Thankful

We loved our time in Washington, but we were very excited to get back to Idaho. Why? Because that meant Daddy was coming! And we were all very excited to be reunited with Daddy!!! I don't have any pictures from the morning when the kids woke up to find Daddy with us again, but our time together was sweet. We were so thankful to be together again as a family. Here's a few pics from our last week before heading east...

 Ashlyn loved having Nana read books to her!

 Tea party with the cousins

For Thanksgiving we went to Nathan's sister's house for dinner. It was a fun time to catch up with his family and for the cousins to all play together.

 Micah loved the tree in their back yard and wasted no time climbing it.

 Ashlyn and Gianna had fun playing together. These girls definitely look like cousins. They look like they could even be sisters!

Nathan carved the turkey as Becky's husband was out of town. We missed having him there with us.

 When it came time to eat, Micah claimed the turkey leg!

 Gianna, Micah and Ashlyn

Nathan's mom and sister getting the desserts ready!

 Ashlyn loved having her Daddy to play with again! She couldn't get enough of him!

Family photo op. Unfortunately the sun was very bright, and we were missing a couple of kiddos.

 The kids had fun playing on the Wii!

 Becky and Nathan

The day after Thanksgiving, we had another feast... this time with my family. Joy was scheduled to work on Thanksgiving Day so we thought that provided the perfect opportunity to celebrate with both families. But once again, I didn't get any pictures from our meal. Someone took a picture, but  I can't remember who it was so I could try to get a copy from them.

 Jasmine and Ashlyn at their own little table. They loved having special glasses to drink their sparkling cider from!

 And after dinner, Ashlyn found the Chicago mix popcorn that Daddy brought with him.

Game time! We played "Imagine If" and had a lot of good laughs! Nathan won! He beat us all by a landslide!

 Nana, Ashlyn and Papa

 Cheesy fingers. Mmmmm... good!

 Nana had some matching nightgowns for the girls and they had fun twirling around in them before bedtime.

 Sweet hugs!

 Micah and Uncle Bobby working on a puzzle

 Another Bronco day! Nana and Papa with 4 of their grandchildren.

 Micah and Christopher

 My mom and I

Joy and I

These last pics were taken as we were getting into the car to head out to Chicago. Definitely an emotional time. When we left So Cal it was early in the morning and Nathan wasn't with us. The previous few weeks really just felt like a vacation. But getting in the car this time brought the reality that life was getting ready to change. Lots of excitement, but tinged with sadness.

Fall Leaves and Winter Snow

After we left Idaho, the kids and I traveled to Eastern Washington to stay with my parents for a week. And in that one week we got to experience Fall and Winter - our first introduction to living outside of Southern California.

 There were LOTS of leaves in Nana and Papa's backyard so Micah offered to rake them and bag them for $1 per bag. Nana told him he drove a hard bargain, but SURE!

I helped him out a little so we could get it into one big pile.

 

Ashlyn did her part to help out too

 

  Both kids thought it was so fun to be buried in the leaves, but Ashlyn had to clarify, "Just don't cover my face."

 

Micah, on the other hand, wanted to be completely buried, but that didn't make such a great picture, so here he is with his face showing.

 

 Then it was time to PLAY!

 Running...

 Jumping...

 Soft landing. So much fun!!

Ashlyn preferred to just wade through the leaves.

 Then we all had fun running and jumping together

 Ashlyn found one of Aunt Bonnie's old baby dolls and adopted it for the week

 And then came the snow! The first night it was just a light dusting. The kids had a ball playing with it out on the deck, but were disappointed to see it gone the next day.

 So we found something else fun to do that day... we made a gingerbread house! I kept telling Ashlyn not to eat the candy, she needed to put it on the house. She responded that she wasn't eating it, she was just tasting it (licking the sugar crystals off it)!

The finished product! (Notice Ashlyn's hand in the bowl. Can't let any of that sugar go to waste.)

 Then the next morning the excitement level was over the top as they looked out the window to find a winter wonderland outside. Micah's first request... "Can I go shovel the sidewalk?!"

 

 Ashlyn just enjoyed walking around in it.

 

 We even had a enough to make a snowman!

 

Once we were all too cold to stay outside, it was time to warm up with hot cocoa and marshmallows (or smarshmallows, as Ashlyn would say).

 It kept snowing throughout the day, so in the afternoon Papa took him out to show him the snowblower. I was a little concerned. After all, Micah has a winter full of shoveling the driveway in front of him and I didn't want him to start desiring the easy way out.

 But I had nothing to fear. Although he was impressed with the snowblower, he was much more interested in shoving it himself!

Here's Micah with his 14 bags of leaves that he bagged up. Total earned = $15 (Nana gave him an extra $1 tip).

 Any visit to Pullman requires a stop at the WSU Creamery, where college students make the best cheese and ice cream!

Ashlyn enjoyed some snuggle time with Papa.