Thanksgiving

After almost 6 years of living out here, we finally went down to OR to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family.  It was so wonderful and all I kept thinking was that I wish we had done it sooner.

 

Dance

Bronwen and Ava doing their fabulous hip-hop moves, while Cate and I chill in the lobby.  What a cozy, cozy life! :-)

 

Christmas Crafts :-)

I take Cate to an arts and crafts class every week and we always get to do the cutest projects themed around the holidays.  I wanted my big girls to get to participate in the action too, so got the traditional gingerbread house kit and fun "Santa Going Down the Chimney" cupcake set.  The cupcakes were delicious and I got to toss the house out the next day LOL!  That was disastrous! ;-)

 

Ava's Birthday

In all the excitement with the holidays, I got behind on updating our blog! :-)  

Ava's birthday was amazing!!! :-)  

For several months she'd been asking for a parakeet.  We told her she had to wait until she got a little older.  Wink - wink! ;-)

To get her present, we told her it'd be a surprise, so she needed to wear a blindfold.  We loaded everyone in the car (Bronwen and Cate were blindfolded too because we knew Cate would yell, "We're at Petsmart!"  LOL!

We got there and walked into the store, straight in front of the parakeets.  We took off the blindfold and yelled, "Surpise!"  She picked Thunder, a cute parakeet.  Unfortunately, I have to add an update -Thunder died within two weeks of us getting him.  What's funny is that when she picked him I said, "Are you sure?  That one looks sick."  I called it. :-(  But, I'm happy to say that we have since gotten two more parakeets, Lilly (or Willy, as Cate says) and Melody, that are a few months old and are happy and healthy.  The next day we went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 with our neighbors, Betsy and Jacob.  On her actual birthday, Cate and I went to her school and brought cookies for the class.  It was wonderful!

I'm so proud of my special little girl.  She is my heart with feet and a genius.  

I love you, my miracle baby! :-)  I'm the luckiest person in the world to be your mom.

Happy Veteran's Day

Bronwen's grade held a Veteran's Day Assembly the day before yesterday.  They sang many songs and did a great job!  There was even a slide show with veteran's from the school (I submitted Conrad and his grandfather, Victor Armijo's, photographs).  At the end, they had all the veterans in the audience stand up and receive a white rose.  It was pretty sweet.  I could see how proud Bronwen was of her daddy.  :-)

Halloween Fun

My best friends in the world.  My family. :-)

Spooner's Pumpkin Patch

Cate's preschool had its annual field trip to Spooner's Pumpkin Patch.  Since Bronwen had a field trip to the zoo with her class, I kidnapped Ava from school, so she could come with us. :-)  We had an awesome time looking at all the pumpkins, seeing some animals and eating our sacked lunches.  Cate and Ava's favorite thing was to do the duck races.  It was so fun!  I can't wait until next year!