2 Moms, 6 Kids...One Amazing Day!

We went to our favorite place with our good friends, the Brinkley's. The zoo is always a fun trip, but it was even better on this day! Can't wait to go back!!

Liz and her 3 boys are a perfect combination with our 3 girls.

We can't seem to get enough of them!

Our own pack of little wolves!And monkeys!
If you know us at all, you know that there is one part of the zoo that is by far the best: the elephants! This was a very sad day visiting them. One of our favorite ladies in the herd has lost one of her tusks. Truly devastating to a certain member of our family. We did, of course, get the whole story from the keepers, but still very, very sad news. Karina decided that she can't wait until she loses her first tooth...so she can go back and have something in common with her best friend and understand her sadness! So sweet! (FYI- Watoto caused her own tooth loss.)

Skating!

Our school puts on a skate night once a month at a local skating rink. Definitely a highlight for our girls! Here are a few pictures from the last one.

Swimming!

We just recently started taking swimming lessons at a new place with a new coach. The water is warm and at the time we go, our girls are the only ones there. They are loving it for the most part. Karina still hates to put her face in, but we are working on it...day by day. Both girls are trying hard to earn a pet fish right now. Jadyn has to be able to swim 2 lengths of the pool with no stops and Karina has to be able to jump in completely unassisted. We'll see who gets there first and gets to keep their new pet in their room. Exciting stuff to look forward to!

Did you notice that is really is possible to jump into the water and look like a princess at the same time?

Happy 8th Birthday Jadyn

It's official. We're old. How do we know this? Our oldest girl has turned 8 years old. We're late... it did happen about 2 weeks ago. But here she is, looking so grown up.

Just 8 short years ago she looked like this: (I think the bear must have shrunk when I washed it)

It was so fun to celebrate her 8th year. Gramda (Julie's mom) came over from Montana to celebrate with us as did Mark's parents. As Foree family tradition dictates, Jadyn got to pick her birthday meal, which was homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Her one quarter Italian was speaking loudly. We had a great evening celebrating together and topped it off with chocolate cake with chocolate icing. That part must come from Dad. Thanks to everyone for coming over to celebrate with us!

A few days earlier we took Gramda to the Black Diamond Bakery for dinner. The food was generously portioned and delicious as always.

For her party with friends, Jadyn decided she wanted to go to the pumpkin patch. This is the first year we've had a party out somewhere other than our house, so it was very exciting. And when you have an October birthday, what better place is there to hold a party than the pumpkin patch, right?

We went down to the Thomasson Family Farm in Enumclaw and had a great time. Jadyn had eight of her friends come and they had the run of the farm for 2 hours of laughing, running, playing, and giggling.

There was a giant play area with hay bales, slides, and tunnels, another giant play area full of corn kernals (which was actually pretty cool, kind of like a ball-pit at Ikea, but corn), animals to pet and see, a corn maze (which we skipped - we wanted to make sure we still had 8 girls to give back to parents when we were all done), and another area with all sorts of fun farm toys to play with. The kids had a great time, and most of all Jadyn loved it.

Another Karina moment

We're in Sacramento now. Visiting Julie's family. Everyone's having a great time.

One of the fun things to do when we come down is to go for a ride in Grandpa's 1926 Chevy. It's beautiful. He spent many years rebuilding and refinishing it, and now maintains it in pristine condition. But he loves to take people for a ride, too, which is perfect!

And our Karina moment...

While we were sitting inside getting ready to head out on our adventure in the old car, Grandpa and Karina and I (Daddy) were talking about getting ready. It's about 90 degrees and sunny here right now.

Daddy: Let's put some sunscreen on you guys and we'll head out on our trip.

Grandpa: Karina, do you want me to put the top up on the old car so the sun's not shining down on top of you? (It's a convertible)

Karina: No, that's okay. I'm not really going to be looking up much.