these days at the park, with some good friends! Aurora and Brynn kept busy trying to escape up the stairs (or nearly slipping in the mud slime that was on the edge of the baseballs fields.) We had to watch them really close. Autumn, Riana, Sariah, Tierra, Karina, and Cannon had fun watching Savannah work with Rocket on fetching the ball and bringing it back. Then they all played a game of kickball and had a blast!! They definitely worked off a lot of energy and had a great time just being together!! And the vitamin D was definitely an added bonus!
YUMMY!
1) The cutest little chocolates, that I ordered from my niece's school fundraiser! They tasted great too!
2-3) These fruits and vegetables were ordered from Bountiful Baskets. They serve several areas, in several states. Essentially, it is a program through local farmers, where they skip the middle man and therefore save you money. You pay $15 ($20 the first time) to get a basket of whatever fruits and vegetables they have in season. I thought it was well worth the money and hope to get it again when things calm down around here, after the baby.
4) I thought I was in heaven when we found Peppermint Whipped Cream, at the grocery store- buy one get one free! It tasted amazing with hot chocolate and with the Peppermint Ice Cream shake I made. (I can't get enough mint. The same week, Grant made brownies with mint chips on them, which I ate with Haggen Daz peppermint bark ice cream. So good!)
5-6) Food creations-- Riana likes to carve things in her cheese. Silly girl! Aurora dipped her fingers into the ranch and said, "Look Mommy! Pretty nails!" LOL!
It snowed for a day or two, which happened to be a few of the many, many days that the girls were sick, in the month of November. (First, they had colds, then croup, and then strep throat twice, carrying over into December.) They kept sneaking out into the snow (notice Sariah's pajama pants in the first picture) and somehow built a small snowman! And threw a few snowballs at the neighbor boys behind our house. I had to keep bringing them in over and over!! Stinkers! :) But in their defense, it all melted before they were better and hasn't snowed again since. (The last picture is from the chunk of ice that was in our kiddie pool. They thought it looked like a pizza or something.)
Creations!
1-2) Riana and Sariah made thankful trees for Activity Day Girls. (Sariah made hers at home because she was sick. They each wrote 30 things on a list and then picked their favorites. I helped Sariah write the longer ones, so they would fit.) I loved reading the things they are thankful for... "colors," "feeling our baby kick in my Mom's stomach," "the Gospel," "having my Dad as my soccer coach," etc.
3) Riana and Sariah had a cooking class for school, this quarter. I was able to get this picture of Sariah, in her cute apron, from the class. They learned a lot! And unforunately due to a power outage and two snow days, they didn't get to have their last week or two of classes and therefore missed their last day of classes and performances (and me taking pictures) so I think this is the only picture I have from first quarter.
Riana's classes- EZ Beads (making jewelry), PE, Washington State Geography, Appetizers (cooking), Journaling on Basics (which helped Riana learn to love writing- finally! She had a great teacher!), Karate, ORLA Singers, and Motorized Machines
Sariah's classes- Celebrations and Folk Tales from Around the World, Come On & Sing, EZ Beads, PE, Appetizers, Fun-gineering (building things), and Print, Paint, and Create (the art Sariah made was incredible! I will post some pictures later.)
Tierra's classes- Beginning Book Making, Come On & Sing, Move & Groove, Going to Extremes (learning about extremes like the cold of Antartica, or the heat of the Sahara), Make Mine Art, and Measure Up (learning about and practicing different kinds of measuring)
4) Riana made a game for her sisters with different kinds of apples (made of paper), a rotten apple, an apple core, a green apple, etc. It was pretty neat! They all enjoyed playing the game she created.
1) Just a prego picture! :) Such a comfortable outfit!!
2) Karina looking cute in the outfit she chose to wear to the Doctor! Love the boots with it! She was so pleased when the Doctor commented on her cute outfit! :)
3) Aurora not happy that I wanted to take her picture. She can be pretty stubborn when she doesn't want to do something. I even tried to bribe her... didn't work. LOL!
4) I had a lot of fun shopping for a couple of outfits for Liz's new baby, Collin. I thought the outfits looked like something Liz and Mark would like. Good thing I have cute little nephews to shop for! So fun!
5) I love sleeping babies! Aurora looked so beautiful while she slept! Sleeping Beauty!! :)
6) Riana left me this message, she made out of clay! So sweet!
7) We braved the snow to go to Uncle Tommy's birthday party. (Grant enjoys driving in the snow.) It was nice to be able to be there for him.
During Thanksgiving break...
1-4) Tierra and Karina spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house with some of their cousins. They had a good time. (I love the last picture of Stratton helping Kate- so cute!)
5-6) Liz and I went and met her best friend since 2nd grade, Adrienne's, new man, Danny! He was so awesome and perfect for her! I felt like I had known him for years. I'm so happy for her! She sure deserves happiness!
7) I was able to get together with a bunch of my friends from high school (and their spouses and children. My family was home sick.) We had a HUGE youth group of about 150 active youth, in our ward growing up. We used to hang out and have Mormon parties, all the time. We were really close and continue to keep in touch with each other through blogging, facebook, and a get-together every year or two. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone (who could make it) and catching up.
