Hard hats required

This is one more picture from Christmas Eve. Jadyn decided that we had to all wear our special "decorating hats" in order to decorate our tree, insisting that it would be "much prettier" if we did. So, if you are having problems with your decorating next year, just go to your cupboard and pick out your best hat.

The Night Before Christmas

The best part of Christmas Eve at our house is getting to open and wear your new pj's!

Brandy and Toto

Last week we went back to the Children's Museum in Seattle with our friend Brandy and her son, Toby, who is about 1-1/2 years old. Grammy and Grandpa came, too. Karina and Jadyn loved playing with Toby. Karina nicknamed him "Toto" (her best attempt at saying "Toby")

They had been staying with us for the week, but finally had to leave. Karina still wakes up in the morning looking for Toto, and Jadyn has decided that Brandy and Toby need to move in with us for good. That's one way to get a little brother!

Here are a few pictures:

Woo, woo, woo!

The girls came by Daddy's fire station this week to visit Daddy at work and see him "in-action." Mark works at Station 6 in the Central District just east of downtown. Here's a front view of his station.

Mark work on Ladder 3, a truck company that carries not only ladders, but also many tools like the "jaws of life," saws, fans for clearing smoke, water-vacs, and lots of other goodies.

Here are some pictures of the girls with Daddy at the station.

Mini-Tree

The girls got to decorate their own tree this year! We decided it would be fun to have a "mini" tree that they could decorate and re-decorate all they wanted to.

Of course, once all the decorations we gave them were used up they had to find more things to add to the tree. Pretty soon, scarves, wrapping paper, bows, bags, and any other loose items that could be found were on top of the tree.

Here's the final work of art! Of course, 3 minutes later it all started over again.

Good job, girls!

We're back from the storm

Sorry for the delay in posts. Last week a major storm blew through the area and knocked out power to over 1,000,000 customers. We were without power for 4-1/2 days, but thankfully it came back on yesterday! Many are still without power.

In the midst of the cold and craziness, lack of light, heat, or refrigeration for perishable foods, (we lost all our food - and had just gone to Costco the day before!), we couldn't help but remember all those who endured hurricane Katrina last year (and the many other storms like her) and the fact that they suffered (if ours could be counted as suffering) for much longer. And many still endure... without homes, electricity, proper sanitation, jobs, and the list goes on and on... We continue to hold them in our prayers and to be so thankful for the many who have sacrificed to help those in need.

Mark worked in Seattle the day after the storm, and they ran all day non-stop from call to call with down power lines, trees over roads, medical emergencies from the cold (and sometimes people's poor choices on how to deal with the cold - i.e. - bring the charcoal BBQ inside to keep warm), fire calls, and other fun stuff. He came home more than ready for a nap after 24 hours of excitement.

Julie and the girls braved out the cold with our gas fireplace and hot water heater (both still worked) and with our friend Brandy and her son Toby, who chose an unfortunate week to come visit!

Here are some pictures of the chaos our little storm delivered to our yard. The playhouse you'll see in the pictures weighs over 50 pounds... and yet the wind blew it across our yard and flipped it upside down! Thankfully, besides the lack of power, that was the worst of our damage.

A Fun Day

Not too long ago, we had the chance to go to Pump It Up for our friend Noah's 4th birthday party. The girls loved it (almost as much as Mommy and Daddy) and can't wait to go "jumping" again soon. Thank you to Noah (and his parents) for inviting us!

Jadyn and the birthday boy!

Jadyn showing Karina how to get started.

And later that day we visited some other friends in the area...

Jadyn loved playing with Andrew. She decided that he would make a great "brother" because she "needed" one.

Karina equally bonded with Nicholas over some crackers. Yummy!

And this is what happens when you try to get 4 kids all together for a picture before dinner...

What a fun day! Thank you to Geary & Jeana and Chad & Cindy for sharing your families with us!

A Much Needed Break

We were given the wonderful gift of two nights (December 6-8) in Leavenworth, WA. We can't begin to explain how thankful we were to get this time away from life as we know it. Beautiful place, perfect weather, and just time to be, without the worry of everything we should be taking care of or getting ready for. A huge thank you to Grammy and Grandpa (Mark's parents) for taking on our girls so willingly!

The daytime view out of our window. We were directly across the streeet from the village.

The amazing nighttime view. It was all lit up and beautiful!

And thank you to the nice strangers for taking our picture.

Daddy's Little Helper

The Real Reason For Owning a Kitchen Table:

Oh how we love our forts! We had the bonus of having our kitchen table in our playroom the day after Thanksgiving, so we took full advantage of the fun waiting to happen.




It is amazing how exciting a few blankets and a couple of flashlights can be. We spent hours playing under our table.

Thanksgiving Day

Lots of food, family and friends...

Good Times...

Pumpkins

Daddy and Jadyn carved the three on top. Jadyn called them Happy, Scary, and Silly (from left to right). On the bottom left is the one she painted at school and the poor, loner of a pumpkin that has nothing but a mole on its cheek sits to the right.

Halloween in November???

It's a little late, but here are some pictures of the girls all dressed up to go trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Enjoy!

At least she knows why...

Ever have one of those morning where you're trying to get out the door in a hurry...

Today was one such morning for Julie and the girls... heading off to MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) - I know, it sounds like a survival group, like AA, but for mothers surviving their days with their kids. "My name is Sally, and I have three kids, and I haven't slept in 2,345 days." "Hi, Sally..." Actually, it's a very cool group, and not like that at all :-)

Anyways... we were "encouraging" Jadyn to finish her breakfast quickly so that she would be ready to go. But anyone who knows Jadyn understands that she loves to talk and sing, especially at the table. Here's how the conversation went:

Daddy: "Jadyn, please finish eating your last bites of FruitLoops"

Jadyn takes one bite. Then begins singing, "Jesus loves me..."

Daddy, "Jadyn, I love it when you sing, but Mommy is getting ready to go, so I need you to finish eating first. Then you'll have lots of time to sing"

Jadyn takes one more bite, then begins talking about something she sees outside.

Daddy, "Honey, you need to hurry, so I don't want to hear any more words until your food is gone."

Jadyn, shrugging her shoulders and holding her palms face up, replies matter-of-factly, "I know... I'm trying to hurry, but I just have so many words to say!"

Dr. Jadyn & Dr. Marty

Just ask Jadyn what she wants to be when she grows up, and she'll tell you she wants to be a doctor like her doctor... Dr. Marty. So we just had to get a picture of the two of them together at last months regular check-up.

So... a doctor, huh? (says Mark, taking off his hat and wiping the sweat from his brow...)

In that case, donations are now being accepted for the Dr. Jadyn Foree College Fund, DJFC fund for short. Let's see... by the time she's in medical school, I'm sure a year of tuition, books, room and board will only run a mere $75,000 or so. So... in exchange for every year of expenses donated to the DJFC fund, Jadyn will provide two years of complimentary medical services to the donor(s).

How do I sign up, you ask? Well, thanks to new advances in technology, and as a thank you for visiting this page and reading this posting, you have automatically been enrolled in the DJFCF program! As you continue reading, your (piggy) bank account is being transferred electronically into the fund to make room in your (piggy) bank account for more deposits. But don't worry, you won't need to do anything else. Funds will continue to be transferred automatically.

Thank you for your participation in our pilot test program. If this program proves successful, please look forward to your automatic enrollment in the NPKFC program. (Nuclear Physicist Karina Foree College program). If that, too, proves successfull, a future MAJFCOATLUABN-WHTCK fund will also be started. (Mark And Julie Foree Can Only Afford To Live Under A Bridge Now - We Have Two College Kids fund).

Details to follow as they become available...

Pumpkin Patch

Two princesses on the hay








Okay... one last smile...
Then let's go, Mommy!










Look, Mommy...
We found some great pumpkins!










I think I can... I think I can

The best part of soccer

It was trophy time this week. Remember those gold trophies we used to get when we were little? Well, even those are not safe from the changing times... check out the one Jadyn got at her team party Thursday...

It's a bobble-head trophy. I never would've thought of a bobble-head trophy - how cool is that! Jadyn loves it! At the banquet, she was acknowledged by her coach as the...

(trumpets sound...)

The happiest player! That's our girl.

We also got our soccer pictures back this week, so enjoy these. Kids are a great reminder that it's not whether you win or lose in life, or even whether or not you're the star, but what matters is that you enjoy the game. Jadyn's favorite part of soccer - yes, it's still "running around and falling down." Way to go, happy girl~