Thanksgiving 2011

We had a good Thanksgiving this year. As always, we go around and list all that we are eternally grateful for and blessed to have in our life. Family and friends are always at the top! We definitely have much to be thankful for!

With us being relatively new to a different country still and Thanksgiving not being (obviously) a German holiday, we were perfectly content celebrating alone. But when we found out that some friends from church along with the sister missionaries didn't have any plans for the day, we quickly invited them over! We love our extended family.

As we started the day preparing the pies and turkey, I looked at our dining room table and felt it was desperately needing some color and decoration for our dinner with friends. The walls throughout our home are nothing but plain and white and it drives me crazy with the lack of personality. Another reason I strongly look forward to the day we have our own home again...so we can completely personalize it like we want it. I decided to walk down to the nearby grocery store: Rewe. I found some nice brown napkins and a bright orange vase with a fall colored bouquet of flowers. And I also snatched up some red apple scented candles to add to the look. It wasn't much but I thought it looked nice on our tan table cloth as well as with our new pottery pieces from our anniversary. I have to add that the walk to the store was a wonderful break! :)

The day started off with the kids coloring and helping me make jello molds. Aubrey made some paper cranes to go on the kitchen table - she's so cute! And then the kids were engrossed with some Mario Cart on the Wii. Landon slept, ate and played. He's usual! :) By the time our friends came over, we had most of the things in the kitchen finished for our dinner so we took our kids down to the playground to run off some energy and have some fun! John in the mean time stayed behind to finish the remaining dishes. He LOVES to cook - and I let him any chance I get. I love to cook as well but a break is always welcomed after a long day with the kids.

We had the traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans with bacon, rolls, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, and these amazing pumpkin whoopie pies that my friend made. Drinks were sparkling cider, soda and egg nog. Everything was delicious! And so were all the foods we snacked on all day long! I'm so glad we only pig out once or twice a year like this. So much food!! Oh, and for the record, Landon LOVES pumpkin pie. And whipped cream. Not sure in which order! :) What a fun night! We had an amazing time with some pretty awesome people!

Family and friends that live afar where greatly missed! We thought of you all and look forward to the day that we can be with you again! xoxoxo

4th of July!

We finally got to celebrate Independence Day with family this year! :) For the past four years, we've been spending the fourth of July in Virginia so we were VERY excited to be back in the NW!! We started the day off by meeting my Mom in downtown Portland to get the kids some books followed by some lunch. After the kids had a much needed nap, we drove up to Vancouver Washington to my sister and brother-in-law's house and spent the evening with them having a bbq and watching the kids have fun with each other. As we have found out since arriving in town, no occasion with the cousins together is complete without some T-R-O-U-B-L-E! Andrew and Owen were found in the bathroom dumping toilet water on themselves! HA! Funny boys! When the sun started to set, we went out front and lit up some fireworks. After they had their fill of pop-its and sparklers, John and my brother-in-law took the kids around the corner to a blocked off street and watched a HUGE display of fireworks. Washington fireworks are a lot different than the ones we've been used to seeing in Virginia and Oregon. They don't have to stay on the ground so it was very exciting for the kids! I'm so glad they had fun too - it's so nice to see them play with their cousins (also known as their friends!) :) Wish we lived closer!

 Happy 4th! :)

  Our family!

 John, Step Dad and Brother-in-law

Cousins & friends

 Goofy boys!

YUMMY deseret my sister and her neighbor made

Waiting for the FUN to begin!

 Poor little Andrew was scared of some of the LOUD neighboring fireworks :(

Andrew LOVED the sparklers! His first year giving them a try.

 

My sister and her family - minus my 9 month old nephew who was napping

but here he is from earlier....so cute!!

Brother-in-law helping the kids with a new batch of sparklers

New Years Eve

We rang in this New Year vegging out and celebrating in the comfort of our own home. After a long day of wiping noses and tending to coughs and fevers, we went out and bought The Princess & The Frog (a movie I thought we already owned), grabbed some pizza and some treats and went home to enjoy. We didn't stay up long enough to make it to midnight because kids and mommy were sick but we still had fun! :)

And to show off my prego belly at 30 weeks and on the last day of the year 2010, here I am...

Happy New Year!

Over And Out

This week has been busy busy busy! But fun times are ahead so it's not all that bad really. We've been decluttering, cleaning and organizing. Nothing like Jack Johnson and Ace of Base can't help us with! I know, random huh? But fun toons! These things would normally get done anyways but not at such a fast pace. For some reason though, having company puts me in the mood; my Mom's coming to town tomorrow for the holiday weekend! Yay! Family! :) We all can't wait to see her and the kids have really missed their Grandma.

We have a lot planned while she's here so I won't be updating much until next week. But I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend! :)

Family Picnic

As part of our Memorial Day weekend, we packed up a picnic lunch and drove to a local fishing spot called Motts Reservoir. While it was still pretty hot and muggy, we lucked out and got a picnic table in the shade - and with the trees surrounding us, we enjoyed a light breeze as well. It's a nice place! We've heard about it for some time now and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to finally go. Our family loves nature - and spots like these really remind me of HOME!

Besides a toddler having a potty accident, a toddler wanting to kill any bug she saw (even after explaining that the outside is the BUG'S environment!), a younger toddler trying any chance he could to get up and close to the water and a preteen not enjoying the quiet outdoors and playing in the dirt with sticks...our picnic went without a hitch! :) I'm so glad my kids had a good time though.