Blog Hiatus

I guess I took a blog hiatus. It was unintentional, but there are so many things in life more important to me than blogging and I have been busy with them lately. :)

I have tons of great pictures and memories to post. There is just always something (more like 10 things) that need to be done.

Happy fall! We have been cold this week. We had beautiful fall weather last week and this week we were hit with winter. It was in the 20's this morning and I saw icicles hanging off of some trees on the way to Target. This is not typical at all here, much less in the middle of November. We are cold!

The kids are doing great. Their English is amazing. They haven't been here four months yet and they understand pretty much everything. They have tons of friends, they enjoy church and our church small group family, they are getting along pretty well with their academics, they are great eaters and have each changed so much physically because of it. We are so proud of them! The are polite, friendly, loving, and fun kids who kids and adults alike enjoy spending time with. They are so funny and keep our house so full of love and laughter. They are so thankful for the little things in life. I actually had a hard time explaining the modern day version of the Thanksgiving celebration to them because we talk about the things we are thankful for all the time. You should hear the sweet prayers that come from their little mouths. They thank God for any and everything they can think of. We can't say to each other enough how blessed we are by them every day.

My Trick or Treaters

Long time, no blog. I have been using all my spare time making costumes! Hopefully I will be able to share pumpkin carving and Grandfather Mountain pictures later this week. We have out of state guests coming in and out for the next couple weeks though, so we will see.

Onto Halloween.



I thought he wouldn't make it a block in this costume, but he was a trooper! He kept up with everyone. He loves his robot costume. When I was making it he kept coming in the garage as I added each element and saying, "Oh! Sanka you, mama!"


What? Haven't you ever seen a pirate in Crocs before? That was this pirates footwear of choice. :)


My best friend's dad made Sophie this harp to complete her costume. She loves it so much. He sent it all the way from California for her. Thanks Phil!



And her wings!






We start trick or treating at dusk here since it doesn't get dark until about 7 before daylight savings. Our cul-du-sac all sits up at the corner together, so this is where the kids started their adventure.











The kids were cold and ready to head home by 8. We warmed up by the fire and then decided we would head to the airport with Kevin's dad and brother to surprise Babushka (Kevin's mom). She was flying in just after 9 and didn't think she would be seeing us until the next day. She was so surprised and the kids made many weary travelers' day. They were like little celebrities and I couldn't believe how many people wanted to take their pictures. It was fun to put a smile on so many faces. The kids ended up talking to a young female pilot who they were convinced was dressed as a "policia." She thought that was great!


The pirate, the ladybug, and the robot all slept on the way to the airport.


This just made me laugh so I took a picture. It is not every day you see a man walking with a pirate on one arm and a robot on the other through an airport parking garage.

Greeting Babushka as she steeped off the escalator: