BiZi Farms

The past week I have gone to BiZi Farm twice; once with Talmage and his Kindergarten class and once with the girls with a playgroup/preschool in East Vancouver. The weather for Talmage's field trip was wonderful for the girls it was cold and rainy but we still had fun.

The activities at the farm included a hay maze with tractor tires and tunnel to climb through. A petting zoo with goats, chickens, pigs, donkey, pot bellied pig, calfs, lama, bunnies, and turkeys. We all loved the turkeys when they would "gooble gobble". Next was the pyramid of hay bales; the kids had fun climbing to the top. I thought I would get away with helping Adalyn up one layer of the pyramid but she kept squawking until we reached the top.

The highlight of the trip was the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch. Once at the pumpkin patch the kids were able to walk around and pick their own pumpkin. Talmage and his friend Colby had fun walking around for awhile finding the perfect pumpkin the girls were quicker because it was cold.

We all had a really great time and even broke out our new galoshes for the trip; the girls needed them in the mud. I told Gordon if we moved to Washington we needed to get really cute galoshes, so it was fun to put them to use. We look forward to making this a tradition.

Talmage and Colby in the hay maze.


Talmage's Kindergarten Class on the tractor ride.

Adalyn on top of the hay pyramid.
(The one picture I got her to look)

Audrey's friend Tamsen came with us.

Adalyn in the pumpkin patch.
Audrey and her pumpkin.
Look at those cute galoshes; they even have ruffles on the top!

Day to Day

So I have been writing a lot about the fun things that we have been doing but I would like to write about what’s happening more on the day to day.

Audrey is adjusting well and making a lot of new friends. Even at parks she loves to make friend for the short time we are there and makes sure to tell me that she has made a new friend. Her imagination is alive with all sorts of fun things. After going to the Zoo we played Zookeepers; she has a fun coloring book with zoo animals so she would flip the pages and we would pretend to feed all of the different animals.

Her favorite thing to do with play dough right now is a Bake Sale. She cuts up little pieces of play dough puts it on plates and we have to cover them with saran wrap; then she will have you come over and have a free sample. Basically she is pretending she works at Costco; it is so adorable.

Audrey also has been coloring up a storm. We have sent many pictures to family members and I have an endless supply at home. She is starting to recognize the letters in her name (especially the A) as we write her name on her art pieces.

Audrey said the cutest thing the other day. The kids had just pet a dog and Gordon was sneezing in the car because he is allergic. Well, we had told the kids we were going to get pizza and she responded. “Dad, you can eat pizza because it doesn’t have fur on it.” She is so concerned for the welfare of others.

Adalyn is as cute as ever and just had her first day in nursery! She walked right in and didn’t think twice about me leaving her there. Some of her favorite things to do are carry toothbrushes around the house. She loves to brush her own teeth. I have to put toothpaste on, let her put it in the water and then she even pretends to spit her toothpaste out like Talmage and Audrey – so cute.

Adalyn is also starting to be a good talker. Her first phrase is “Look at that!” she says it with a lot of enthusiasm. She also says banana and hot dog. She is getting better on screaming but she still has her moments. When you ask her what she wants you know you have it right when she does a big head nod up and down. She is getting better at saying “please” but a lot of the time when you ask her to say “please” she will respond with “yay” and a big head nod.

She has also started to be a good kisser and puckers her lips. She is fabulous at saying goodbye and blowing kisses; she especially likes to do this when we see Talmage off at the bus. She likes to be tickled and then tickles back while say “tick, tick.” As you can tell I’m so in love with her right now; she is at a really fun age.

Talmage is doing fabulous at school and is so excited everyday for school. He especially loves Monday’s because I think he is done with his sisters by that point. He has started his own book about his life in Washington; it was his idea. He mainly draws pictures and I help him with the writing as needed. He made a chart the other day and wrote the title of the chart out phonetically; I was so impressed. He is also doing a great job reading.

I’m constantly amazed at what he thinks up to build with his legos. We watched “How to Train Your Dragon” the other night and he built “Toothless” the black dragon that night. We have gone to a lego building time at one of the local libraries and he has really enjoyed that. They meet once a month and have a theme and then they get to display their creations in the children’s section of the library.

Gordon is doing great and really enjoying his job. The month of October is a busy month for him to travel so we are looking forward to having him home the month of November. Gordon has also gotten back into the soccer scene which he has really liked.

Gordon and I got our callings today. I have been called as the Young Women Secretary and Gordon as the Ward Employment Specialist. I have never been in Young Womens so I'm excited and a little nervous. Gordon is also excited about his calling we are looking forward to contributing to our ward.

I’m doing well and have made some great friends up here. I’m keeping myself busy and having fun with my girls during the day. I feel overall the transition is going well and I have conquered things with ease that I don’t know if I would have a couple years ago. I feel the Lord blessing me with confidence and strength as I have left my wonderful Utah.

Conference weekend was the hardest time I have had since I have been here. Seeing Salt Lake on our computer and not being there was weird, not being with family in between sessions was hard and I had to say goodbye to my sister Lisa after having her visit for the week was not fun. I am proud to say though that’s really been it for me and my new life in Washington is wonderful.

Ten Virgins

So, my first Sunday in my new ward I was approached to be apart of an Enrichment about the Ten Virgins; they were doing the musical parable by Emily Freemen. I don't know how they knew that I liked to sing because I was asked even before Relief Society but I was excited about the opportunity.

I played the character Adi who is unfortunately foolish; don't we all want to be wise? For those who know the musical she is the character who does the duet. She is the prideful Virgin but through her song you discover she is very insecure.

I had a wonderful time being apart of the production and getting to know many sisters in my ward. It was also a great testimony builder for me as I listened to the message and contemplate if I'm prepared for the Bridegroom to come.

The musical is very beautiful and about an hour long; it is a great Enrichment to do with dinner.
Me and my jewelry box.

Portland Zoo

This week I took the girls to the Portland Zoo and Audrey brought her little friend Kaitlyn along. We had a wonderful time getting to know our new zoo. The zoo is really nice and what is most impressive is their water exhibits. The Polar Bears have a huge tank they can swim in as well as the Sea Lions and Sea Otter. In the Sea Otter tank they had a lot of vegetation growing with star fishes and such it was really neat.

We loved the Sea Lions because we were there at feeding time; it was amazing watching them swim. The girls just wanted to stay and watch them for a long time. Another highlight were the River Otters. We stayed and watched them flip and glide through the water for awhile.

We had a fun time seeing the baby elephant and all of the other animals. We look forward to going back soon.


Mommy and Adalyn

Audrey

Audrey and Kaitlyn
The girls got tired of walking at the end so I let them both ride in the stroller for a bit. I also had Adalyn riding on top while I was holding on to her; I was a sight to see. Next time I'll take the double stroller.

Portland Temple and Great-Grandpa Thomas

Last Sunday we decided to take our children to see the Portland Temple. We wanted them to be familiar with the temple that is closest to us now; the temple is about 20/25 minutes south of us. It was a beautiful fall evening and the temple looked so beautiful in the autumn sky; what a majestic temple the Portland Temple is. The security guard gave a little tour of the outside of the temple which was really neat. The Portland Temple has many symbols on the outside of the temple like the Salt Lake Temple. We feel very lucky to live so close to a temple even though we don't live in Utah anymore.

Talmage in front of the Portland Temple

By the fountain on the Temple Grounds


Family Picture by the Temple

After our temple visit we headed over to see Great-Grandpa Thomas and his wife Grandma Lorace. Our children were so excited to see their closest living relatives. Audrey took GG Thomas $.28 as a gift to him and he gave her a cute stuffed raccoon. Audrey loves to give gifts to other people. The kids had fun riding on his little scooter around the house and visiting; they were very well behaved. We are really excited to get to know our GG Thomas and Grandma Lorace now that we live close to them.


Talmage and GG Thomas on the Scooter

The Raccoon

Adalyn and Grandma Lorace

Adalyn and GG Thomas

Vista House at Crown Point

Last week we had our second visitor my sister Lisa! We were so excited to have her stay a week with us as she attended a medical conference in Portland. My kids loved seeing her off in the morning and seeing her at night before they went to bed. We were glad that she stuck around an extra day so we could show her some of our new places we like to visit.

Friday night we took her to the Columbia River Front Trail and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the lights on the water at night. Lisa was needing to stretch her leg after sitting and learning so much during the week.

Saturday we took her to Vista House and Multnomah Falls. Vista House is a beautiful building that sits on top of Crown Point which is 733 ft above the Columbia River. From Vista House you see amazing views of the Columbia River Gorge; it is so beautiful.

Vista House with Lisa and Kids

Sisters
I love that we are wearing the exact same things - jeans, t-shirt and zip hoddies; the ultimate Mom clothes.

A funny picture of Talmage courtesy of Audrey.
The view of the Gorge in the picture is beautiful though.

Beautiful Lisa at Multnomah Falls

We were sad to see Lisa go but we knew she was missing her kids and Husband. We were glad for the fun time that we had with her.