Thanksgiving

As we enter into the holiday season I find myself both sad and happy.

It's more of the "firsts".  

The first Thanksgiving, the first Christmas, the first birthday.....etc.

I am so very sad that my Mom isn't with us anymore.

I'm happy for the wonderful times that we had with her.

Finding the balance is going to be tricky at times.

I was very thankful that my Dad decided to come back again for Thanksgiving.

The day itself was a little bittersweet.

(Mostly sweet, though!)

Annalise was a GREAT pie baking helper!

The day was beautiful....a gorgeous fall day that Mom would have loved!

 

And our dinner was perfect.....

The day after Thanksgiving was our usual Christmas tree getting day!!!!

The weather was super mild......

The next day Mark and Gramps took the girls snowboard shopping.

This seemed like the perfect year to get them on the mountain!

When you're in 5th grade you ski for FREE at Mt. Baker.  AND...if you're 6 and under you're FREE.

So....the girls are all "geared" up and ready for snow!!!!!

And the next day was spent "Christmas-ifying" the house!

Which also includes the hiding of the "pickle" ornament.

Gramps did a good job hiding it...but Avery was quick to find it!

 The final day before heading back to school and work involved a pull on the wishbone.

Annalise was determined to "win" this year.

 And she did!!!

I hope her wish comes true.

 

I'm so thankful for the life we have.

Girl Scout Pie Making

Our Girl Scout troop really enjoyed making Thanksgiving pies last year.

They were all excited about doing it again this year.

We met and helped put together about 100 pies to be donated to our 

local food banks for Thanksgiving.

I just love that these girls are so willing and excited to help and serve their community.

What great life lessons they are learning!!!

Ear Piercing!!

Annalise REALLY wanted her ears pierced. 

She proved to us that she could take care of herself....

showering, brushing teeth, etc. for months.

She finally wore us down and we decided she could get her ears pierced.

Not to be outdone by her little sister....Avery decided she would do it also.

Neither even flinched!!!

Way to go girls!

Then to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate....

Daddy wanted in on the piercing picture so he clipped some on....

(oh girls...just wait until your teenagers!  Don't they look thrilled?!)

Love these girls!!!

Veteran's Day

For a very long time Avery has wanted to invite her Grandpa to join her at one of her Veteran's Day assemblies.  We've never been quite organized enough to give him enough notice to make it over.  But this year it FINALLY worked out!!!!

The girls were super excited that Grandpa was going to be there at school with them!

The assembly began with the Pledge of Allegiance....

This year Avery's class was representing the United States Air Force.

She spoke a bit....

And when it came time to honor the United States Army, Grandpa got to stand up and tell when he served and give a little shout out to his granddaughters in the audience!

We are so proud of Grandpa....and so glad he could be here with us to see him honored!

We had a great visit over the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa!

As usual....there was game playing....

....and performances!

And a little sigh of relief from Grandma when she realized that she was still just a TINY bit taller than Avery!!! :)

Don't think she'll be taller for long though!

Happy Camper Get Together

The Happy Campers needed a fall get together, so we all ended up at Stacy's for dinner.

Who knows when we'll get everyone together again with the crazy sport and activity schedules all these kids have.  So...we were sure to get a nice picture of them all together!!

Wait....that's more like it....