Halloween in '14

Halloween started a bit early this year with a ward Halloween party on the 22nd.

We had fun celebrating with our ward family!

However, starting that early still did not help us finish everything on time.

  Luckily, Steve worked from home Halloween morning so that's when we carved pumpkins!

 A Seahawks pumpkin, a truck, and a pumpkin house for Littlest Pets is what we (Steve) carved this year.  I made a festive Halloween dinner, and then had to think of more food real fast when Jake and some of his friends showed up to hang out Halloween night.

It was a beautiful night for trick or treating, and we ended our evening celebrating at the Dayley's.

Happy Halloween in 2014!!

blog mush

 Drew loves to go to Costco to watch the tires come off and on at the Tire Center

 Riding off into the sunset on their strider bikes

 All the tracks connect.  Huge accomplishment.  I used to do this with Jake and actually write the blueprints down on paper and keep them!!  I kept a record because I was so proud of myself and because I knew the track would break shortly after I finished.  I no longer make a blueprint, but still feel the same satisfaction when I build an all-connecting, awesome track.

 Ali with her scary face!

 Whoooooooo's going to the ward Halloween party?

Occasionally these pictures pop up on the computer's screensaver and I just can't get enough of them!

Drew does this a lot and every time he does, I think it's so cute.  Except for when we are out in public!!  Then I think it's kinda gross.

Emmy and Drew watching crafting shows together.

The girls had to resolve seating issues in the van.

making dough

Jake worked really hard and really long this past weekend making pizza dough to raise dough for his Eagle Scout project.  Thanks to Anne Maximo and her nephew, Lucas Ribaldi, it was a lot more fun and went much faster.  And thanks to many generous donors, Jake raised more than he expected!!

Steve, Lucas, and Jake had just finished delivering all the dough Saturday night--about 30 minutes before the power went out!!  Such crazy timing.  Lucikly, the power was back on by Sunday afternoon so hopefully nobody lost their dough.

Jake has been trying to raise money for a scoreboard at Tibbetts Field.  The scoreboard itself is $4,000, which is a ridiculous amount of money to raise.  Then the City came back and said it will cost another $2000 to power it.  Even crazier!!  We are still hoping to convince the City they need to pay for the electricity.  In an attempt to do this, Jake wrote the following email to his contact, Mr. Hoover.

It made me laugh, but we couldn't exactly send it that way.  I helped him make some minor changes and then we sent it off.  So far, the City still says they can't pay the extra $2000, but we are still hoping for a way.  Jake is more than half way to the price of the scoreboard!

Ladybug Emmy

Coach Ralph, Sahasra, Bridget, Madison, Emmy, Coach Amiel
Ella, Jacobi, Avery, Ella

Emmy loves a lot of things, but this year she only liked soccer.

She loved some things about it, like her friends and the swedish fish that Coach Amiel would hand out after each practice.  And she loved the snacks after the games.

When she wasn't playing, she would be doing cheers with her friends and squishing their cheeks and talking in a funny voice.

She kind-of liked meeting her hair twin, Bree Maker, from the other team!

It has been fun to watch Emmy play--on the field and on the sidelines!

Go (blue) Ladybugs!

zzzzzzzzzz

Steve likes to pack in some zzzzzzz's anywhere he can.

 Indoors, outdoors,

 soft ground or hard,

he's just e-zzzzzzzz like that.

homecoming

Coming home... it's all about family.

We all went to the Columbia River Temple during one of Grandpa's and Grandma's shifts to do baptisms for the dead and hang out together.

 We ate a lot of good food together, too!  It's kinda weird taking pictures in restaurants and food courts, but it's a great time to find everyone together (and happy)! 

 We loved being with grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts, parents, in-laws, and of course the RETURNED MISSIONARY, our newest hero.

We released balloons in honor of Kaden's homecoming and birthday.  And older, younger, taller, shorter, faster and not so fast played for hours outside.  

 Families stick together, especially in partner tag.

 It was a blast coming together this weekend to celebrate a missionary homecoming.  Well done, Kaden.  Welcome home!

hello October

With birthdays celebrated, parties thrown, and back to school stuff completed, we are enjoying the break that came with October.  A lighter schedule PLUS sunshine almost daily?!!?

 Does it get any better?  

(besides summer?!)

soccer girl

Ali is quite the soccer player.

As striker, as midfield, as defense...

and as goalie...

Go Ali!!

conference weekend prepositions

We hung up and around, 

we were up, we were down,

we were over, we were in.  

Evans Creek Preserve, Sammamish

We were together.