Catching Up

Life has been busy the past few weeks. Busy and fun! Here are some pictures to catch you up.

We loved listening to General Conference at the beginning of October. Lainy was so excited about seeing the prophet. She even remembered his story about the $5 in his pocket. We loved the talks by President Uchtdorf and Sister Dalton. Below is Lainy's choir of crayons. She set them up and sang I am a Child of God.

 The next weekend our housing complex had a Fall Fiesta! The girls got to go on pony rides, bouncy houses, see a magician, and get a balloon made by a balloon artist.

 Lainy's balloon is Rapunzel, can you tell?

 Leah wanted a monkey.

 Last weekend Brad and I went to our first (and probably last) UW football game. We left the girls with friends and had a fun date. UW played awesome and easily won the game. It was cool to be in Husky Stadium cheering and barking along with 70,000 other fans!

 Finally, here is what we do every night snuggled on Lainy's bed. It's the best part of my day. However, I'm thinking it might be time for a bigger bed!

Preschool

Last Monday was Lainy's first day of preschool! Can you believe it? I'm still pinching myself...

She looked adorable her first day of school. She was SO excited to go. We anxiously waited for her bus in the pouring rain. It pulled up and we got a quick picture, then I put her on the bus with very mixed feelings.

 The only shadow of doubt I saw from Lainy was when I gave her a hug and kiss goodbye. Her eyes got really big, she pressed her lips together, and swallowed hard, determined to be okay. As I turned around and walked off the bus, I thought, "What am I doing?! She's not big enough for this!" Nevertheless, I choked back the lump in my throat and managed a big smile as Leah and I blew her kisses as she drove away.

Leah and I didn't quite know what to do with ourselves. Leah kept asking me, "Lainy go?" Our morning went pretty slow and we were thrilled to welcome Lainy off the bus a few hours later.

She had a wonderful day. I knew she would! We're so happy for her! She has a great teacher, a fun "playcourt" the class visits twice a day, and a new best friend who also happens to be one of our neighbors. So fun.

We all enjoy Lainy's reports of her day at school every evening. (Brad particularly likes the stories about a little boy in the class who wears a superman suit every day and apparently has a lot of energy.)

And, now that we've gotten used to it, the few hours Leah and I have alone in the morning are pretty nice!

We love you Lainy!

Ward Campout

We finally made it camping! Last weekend our ward hosted a campout at Cascade Park (some property owned by the Church). Luckily, Brad's crazy busy rotation ended Friday so we were able to go.

The park was beautiful and we had fun getting to know some members of our ward better. The weather was gorgeous too! We had a great time.

The view from our tent in the morning. Do you see all the mist hovering above the grass?

Early in the morning I heard Leah wake up and say: "Wow!" She loved the tent (and treats)!

Lainy slept great in the tent too :)

There was a giant slip-n-slide on the property! Brad and Lainy were the first to go down!

Lainy even got brave enough to go down on her belly.

Leah going down with Brad. They got the bottom and Leah said, "All done". I guess she wasn't that impressed.

Brad wading in the river. The Salmon were spawning and they were HUGE!

Lainy took this picture of me and Leah.

We were so glad we were able to go camping before it gets too cold! It felt so good to be outside and the girls had a blast getting filthy dirty and playing with rocks. I'd call that a successful camping trip!