The little things in November.

A family that planks together stays together.

Just being pretty.

Our cute babysitter, Emily, texted me these pictures of Hattie.  Her faces crack me up!  My girls love Emily!

Speaking of Emily, when I told Elna it was Emily’s birthday she wanted to get her a balloon.  It was hilarious watching her deliver the balloon because it so so windy that the balloon string had wrapped completely around Elna by the time she got to the door and she was holding her hat on because it kept being blown off.  I wish I could have videoed it.

Just a typical Saturday morning at Home Depot.

Snow White and Snow White.  Elna has been living in this dress for weeks.

Hattie (and Elna) love Papa!

A Sunday evening reading with Grandma in a fort is the best kind of evening.

feet through the crib slats—she’s getting so tall!

Brian left this paper airplane he made for Elna on the counter so she would see it when she woke up.  She was pretty excited about and loved that it had her name on it.

For weeks the girls covered their strollers in these blankets because their babies were sleeping.

These leaves behind our back fence are about as tall as the girls are.  They loved jumping in them!

Thanksgiving, 2014.

Old-school style turkey crafts using apples and gumdrops.

For a Family Home Evening in November we talked about gratitude and wrote down some of the things we were most grateful for, then added to it throughout the month.

Diane, Elna, Madeleine

For Thanksgiving, my cousin Debby and her family came to visit for a few days, from Seattle.  It was actually our year to go there, but we didn’t want to strand DeWin and Barbara when they can’t travel very easily.  We had such a great time with them—we could talk for days with Randy and Debby and not tire of them.  They are so fun!  And Elna and Hattie loved having cousins here—Elna called them her “friends”.

Harriet really isn’t a fan of most men (besides Brian and her Papa), but when Randy was here she liked him from the very second she saw him and sat on his lap or played with him a lot.  It was actually amazing to me, and I’m still trying to figure out exactly why he worked so well for her.

We had Thanksgiving dinner over at Brian’s parents house so that DeWin didn’t have to move much and so that we could be with all the people we love!

Elna and Madeleine

They were in dress up clothes the entire time they were together.  So fun and girly.

I love Thanksgiving!  And we loved having Debby and her family here!

Happy birthday Brian!

Cute girls saying “happy birthday” to their amazing daddy!

Brian’s birthdays since he’s been a dad!  Fun to see how the girls have changed!

On his actual birthday, we got a babysitter and went out to dinner.  Elna really wanted to make oreo pops, so we made those too.  Then a few days later we made this mint ice cream dessert to share with his family and celebrate him again.  We love celebrating this guy of ours and feel so blessed to have him!

First snow!

Brian worked from home Thursday, the 13th because it snowed and the roads from here to Hood River were icy.  We loved having him home!  Especially Elna, who dragged him outside in the cold, WINDY, snow and ice.  It was seriously miserable outside, but Elna didn’t care!  And Brian was a good sport of a dad.  Hattie had no desire to go outside—I don’t know what I was like when I was her age, but she certainly is a girl after her mama’s adult heart. 

A very bundled up Elna, so ready to go out!

But Harriet and I had a great time indoors.  She loved looking at the snow and we read lots of books.

Those rosy cheeks!

A little marshmallow—love that sweet face!

I watched Brian and Elna walk across the park back to our house and Elna bent over every few steps to do just what she’s doing here—get a big handful of snow.  I love how magical it all is to her!

She’s blessed to have her dad, who is willing to freeze for her!  These two have fun together!

The best 5 years!

November 7th we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary by going to Seaside, OR for the weekend.

We started out by going to the Tillamook cheese factory for a little cheese tasting and yummy ice cream.

The weather was incredible!

This guy!  He’s my favorite person and very best friend!  I couldn’t have chosen a better man to spend eternity with.  I love everything about him!  Really—everything!

We rented these fun recumbent bikes for a few hours and had such a great time riding them.

A beautiful sunset!

We had such a nice time together!  It was the first time we’ve been away from our children overnight (THANKS to Barbara and DeWin who insisted we leave the girls—they are wonderful!)  I think we were both surprised at how much we missed our girls—we found ourselves thinking constantly how much the girls would love this or love that, and we look forward to being able to go back with them sometime.