1st Day of Advent: Go To The Welches' For Dinner And Games

Today was the first day of Advent and let me tell you...we had a VERY celebratory day! We started out reading our scripture for the day which was Gen 1:1-2:3. Then we had a birthday party this afternoon for the cousins Alexis and Kendra. The kids all met at the sledding hill for a very high energy sledding party, before heading back to my sisters for hot cocoa, games, cake and presents! We went home and re-grouped before putting on our Advent/Sabbath hats for a very fun but relaxing evening with the Welch family! We had an awesome apricot stuffed pork tenderloin with salad, scalloped potatoes, and then a nice fruit salad for desert! Thanks so much Jen for providing such a lovely meal! The kids had sparkling cider and practiced giving toasts around the table. They did a wonderful job picking out things they were thankful for during our busy fun filled day. We sang the Gloria Patri and then the Welch kids gave us a memorized and well done blessing. By the time we finished dinner it was nearing 8:00pm so we skipped the games and all the kids headed downstairs for a movie...we are all pretty wiped out from such an exciting day. Oh....it also SNOWED all day! The kids are so thrilled to be able to play outside. Here are a few pics from the day. I especially like the ones of the kids looking out the window at the snow!

Belated Thanksgiving Photos

I thought I would get a couple pictures of our table posted before we start our Advent postings TOMORROW!!! Stay posted....Lord willing I will be posting each days activities. Our kids are VERY ramped up and excited for Christmas and ask every day it today is Christmas. The Advent calendar will really help them with the count down! I am also very excited and ramped!

The pretty flowers in the pictures were from my awesome husband. He really knows how to make my day!

Thanksgiving and Advent

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving here in Wenatchee with Brant's mom and grandparents. Over the weekend we ate a lot and watched a lot of movies with the kids. It was nice and relaxing...the perfect calm before the holiday season really begins! We are planning to get our tree this weekend, which the kids are soooo excited about. We are getting a permit from the forest service to go and cut down our tree. This is such a fond memory I have of my childhood. We are so blessed to still live in the Northwest so that we can go as a family and pick a tree to cut fresh. I think we are most excited about starting our Advent celebration this Sat Dec 1st! We have some really fun activities planned for the kids like making caramel corn, making Christmas cards for the neighbors and taking a jammie ride to look at Christmas lights. I would love for any of you who read this to share your different Advent and Christmas traditions with us. I love family traditions and plan on sharing our celebrations here with you all. I have really grand intentions to post a little note or photo everyday of Advent so we can share our advent activities with you. We'll see how it goes!

Touching Snail Mail Surprise!

Today was a gloomy fall day. I spent a good part of the day doing laundry, and cleaning up from our lazy Sunday afternoon. One of the kids’ favorite part of the day is to go outside and get the mail for me. However, since today was so wet and rainy I went out instead and to my surprise there was a box FOR ME in my mailbox! I was thrilled…and then intrigued! The box was from my Aunt Lisa who lives in Kansas City, and we honestly don’t get to talk much (which is a shame really…but I digress) so I was very curious to see what was in my little box. I looked at it for a few seconds before I tore into it wondering what she might have found that made her think of me. Once the 2 seconds were up, I tore right in and frankly was not sure there was anything in the box. There were many layers of tissue paper, and as I was pilfering through the paper, a small light weight metal object slipped out from the paper and fell onto my counter. I looked at it quite perplexed wondering what it was, but sort of remembering it as something I may have seen before. I decided there must be something else in the box to help me figure out this mystery gift. Ahhhhaaaa…a little note. I was sure this was the answer to my mystery metal object. I opened the little note and read that this wonderful little object, which by they way is a biscuit cutter, belonged to my Granny Violet. Before I go on, I must add that Granny was my great-grandmother and I loved her dearly! I spent a lot of time at her apartment playing dress-up in her clothes, going to church in my dress-ups, and riding the bus to the dime-store. I have sweet vivid loving memories of Granny and am so happy that we were able to name our Violet after her...any way back to the biscuit cutter. It was given to my Granny by her mother which makes the cutter around 100 years old. My Aunt Lisa, in all her wisdom and sweetness, thought of me and my daughter Violet, knowing that our Violet was named after Granny. Lisa knows the importance of family and inheritance passed down generation by generation...which I want her to know I am very thankful for! Even though this little biscuit cutter has no monetary value, it has the value of memory and age and story. This is something that will strike up conversations about Granny whenever Violet and I make biscuits together using the cutter. I will be sure to pass it onto her so that she can use it in her kitchen and make biscuits with her children…Granny’s great great great grandchildren. So Lisa, thank you so much for thinking of me and Violet, your distant but very appreciative niece and great-niece. Happy Thanksgiving!

Kinder-Prep Thanksgiving Feast

Here are a few pictures from the Thanksgiving feast we had in Simon’s class last week. It was so cute, the kids made special place mats for their spot at the table, and wore their pilgrim hats with so much honor. They learned that the pilgrims often put corn kernels next to their plates on Thanksgiving to remind them of the days when all they had to eat were a few kernels of corn. Each our children were given three kernels in which they got to put into a basket and name three things they were thankful for. Most of the children were thankful for their moms, dads, siblings, and grandparents…there were a few however that were thankful for their toys, their parents cars, and their pets. It was really cute. I also have included a picture of Simon and his buddy Baz. The boys have really hit it off and play often with one another. It is going to be so much fun to see these two boys grow up together. I look forward to sharing this picture with them when they are teenagers!

Playing Hard...At Work!

As we worked hard today to end our work week with a vengeance, there was still a little time for play...even for dad! Tage and Simon had their little friend Jordan over to play, and help out with the yard work. As you will see, I'm not sure who had more fun...Brant or the kids...or me cracking up taking pictures. I especially like the one of Brant crawling into the garbage can. It was quite funny...he was looking for a lost shoe in the leaves. Enjoy!

Simon And The Thankful Tree

Here Simon is with his Kinder-Prep teachers Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Harper in front of the Thankful Tree. Each of the students got to put a leaf on the tree that had different things they were thankful for written on it. Here are some of the things our sweet little Simon wrote on his leaf:

1. My Mom and Dad

2. My Brothers and Sister

3. My Dog Crystal

4. My House

This is the last week of school before there is a week off for Thanksgiving. Simon's little class will be having a Thanksgiving Feast, and will be wearing pilgrim hats as they all sit around the table together eating turkey, cornbread and honey, veggies and of course pumpkin pie! I get to work in the class room that day and plan to take pictures to share with you all.

Simon is really loving school this year, and is especially fond of his teachers. He really respects them and works very hard at obeying and following directions. He is starting to recognize his name and is working on tracing it so that he can get used to writing it in a fluid manner. We are really proud of Simon, and are so happy that he loves his school so much.