One week from today...

...I will be headed to the Czech Republic!

As many of you know, my brother Kevin served his mission there. He came home in September, returned to CR in October, and will be GETTING MARRIED on December 10th! He came up to Vancouver to visit us in the middle of October and told us about his plans to get married to a young lady he met while in CR.
It was a shock, but we are very excited to have Barunka join our family.
Barunka's real name is Barbora (Barbara), but since that is also her mother's name, she goes by Barunka (pronounced Bah-ROON-kah). She is attending college in Ostrava, CR, and is working toward her degree in Graphic Design. We've seen some of her work - she is an amazing artist. I've had the chance to Skype with Kevin and Barunka a couple of times now. She's pretty shy, and worried about how her English sounds, but I'm glad we're getting to know her a little better.

They will get married in her town, Uherské Hradiště (no idea how to say this, so we call it "UH"), by the branch president on Dec 10th. On Dec 13th they will be sealed in the Freiberg, Germany temple. I have learned that in Europe, the government does not recognize temple marriage as legally binding, so couples have to get married civilly first, then sealed. The church waives the whole wait-a-year thing in Europe. Learn something new everyday. Kevin and Barunka will live in CR until June, then they will move to Idaho so Kevin can finish his degree at BYU-I. As of right now, they plan to stay in the States indefinitely.
I AM GOING TO EUROPE!!!!Jeff is being super supportive in my desire to be at my brother's wedding. He will be taking a whole week off of work to be home with the girls. What a good guy.

My parents are flying out the day before my sister and I. Kimberly and I are flying from Portland to Frankfurt (giddy giggle), then Frankfurt to Prague. My parents and Kevin will meet us there. It's going to be a fast, crazy trip, but the closer it gets, the more excited I am. The farthest from Oregon I've been is Hawaii, and that was almost 10 years ago (side note: Jeff and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary in June....WOW!). I've never even been to Mexico or Canada. I honestly thought I would never travel to Europe.

So the past 6 weeks have been a flurry trying to get everything ready. (I am so grateful that I tried to emulate the Stanley's - I had 99% of my shopping/creating DONE before Halloween. That's been a total lifesaver this year. Thanks Steph for the inspiration!!) I had to apply for (and luckily already received) my very first passport ever. Had to purchase plane tickets. Help Mom send out announcements. Find luggage. Figure out bank fees, cell phone fees, etc. Let all debit/credit card companies know my travel plans. Etc, etc, etc.... This last week is crunch time. Lots of last minute things to do to get ready. But the time and $ spent is already worth it to me. I'm so excited and blessed that I have the means and opportunity to be at my brother's wedding and sealing.I'M GOING TO EUROPE!
(insert giddy little-girl squeals here)

First day of Preschool

This year Kiera started preschool! She is going to the same place that Janae went - we love it there.

A week before preschool started, she realized that I would not be staying with her for class. She promptly declared that she was not going. We spent the week talking about all the fun things she would get to do, and we bought her a new backpack. We attended the open house so she could meet her teachers and spend some time playing in the classroom.

By the time the first day came, she was both excited and scared. I walked her in, and just planned on staying the whole time; I knew that if I tried to leave there would be a total meltdown.

I tried to stand back and encourage her to go meet the kids and start playing with the toys they had out. She played, but would go no more than 5 feet from me. After all the kids arrived, and all the other parents had left, one of her teachers came over and said, "Ok, Kiera, your mom has to leave now. Mommies don't get to stay and play, this is our special time!" I was prepared for total panic - but I gave her a hug and a kiss and started to leave. She got a little teary, but let me go! She stood at the window and waved, and that was it.

When I came back to pick her up the teachers told me that she NEVER EVEN CRIED. AT ALL. She sure showed me.

Since she was so nervous, she wouldn't let me take any first-day pictures. These are all I could get:So she loves preschool, asks to go every day, and is not very happy that it's only twice a week. We are so proud of her!

First day of 2nd Grade

This year Janae is in 2nd grade!

Janae and her BFF.
They've been in the same class all three years!
(And they're in the same primary class too)

Kiera wearing her new backpack and waiting for Janae to get off the bus.

Running home after the first day of 2nd grade!

Family Pictures

It's taken me a while to get these posted - sorry Grammy!


Our friend Rachelle took some new family pictures of us at our local park.....

This is how most pictures of Jeff look - being totally goofy!

Yay! A normal picture!

This one is my absolute FAV!


Thanks Rachelly-belly!

County Fair

Last week we took the girls to the county fair - we had so much fun! We ended up (accidentally) with everything aligning perfectly. We arrived about 30 min after the fair opened, so we actually got to park close! Then the weather was great - it was 65 and overcast. I know it doesn't sound like perfect weather, but it wasn't too cold or too hot; we weren't getting rained on, or sunburned. Perfect!

Since we had about an 1 1/2 hours until the rides opened, we looked at all of the exhibits first. Then we had yummy corn dogs and fries. After hitting the bathrooms, we headed for the rides. We let the girls each choose 3 rides, and Jeff and I each did one (sooooo expensive!)

Jeff and J strapping in to the Ferris Wheel.

And way up in the air. We definitely got our money's worth on this ride - it went FOREVER. The operator kept stopping to let other people off and on, so I would say to K, "ok, Dad and J are getting off next." And then they'd just start up again. Seriously 20 minutes.K is super noise-sensitive. Some of the rides were just too much for her!

Waiting in line.
Since we were there so early, the lines weren't very long at all.

Co-pilots

Driving while doing the princess wave

The only picture I got of her on this ride...and her hand is in the way. She loved this - she was cranking that wheel as hard as her little arms could. (Which wasn't much)

We had so much fun and are looking forward to next summer!