Thanksgiving Week At Eagle Crest Resort

Thanks to a wonderful mother-in-law, we got to go to a wonderful resort in Eastern OR for our Thanksgiving break. We had a great time recharging our batteries and even got lucky enough to celebrate Thanksgiving day with our fabulous cousins who live in Washington. It was a lovely week of game playing, crafting, swimming, movie watching, eating out, sleeping in, hiking, geocaching, playing with cousins and riding a horse drawn carriage to see the lights. Our room was right by the playground which was especially great because whenever Ethan felt the need to get out some of his extra energy, he could ride his bike down the little hill into the playground and play for a little bit. I have to say, it beat camping in the cold and rain...although I do love camping in the summer!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, this year we are especially grateful for our health and our little growing family, our extended loving family who supports us through prayers, letters, phone calls, and visits, as well as our ward family here. We are also so thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ which gives us purpose and meaning in this life and reason to look forward to the life to come. The atonement of Christ blesses my life each day as I strive to improve as wife and mother and seem to fall short at too many things....thank goodness we are not expected to be perfect! We are so grateful also for our home and wonderful neighbors. We have been given so many wonderful blessings! This just touches on a few, but ones we have been thinking of lately. We know the Lord is mindful of us as I see his tender mercies in my day to day life as a mother and wife.

Veterans Day Parade

In our town, because there are so many veterans here, the kids get the day off of school and their is a big parade. Since Preston is in scouts, he got to be a part of it this year, and the other kids enjoyed watching. I think this is becoming a tradition for us. They love getting the candy and seeing the trucks and horses.

Happy 4th Birthday to Our Ethan Man

We can't believe our crazy Ethan is finally 4...he has looked big enough for that age for a while! He is still as rambunctious as ever, always throwing, squeezing, jumping or whacking whatever is in his path. It is hard to stay mad at him for long though as he is the first to be there with a big hug and slobbery kiss, saying he love you as much as he can tell. He can talk the ear off anyone willing to listen or hardly respond, and we ware always hoping he doesn't say anything too embarrassing. This little boy is so full of life and brings much joy (and frustration) to our family. We feel so blessed to have him and grateful for the many life lessons he teaches us. Ethan is quick to forgive and is usually better at making friends than enemies with his contagious laugh and love for life. He always knows when I need a kind word or helping hand. He is especially good in the kitchen with me. As you can see from the picture below, he was helping me make his cake and we had fun piping frosting stars on his fingers for his enjoyment. He wanted a truck cake again this year...I think we improved the design from the last time. Ethan is happy to be four!

End of Soccer Season

Preston has had a great soccer season! I think, luckily he has his dads sports ability and really loves playing soccer. He is good on both sides of the field due to being ambidextrous with his feet. Prestons team won the 3rd grade championship this fall which was very fun for them. They came a long way from the start of the season. Preston is a great team player and enjoys being with his friends. His coach and others have tried to convince him to do the traveling team, but for this age, we are happy to just do soccer for one season of the year and do a few other fun things like scouts and piano...that is about all the running around we can handle at this point.