Thanksgiving in VA

Both of our friends from high school, Steve & Laura Miller, are stationed at the Naval base not too far from D.C. So we spent a couple days with our two little families for Thanksgiving.

All in all we spent lots of time outside while our kids rode bikes, Dale played football, Dale sprained his ankle (and still in a brace 3 wks later), spent lots of time talking and at most 30 minutes eating our long labored over meal.

Gavin and Jack did get to camp out together on a cot for 2 nights. We heard them 'till 10:30 at night talking, such as "I like Lighting McQueen. Do you like Lightning McQueen? Yah."
Gavin finally got how to ride the big boy bike as we were loading the car.

He still talks about it, but he'll have his trike 'till his 5th birthday.
Thanks for having us Steve & Laura.

us at the Stake Talent Show - nov. 20

Linnaea was being a crack up again. We're pretty sure she made up a couple's mind that they want a little girl now.

They both wanted to sit on my lap, or they just wanted to sit together. We can never tell, but that's a good thing. I just think they're cute.

Pumpkin Soup - so so yummy

Pumpkin Soup

with chicken and rice
(easy to change with what you have, and add what you want)

Prepared Rice - 1 cup Rice (wild, brown or white) heated in 2 cups water till fluffy

2Tbsp - Butter or Margarine
1 cup - Onions, (or 1/3cup Dehydrated Onions & 2/3 cup water)
1 can - Cream of Celery Soup
2 cups - Chicken Broth (from carton,can or seasoning cube)
1 can 16oz - Pumpkin (or ~2cups Pumpkin puree)
1-2 cups - Mixed Vegetables (frozen or canned)
2 cups - Chicken, cooked and cubed (or 1 can ~12oz Chicken)
1/2 - 1 cup - Milk /or half&half /or can of Carnation milk
1/2 Tbsp - Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp. - Salt (2 tsp if needed)

Prepare Rice. Then in Large pot, ~6 quart, cook butter with onions. Add celery soup, broth and pumpkin and heat to boil. Stir in rice, vegetables, chicken, milk, cinnamon and salt. Heat to serving temperature, no boiling needed. Still tastes great when reheated for leftovers as well.

Playing in the Leaves - Nov. 15, '10

My Penny girl's 15th Birthday - Nov. 4

Happy 15th Birthday Penny !

Linnaea was sporting her winter puppy outfit in your honor.

We love you Penny girl !

A New View of the World - 10/27/10

This was the funniest thing ever. I caught her in this pose, and she stayed that way long enough for me to get a picture of it.

It's her 5th day crawling and she is sure out to explore.

Linnaea is 7 months old - 10/22/10

She is learning lots from Gavin and he loves teaching her, like how to ride his scooter.

here they are hug wrestling

She LOVES Mommy and likes to be held often.
She also says "Muh Muh" all the time.
[Gavin tells her "I'm not Mama, I'm Gavin"]

And barely making the cut at 11 pm, she actually began crawling the day she turned 7m!

[she also loves playing with Gavin's toys by herself when he goes to bed. shhh]

Pickn' our Pumpkin in a Patch - 10/20/10

The children and I drove out to the country, even turned left at a Mennonite Church, and went out to a farm to pick our own pumpkin:

Gavin picking Mr. Pumpkin
Linnaea sizing up Mr. Pumpkin
Enjoyed playing at the farm

"Scary" Mr. Pumpkin from Gavin's sketch
[I said it was "cute" and was told it wasn't cute, it was scary. Dale was then told that he had to make a silly one, because we already had a scary one]

Down on the Farm - 10/20/10

We went to pick our own pumpkin, but had more fun than that:

more october pictures

Linnaea helped me take the clothes down to the washer and rode back up in the basket!

Gavin helped Dale make a pumpkin pie from a pumpkin we bought.

Gavin and Dale also came home from a run to the store with caramel for apples.

We went to the old train station from 1890's, saw the old engine on display, and browsed antique shops, carefully.

Halloween

Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora before Trick-or-Treating at Church.

Dale passed out candy for Trunk-or-Treat

Vanessa walked with the kids for candy

Gavin's pumpkin. He created the rough sketch and Dale carved. I was very impressed.

watching Conference on the couch - Oct, 2,3

Everyone was happy snacking on carrots

teething baby got her fair "share" as well.

And this is how I sleep during the day, when I do,
and many hours at night. Linnaea loves her mommy.
Good thing I lover her too.

What we've all been waiting for... Oct. 8

Dale passed the Arizona Bar !!!!!

view press release here:
http://azcourts.gov/Portals/26/710Results.pdf

once he gets sworn in, he will officially be Esquire.
He has been his happiest self in 3 years, relieved the wait is over.
He can now be called.... a Lawyer.

Linnaea stats 6 1/2 months - Oct. 7

at Dr.'s appointment today, she was:
16lbs. 4 oz. (~50%)
26 3/4 in. (~75%)

Dr. was surprised at how strong she is. Lots of muscle strength.
[The girl has abs! She can do almost a full sit up from lying down, which makes diaper time a struggle now and then.]

just for me, I love them like this

Do you see why Gavin loves our new mall? I love that he loves all things space, and NASA and rocket ships since his 2nd birthday. He's just so brilliant, which provides it's own challenges, but I love being able to teach him and read to him and have the most interesting conversations with him as he learns. And I can always count on him to help by entertain Linnaea and make her giggle like no one else can.

My sweet girl. I love feeling so important and loved by such a tiny person. I also love when she enjoys sleeping in her own crib. Will she always squeeze hug me like she does when I
pick her up and let me smooch her cheeks? I hope so.