Kirstjan's Loose Tooth

Kristjan lost his first loose tooth today! He took a bite from an apple, and out it came! He's super excited for the Tooth Fairy to come tonight!!!

By the way....individual school pics are this coming Tuesday. His tooth came out just in time :)

Getting Ready for Halloween!

We are starting to get in the spirit of Halloween, starting with decorating our house. A few weekends back we made some homemade decorations (pumpkins, ghosts and bats). Then earlier this week I hit up the $ Tree for other miscellaneous decorations. Our kitchen table has a 'bloody handprint' runner with a spider web placemat in the middle and a big Halloween decorative bowl to use as our 'sacrifice' to the Pumpkin King on Halloween Night (it's where the boys will put all the candy they collect to give to the "Pumpkin King" who will then in turn leave them a surprise gift). We also put up decorations on the fireplace and backdoor. This weekend we will continue getting ready for Halloween by baking and decorating Halloween cookies, making more Halloween-themed crafts, carving pumpkins AND attending Zoo Boo. Phew!...busy weekend ahead...keep a look out for more postings of these fun events on our blog.

Yakima Visit

Last weekend we headed down to Yakima to visit with Pete's family. His brother Eric and his family drove down for Spokane as well. While there, we celebrated our nephews William and Eldon's birthdays. Here's highlights and pics from the weekend.

* Boys spending time with their cousins. There was a total of 10 kids in the house: 1 girl and 9 boys! As you can imagine, the house is full of craziness, with all those kids running around. As hectic as it can be in that house, the sounds of all the kids laughing and playing together is wonderful. I love knowing my boys will have wonderful memories of this!

* Pete and I spending time with all the nieces and nephews. And this was our first time meeting Samuel.

* Visiting with Eric and Jessica. It had been years since we've seen them, since they lived in Hawaii, then Utah before settling in Washington.

* Travis and Emma joined me and Pete to a trip to Starbucks for a little treat, and then a little window shopping at Fred Meyers.

* Picking out pumpkins in the garden.

* Coming home with a cooler full of meat!

* Eating delicious food, with the smoked ribs being the best!

* Celebrating William and Eldon's birthdays.

* Being able to relax and let the boys run wild outside in the fenced backyard!!








Eldon's Birthday Party!!



William's Birthday Party!!

Nielsen Pumpkin Patch

While visiting in Yakima, I was hoping we would go to a pumpkin patch up in Naches that had been recommended to me. Pete wasn't interested in going to one (as usual) and both boys were more concerned with playing with their cousins. So instead we decided to visit "The Nielsen Pumpkin Patch", and pick our Halloween pumpkins right out of the garden. Each child picked out a pumpkin they could take home to later carve (even I got to pick one! lol). I must admit...this was much more enjoyable and fun to pick out pumpkins this way instead of going to some farm (ssshhh!! don't tell Pete this. he'll never want to go to an actual pumpkin patch again if he heard me say this! lol).

Kids in the garden on their search for the best pumpkin!











William and Eldon making the long trek out of the garden by rolling their pumpkins :)



Travis posing with his pumpkin :)
Beautiful Emma with her pumpkin
Howard using his strong muscles to carry out his pumpkin
This almost became a disaster, but Kristjan was able to save the pumpkin before it fell out and crashed to the ground
Clifford helping Aunt Dee dig out Louis' pumpkin
Louis with his own little pumpkin

Friday Adventures

Friday afternoon Pete left work early to take us to the Science Center. The new exhibit opens today, but members could visit during a special sneak peak of it yesterday. The exhibit is "Design Zone". Everything was hands-on. Pete wants to go back without kids so he can take more time and play around. While we were there, we also saw the movie "Born to Be Wild 3D. The movie is a documentary about orphaned orangutans and elephants. It was amazing! Afterwards we headed towards Burien to visit Gordon and Michelle at the hospital. They had their baby boy Caleb Thursday morning via c-section. And oh! Caleb is so precious and sweet!! Pete and I both got to hold him while we chatted with the new parents. We didn't stay too long, since we remember what it was like with the many visitors that come and how exhausting it can be. We told them after they get settled at home, we would come over for a longer visit and make/bring them dinner. We completed our evening with a delicious dinner consisting of a roasted whole chicken, glazed carrots, salad and mash potatoes, and then finally settling on the couch to watch a movie as a family. Great start to the weekend! :)

Fun at the Science Center!!!









Pete holding Caleb

Gordon and Caleb