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Dec. 19, 2008 - Our Visit to Seattle for Thanksgiving (Part 3)
After staying with Grammy for a couple of days, we headed over to Grandma Deb's and Grandpa Ben's house for the next several nights. We had such a great time visiting with them and the kids. Preston (my 18 yr old bro) was home from college in Georgia so we got to visit with him as well. We packed a lot into just a few days and in that time, I got sick. In fact, that same virus would stay with me for a couple of weeks after we returned home.
On Thanksgiving Day, the four of us went over to my Uncle Denny and Aunt Jaime's house for a quick visit. My cousin and her family were visiting from Portland. It was great to see them and get caught up. (no pics - UGH!)
Later on we headed back to Dad's for Thanksgiving dinner where all of Deb's family and my Uncle Jim came. What a great day with lots of family! (again, no pics! I think my cold virus was beginning to take over my brain)
The day after Thanksgiving we were....where else?....the mall! I couldn't help myself! I just had to go and check out the deals. Deb and I strolled around Alderwood Mall and, yes, we did score a few great deals.
After returning to their home, I was pooped out and ready for a major nap! But we only had about an hour to get ready to go out to dinner and then to the Nutcracker. So, no nap for Steph. But Deb, Celeste, Elise, Michaela, Camille and I had a fabulous dinner at Palisades. We got all dressed up and then went from there to the Pacific NW Ballet's Nutcracker.
What an amazing event. We never tire of seeing the beautiful ballerinas, the scenes and the music. Of course, I can't take a picture after the performance begins but here is the stage before it starts.
The next day, before we left on our flight home, Dad and Deb had arranged for us all to have our picture taken by a photographer. They have used him in the past and he does really great work. He came out to the house to photograph us. And look who else showed up the night before for this occasion?
We were SO thrilled to see Dave and Daina, even for just a short time. Since they live up in B.C. it had been WAY too long since the last time we got to spend any time with them.
(This picture taken with my camera, not the photographer's)
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Dec. 17, 2008 - A Day at Boise Life Care Center
A friend of mine organized a group of us homeschoolers to be able to visit an assisted living facility in Boise. The girls and I made a bunch of Christmas cards to hand out to the residents which was such a blessing because it gave us a chance to meet and talk with several of them. Then we sang (and I use that term loosely) some Christmas carols.
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Dec. 12, 2008 - Our Visit to Seattle for Thanksgiving (Part 2)
After our visit to the Sanders, we got to do more reuniting with friends. Reid took the day to work at the office but the kids and I went to our sweet friends, the Islers. Linda was so gracious to have an "open house" for me and the kids so that everyone could come when they were able. It was wonderful to see everyone!
 (Left to right) Jeri, Shirley, Helen, me, Linda, and Jill
Here's all the girl kiddos from that day. I think the boys were hiding out upstairs. (Left to right) Michaela, Kailey, Claire, Audrey, Camille, Becca, Eli.
Later that evening, Reid arrived and we stayed for dinner with Linda and Walt. It was so neat to reconnect with everyone and find out what all the Seattle-ites have been up to.
After dinner we headed to Grammy Pat's where we stayed for the next couple of nights. We were all so excited to see Grammy but we were so exhausted from all the excitement of the past 2 days that I think we barely said hello and were off to bed.
The next day, Reid had a carpet cleaning job so the kids and I got to spend some much needed down-time catching up with Grammy and relaxing at her place. We took a trip to a jam-packed Trader Joe's where everyone and their dog was there getting all their holiday groceries. I had to stock up on a few key items since there is no such thing as Trader Joe's in Boise  . Trader Joe's, I miss you!
Then we traveled to Ballard to visit my cousin and her new baby. I had not met the almost 4 month old Brooklyn yet so it was such a joy to get to see her and the new mommy.
We got caught in some nasty Seattle traffic on the way back to Grammy's and we were staaaarving. We decided to get out of the traffic and meet Daddy at Zeek's for dinner. We love Zeek's! Here is Camille goofing around with some pizza dough.
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Dec. 8, 2008 - A Tour Through Bethlehem
We heard about a little Christmas festival in a neighboring town and had to check it out. What initially caught our attention was the "Live Nativity" that my friend described. But we didn't know that it was a festival that included ice sculptures (which we didn't get to see), a holiday version Saturday market, bands playing Christmas music and just an all-around festive atmosphere. Here are the girls sitting on Santa's lap in the market
What always cracks me up is that the girls can never think of a thing that they might want for Christmas so whenever they sit on Santa's lap and he asks them what they want, they usually say something like "I don't know". I don't really think Santa knows what to say to that.
After checking out the market with all the cute, homemade goods we all went to a lovely Italian restaurant and had dinner.
So then we had to check out this living nativity thing. A local church puts on a "tour of Bethlehem" each year. It was much more than a living nativity!
We got there and they give all of us 5 shekels.
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Dec. 6, 2008 - Our Visit to Seattle for Thanksgiving (Part 1)
We had the amazing privilege of flying to Seattle for a week to spend with family and friends. It truly was a whirlwind of activity but we enjoyed every minute of it!
We flew in on Sunday afternoon, after a crazy start to our day in Boise. We were completely socked in with fog so our flight, according to the website, was delayed by a couple of hours. Not too bad, considering how thick and dense this fog was. The airline website had us leaving Boise at 2:30 PM so we camped out at Reid's parent's house until about 1:15 (they live about 5 minutes from the airport).
We get to the airport, check in our bags, then saunter to the gift shop to buy some gum, go over to the little McD's for some fries...generally just killing some time before we board. We are in line waiting for our yummy fries and we hear our name being paged on the intercom system, telling us to go our gate immediately for departure. What?! We thought we had at least another hour before the plane took off. So we ran through the airport, McD's fries in hand, and breathlessly get on our plane. We were those people. You know, the ones that everyone was waiting for before the plane could depart? The ones that sheepishly made our way toward the back of the plane, smelling it up with the yummy goodness of McD's french fries.
On our way, Reid and I are both thinking that it will be a miracle if our bags make it since it was literally 15 minutes between when we checked in our bags and when got on the plane. Well, we arrive in Seattle and...no bags. But the airlines were very good to make sure they located them for us and assured us that they would be on the next flight to Seattle. And not only that, but they would deliver them to us that night! Whew! At least we didn't have to go all the way down to the airport to retrieve them.
Our first night was spent with our dear, sweet friends, the Sanders. The girls all saw each other, squealed with delight, and then resumed playing as if no time had passed whatsoever. Amazing. We enjoyed our brief time with them so much. They were leaving the next day on a flight so we had just that one night and the next morning to spend with them but it was very fun.
Chris, Tiff, Reid and I
The kids the next morning all snuggled up on the couch |
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Nov. 12, 2008 - Grammy's Visit
We waited two long months and finally the moment came when we got to visit with Grammy! She flew over for 4 days but, as always, it was too short. Sadly, we did not take hardly any pictures of her visit here but we had a really good time.
One thing we did do that we took lots of pictures of was going to the Discovery Center in Boise. This is a really cool place that has hands-on exhibits to explore and read about the science of how and why certain things happen. For example, how does vision and hearing work, what makes energy, how do hurricanes form,etc.
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Oct. 28, 2008 - Round-Up Sunday
Once a year our church has what they call Round-Up Sunday. The church is fabulously decorated with hay bales, saddles, quilts and many other western themed decorations. There is a BBQ afterward with lots of delicious eats. They even bring in a couple of horses and donkeys for the kids to ride. Since the theme was "western", the girls wanted to dress up in prairie girl costumes that they borrowed from their friend. Reid and I, however, went with the cowgirl and cowboy theme (although I think Reid looks like he went for the "howdy-doody-holding-a-purse theme"). Also, do you like how Reid and Michaela are looking very serious like in "old-time" photos? Somehow they got that memo and I didn't.
Wouldn't you know that the girls were the first ones out there to greet the horses and donkeys? So they got to groom them and get them ready for all the kids to ride.
Michaela is always happiest when she is on a horse
Camille is so cute in her prairie costume I could just about eat her up! She loved leading around this little miniature donkey.
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Oct. 25, 2008 - Pioneer Kids
We had a fun night with our friends a couple of weeks ago. They had us over for dinner and....dress up! The kids found some pioneer costumes to dress up in. Camille was ALL into it because we have been reading Little House on the Prairie so she got to pretend she was Laura Ingalls.
This cracked me up because the kids were trying to look "stern" like they do in old photographs but Camille looks downright angry.
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Oct. 15, 2008 - The Zoo
Yesterday we got to go to the zoo with our dear friends. Even their Grandma and Pappy got to come. In this pic, of course, Tricia and I are absent since we are the behind-the-camera girls.
We got these suckers right after we entered the zoo...then we took this picture, then we took a potty break (huh? we just got here!). I joked around that we had been there for 1/2 hour and had not even seen an animal. They told me it was just "their way". Hey, I'm flexible.
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Oct. 11, 2008 - Oh, the Sweet Moments
We are so blessed to not only be home with our kids but to be able to homeschool. It is one of the most joyous things in the whole world. I know I sound like I'm exaggerating a bit when I say that but when I see Daddy and Miss C all cozied up in a chair (of course, Benji in on the cozy action too) as Miss C practices her reading, it warms the cockles of my heart. How incredibly fortunate we are to spend this time with our kids. I can't imagine doing anything else!
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Oct. 7, 2008 - Canning Peaches
Well, what to do with all those peaches? I have an AMAZING neighbor (Geri) who cans. In fact, she is the queen of canning! She has a full set up on her covered back patio with propane burners, mega pots-a-boiling, and mind-boggling amount of jars ready to be made useful and purposeful. Another neighbor (Lisa) came over to can her peaches too so I went over to see what all the hub-ub was about. Here is what I ended up doing for 4 hours!
We had a very sweet time of fellowship, the 3 of us, our girls and boys peaking in every now and then to lend a helping hand (or just to eat the peaches). Here is what we ended up with:
Ahh, its a thing of beauty!
Now, are you thinking now that I have stacks and stacks of jars set away? Well, my neighbor does. In fact, between Geri and Lisa, they canned 90 quarts. Yes, 90! I, however, do not have 90. In fact, I don't have any canned peaches. I decided after all that hard work, I would just freeze mine. So for 2 days in a row (actually I think it was 3 for Geri), I blanched, peeled and sliced my little heart out. I am SO done with peaches! But I guarantee that if you come to my house, I will fix you a yummy smoothie 
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Oct. 6, 2008 - A Civil War Encampment
We had a FUN Saturday! We had learned from someone at our church that their was a Civil War encampment going on at a park in a nearby town. We weren't really sure what to expect but had heard that there would be people in period costumes and that the kids would be able to do some "hands-on" activities. I am all about that!
We arrived at the park and found all kinds of people walking around in Civil War era clothing and saw many tents, cannons, and covered wagons. In each area of the camp were people depicting a certain activity or re-enacting an event. These are all volunteers of various historical societies that are true history buffs and just plain know their stuff. We could go up, ask questions about that time and just talk to them about that period in history. So fascinating some of the things we learned!
Here are some of the things we enjoyed while we were there:
Here's me shooting a muzzle loader. I had no idea what this was until literally the day before. Reid was talking with our neighbor and found out he is a muzzle loader hunter. I thought he was just joking and that this was another funny term for "gun". So later that evening he brought up that term again so I asked him "honey, what's a muzzle loader?" He then informed me this is a type of gun. You put the gun powder (there might be another name for that, too but I have no idea) in the muzzle and you pack it in. Then you light something with another something and there you have it! So lo and behold, we arrive there and find this man shooting one of them things. I had to try it.
Here's the muzzle loader dude putting the powder stuff into the thingy.
Right after my gun-slinging self was finished decimating the target (yeah, right!), we got a serious torrential rainfall...thunder, lightning, the whole bit. So we ducked into this nearby teepee to escape the rain. Miss C looks none to happy to be standing right next to a bearskin.
The rain let up so we ventured out again and found this gold-panning set-up. It started pouring again but the kids didn't care...they actually struck gold! After they were done panning, this kind gent used a little syringey thingy to suck up all the gold particles and put it in a little vial for us to take home.
This is Miss C holding her little stash of gold next to a brick of faux gold. (Ah, the sun is shining again!)
These ladies were "holding down the fort" while their menfolk were scouting out a good place to make their homestead. (This is the story they told us when we asked what they were doing). They gave each of the girls an authentic, pioneer plastic cup with a lid from cow named Albertson to shake and make their own butter.
The next tent they got to make their own candles. Here they are dipping their candles into wax.
Miss M getting instructions on roping turquoise cattle from Jack Palance (I swear he looked just like him).
This sweet lady was one of my favorite stops. I have been wanting the girls to see the whole process of spinning wool into yarn. They DO need to know that people haven't always bought their clothes from Gymboree!
Here is the camp cook, our neighbor. Doesn't he look dapper in his Union uniform?
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Sep. 26, 2008 - My Hubby
This post is dedicated to my honey. Yesterday, we celebrated his birthday. Most people get a birthday cake on the birthday - not my honey. Years ago he made it known to me that he prefers a birthday PIE. The flavor for his 44th birthday was French Apple with vanilla ice cream (and not just ANY vanilla ice cream, mind you, it was our new favorite - Blue Bunny).
One of our pastors once said to put your spouses name into every place where 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says the word LOVE:
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
These verses are the perfect picture of my awesome hubby.
I love you, hon!
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Jul. 2, 2008 - Local Farmer's Market
Last weekend, we checked out the Boise Farmer's Market. I pictured this quaint little market with a few stands of produce. Boy, was I wrong! This thing is huge and goes all the way from April through mid-December I found out. It is more of a local artisan thing and spans 3 blocks of the downtown area. I found everything from fresh eggs (WAY too expensive at $4/dozen I might add) to hand-made light fixtures to local cheese, honey, salad dressing, you name it. In the middle of it all is a water fountain that the girls got to run through.
It was extremely hot that day - I think we topped out at 103 degrees - so we didn't stay long. But just enough to get the flavor of it all and to definitely want to come back and buy more produce as it becomes available.
As we left, I got to take a picture of the capitol building. Its under re-model, hence the chain link fence and construction apparatus but its very pretty.
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Jun. 27, 2008 - Our Friends
Yesterday we were blessed by a (too short) visit from our friends from Seattle. They have a family reunion not too far from here so they thought they would pay us a (did I mention too short?) visit for a few (short) hours.
The girls had a great time in the pool.
Jeri and I chatted about the goings-on "back home". Love ya, Jeri!
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