Bo the Elf on the Shelf has arrived!!

The long wait from Thanksgiving night until Sunday was a long time for Allison to wait. In the Elf on the Shelf book it says Bo (our Elf)  will arrive sometimes after Thanksgiving, so she waited every night and made a picture of Bo, for him to take with him when he finally made his debut! It is crazy how magical this little Elf is, and the excitement he brings to our home. Paige is into it too, but not as much as Als. She loves seeing him and smiles and talks to him!!

Now that Allie is reading and writing like a crazy little woman, she is leaving notes for Bo to take with him. I love seeing the phonetic spelling and you will see in the pictures she hole punches them so Bo can carry them easier....so funny! I will translate what she wrote under each note. I am sure I will have many more Bo stories since it is not even December yet!!  

 Translation: Bo, I have been good this year I hope you love my letter

 Translation: Bo comes at carol time, when we sing carols

Translation: I love your note for me Bo, Love Allison

 Bo left the girls a note, and he said he might not be able to write every night ;o) but loves the letters!

 Translation: Bo I can't wait for Christmas to come here

Translation: Ha, ha, ha your on the sleigh of bulbs

Translation: I miss Santa when will he come here? 

Thankful

We are very blessed with a great family and extended family. Holiday time and family are very important to us, and when Geoff and I got married we decided we would switch off having Thanksgiving with our families every year. So this year, was our California year and we had a great time. We missed all of Oregon cousins, but will be with them next year. This year Grandma Ganne and Paka hosted and it was fun for all. There were all kinds of crafts for the kiddos and yummy food.

 We had visitors from China, and Yi is pre-school teacher so she made Allison a special crown

At the end of the celebration, the kids did a play for us. It ended up turning into a talent show, since they couldn't agree on a script. While the older kids were deciding the script, Paige said heck with this, I will just perform for everyone on my own, and she put on quite the show. Once the older ones figured it out, they had fun performing for us too!!

We will love to look back on these memories for years to come. I still remember details of having plays, sliding down the stairs, dressing up, and all kinds of crazy fun stuff we did every year and Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Ron's for Thanksgiving with my cousins. We are truly blessed!!

Grandma & Paka

We are very fortunate to have Grandma Ganne (Jan) and Paka 2 blocks away from us. They don't get a lot of action on the blog, but we see them almost every day and the girls love going to visit. Grandma and Paka help take care of the girls when I work, run over in the morning if Paige is still sleeping when it is time to take Allie to school, and re-arrange their calendar with short notice if we are in a pinch! We appreciate all that they do for us and the girls and I need to be better about taking pics. This was just one morning when everyone was dressed and ready for a tea party while Allie was at school.

Finally feels like November

I think we can finally say it feels like November in Cali. It is colder, and we have even had some rain. The girls are in heaven because they can wear their rain boot and jump in puddles! It is a lot more fun to wear boots when it is rainy and cold. Here are some pics of the girls on different occasions...enjoy!

Paige in her rain gear on the way to pick Allie up from school....all the puddles dried up by the time we got there...go figure...

 A little dress up fun in the costumes I found for 90% off..one was $2 and the other $2.50

 An early morning play date with Rock-in-Bone

All bundled up for a afternoon in the park

Thanksgiving Chapel

On Thursday, all of the Kinder classes at Woodland Christian put on a Thanksgiving performance. It was super cute and very impressive. It is amazing how much these little ones have memorized in such a short amount of time. We are truly blessed and lucky to be able to send Allison to WC. She is surrounded by a great group of students, teachers and families. We were very proud of Allison on stage. Mrs. Crouch is in charge of the performance, and in true Mrs. Crouch fashion, it went off without a hitch! It was one performance we won't forget! Allison was lucky to have such a great group of support at the performance.  Geoff, Paige, Grandma Rhonda, Grandma Ganne, Paka, Uncle Jerry, Aunt Fay, Uncle Timi, Aunt Jennifer, cousin Kainoa and I, were all there to cheer her on! We appreciate all of the love and support, we are truly thankful.

Visit with Grandma Rhonda

This week my mom was in town for Allie's Thanksgiving Chapel program at school. It was a treat to have Grandma Rhonda here during the week. She got to pick Allison up from school and watch the girls while I worked on Thursday so that was fun for them. They had fun jumping on the trampoline, having tea parties, Paige doctored Gram and gave her an actual "diagnosis"....it is so funny to hear Paige say "your diagnosis is a case of the prickle thorns" or whatever else she comes up with that day. We had a nice visit and will visit Grandma and Pa and the family after Christmas in Oregon!