Carnation

One of our days in Seattle, we did a little tour of the Snoqualmie Valley. I spent a lot of time there growing up since my grandparents lived in Carnation. We started at Snoqualmie Falls, went to Carnation, saw my grandparents old home, had lunch at Xtapa (not sure that's spelled right, my grandmas favorite Mexican resturant), went to Remilinger Farms and finished off by driving by Carnation Milk Farms. My grandpa worked for Carnation Milk Farms and we used to go visit when we were small (it's actually now used as a camp for special needs children.) It was a fun day. It was nice to show my girls some of the places I loved as a kid.

Snoqualmie Falls

The falls were amazing this year. There had been quite a bit of rain before we came and there was so much water coming over. I don't know that I've ever seen them that big. It was actually difficult to see them at some points because there was so much mist coming up. It was very cool though.

Raking Fall Leaves

Something we don't get to do very often, but the girls loved it. It was so fun to bundle them up and send them out. They had a great time!

With their friends, Mike and Woody!

VOTE!

I am proud to have had the opportunity to have vote today. I am grateful to live in a country where we have a voice and hopefully that voice is heard. It's seems like this has been a very long race, I am definately ready for it to over. Right now, as much as the presidential election, I am concerned about the vote on Proposition 8. For those of you is California, you know the struggle. For those of you outside of California, your turn will come. This will not end with California. This has been a long and hard fought battle and I can only pray that the outcome is such that traditional marriage is protected. It has been a priviledge to stand up for my beliefs and values. And though this specific issue is nearing a finish line (one way or the other), we will have many other races to run in order to protect our beliefs. So get out and exercise your constitutional right. And if you live in California, Vote Yes of 8.

Happy Halloween!

We hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween. We had a great Halloween week. We had so many fun things going on. It started on Monday with our spooky story time at the library. The girls got to dress up and go knock on office doors in the library to get treats. Such a cute little program, they love it. Wednesday was our ward's trunk-0r-treat. Jason and I even got into the action and dressed up. Crazy, we found it was a little more fun that way. The party was a big hit and the girls scored in the candy department. Thursday, Emily got to dress up for pre-school and they had a little party.
Finally, on Friday, we went down to San Diego. We've never been able to join in on the Haynie festivities for Halloween since it's usually during the week. So this year, we took advantage of the Friday Halloween and went to their ward trunk-or-treat and followed that up with the ever popular Haynie Halloween party. We had a great time. We had great scones and lots of hot chocolate (although it was 85 degrees that day). Overall we had a great holiday and got great use out of our costumes. Emily got the award for "Most creative kids costume". She was so proud.

Arghhh Matey!

All Emily wanted to be this year for Halloween was a pirate.... So here are our little pirates!!

Petting Zoo!

Usually when we go to Disneyland, we usually skip the petting zoo (I know, some of you are thinking "There's a petting zoo?"), but last week we took the girls in for a visit to the goats. It was pretty cute. They made Lauren a little nervous but she still made attempts to pet them. I can't blame her for being nervous, the goats were crazy. They were all jumping up on each other and over the fences. It was a little chaotic but still pretty fun.

So it has begun....

I love Emily's preschool. Emily loves her preschool. When I signed her up I had only one reservation. I dreaded the day when we would see a varied array of diseases run their course through our home due to the fact that Emily spends a whopping 4 hours a week with 17 other 3-4 olds. So yesterday, 6 of the 18 kids in her class were absent, assumably home ailing from one disease or another. So, like clockwork, last night it happened. Emily got sick, tummy sick, the best variety. Now we will hold our breathes for the next few days, praying it doesn't pass on to the rest of us. If tradition persists, Lauren and Jason will get it. I will be spared, I think, for the sole purpose of taking care of everyone else. We hope all is well with you in your homes. If you're kids aren't big enough for nursery or school yet, just wait, you'll understand all too soon.
In light of all this, I do have to say I have the best husband. He is such a trooper when the kids are sick, in fact, he is the one that ends up sleeping with them and taking care of them in the middle of the night. Last night he and Emily watched "Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang" about 1 am. What a guy!

P.S. I just want to note that while I was posting this, the police department called. Apparently someone in our home dialed 911 and they just wanted to make sure we were ok. It's going to be a great day.

Sleepover!!!

Monday night, Jason found out last minute that he needed to go to Utah Tuesday morning for work. He never has to travel much but we still miss him tons when he's gone. So, to help pass the time, Jen and the twins were sweet enough to come stay with us Tuesday night. We had a blast. The kids played, we chatted and crafted. It was great. The only draw back was the weather. The last two days have been some of the hottest and most humid of the summer (P.S. it case you missed it, it is not summer any more!). We did venture to the park but the kids mostly sat in the shade drinking water, they're no dummies. All and all, we had a super fun time and are so glad we have such fun friends to play with. Thanks guys!

Beating the heat with popsicles..
Sign of a good time....a messy room!

What an Angel!!

So not really something that's said about her all the time (although she is a super sweet girl), she can be very mischevious. Although she looks innocent and very cute in this picture, she had climbed up on the computer chair, found the headphones and was pushing buttons at a feverish pace. Lucky for her the reflective material on the head phones gave a more angelic look than her behavior would attest to.