December Fun

In Bellevue at a stake center, right next to the Seattle temple, there is a fantastic nativity display every year.  We invited our neighbors to come with us.  It really was incredible.  They had completely transformed the building.  There were hundreds of nativities on display as well as a room detailing Christ's life.  They had along with a children's nativity room with nativity puppets, toys, and puzzles a room where you could dress up and pose in the nativity.  That's our neighbor, Brianna, as Mary.  Eliza would like it known that she is a "wise woman" bringing gifts to baby Jesus.  And no, despite the mischievous look on Leona's face she didn't do anything to the lamb after the photo was taken.

We also went to a nursery down the road that had live reindeer.  The kids thought that was pretty cool.  Leona and I came with a friend beforehand and saw Santa but she wanted nothing to do with him.  She did take his candy cane though, so clearly we still have to work on the whole, don't take candy from strangers things.  The bigger girls sort of wanted to see him when we went but he didn't happen to be wandering around that day.  I got the impression that they were a little relieved. 

This is a picture that Leona drew for June.  I didn't realize that she could draw recognizable people until I saw this.  I was kind of impressed. 

Last Day of Ballet

Well Leona and Hannah had a good run in ballet, but Leona opted to not sign up again. Her reasoning? "If you get too crazy and talk too much and touch people Miss Osiris makes you take a time out." This happened exactly once and having been around Leona and Hannah together I can say that Miss Osiris had a very lenient policy on what gets you sent to time out.  I love the photos of the girls after ballet on that last day "doing ballet moves" in their little leotards.  Hannah always looked the proper ballerina while Leona wore either bright red or hot pink thick, cotton tights with her purple leotard. :) Leona's favorite "ballet" move was doing bunny hops. :)

November Fun

For Christmas I made my parents a personalized Cole Guess Who game and took these photos to go in the games.  They look a little like mugshots but they were funny. I used the middle one of Leona for the game. Eliza looks way too old in hers.  I like that Clara is using a headband as a necklace.

The Rices always have the inside info on fun things to do.  They invited us to go to Swanson's Nursery to see real live reindeer (I believe their sign said they were Comet and Dasher), a train set, and potentially Santa.  The reindeer were a hit as was the train set.  When we did run into Santa by accident Leona was willing to take a candy cane from him- after checking with me, Yay for not just taking candy from strangers!- but did not want to go close to him.  He invited them to sit on his lap and tell them what they wanted for Christmas. No dice. Leona started monologuing from a safe distance- not about what she wanted or even about Christmas, just being herself and chattering away. Then Santa tried to get them to just come over for a photo op. Again he was swiftly shut down.  I politely told him that he could move along as there was no sense waiting for them to change their minds.

Thanksgiving

We had a surprise visitor for Thanksgiving.  We were unsure until almost the last minute that Jacob/Uncle Jaybob would be able to get leave to come spend Thanksgiving with us since he is currently doing his Air Force training in Salt Lake.  Because of this we didn't tell the kids that he was coming because we knew they would be crushed if it got cancelled and they knew about it.  So on Thanksgiving morning while I cooked up a storm in our mini kitchen Collin took the girls to go run a quick errand for me.  The reveal was a bit of a disappointment though.  The kids had no reaction at all.  Probably even less of a reaction than if they had known Jacob was coming.  They made up for that lack of enthusiasm the rest of the visit though.  We had a great Thanksgiving with him, the first one that I have cooked all by myself. 

The day after Thanksgiving there was a challenge issued and several people suited up for a polar bear plunge in the Puget Sound at Richmond Beach. I don't have a photo because it was over so quickly and we did video.  Several strangers took photos.  Collin, Jacob, and Eliza took the plunge.  Clara suited up but then wisely backed out when we got to the beach and it was freezing fully clothed and with a coat on.  Eliza made it in up to her knees while Collin and Jacob took a full dunk.  They acted like it was refreshing but I suspect that was just the hypothermia kicking in.  The water that day was 40 degrees.  During the rest of Jacob's visit we had a game night, made ornaments, and went to Pike Place where we had delicious pastries at Piroshky Piroshky. It was so wonderful to have Jacob visit.  We have really missed getting to see him every month like we did in Utah.  He's a fun uncle and brother.

Soccer Jersey- Eliza, Gingerbread Man with Ginger mustache- Jacob, Snoqualmie Falls- Collin

Gingerbread Girl- Clara, Stocking- Leona, Starfish- Me

Fire Station Field Trip

Leona's Buddy School took another field trip, this time to the Fire Station.  It is actually a retired fire station used just for this purpose so it's almost just a fire themed play place.  It was awesome. They had fireman costumes for everybody, a trick to drive, a pole to slide down, over a hundred small fire trucks of varying sizes to play with, and a little fire safety presentation.  Leona had so much fun.

Halloween 2017

For Halloween this year we had some creative costumes.  Clara was Elena of Avalor. She saw the costume hanging at Costco and was immediately decided on it for Halloween.  She was particularly drawn in by the dangling earrings that came with it. Leona was a purple and pink leopard. Don't even think of calling her a cheetah or jaguar or you will be corrected.  She based her costume off of the pink leopard that she sleeps with but of course need it to be modified to be mostly purple.  Eliza came up with the idea for her costume all on her own back in March. She was a cuckoo clock.  It was such a creative idea and the finished product was pretty cute. After trick or treating in it though she has sworn off any future costumes where she has to wear a box. It was too hard to keep up with the friends she was trick or treating with. :)

Family Photos 2017

Grandma and Grandpa Cole Visit and Eliza Gets Baptized

Eliza got baptized on her 8th birthday.  It was a special day for everyone involved.  It was extra special because Grandma and Grandpa Cole came all the way from Texas to be here for it.  It was a short trip but we still had fun.  The first day was kind of crazy because we picked Grandpa Cole up from the airport, brought him home, and then Collin and I immediately headed to the hospital because I had a small surgery that had to be done.  That meant that the girls got to be with Grandpa all day. They went to the park, did crafts, read books, walked to Walgreens and bought candy, and generally had a great time.  That night Grandma Cole came. Unfortunately Grandma Cole had an attack of vertigo while she was here so she missed out on a lot of the fun. We went to watch Leona in her ballet class and then headed to Pike Place Market with Grandpa, where he bought rambutans, which were exotic and fun.  

The next day was Eliza's birthday and baptism.  Luckily Grandma was doing a little bit better and was able to make it to the baptism.  Grandma and I gave the talks, Grandpa was a witness and helped confirm Eliza, dad of course baptized and confirmed her.  It was a wonderful day for everybody.  Eliza set a good example for her two little sisters.

Buddy School Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

The second week of Buddy School the kids took a field trip the pumpkin patch.  Everybody really enjoyed themselves.  Addie decided that she and Leona were best friends and wouldn't hardly let her out of arm's reach the whole day.