Shaver Lake Thanksgiving

We've been coming to the Shaver Lake cabin for Thanksgiving for many years.  Jason's mom is wanting to sell the place and it makes me sad to think that this might've been our last Thanksgiving up there. 

 Playing cards

Not a whole lot of snow

 Another amazing turkey meal (the same one we've had for over a decade)

 Family picture missing Noah (who took the picture)

 The kids helping to clean up

 Grandma makes the best desserts!

The next day, we went to the sports field at Shaver Lake's community center. We played soccer, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball for hours.  It was so fun!

 That night, Dan took the kids on a night hike to find "snipes."  Our kids thought that was the coolest thing (even though they didn't catch any snipes).

 This is the year that Grace learned how to play chess.  She loves it so much, she makes Jeremy play with her.

Such wonderful memories of a very fun Thanksgiving with our family!

Jeremy's Soccer Season

We were so impressed with Jeremy's soccer abilities this year.  He's really taken to it and has become better by the week. 

The cousins came out to cheer him on and even though he was supposed to be playing defense for that game, he ended up scoring 3 goals!

Not only was Jeremy assertive, he learned how to be a team player.  His favorite teammate to play with was Ivan, and when the two of them were playing together, they learned to look for each other to pass the ball to.  Excellent teamwork!

Grace Gets Her Ears Pierced

Aside from wanting a sleepover for her birthday, something else Grace has been wanting is to get her ears pierced.  I took her to Claire's to get it done.  We had no idea how much it'd cost!  The piercing was free, but since we wanted quality earrings for her first pair, it ended up costing over $60! What a special milestone for Grace, though.  She said it hurt in that moment, but she was very brave and didn't cry.

 Before

 During

 After

My girl's growing up!

Grace's 1st Sleepover Party

Several years ago, Grace asked if she could have a sleepover birthday party.  I told her she had to wait until she was 10.  Well, she has never forgotten and so this year, she finally got what she's wanted- a sleepover birthday party.  Since her birthday is so close to Halloween, we thought it'd be the perfect evening for her to have her sleepover.  The girls were dropped off after all of the Halloween festivities and it meant less for us to have to do to entertain them. 

Grace wanted for the girls to make their own cupcakes, so that was one less thing for me to have to do. After they got the cupcakes into the oven, they started watching, Casper the Friendly Ghost.  When the cupcakes were done and had cooled, the girls decorated them.  By this time, they were pretty sugared up!!!

 After getting to eat one cupcake, the girls resumed the movie.  We stopped partway through for the girls to decorate pillowcases.

The movie ended at about midnight.  We headed to bed but definitely still heard them because they started a pillow fight.  By 12:30am, Jason had had enough and he went out to them that it was bed time.  We didn't hear anything after that, though the girls claim that they stayed up whispering.  In the morning, the girls didn't even stir when Jason and I started making breakfast!  We made them cake batter pancakes with bacon and fruit salad.  After eating, they spent some time playing Wii Just Dance before parents started coming to pick up their girls.

Grace said it was the best birthday she's had.  So glad it was everything she had been waiting and hoping for!