Happy Thanksgiving!

The other night we gathered as a family and talked about gratitude, reading this scripture: "Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." (Alma 34:38). Then we counted our blessings. Among them were, "friends, family and electronics" (obviously by Tristan), "animals and homework" (by Karina), "a good job and vacations" (by Jarrett), and "telephones so I can keep in touch with my family" (by me). The list is very long, but ultimately we know that everything we have is a blessing given to us by our Father in Heaven. He has blessed us, indeed.

A special day for Karina

Karina was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday. She was so excited and ready for this event! And we are so proud of her and the decision she made to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

Here's part of what she wrote in her new journal:

"Finally I got baptized. The water was really cold. When I was done, me and my mom was really happy. This day is great!"

A friend who came to the baptism commented that Karina was grinning afterwards and giggled as she left the font.

We are thankful to have such a happy, beautiful little girl. We love you, Karina!

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Jarrett dressed up for work that day . . .

Jarrett opted for an easy polka-dot pumpkin, mine is the dog.

Tristan's was the skeleton, of course.

Karina carving her kitty pumpkin

Here are the kids in their costumes. Cousin Cyrian came over to trick or treat with us. She's Cindy Lou Who, Karina is Sharpay from HSM, and Tristan is just plain scary!!

Birthday Festivities Part 2 - the actual birthday!

Karina's birthday fell on Sunday, the day of the annual Children's Program at church. She was less than thrilled to have to speak in front of all those people on her birthday! (And I was less than thrilled to be in charge of it, to be honest!)

That evening, we had a little family party for her, with dinner and a cake she and her dad made. She received a new bike that she had to try out before it got too dark.

Adding to the fun of her birthday, and to our weekend in general, was a visit from Grandma & Grandpa B from California. They came to watch soccer, get drug around the corn maze with us, and celebrate with this lucky girl. It meant a lot that they made the long drive to be with us.

Birthday Festivities, Part 1

Karina turned 8 years old on October 19! She celebrated with her friends a week earlier by inviting 10 of them to a pool to swim, and then back to our house for cake and games. The theme was "beach monkey" (she had planned on Hannah Montana, but then invited 2 boys, so that just wouldn't do!).

Here are Karina's great friends. They had a ton of fun at the pool!

In the goody bags were these glasses and vampire teeth. A silly fun time was had by all! (What would a gathering of Karina's friends be without a little silliness! Right up her alley!)

Seattle's Team

A couple of weeks ago we went to watch the Mariners play. They had a pretty bad season (100 losses, ouch!), but they're still "our team." Jarrett received a gift card from some of his friends as he left his former employer. They were so very generous that all four of us were able to sit in box seats and enjoy a game up close.


Here's Ichiro . . .





One of the Mariners (closer JJ Putz) threw Tristan a ball, and the moose signed it.

Hanging out before the game . . . Teixeira from the Angels waved at the kids, but we were on the wrong side of the field to get his autograph (he was the only one we saw signing).






Here's JJ Putz here in the middle


This is an Angel - leave a comment if you know his name - I don't remember but he once won the HR Derby, I guess!

Recent Pictures

It's time to liven this blog up a little bit. Here are some random pictures I've taken in the last few weeks.

This is a desk we got for free and gave it a coat of paint and new knobs. Karina loves the new addition to her room.


I discovered a blog that shows how to do cute hairstyles for girls. Now that Karina's almost 8, I like doing hair when she'll let me. I've even learned how to french braid! (Here's the link.)


I finally took a picture of one of my flower pots from in front of the garage. I think I did good choosing the plants this year.


A picture of the front yard. The impatiens didn't go as crazy this year.


We currently have a mole problem! Don't tell PETA, but Jarrett's got traps set at the other end of the yard.