Our Liberty Bell!

We have officially completed another season of Liberty Bells Cheer Squad. It has been fun to see Jadyn grow and change so much over the last 3 seasons of doing it. This one was the best so far for her. They ended the season with a special parent performance (which was really a dress rehearsal), the main competition against all of the other 6 cities in our area, and then one final performance as the entertainment for a fancy dinner party in Maple Valley. At the performance they earned the "excellent award" once again, which is 3rd place. They did a great job and had a very fun season! (You can see more pictures and highlights on our Family Photos link.)

100% Girls!

"You just have to see how cute and cool we are!"

Our girls never cease to surprise me with the things they do and say. They were practicing their cheer routine around the house today. Jadyn has a cheer competition coming up next weekend that we are all very excited for. Look for the pictures and details to come soon!

'Tis the season

It seems that we repeat ourselves each year around this time. School starts up and our kids excitedly go and come back with new friends, new homework, and new colds.

This year has been no different. We're finally on the up swing now, but we've endured a few colds and even the flu over the last month. Karina was hit so hard by the flu that she ended up in Urgent Care and almost the hospital due to her dehydration. We battled with her poor little body a bit and finally were able to keep some fluids in and begin to build up her system again. It's always amazing to me how fast we go downhill with something like that and yet how incredibly long it takes to make up lost ground and get our bodies back to 100%.

Julie has fought through a few colds, too, which is no easy task when you're a pregnant mom already taking care of an extra little one inside of you. But she's battled well and hopefully out of the woods now. She even found the energy in the middle of her cold to perform a lip sync to a song at church with two other gals during a MOPS fundraiser dinner. It was hilarious! They danced and acted out motions to "The Mom Song" by the band "Go Fish."

I, Mark, have seemed to avoid the colds and flu, but unfortunately hurt my lower back at work and have missed a few weeks now. My nemisis has been making 4-5 trips a week to Seattle or Issaquah for doctor and physical therapy visits. Of all the pains, it seems sitting (especially in a car) is one of the worst - there's the drawback to living so far outside the city - long drives to good doctors. But I go back in Tuesday for another update with my doctor to review my MRI, and hopefully the news will be good and I'll be able to get back to work quickly.

That's the quick update. Hope you're all enjoying the beautiful fall leaves like we are!

They were so good we used them twice

Halloween was a blast this year, as always. The kids had a great time. When it was time to decide what they wanted to dress up as, we tried and tried to suggest different options. But the kids' minds were already made up - they wanted to be the same things they were last year.

So Karina was a tiger and Jadyn was a puppy. We went over to a friends' house and all the kids from the neighborhood banded together to trick-or-treat as a bunch.

Jadyn took to it right away, being a pro and all from her many, many years of experience. But Karina wasn't so sure at first. At first she wanted to go home, then she would finally go up to the first house as long as I was holding her hand. The second house was a little easier - she went with Jadyn and Cameron (another friend). And as she walked down from house #2 she had the biggest smile on her face and proudly announced - "Daddy - look! They gave me more candy!"

Every house after that was great - and every time she walked back down the driveway, she again proudly proclaimed, "They gave me candy, too! I really like trick-or-treating!"

We had fun with friends, and the kids came home with more candy than they could eat in a whole year. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, yet...

Carving our pumpkins