Picking Mistletoe and 3rd Advent

Sunday afternoon we went and picked some Mistletoe for our front entry.  Sarah and Mommy tied bows on it and Daddy hung it up.  It looks so nice.

We also celebrated the 3rd Advent on Sunday with lots of good food and a nice Christmas story from the Friend magazine. Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Tree

Since our house closing has been delayed, we decided to not delay our Christmas celebrations.  So for Family Home Evening this past week we went and bought a little tree.  Daddy spent a little extra to get the tree mommy wanted and it turned out beautiful.  It feels like Christmas now in our little apartment.

1st and 2nd Advent

 

Our new Advent Wreath. 

The First Advent!  The kids were so excited.  The Menu included Stollen, gold chocolate coins, cranberry salad, and German gingerbread cookies.

The Second Advent!  Just as good as the first.  The menu included smoked salmon, pickled herring, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and Belgian chocolate. 

Happy Christmas!

Thanksgiving Day

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day this year.  We started out the day with a run along the American River Trail.  Sarah and Mommy ran 2 1/2 miles together and then Mommy ran another 2 1/2 miles until the bridge and Daddy and the kids picked her up.  It was a beautiful run.  Sarah came prepared and pulled a water bottle out of her jacket after about a mile.  Mommy was surprised Sarah had brought it and she hadn't noticed it until they had been running for a mile. She let Mom carry it the rest of the way.  :)   Mom loves running with Sarah. They stopped and read about the wildlife on the signs along the trail.  The scenery was beautiful along the river.

For our Thanksgiving dinner we decided that instead of cooking a turkey in our little apartment, we were going to do something different this year.  We found a really good Indian Restaurant and went there instead.  We ate until our tummies ached.  Then came home and relaxed.

That night we watched Cars 2 . Daddy took this picture which sums up the night.

Overall, it was a wonderful day full of fun memories.  We have so much to be Thankful for. 

Awards Assembly at Goldridge

Sarah and Alex have loved their new school and teachers.  They have both been doing really well there. Sarah earned the Principal's Honor Roll Award and also a 150 point award for Accelerated Reading.  We went to an assembly at her school to watch her get her awards.  She works really hard in school and loves to learn. 

Our New House.

We found out yesterday that the our short sale was approved on the house we made an offer on.  We are so excited!!!  We should find out the closing date today.  It needs a little work and updating, but it is mostly perfect.  We love it.  It is in a great neighborhood with the school just up the block.  The school is one of the best in Folsom (which has great schools) so we are very happy.  Here are some pictures of our future home.

Rocket Launch

Sarah has been participating in a program in school called Starbase.  Starbase is a joint program with the California National Guard and Folsom/Cordova Schools.  They go once a week for 5 weeks on a field trip to learn hands-on about science, engineering and math.  More specifically, Sarah says they have learned about Nanotechnology, matter, teamwork, and lots of other fun things.

This past week they launched rockets by Mather Field.  Lily and Mommy went and watched.  Here are some cute pictures.

Halloween Fun.

On Friday the kids went Trick-or-Treating to Intel and loved it.  They got lots of candy and we all got to see where Daddy works.  Intel employees get free drinks and fruit, so Daddy took us to the cafeteria to get a drink.  They loved being with their dad.

That night we went to our ward Trunk-or-Treat.  We enjoyed lots of good food and enjoyed playing with our new friends.  We handed out lots of candy and then went home exhausted from the long day.


Halloween night we decided to have a family Halloween Party.  We made a scary dinner that included Eyeballs, Lady Teeth, and Zombie Brains.

Afterward Sarah gave us a little Family Home Evening lesson on praying when we are scared.  She did a great job.  Then we had a pumpkin carving contest and watched Wallace and Gromit:  The Curse of the Ware Rabbit.  It was a very fun and scary night.

October Doings...

This past Saturday Daddy ran a half marathon.  We didn't get to see it because Sarah and Alex had soccer games.  We dropped him off and wished him luck...then picked him up 2 hours later and found out he had gotten 2nd place.  We wished we could have seen it, but we can't do everything on Saturdays.  :)

After our soccer games we went for a swim.  The weather has been wonderful.  It still feels like fall as the leaves are changing, but we have a nice warm day every once and a while to enjoy the pool.

We are still waiting on the house we have an offer on.  We got an automated message this past Friday that they will we evaluating it and we should hear back shortly.  We are trying hard to be patient.  We might not get it...which is the gamble of short sales.  But, we feel good about our efforts in house hunting and know that something will work out.