Thanksgiving

I am thankful for many things this year...

I am obviously thankful for:

Mr. Nate: who is simply the best man I have ever met...

My girlies: who make me laugh, cry, swear, and who make me one proud momma...

My testimony, which has been incredibly strengthened the past few months...

My family: I never knew I could miss them so much...

But here are some little things that I am thankful for:

Drop Dead Diva: Nate and I watch it every night after the girls go to bed. We love it.

Contacts: enough said.

Chapstick: I use it way too much, but it still makes me happy. :)

Diet Coke: Mmmm.... I love the stuff!

Papa's Pizza: I go there every other Tuesday with some friends and when you purchase

an adult pizza buffet, you get a kid's buffet for free! 

Plus, they have this amazing play thing inside, and my kids play on it for hours.

I am literally there from noon until 5:30!

The kids play, and I get to chit chat with my friends!

My church calling: For the first time in over 6 years, I am not the music director!

I'm on the Enrichment Committee, and I'm in charge of Super Saturday.

I get to work with some super crafty ladies, 

and I have loved getting to know them.

Costco: We finally got a membership there...

Now we go every Saturday and eat hot dogs.

My kids think it's some sort of restaurant. :)

I love this time of year where we can all take time to reflect on our blessings.

I hate that Thanksgiving gets pushed to the wayside.

I now hate that stores are opening on Thanksgiving night in order for Black Friday.

Boo, I say!

This year we are going to Pasco, Washington to spend Thanksgiving with my uncle and his family.

I have never been there, and we are leaving super early tomorrow morning,

but I am excited to spend it with his family.

This past week, there were 2 families in our ward who invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner.

They knew we didn't have any family near by, and that it was our first 

Thanksgiving away from home, and

I am thankful that they thought of us.

I am blessed.

Mushroom Discussions

Let me be honest.

From time to time, I have been known to maybe

stretch the truth a lot a little bit on what kind of vegetables

my children are eating in their food.

I just want to see if they really dislike the veggie,

and if they'll eat it if they think it's something else.

My children aren't fooled so easily.

Ava is not a fan of mushrooms.

I put some in our soup last night, 

and thought I could just slip them in without being noticed.

Boy, was I wrong!

She immediately saw them and asked,

"What are these?"

Nate replied, 

"They're like broccoli. They're called shrooms."

Well, she started picking them out claiming she didn't like them.

She knew they were mushrooms...

We asked her what she thought mushrooms were...

This was her reply,

"They have one long leg to stand on, with a big brain for it's hair to come out of..."

Ok. Good enough for me!

Family Pics

I needed some good family pics.

So, I had a good friend take them.

We went down to the local library,

spent about 20 minutes on these bad boys,

and called it a day.

I love the way they turned out.

Of course, I look at pictures of myself 

and can pick out a million things that are wrong...

but when I look at my cute hubby and children,

I can't help but smile. 

Their personalities really shine through these pictures.

Thank you, my dear friend (you know who you are...)

for taking these amazing pictures.

I love seeing my two girls together. 

Honestly, nothing brings me more happiness than watching them grow. 

Halle is going through this super silly phase.

She walks around with her hands out like this all the time.

 These girlies are truly BFF's. 

Don't you just love Halle's hair, cause I do!

I love making faces... 

It's my passion in life.... 

 Of course we had to get one of the famous

"walking away" shots, 

but what I love is how Halle is stick straight.

She always holds herself like this when we hold her hands.

 Oooo... kissy, kissy!

 Nate loves flipping Halle all over the place,

and as you can tell by the look on her face,

she loves to be flipped!

 I love this pic of us.

The first thing Nate said was, "I look so old!"

but I think he's handsome and distinguished.

 Oh how I love the many different faces of Miss Halle.

Her blue eyes just melt me.

And Ava is so darling.

She loves the camera,

and I just love the little dimple below her eye.

It's so unique and just fits her.

The Girls' Stats

Took the girls to their well-check visits today.

It was an adventure, to say the least.

Ava is a1ways extremely cooperative,

 while Halle fights the doctor with every ounce of energy she posesses

(which is a lot...)

It took 2 nurses and me to hold Halle down while she got the flu nasal mist...

it was exhausting...

But here are some of their stats...

Ava

Weight: 44.5 lbs 94%

Height: 42.75 inches 95%

She is a growing girl and is always at the top of the charts.

Halle

Weight: 27 lbs. 42%

Height: 36 inches 86%

Head: 48cm 10%

She has always been on the tall side, and her weight looks good.
However, because she is on the tall side and is a little on the skinny side,
that makes her ultra slender...

However, they were a little perplexed at the size of her head.

Her head looks normal to me, but I'm used to looking at Ava's head 

which is usually off the charts. :)

Both girls are healthy and developing well.

As a side note...

Halle has been learning her letters!

She knows: R, A, S, H, X, W, and N.

She knows all her shapes and colors and can count to 11.

Mustangs

I drove a 1966 blue Mustang in high school.

It was one hot car.

I loved the way it rumbled to life 

and I especially loved the looks I got while I was driving it.

We had a friend in high school who owned a newer white Mustang.

She wanted Mr. Nate to model for her,

so she snapped a pic of him and his hotness.

I just love the fact that Nate and I went to the same high school,

mingled with the exact same people,

went to dances in the same dance groups....

but never said more than a dozen words to each other.

In fact, my first time ever meeting Nate was going to a school dance.

We were going to the "Fall Ball" with our dates.

I had asked a kid named Johnny (who was in Nate's ward)

and my friend, Tori, had asked Nate.

I picked them all up in my little blue Mustang,

and I had pulled into Nate's driveway (which gives me nightmares to this day...

I am petrified of backing out of it!),

and I was having a hard time backing out of it because

my Mustang didn't have power steering...

Oh, what sweet memories...

Fall in the Great North West

This is the view outside my kitchen window. I love opening my blinds and looking

at this absolutely stunning yellow tree.

Oregon is just plain gorgeous this time of year. 

I loved it here during the summer because the heat was tolerable 

and I was able to take the girls out and play all day, every day.

There was maybe a week and a half where temperatures reached above 95,

but other than that, it stayed around 80-85.

Now that it's autumn time, I love to just go for long drives

and look at all the beautiful colors on the trees.

The colors are so vivid, and I am in awe every time I look at the trees!

The tree pictured below is right by my dumpster. 

I have never enjoyed taking the trash out, as much as I do now!

heehee hehehe.

And I love finding squirrels everywhere. 

Honestly, it never gets old.

This squirrel was across from the dumpster...

As I was in my bedroom,

I kept hearing this strange noise from outside.

I peeked out my window,

and there was a little furry squirrel just sitting on the tree branch,

less than a foot away from my window!

It was just chatting away, and it made me laugh!

This bush is across the little road from our apartment.

I just love how it's yellow and it's tipped with fiery red.

I also love how one tree will have different colors on it.

Just last week, this tree had yellow, red, and green on it.

You can still see a little green in the bottom left-hand corner.

I am so grateful to step out and look at these gorgeous colors.

I feel like the leaves changed colors just when I needed them to.

I have really struggled this past month with homesickness,

and have been really down.

But every time I look around at how beautiful Oregon is,

I am reminded that there is a God in Heaven and that He loves me.

Double Take

     

Geez, I wonder where she gets her posing from...

Bunk Beds!

Yay! We finally got bunkbeds!!

Over the past few months, I have been on the prowl for twin sized bedding.

I found 2 little pink quilts at Target on clearance for $7.50 each. 

I then went to Target with Ava, and she got to pick out what sheets she wanted.

So, she picked lady bugs for her and owls for Halle.

We were planning on having Ava sleep on the top bunk...

and Halle on the bottom bunk...

but Halle didn't like that, so they both sleep on the top bunk!

 
     It feels so strange to have both my kids in twin sized beds. I have been a little nervous with Halle on the top bunk, but she's done just fine the past few nights! They have also loved building forts out of their bunk beds and have spent all day today just playing on them. Who knew that these beds would be such a great source of entertainment?

Our Love of Ketchup

... and not just any ketchup... it has to be HEINZ ketchup. Nate isn't really picky about anything, except when it comes to ketchup! He loves the stuff and eats it with everything. I really don't understand his love of ketchup... I mean, I like the stuff, but I would much rather have fry sauce or ranch. Plus, Nate doesn't really like tomatoes, so I think it's a little weird that he likes ketchup so much! Well, we recently discovered someone else in our family who looooves ketchup...
    Oh yes, little Miss Halle. We were eating hamburgers and had fries with it, so we had so ketchup for dipping. Nate and I look over and Halle was dipping her little finger into the ketchup and then licking it off.  What's funny is that she also hates tomatoes. Whenever I give her some, she'll try it, gag a little, and then spit them right out. Hee hee hee.

     Nate and I just shook our heads and had a good chuckle. Halle is like Nate in so many ways, I just love it. They have many of the same mannerisms, likes, dislikes,and personality traits. I guess I shouldn't be so surprise that Halle loves ketchup and hates tomatoes!