hallelujah

have you seen this video? i just love it (it made me cry - surprise, surprise) and it wonderfully sums up our thanksgiving experience - here at home, cooking together, enjoying together, relaxing together. i hope it will also sum up our christmas. happy belated thanksgiving!!

first taste of fall

as you can see, koa was able to go on his field trip - woohoo!

koa quotes

scene: mama & papa are teasing koa about staying home the next day instead of going on a field trip with his class.

koa: don't forget! tomorrow is my field trip!

mama: i thought you were going to stay home tomorrow.

papa: yeah, you're going to play hooky.

koa: no way! i don't even know how to play that game.

hopefully, he won't learn the rules to that game till he's at least in college.

season of change

well, now that fall's here, and the leaves are changing, we've found out that our lives will be changing a little, too. yesterday, james was called to be our ward's elder's quorum president. (he'll be in charge of the men's group at church.) it'll be more meetings and responsibilities, but he was given a beautiful blessing that was encouraging, reassuring, and instructing (for both of us). i know he'll do his absolute best, and i'm incredibly blessed to be his personal cheerleader.
rah, rah, rah - go james!!!

cool under pressure

koa had his first tae kwon do testing tonight. previously, in his "little dragons" class, belt promotion was based on attendance. now, they're testing the little guys on skills to help them actually learn them. koa was so ready for testing, as you can see:

he didn't need any prodding/helps - he remembered everything - all of the tae kwon do skills and stranger safety tips they'd been covering this cycle. he did awesome!!! and he felt good about his performance, as you can once again see:

great job, koa!!!!

koa quotes

scene: we're sitting in church and koa is getting squirmy - really squirmy.

mama: koa, how do we act in church?

koa: um....... normal?

mama: reverent! we act reverent. (internally thinking: what the heck?! i'm always normal!)

koa quotes

(scene: we're packing for florida.)

koa: where's the blue bin?

james: mama has it.

koa: is she putting fabric in it? mama LOVES fabric.

you don't know the half of it, kiddo! (and, yes, i did pack fabric to take with us, and am sad that i can't take all of my favorites.)