A prayer

Elena just began asking to pray before dinner. This was one of her first prayers.

"Dear God,

Thank you for our plates.
Thank you for our grapes.
Thank you for our mommies.
Thank you for our daddies.

Amen."

Eating nectarines

So - we're really trying hard to get Elena to eat her fruits and veggies this way. Oftentimes (like this morning) it turns into a contest. The video color is a bit off, but you'll get the point.

Apples for Burma

Today, on our drive home from church, our 7-year-old daughter Emma said she wanted to do a lemonade stand. Ross and I looked out the car window and said “No Emma. I know it’s sunny but it’s just too cold and we can do something else as a family today.” And that’s when, in a disappointed voice, she shared … “But I wanted to make some money to help the kids in Burma.” (Today the kids were sent home with a miniature bottle to fill with change for various needy kids around the world). It hit pretty hard. Here we were concerned about what we could do for ourselves today. And here was our little 2nd grader focused on how to help someone else.

We changed gears, invited a friend over, picked some apples and herbs from the yard (still too cold for that lemonade) and spent a wonderful afternoon in the sunshine. We got to hear cute conversations between 7-year-olds like “Hey these are organic!” “What’s organic?” “It means they’re more expensiver.” And we also got filled up as we watched the girls explain the tragic situation in Burma to every car that stopped.

The kids taught us a lot today – mostly, that I wish I could still be as simple and focused as a 7-year-old. I’d probably hear God a lot better that way.

Girls in hats

Construction begins!

Construction is officially underway at our new building!

Playing under the freeway

Fun with Elena

Emma got pooped after the Latino festival, so my parents took her home while Ross and I hung out with Elena. This is her with a Madagascar hissing cockroach at the Pacific Science Center (no fear). She also got completely soaked running through the famous fountain at the Seattle Center area.

The Latino Festival

We headed down to Seattle Center for an IMAX movie (that turned out to be broken) and found ourselves in the middle of a Latino festival! They had awesome authentic food, crafts, face painting, bouncy toys, and even Maya and Miguel. It turned out to be a really fun day with grandma and grandpa. (They also babysat the girls in the morning so Ross and I could enjoy breakfast at Pike Place celebrating our 12th anniversary. Love you Ross!!!!!)

A day at the beach

Elena and I enjoyed one of the last warm days we had by going to our local beach. It looks across the water to Tacoma and to our Narrows bridge. I sat and soaked up the sun while Elena entertained herself for about 2 hours with nothing but sand, water, and a few beach toys. She is my outdoor kid!

Doin' the Puyallup

It wouldn't be fall in Western Washington without a trip to the Puyallup Fair.

First day of school

This is a milestone. Both girls in schoo! Emma started 2nd grade this year. They have 4 kids in their grade (along with 7 first graders). And Elena has 3 kids in her class. It's pretty precious. We truly believe we have found the most special school in the world and are so grateful for our awesome teachers! And we are also grateful to have such great kids who truly enjoy being there.

Stealing the show

As I was capturing some video of Abby's first words, Elena thought she's give a little show of her own.

A little piano

We got to babysit our niece/cousin Abby. She loved the piano and giving "fish kisses" to Emma.

Seahawks madness

Ross has a patient who works at Qwest field. He got us tickets to the Seahawks Raiders game (pre-season) and we had a blast. Our rival teams! We had this end zone view, so we had fun taking wacky pictures and seeing what image we would end up with behind us. (BTW California family - the Seahawks won)

A day in the life

More than once I day I find Elena attempting some death-defying feat in order to get her hands on a treat. This day, it was a piece of chewed gum she saw sitting on the counter. I guess moving the chair directly in front of the gum would've taken the challenge out of the sport.

Kitchen parade

Pioneer Farms

Emma's class took their annual field trip to Pioneer Farms. It's a replica of a true village from the pioneer days! She had a blast.

I swear it's true

So - Emma just returned home from a night with grandma and grandpa. Grandma said she had something to tell Ross about their time together. She said while she and Emma were watching a movie - they said the word "damn". Grandma then turned to Emma and said "You know that's a bad word that we don't repeat, right?" Emma then asked "Is it as bad as *ucker?" Shocked at the fact that Emma had ever heard this word anywhere, she immediately told Ross the word that flowed out of our daughter's mouth.

So when Emma was returned to us, I (mom) sat down at the table and said "Emma, we need to have a serious conversation. Grandma tells me you said a pretty bad word at her house?" Emma nodded. "Can you please tell me where you heard that word?" Silence. "It's OK. You can tell me." Then Emma said "I'll go get it." She shortly returned with a Bugs Bunny DVD. "I heard it on here." To which I replied "Emma - no. You did not hear that word on Bugs Bunny." "Yes I did! It was on videos number one and two!" I thought for a second. "Emma? What word DID you hear in that video?" With her head hung low - Emma admitted ... "sucker".

Time to get grandma's hearing checked.