The Cub Scouts Went To NYC

This past weekend, Jon took K's cub scout troop to his work to teach them about airplanes.  I was lucky enough to tag along as a chaperon that day and boy did we all enjoy ourselves.  Jon lined it up so all of the boys could have a chance to fly the airplanes with the simulator.  I even sat in the captains chair and flew a little.  It was neat to go inside of the simulator and then it was as equally neat to watch the simulator from the outside move around as the groups each took turns flying the airplane. 

It was fun to for K and I to learn and experience what Jon does for his job.  Jon had a great time showing it all off to the cub scouts and some of their Dad's who tagged along.

I have much respect for Jon and what he does everyday.  It takes brains and guts to fly big planes and Jon makes us all proud. 
All the Cub Scouts were so well behaved and excited to experience flying the airplane.  We all flew out of New York and then back into JFK.  We helped take off and land the airplane and along the way there were different emergencies that arose and we saw how the pilots are supposed to deal with them. 

Kendrick was sure proud of his Dad that day and everyone really enjoyed the field trip.  Thanks Babe for a fun afternoon! 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Santa Came to the Neighborhood

A Thoughtful Gift

Our friends and neighbors, who love dogs and have one of their own, Gus, took care of Gracie for us while we were in Seattle for Grandma Mary's retirement party.  They were such good puppy sitters and gave us updates all the time.  It was awesome.  The other night, they gave Gracie a Christmas present.  It was the most adorable ornament for our tree.

We sure love it and this ornament will be treasured for years to come.  What a precious and thoughtful gift to our sweet puppy.  Thank you C family for being so kind.

Sparkle Updated

This morning we woke up to this...

Sparkle is zip lining from the top of the tree to the fire place hearth.  Crazy little Elf!  The kids went crazy, especially when they found out that Jon and I had nothing to do with the zip line.  We have already had requests from our friends with Elves to have Sparkle show their Elves tonight at the North Pole how to build a Zip Line.  We sure love our little Elf Sparkle!

Sparkle Is Back

Sparkle showed up at our house again right after Thanksgiving.  It is so fun to see how excited the kids get when he arrives.  He really does become the topic of conversation in our house for most of the Holiday season.  He has already been many places in our house this past week.
This year the kids drew him pictures and made bead jewelry to send back to the North Pole with Sparkle.  They were thrilled when the next day, Sparkle was wearing his wreath they made him and the letters were gone. 

One night he moved while the kids were watching TV and boy was their major excitement over him moving when they were still awake. 
We are so grateful that we get to have Sparkle in our lives.  He truly does bring so much anticipation and excitement to our Holiday Season.  The first thing A, E, K do in the morning is find Sparkle, that's even before they eat their advent chocolate for the day. 
What a wonderful time of the year! 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Daisys are Cute

Wordless Wednesday-Hanging with Gramps in Seattle

Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

This year for Thanksgiving, we stayed home and went over to Grandma and Grandpa Amiot's house.  We were blessed to have Grandma and Grandpa Erickson with us too.  The kids were in heaven with both sets of Grandparents around to spoil them. 

Grandma Mary's friends Becky and Monica came from Tennessee as well so we had a full house.  As usual, Grandma Mary's cooking was outstanding and it was a beautiful day here so overall it was a fun and relaxing day for all.  We took Gracie for a walk down in the woods and she loved it.  She was running around like crazy; jumping in the water and racing after the kids. 

Friday, Grandma Carol and I did a little shopping with Grandma Mary and her friends.  It was a fun morning and nice to spend some quality time together. 

Saturday, we headed to a play at a local theater and it was fun to see.  It was just what I needed to get in the mood for Christmas with it ending with Silent Night.  The kids enjoyed the day and then we hosted everyone at our house for some more good food, music, games and fun. 

Sunday we headed to church to kick off the Advent season.  It was nice to teach the kids about Advent and make plans for how we are going to celebrate the season and help others who are in need. 
Overall it was a glorious Holiday weekend and some much needed relaxation time.  We may be limited to how much we can decorate the house this year for the Holidays due to Gracie Mae and her chewing habits but I am positive that regardless, we are in for a very magical and merry holiday season.  God Bless.

Our Surprise Trip to Seattle

Last weekend, we all headed out to Seattle to surprise Grandma Mary for her retirement.  This was in the plans for months and such a hard secret to keep from Grandma who we see or talk to everyday.  I am really proud of the kids because they knew about this surprise for over a month and never said a word to Grandma about it. 

We spent the day in Seattle enjoying the sites, going to the top of the Space Needle, the fish market and hanging out at the hotel swimming and chilling out.  It was fun.  Friday afternoon we checked into our rooms at the Grand Hyatt downtown and the kids were thrilled.  From our room we had the perfect view of the Space Needle.

Grandma and Grandpa stayed in the Presidential Suite so we got to check that out.  It was fancy and the biggest hit was the electric toilets with seat warmers and butt washers.
That evening we got all dressed up and headed over to another hotel were the big event was happening.  We were stowed away in the "green room" until it was time to go out on stage with Grandma Mary. 

When  it was time K ran out out in front of all of us and gave Grandma a big hug.  The girls carried out bouquets to give to her and the rest of us followed behind.  She was very surprised and had no idea that we were going to be there to help her celebrate.  It was AWESOME. 

We really enjoyed meeting so many of the people my mom has worked with these past 20 plus years.  They all claimed they are going to miss her so much next year and they begged her to stay.  It was very sweet.  However, she has made her mind up that it is time to be done and we could not be more thrilled for her. 

Now that both Grandma and Grandpa are retired it will be fun to watch them enjoy life a leisurly pace.  They both have worked so hard to provide for all of us that we could not be more thrilled about their future.

They have lots of trips planned and some that even include all of us.  Cheers to Grandma Mary on her retirement!  We are so proud and happy for her. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Grandma Carol & the American Girl Clothes She Made

Happy Retirement Grandma Mary

The Above Video we sent in to Grandma's friends at their request for a special video on Grandma Mary.  This was played to the entire room of her friends (220) the night we surprised her.  

Wordless Wednesday ~ Wood Working Girls

A Proud Boy Scout

On Friday, K earned his first badge for boy scouts and it was the Bobcat Badge.  I had no idea this was as big of a deal as it was for him so I did not bring the camera but luckily, one of the mom's took some photos for me.  He was so proud of his accomplishment and getting the Bobcat print on his back.  It was very sweet. 

His Den leader announced K as the "brains" of the group.  That made Jon and I both proud.  It was a fun evening and we are both thrilled that K loves Boy Scouts so much.  Both Jon and I are new to Boy Scouts this year but there seems to be some nice families and a well organized pack.  Way to go K on your first badge of many more to come.  Love you buddy! 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Counting the Goods

The She/Me Event

Yesterday, the girls and I had the privilege of attending a She/Me event for Girl Scouts.  This is our 2nd year of Daisy's for the girls and we all love it.  I have sort of immersed myself into it this year as we had no one to step up and lead and well I did not want this to go away for my girls or the troop so well, I am sort of the leader.  Thankfully, another mom who just moved to the area is helping me out and after our troop meeting yesterday, a ton of the Mom's have volunteered to help us out this year so it is going to be great. 

On Saturday, at the She/Me event, we got to hike in the woods, make fire starters, learn about and make bat houses, learn how to make knots, and of course we learned how and made Gourpe.  It was a fun afternoon, the weather was awesome, and the girls/moms were all happy.  It was a blast. 

Yesterday, we had our first troop meeting of the year and it went awesome.  We are holding our meetings at the Gun Club near us as the co leaders, husband, is the manager there.  It is a perfect space and we have a ton of room to spread out and do our thing. 

I loved being a Girl Scout when I was growing up and it is awesome to get to see my girls join in on the Girl Scout fun too. I am still really good friends with some of the girls I got to know from Girl Scouts.  We will be selling cookies this year so watch out Grandma and Granpa's, Aunt and Uncles.  We are going to be hitting you guys up.