Winter Wonderland

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Another round of low temps at night (in the high teens) allowed for another morning filled with frost covered everything. This morning the frost was very heavy and the lawn at their preschool looked like it had a light layer of snow on it. It was beautiful. It looked like a beautiful winter wonderland.

The Mini Tree

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This year Shaun thought it would be fun for the girls to have their own little tree to decorate and enjoy. We have a big window seat and window on the landing heading upstairs that is perfect for such things. It looks right out onto the street and sits above our front door which means everyone can see something that is displayed in it.
So we headed out to Target, found a little artificial tree and let the girls pick out some ornaments and decorations for it. It was a very exciting even for them and I could tell that they couldn’t wait to decorate the tree. I love that Shaun thinks of these things for them. Such an amazing daddy!

Prepping the ornaments to put them on the tree.
Ellie is excited to decorate the tree, can you tell?!
Its a tree just their size with their very own ornaments.
Abby the elf putting the pink ornaments that she picked out on her own onto the tree.
Taking a good look at their hand work and decorating skills.
All lit up and ready for Christmas!

A Fireplace For Christmas

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Growing up I was always blessed to have a fireplace in my home, which meant a beautifully decorated mantel at Christmas time. After Shaun and I were married our home in Seattle had a fireplace but we never had the chance to use it for the one Christmas that we lived in the house. Since then our homes have been fireplace free and that meant finding creative places for our stockings and mantel decorations. Until now.
This year we have a fireplace and I think that one detail makes me more excited than anything else about Christmas. I was beyond eager to pull out the decorations and get the mantel decorated. I think I did a pretty decent job this year. It sure looks beautiful, at least to me! Christmas is in the air!

Thanksgiving Weekend

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope your turkey day and thanksgiving weekend was a relaxing and joyful one. I hope that you had the chance to spend time with loved ones.
Our Turkey Day weekend was a nice and relaxing one. Grandma Zoe came out to visit from Spokane and we cooked a small but very tasty turkey dinner. Because it was such a small crowd, we decided this year to cook a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey. I love left overs but even a 10 pound turkey leaves more than we cant get rid of in a weeks time.
The bird before its long nap in the oven. 
The process of homemade pumpkin pie, including crust made from scratch.Turned out amazing.
Our amazing turkey day dinner of Turkey breast, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy and saute’d carrots. Yummy!
The day after Thanksgiving we took it easy. Shaun had to go into work for a a half day and when he came home we went out and did a little Black Friday shopping with Grandma. The deals this year were OK, but nothing worth going out at 10pm on Thanksgiving day for. In all honesty there isn’t a deal good enough to make people work on Thanksgiving for. It was a pretty low key day and that was fine. I think we were still suffering from a turkey coma.
The next day we got moving, had breakfast at our favorite cafe and then headed out for a ferry ride over to Kingston and Port Gamble. It was a bit of a dreary day but that didn’t stop us! It was nice to get out of the house, move around and enjoy the outdoors. Our biggest hope was that Port Gamble would be decorated with Christmas lights and more!
Its a bit chilly out but we are loving the ferry ride.
My beautiful girl… Ellie was asleep with Grandma Zoe in the car.

State Champion Camperdown Elm. This tree has been in this spot since 1875. Just read the sign below!
This tree looks very different during the spring and summer, but its almost ghostly appearance without its leaves made us stop and take a look.
Our favorite general store all decorated for the holidays.
Pretty! Can I take it all home to decorate with??!
I love these ornaments and I would love to take them all home for my tree!
Ellie felt like such a big girl with her cup of hot chocolate. Have I mentioned that its some of the best hot chocolate that I have ever had?
The Port Gamble General Store is getting ready for Christmas!
The bistro in one of the historic homes is all ready for Christmas. So pretty!
Love this little town. We discovered Port Gamble on a late night drive when we lived in Seattle before the girls were born. It was Christmas time and the whole town was lit up at night. Glad we get to share this with our kids.

After our stop and fun in Port Gamble, we made our way to Bainbridge to take the ferry into Seattle. We wanted a more close up view of the Space Needle. At Christmas time the Space Needle gets a little something extra to celebrate the season and who can pass up a picture to celebrate our first holiday season here in Seattle! So cute and festive if you ask me.

Even the Space Needle gets into the Christmas Spirit.

Today was the final day of our Thanksgiving weekend and it was spent at home relaxing. Shaun and I did some grocery shopping while the girls hung out with Grandma Zoe and then I used some of the leftover turkey to make my moms famous Turkey Tetrazzini. It turned out amazing and was the perfect end to a fun weekend. Now its back to school, work and reality tomorrow. It certainly was fun while it lasted!

Snow Queen

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Last night the temps dipped low, down into the low 20’s to be exact. So, when we woke up this morning anything and everything that had water on it was now covered in a beautiful layer of frost. The roofs on all the homes around us looked like they had a light layer of snow and the plants sparkled in the sunlight. The girls were mesmerized and Abby determined that the Snow Queen had come to visit and left a layer of frost behind. Creative little cookie she is. It might be cold out but its certainly beautiful. Love living in seasons again!

Ferry Ride to Kingston

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Ferry rides are our go to thing to do when we need to get out of the house but its too wet and dreary to get to the park and play or to walk around downtown. They never get old, especially for Abby and Ellie. Today we needed to get out and take a break from the house, so off on the Edmonds to Kingston Ferry we went. We didn’t have anything planed other than enjoying the time out and we certainly did. It always makes for a decent photo session too!

Happy to watch the water and the world go by.

Sitting with Daddy, contemplating life and wondering if mermaids are in the Puget Sound.
Abby and Daddy always have something to talk about.

Mukilteo, Crazy Ferry Rides and Plenty More!

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We are closing in on winter in the Pacific Northwest and the weather has turned to its usual clouds, rain and cold. Cabin fever was starting to set in for us, so instead of sitting around we decided to head out for an adventure even if it was a bit stormy out.
Instead of our usual ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston, we decided to take the ferry from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island and then head from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend. As we waited to board the ferry in Mukilteo another portion of the storm started to blow in and it certainly made for an interesting ride. The waves out on Lake Washington were big and the ferry rocked a lot. From the car we  watched the waves and stayed safe. That is, until, the ferry hit a big wave and water splashed all the way up and over the side to the second level and manged to hit Shaun and the girls in the back seat. I had to laugh a little. 
Mukilteo Lighthouse just as we departed from the ferry dock.

The trip to Clinton (Whidbey Island) was a short one, less than 20 minutes but it was bumpy. The drive from Clinton to our ferry stop for Port Townsend was pretty uneventful and very wet. It poured the entire drive up which stopped us from getting out and doing a bit of exploring. That and the power was out in a lot of locations!

Our ferry ride from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend was just as interesting. We got out of the car and went up to the main passenger deck. Just getting there was interesting as the ferry was rocking enough to keep you off balance. Once on the passenger deck, a person needed to stay seated for fear of getting knocked over and some people were quickly heading for the bathroom. It was one heck of a ride I tell ya!

Stormy waters out on Puget Sound heading from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend.

Ellie thinks all of the rocking and bumping around was funny!
Once we landed in Port Townsend we took a walk and enjoyed the stormy Fall day. In our travels we found a yummy new place to eat, a great Chinese noodle restaurant. We walked to a few of the shops and then decided to go for a drive. All of the excitement on the ferries tuckered out the girls and it was time to let them rest.

Walking down the streets of Port Townsend.
Autumn Leaves are falling!
Puget Sound on a stormy day. The beautiful beaches out at Fort Worden.

After a peaceful drive around Fort Worden State Park and a stop to sit and watching the stormy seas we slowly made out way back to Kingston and then home. Luckily when we got home the power, which had been out when we left, was back on. All that fun but now it was time for laundry and bed!

Tricks, Treats and Lots of Fun!

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Happy Halloween! What a fun filled day we had today. All I can say is that it sure is fun to be a kid. For Abby and Ellie the fun began at school. We lucked out that Halloween fell on a Thursday this year, which allowed for both Abby and Ellie to celebrate the day at school together. 
All classes were encouraged to dress up and the girls gladly did just that. As a compromise, they wore costumes that were different from the ones they planned to wear Trick Or Treating, that way nothing was ripped, torn or damaged before the night time festivities began.
Abby and Ellie all dressed up for their school Halloween parties! Ellie was Rapunzel and Abby was Merida.

Abby’s teacher made these awesome monster faces with petri dishes and jello for the kids. Such an awesome idea!

Slimy guts and brains! (Spaghetti for those without an imagination)

Ready for some Halloween artwork.

Halloween cookie time for Abby and her classmates.

One of Abby’s cookie creations.

Happy preschoolers with Halloween cookies.

Merida and a Ninja Turtle having a chat. 🙂

Ellie had the chance to make Halloween cookies too, she was very focused on the decorating part.

Super cute Rapunzel, if you ask me.

Love thier little class and all of Ellie’s friends. They get along so well and seem to have a great time together.

One of Ellie’s cookie creations. She ate the other one before I could get a picture of it. No shock there.

 After school we came home and attempted a nap, but I think the excitement of their time at school plus the anticipation of the night made sleeping just a tad difficult. As the witching hour grew near, we started costume prep and then waited for daddy to come home from work before out night time festivities began. As soon as he walked through the door, Abby and Ellie were off to the races.

Our porch with our cute and creative Jack O’ Lanterns.

Jasmine and Izzy reporting for Trick Or Treating duty!

Our funny faced little girls. Super cute if you ask me!

Pumpkins!

The weekend before Halloween we drove around town scoping out neighborhoods to go to. Being that we live in a town home community, we knew that the girls might be a tad limited to what they could do. So we found a few places that had some great decorations and headed that way. It was well worth it and the girls had a great time collecting their “loot” and enjoying some of the very creative decorations. Several of the homes took a lot of courage for the girls to explore but they did it and had a blast scaring themselves in the process. Ah, to be a kid!

Walking door to door through our chosen neighborhood.

This house had quite the setup with mannequins, antique cars, lighting effects and great sound effects too. Abby and Ellie weren’t too thrilled about some of it but we sure enjoyed it.

Spooky, creepy and just the right amount of Halloween fun!

Abby did not like this part but once mommy walked through, unharmed, she was ok.

We certainly missed our favorite spots back in California to Trick Or Treat and we especially missed going with friends but we found something new and fun. I am sure the more we become settled into life here in Seattle and make more friends things will change but for being new to the area again, we managed to find some fun and excitement. After a night of begging people for candy we headed to Red Robin for dinner and then it was back home yo put two tired little monkeys to bed. The car ride home was silent, so you know a good time was had by all. Until next year!

Jack O Lantern Central

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Tonight our house turned into pumpkin carving central. Halloween is nearly here and the girls are definitely ready to add their own personal touch! That and there is something super cool about playing around with the “pumpkin guts”. So our little surgeons got to work and and turned those pumpkins into their own masterpieces! As always we had a fun time with plenty of giggles and lots of smiles.
An Ellie before picture with the perfect pumpkin picked out at the farm!

An Abby before picture with the perfect pumpkin picked out at the farm!

Choosing the correct tools is serious business.

Faces are drawn and Ellie has a little sass to share with us!

Its my pumpkins nose!

All of the pieces have been removed from Ellie’s pumpkin and now its time to remove the “guts”!

Daddy is helping Abby get the pumpkin pieces out. Their pumpkins were super ripe and juicy which made cutting the pumpkins a bit tough for small hands.

Pumpkin brains!

Pumpkin brains for Abby too!

Scooping out the guts and having a blast!

EWWWWW, that feels slimy.

Pumpkin seeds for everyone.

My cutie and her finished Jack O’ Lantern. She was so proud of it!

My big girl and her adorable Jack O’ Lantern! She had a blast creating it with daddy and couldn’t wait to put it on the porch for Halloween.

We cant believe Halloween is only a few days away but we didn’t let it sneak up on us too fast this year. We made sure that we had some beautiful pumpkins to decorate our porch with. So much fun with these kiddos!