Flipside's Epic Race

Evan and I got to attend Flipside's Epic Race yesterday.  It was an event for mothers and sons.  We were given 3 envelopes and on each envelope were 3 riddles.  We had to figure each one out, go find that item/place and take a picture with it.  So we spent almost 2 hours driving around looking for these riddles.  Once we figured out the 3 riddles, we could then open the envelope and do the task inside of it.  Those tasks were probably Evan's favorite part.  First, we had to go to an arcade and win 15 tickets.  We headed for Shakey's and Evan won 100 tickets.  The second envelope had us look for 12 license plates from different states, so we set off to drive around the Victoria Gardens parking lot - and we actually found 12!  Evan will tell you that this was his favorite part!  Then the 3rd envelope had us head back to church for a great lunch.  Here are some pictures to enjoy!

The Great Skateboard Ride!

Ken usually takes the kids on his skateboard one at a time.  But over the Thanksgiving break they perfected the ride with all three of them.  They were having a blast as you can see!

Christmas Decorating

We decorated for Christmas yesterday.  It was a lot of fun because Evan is at an age where he remembers past Christmases and was sooooooooooooooooooo excited to decorate this year.  He knew what goodies were packed away in the Christmas boxes and was so eager to find those items.

Happy Thanksgiving

We hosted a traditional Thanksgiving meal at our house this year.  It turned out to be a huge success.

Katelyn wearing her Thanksgiving hat that she made at preschool.

Here is our beautiful turkey.  We brined it for 2 days and then cooked it today.  It cooked so fast that we didn't think it could possibly be done, but it was, and it tasted delicious.

Here's my handsome hubby carving the turkey.

Here is some of Ken's side of the family.
 (Notice Katelyn's head at the bottom as she tried to sneak into the picture).

Here are Ken's two grandmothers.
(Notice Kate again as she sneaks into another picture).

Auntie Tissen and Uncle Steve came and enjoyed the holiday with us.

Ba-Po and Katelyn lounging on the couch.

Jody, Alex, and Theresa smiling for the camera.

At the end of the night, Evan and Ba-Po were coloring together.  Katelyn had actually fallen asleep just after 6pm.  We'll see what time she wakes up - she makes her way to our bed just about every morning of vacation.

Hiking

A few weeks ago some friends invited us to go on a hike with them...and we discovered Evan's love of hiking. He can't wait to go and explore, climb, and throw rocks.  Each time we hike, he's looking forward to the next hike.  And he always wants to be the first hiker out of the group (especially to make it back down) which is just like me when I was younger.  And Katelyn is also a trooper when it comes to hiking.  She can handle the hills and tumbles better than most 3 year olds could.  She does need to be held quite a bit on the way up the mountain though.  She loves Juliette (who is Evan's age) and they held hands almost the whole way down the mountain today.  It was just so cute!

Dinner with Gama Lucy

We enjoyed another great dinner tonight at Gama Lucy's place.  It was a bummer though for Evan, Paul, and Lucy, who all wanted chicken strips for dinner and they were OUT!  They have really good chicken strips there. 
I dressed the kids up in their Halloween costumes again so that Gama Lucy could see them. Aren't my kids just so cute? 
Here are some pictures from our evening.  You can see Gama Lucy's room and how well she has it decorated.  It's amazing how she was able to fit all of her belongings and to use the space so well.  

Halloween 2013

We took the kids to Water of Life's Trunk-or-Treat and were shocked by how many people were there.  It was so crowded so we had the kids play a few games, go down a couple of slides and then we left to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood.  That was super fun!  Enjoy the pics.