Dec 30, 2011 - 2:19:37 PM
Another outing for Family Home evening took us out on a very cold night! We went to see the Bellevue Garden D’lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. It was very festive and we also made it on a free night so it was even better! It was amazing to see the garden come to life with the work and art of the lights on display. I would love to do that to my house every year if only it were that easy. The kids did great and loved seeing the animals but it is more a grown up thing. It took us a little over 30 min to walk the garden and see the magic of the lights create butterflies, turtles, spiders, a smoke breathing dragon and much more.
Following our visit in the garden we went to Bellevue Square for some hot coco to warm up. When we were warm we headed to the street at 7 pm for Snowflake Lane. The children enjoyed this greatly. Watching them smile, laugh, giggle and grin made the spirit of Christmas fall upon all of us. The magical snow falling and the music made it really come to life. I was so grateful for all the wonderful things there is to do as family at that time of year. Some of these may become annual traditions for us.
Christmas Events!
Dec 30, 2011 - 1:55:29 PM
After our outing in the cold we headed inside for some hot coco and cupcakes from pinkabella. The boys love to go there. The night was full of adventure they it didn’t take time for the boys to fall asleep in the car.
The following Saturday was the winter festival where we live and I am the committee chairperson so I was in full swing of running it. The kids had a great time and Nana Hales made a great Mrs. Clause. This year there were more than 300 people who attended from the community. Pictures with Santa were great! Face paint was fun. The boys had one on each forearm and on each cheek of their faces. Last year they wouldn’t go near them. Almost every time I turned around Travis had a cupcake in his hand. James reported he went on the Christmas train 5 times by the time the event was over. It was a great success!
The evening was spent with dinner with Chris, Sarah and Katie and Ixtapa and then over at the Hales for time together. The kids played. The girls visited and the guys talked politics.
Over all it was a full week with lots to celebrate!
November 2011
Dec 30, 2011 - 1:13:36 PM
It is time for a recap for the end of the year. Starting in November… I know it is so not like me to not update our outing and doing so I have to look back to find out what we did…
Frank spent a long weekend down in Las Vegas for a friend’s wedding and to see mom and dad. He had a nice trip and was happy to be able to go down since it had been 8 months since seeing his parents.
Following the trip Frank had a surgery. Everything went well but he is now Frank 2.0 (for the other computer geeks out there).
I spent lots of time shuttling the children to their therapies and classes as well as volunteering in James class. James was part of a live museum at school where he sat in the hall with a button on his hand. When you pushed his button he would say, “Hello my name is James. The best thing about me is I like to ride my bike. What is the best thing about you?” It was very cute and fun to see. Both the boys had thanksgiving parties. James class made stone soup. Travis’ class dressed up and had a feast.
I broke away one evening to spend some time with the girls. We got together to see the new twilight movie and have dinner out. It was nice and lots of fun to be out with the girls. I came home to Frank recovering still from his surgery and had to help him out so he could breathe again. Didn’t know that was part of the commitment when we got married but it all worked out.
Thanksgiving was lots of fun. We went to Lake Chelan to my Aunts place and brought some friends with us. The kids had a great time together. Dinner was great. We had lots of fun bowling, sledding, playing games and reading. It was a good get away.
When we got back we unpacked and set up Christmas. I ended up finding my way back into the office at Evergreen Pediatric Dentistry. They needed someone to fill in and so I have been there helping in the front office.
The last monday of the month we did return to Seattle to see the gingerbread houses we saw with Aunt Colie & Adam last year. It was a wonderful evening. We ate dinner at Red Robin and then got to Pacific Place to see the snow fall and listen to the music. Then we saw the gingerbread houses at the Shareton and went on the horses at Westlake Center. It was a great way to get into the Christmas Season!
With that November should be wrapped up. You can check out the pictures in the November 2011 folder. I have been good about keeping those updated. http://www.wheresdaddy.net/gallery.asp?ID=239