Living in the Mission Field

One thing that we have really loved about living here in Virginia is the opportunity we have to get to know the missionaries. 

We have a set of sister missionaries assigned to our ward, Sister Skousen and Sister Kuta.  The girls love them.  We get to feed them once a month, give them rides, and when Sandy hit, they spent the day at our house emailing family, eating and playing games with us. 

Sister Skousen was just transferred and they came over to say good-bye to us.  We will miss her, but know that the people in her new area will definitely be blessed to have her!  We are also excited to get to know the new sister missionary. 

Last Minute Thanksgiving

Because Clara was still sick with croup we had to skip out on Thanksgiving dinner with some friends.  We had to throw together a last minute Thanksgiving dinner at home.  That means Stove Top Stuffing, powdered mash potatoes, and those microwave pouches that have turkey slices and gravy.  Most things were made in the microwave!  I did make a few things to make it special.

Pumpkin Pancakes with buttermilk syrup.  Yummy!

Chad and the girls played outside while I slaved (sarcasm) away in the kitchen.  The weather was so nice they didn't even need coats or sweaters.

Hannah and I made a delicious appetizer!  It was mini fillo cups filled with melted brie cheese and topped with dried cranberries and pecans mixed with honey.  So easy and so,so yummy!

 Being goofballs at dinner.  Our dinner was good, but nothing special except for my homemade cranberry sauce.  Everyone said what they were thankful for.  Hannah listed everything starting from birth!  Grace said she was thankful for "not peeing in my underwear at Grandma's house."  Notice in the picture of Chad his scruff.  He and his buddies decided to not shave all Thanksgiving break.  He has now decided he is going to keep growing it until Christmas!  Not my favorite!

I made a rustic pear tart for dessert.  It looked impressive, but tasted pretty much just like apple pie.  I am not a huge fan of pie and apple is my least favorite, so I was a little disappointed.  Chad and the girls liked it though!

That night we played some festive games that Hannah had created.  It was a low-key (slightly boring) holiday.  Hopefully next year we will be able to spend it with friends or family!

Grace Turns 3!

Gracie Lou turned 3 last week.  Since her actual birthday landed on Thanksgiving this year, we decided to celebrate it a few days early.  To say she was excited would be an understatement!  She told everyone we saw or passed that it was her birthday.

Grace decided she wanted a Build-A-Bear for her birthday.  The closest store was in a town an hour away so we decided to make a whole day of it.  Our fist stop was Build-A-Bear!  Grace was hoping for a kangaroo, but had to settle for a bunny.  She was so excited to make it and pick out the clothes.  She picked out some super sparkly clothes and named it Rabbit.

After Build-A-Bear we checked out the rest of the mall and played at the play area they had there.  Please notice the cop in the background.  Seconds after taking this picture I was told by him that I am not allowed to take pictures in the mall.  Oops!

Next we headed to Red Robin for some lunch.  We let them know it was Grace's birthday.  She was so funny when they brought her an ice cream sundae and sang to her.  She had the biggest smile the whole time.

When we got home we had to make a quick change and head to dance.  We drove all the way there and then found out it was closed that week for Thanksgiving, somehow I missed the memo!  So we drove back home and Grace opened her presents.

After presents we had cake.  Hannah helped me decorate it and I think it turned out pretty cute!  Grace loved it!

Grace had a great birthday and we loved spending it with her.  Grace is one of a kind.  She lives life to the fullest and feels her emotions to the extreme.  When she is happy, she is over the moon and when she is mad, it is the end of the world!  She is so funny and smart and creative.  She makes me want to throw her out the window on a daily basis, but then does or says something so funny or cute that it makes me laugh. 

She's our Grace!

This poor little girl was not feeling well and she just got worse and worse and the day went on.  After a terrible nights sleep for both of us, I took her to the Dr and found out she had croup.  Poor little girl!  She is feeling much better now!

The Whole Tooth

After blood (Hannah's), sweat (mine-I was holding her down like a MMA fighter), tears (Hannah and Clara's-Hannah would cry out and then Clara would start crying), and a broken nail (mine-that sucker didn't want to come out) Hannah finally lost her first top tooth!  She was pretty excited!  I just can't get over how cute she looks with it missing.  Every time she talks I can't help but smile.  What a cutie!

You are My Sunshine

After leaving the market we went to the Arboretum at JMU.  It is a beautiful place and the weather was perfect! 

We purchased some yuimmy kettle corn at the market so we sat outside and munched on it.  Hannah said it was like being at a movie theatre and watching a movie about the earth.

Clara kept trying to sneak back and steal the bag of popcorn!

Proof that we really do exist!

 There was a huge hill that the girls kept rolling down.

It was such a beautiful afternoon!  Also that is a lot of pink!

To Market, To Market

We visited a local Mennonite market last week.  It was a very cool place.  We were impressed even before we went inside!

It is impossible to get all three girls looking at the camera!

They had two huge windmills on either side of the building.

There was a large fish pond FULL of fish!  They all came swimming over to us.  We were sad we didn't have anytbhing to fgeed them!

Inside you are greeeted by a lifesize horse and buggy.  Grace wanted to get in the buggy so much!

There were tons of really cool shops.  We really want to take our parents here whenever they come to visit.  They had beautiful quilts and handmade funiture.  They even had a toy store!  The store had some really cool old-fashioned toys and lots of hand-made things.

 There was a whole western store.  With hats and clothes and all things cowboy!

One of my favorite stores was the canning store.  They had over 100 different flavors of jams, jellies, preserves, butters, and pie fillings.  The best part was the free samples!

The three girls sitting in the Papa Bear Chair, the Mama Bear Chair, and the Baby Bear Chair

She's Got the Beat

We may have a future drummer on our hands!

http://youtu.be/rP4A57OTU-U

Super Reader

Hannah has become such a great little reader.  I am so amazed at the way her reading skills have grown.  She can blow through a chapter book like nobody's business!  She is always carrying around a book and I have a hard time keeping her supplied with books!

  She even reads to Grace, which Grace LOVES! 

We recently attended Hannah's parent teacher conference and her teacher had glowing reviews of her.  He said that she was reading on a 4th grade level.  Actually, he said that 4th grade was as high as they were allowed to test for, but that he believes she is even higher! 

She is such a smart little girl!  We are proud of our Hannah Banana!

Flying South for the Winter

One Sunday afternoon, when it was still warmish, we took a little stroll around our neighborhood.  There is a large pond just up the road from our house that has some swans and a few geese.

We were very surprised when we arrived at the pond to see how many geese there were now.  Usually there are about 10, but this day there were 30-40 geese!  We had been hearing them honking in the sky, but we didn't know they had been coming to our pond.



Hannah started walking slowly out to them and one by one they all got up and walked away.  When she got really close they all took off flying into the pond!  It was so amazing to see, but it happened so fast that we didn't get a picture of it!

Bike Rides

The girls love to ride their bikes outside around our house.

 Grace stays on the sidewalk and rides back and forth over and over again.

Clara just crawls all over, like she owns the place!

 Hannah zooms around the parking lot so fast, I didn't even get a picture of her riding.  But, of course, she stopped long enough to hold a cute little puppy.

This one enjoys riding her bike in the comforts of our home.  Actually her feet don't even touch the floor yet!

What's in a Name?

This what happens when anyone asks Grace to tell them her name.

If the video doesn't work, click on this link

Yeah, people probably think we are crazy.

Also she walks around with buckets on her feet.  Of course.

Also the other day at church somebody asked Chad if it was Grace's birthday.  He said, "No.  Why?"  They said they had heard them singing Happy Birthday to her in nursery.   Here is the conversation that happened when we asked Grace about it.

Chad: "Hey Grace, did they sing Happy Birthday to you in nursery today?"

Grace:  "Um....Oh yeah!  They did!"

Chad: "Why did they do that?"

Grace: "Um...?"

Chad: "Did you tell them it was your birthday?"

Grace: "Oh yeah!  I did!"  ---runs off to play

Seriously!?  Who is this kid?

 

Pumpkin Painting

Halloween was interesting this year.  With Hurricane Sandy, aka Frankenstorm, hitting the east coast people were making preparations for the worst here.  School was canceled for Chad and Hannah and batteries and bread were sold out in the stores.  We were very lucky here and were only hit with rain and a little wind.  Because of the lousy weather we were never able to make it to the pumpkin patch.  So on Halloween day I just went to Walmart and picked out 3 pumpkins from their VERY limited selection.  Since we were short on time we decided to just paint our pumpkins this year.

These next three pictures make me laugh because it fits their personalities perfectly!

Artistic Hannah, concentrating hard,

Stubborn crazy Grace refusing to smile for the camera,

And Sweet Happy Clara always smiling!

Trick-or-Treat, Smell My Feet

Hannah woke up Halloween morning sick.  She was throwing up, so she had to stay home from school.  We were afraid she would be too sick to go trick-or-treating.  Luckily she felt fine later in the day and was able to join us!  We didn't allow her to eat any candy, just in case!

Hannah's eyes are red in almost every picture and I have to use the red eye corrector every time.  This time I decided to leave it since it added to her costume!  Grace was a unicorn (she calls it "any-corn"),  Clara was a sheep, and Hannah was a zombie ballerina.

We had a fun time!  It was a little chilly, but no snow or rain, so that was great!

 This little one was just so pleasant and just hung out quietly in the stroller.

 Even though Hannah couldn't eat the candy, she was sure excited to check out her loot!

Look at all that candy!  Luckily we are taking it to a local dentist soon.  He sends it to the troops and gives us $1 per pound.  If it stuck around too long I would eat it all!