November was a fun month as well. We finally changed the
sand in our pool water filter. Now our
water is absolutely beautiful and we want to be outside by the pool. Too bad our water is too cold to swim in
now. Andrea made a poster for her school
Fall Festival. The festival was a lot of
fun with bounce houses, different stations with different games, raffles,
silent auctions, etc. We didn’t stay for
long because we had Andrea’s birthday party right after the festival. It was tons of fun. We had an obstacle course involving the
wiggle cars and the playground in the back yard. The best activity by far was the piñata.
Everyone loved hitting the piñata.
McKadee and Zoee were able to come to the party and they loved it. Andrea got a lot of really nice presents from
her friends, but her favorite present was her cowboy boots from her dad. He bought them at a scout camp place. Andrea loved the new tradition we started of
decorating the birthday person’s door so the moment hey wake up they have a few
small gifts and money for how old they are on their door.
We went to the Scottsdale train park on Veterans Day. Andrea’s school had a really neat breakfast
for veterans, so we went and ate breakfast with Frank and Pat and the Hawkes
family in our ward. Then they had a wonderful presentation including all the kids
singing all the different auxiliaries songs.
It was very moving and very beautiful.
The train park was a lot of fun too.
The girls finished up soccer and got some metals. We went to the observatory for a family
Friday night date. The girls love going
there. We also invited the Manwaring
family over for dinner and to make cinnamon ornaments so we could send our
package to my parents in Bulgaria. The
Manwaring family is a great family and I’m glad to know them.
The girls and I got to go to the lighting of the water tower
at downtown Gilbert. We went with our
neighbors, Cori, Maddy, and Aubry Hendricks.
We even got to ride on a free horse drawn carriage. It was a lot of fun. It was very low key and there weren’t a ton
of people there, so it was nice.
Andrea had a Turkey Trot at her school, so Rachel, Jessica
and I got to go run with her. They ran
for a few minutes and then played games and danced. We had a blast playing with her.
Mom got to help out at Rachel’s preschool feast. They dressed up and rotated to different
stations. Then of course it ended with a
feast. She has lots of friends from preschool
including: Ally, Charlie, and Isaac.
We went to Costco and lots of stores in November getting
ready for the holidays. The girls took
some cute pics while they were hiding in the clothes at Costco.
Matt and Melanie were in town the week of Thanksgiving house
shopping. We went to the Natural History
Museum with Melanie and some of my friends.
It was fun panning for gold.
After the museum we walked around downtown with Courtney Fisher and her
kids and took pictures on all the different statues in downtown Mesa.
Then for the very first time ever, we hosted Thanksgiving at
our house!!!! We bought smoked turkey from Ben’s ward, so I just went and
picked it up that morning while Steve and Matt golfed. Then we cooked rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy,
and apple pie. Everyone else brought
everything else. It was a delicious
Thanksgiving. The weather was so
beautiful, so we just played outside after.
I was actually really sick with a cold, so I just kept taking medicine
to make it through the day, but I still really enjoyed being with family and
celebrating all the things we are grateful for including each other and our
beautiful house.
The day after Thanksgiving I convinced Steve to let us buy a
real Christmas tree! We didn’t have enough money to buy the fake one we wanted
from Costco, so to save money we got a $35 real tree from Home Depot. It was so beautiful and smelled great. We also went to dinner and out to play Top
Golf with Matt and Melanie. It was a lot
of fun. The next day we set up and
decorated our tree.
We gave dad a reservation to The Blue Bayou restaurant at
Disneyland and some money, so they could go out to a late lunch while at
Disneyland for his 60th birthday!
Our Elf Christopher made his debut with a note and bag. He told the girls that they had to fill the bag
with toys that they would get rid of so that they could make room for all the
presents Santa was going to bring.
Highlights from the month:
Jessica is athletic like her sisters. She can lift herself up by her
fingertips. She holds on to the edge of
the counter and lifts her legs up just like her sisters.
Rachel asked me, “mom, is the future now?” I explained how it was the “present” she
asked what that meant and I explained.
Then she said, “so the plants are present.” Yes Rachel you are correct. The words and concepts that she understands
with her 3-year-old brain are just incredible.
She is really gifted with language.
Andrea got to go to the Arizona State Fair with Sadie. She even had a wristband so they got to ride
tons of rides. She has so much fun she
talked about it for weeks after.
Jessica had such runny poop that it leaked outside her
diaper, down her leg and pants, all over me, the stairs and the carpet. Then as I was cleaning it all up Matthew
Wilcken came to the door to ask me about some scout stuff. So he just had to put up with the smell. Those are the moments that are very
embarrassing for mothers, but hilarious at the same time.
We went to the Stake Fair.
The booths were tons of fun and the magician was incredible!
Jessica got a molar before her 3rd and 4th
top and bottom teeth. Doing it backwards.
