So long November 2013

We find ourselves saying goodbye to November 2013 and are quite thankful for the memories made and the abundant blessing in our lives.  Grandpa and Nana got to be with us for Thanksgiving - what a treat! the kids absolutely love the attention they get when they are here.  We had a beautiful Thanksgiving day with friends and family.

Baby Hannah (1yr.)  with baby Rachel (3 months)

These two are quite the pair and becoming fast friends

The kids' table!

Six Novembers

In the early morning hours of November 10th, 2008 we welcomed our 8lb 4 oz baby boy, Josiah David, into the world. We were ready to spend every November 10th  from here on out celebrating the day he joined our family.  However, I didn't realize the years would go by so quickly.  His baby book is officially finished as all the baby information  and statistics have been filled out and pictures glued in.  His baby years have come and gone and we continue to watch him grow taller and smarter and look back on when he was a baby doing the things his now one year old sister is doing.

I love being Josiah's mother! What a true blessing and gift from the Lord he is to Brian and I and his sisters.  

Our first November 10th with Josiah was full of cuddling and learning all about parenting a newborn.

Our second November he is walking around like crazy and loving life!

 Our third November we celebrate two year old Josiah who loved eating his Thomas the Train cake

 Our fourth November Josiah gets a big party with lots of friends and he's talking so much at this point and loving the fact that it is his birthday and he is three!

 The fifth November he is four and gets a big fun party at the Bouncy House and he is very into Spider-Man so the party is complete with Spiderman masks and Spiderman cupcakes

And our sixth November he has been longing to be five for months now.  He gets what he's wanted, a double light-saber and unlimited breakfast pancakes.  He gets to go to Red Robin and order whatever he wants for lunch and he's really good at building lego sets now. 

I love November 10th and what that day means to Brian and I as parents and getting to watch this little boy grow up.  We pray for Josiah that "God would fill him with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding that he may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way; bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God..."

It was a snowy day

Boy were we excited for the first substantial amount of snow today that meant you could actually make a snow angel and throw snowballs at each other. We played hard in the snow this morning.

 

However, after we woke up from afternoon naps we realized it was getting dark and much too cold to play outside. It was then I remembered again what winter can be like in this northern state of Washington.  So today we began what will be months of playing indoors with legos, and pushing each other around the house in laundry baskets and making as many messes as I can possibly stand before we have mandatory clean up time...hello snow, hello winter, hello darker shorter days...

We had woken up to snow

We woke up to our first snowfall yesterday morning. It was really beautiful.  Leaving the house we drove down from the south hill and our snow was turning into rain and I found myself getting excited at the anticipation of snow falls to come this winter.  I thought about how we are praying each night that there would be plenty of snow on the ground for when our cousins come to visit us this Christmas.  (Josiah got a little confused and asked if his cousin Tristan was coming that day because there was now snow on the ground. )

We have a fresh pile of wood waiting to be burned in our cozy fireplace this winter.  I was however, hoping to be in a new house this winter, but it appears that we will hunker down for hopefully just one more cold winter in our little gray house on 32nd ave. 

Halloween 2013

Halloween was a success this year as the kids ran around the neighborhood filling their buckets with candy, trying hard to remember to say "thank you" at each door :-) 

We had the Black Ninja, a "super hero princess" and the baby bumblebee.

Thankfully our weather wasn't quite as cold as it has been in past years.

here's our trick or treating crew! Little Meredith girl from Brave was a favorite!

and then they come home to find people trick or treating at our house so the fun continued on as they sat outside and passed out candy while I got ready for people to come over for a game night

 She was so just sweet as a bumblebee

 And here was our get up this year for our annual Halloween party.  

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox

(thanks for the idea Sarah!)