Thanksgiving

This year my mom graciously agreed to host Thanksgiving at her house. Greg's family and Genji's family arrived in the early afternoon just before the twins woke up from their nap. The food was delicious and we had plenty of beverages thanks to Sam and Feenie. Conversation was lively and I think everyone had a great time. After dinner we cleared the table and started playing games. The little girls colored their pictures and I think their favorite food was the pumpkin pie with whip cream.

The whole event was wonderful but a lot of work for my parents. I'm taking this time to publicly thank them for all their hard work and I promise not to ask again.

Knott's Berry Farm

In November Knott's Berry Farm salutes the US soldiers by offering free tickets to servicemen and their families. We invited my dad and took the family. The moment we walked into the park we saw our friends Riley and Shelley Ann. We spent the day together, Gabriella and Riley had a wonderful time. The twins loved meeting Snoopy and riding the rides with their daddy and Papa John. Gabriella even took the girls on a couple of rides by herself. It was great to watch them walk around the park, toddling along pushing people out of their way. We had a great time riding the train. The bank robbers were going to ask Greg for his wallet but when they saw his 3 girls, they offered him money.

The day ended with all three girls falling asleep in the car with smiles on their faces and heads full of new memories.

Chicago Weekend

Greg and I slipped away for a weekend to attend our good friend Amy's nuptials. The wedding took place in a small suburb an hour or so outside of Chicago. We took a red eye flight from LAX and landed at O'hare in the wee hours of the morning. Our plan was to rest in the airport for a few hours before picking up our rental car. Our trip coincided with a naval group graduation so the USO was crowded and loud. We maybe slept for an hour at the most. The rental car pick up was easy and soon we were driving into the city. On the advice of a friend we had a delicious breakfast at the Broken Yolk and even took a double decker bus tour before heading out to the country.

Our weekend was wonderful, the wedding beautiful and the time spent together without three other voices constantly interrupting was priceless. It was just what we needed to reconnect with each other and to actually find out what's been going on in each other's life.

The little girls had a wonderful weekend with their grandparents but they were happy to see us when we got home.

Student of the Month

Gabriella was the proud recipient of the November Student of the Month award for room 25. She and three of her fellow students were honored both in her classroom and in front of the whole school during an assembly. Gabriella received the award because of her ability to stay on task, hard work and kindness towards others. Her teacher was very complimentary and Gabriella was very proud. Grandma Oggie and Papa John were in attendance as well as her little sisters. We celebrated with a special dinner that night.

Halloween

Halloween was a fun day at our house. Greg spared no time decorating the whole house with spooky accessories. My parents came down to help take the twins out on their first trick or treating adventure. They walked up and down our street and then retired to bed. Gabriella and I walked up and down a few more streets and then she spent the rest of the evening passing out candy.

A few friends from school stopped at our house for some candy and we saw a few more while we walked around the neighborhood. While our house was well decorated Greg already has plans for next year.

School Halloween Party

Gabriella's elementary school had a fall festival a few days before Halloween. The whole family went and enjoyed the fun games and treats. Julia showed off her fancy dancing skills and Genevieve developed a love for churros. The event was great. I volunteered to help with the haunted house and it was a huge success. Gabriella got to see her teacher and school administrators in costume and had a great time winning small prizes at the game booths.

The video is of the girls playing with a balloon. This is probably the last time they shared a toy so well.

Mickey's Halloween Party

Mickey's Halloween Party was a great success. All three girls loved meeting all the characters. The twins Godmother Laura met us there and lent a hand. The first picture is the only picture I have of all three girls in costume.

This second picture was at the end of the night just before we loaded the girls in the car. It was well past midnight and we were all a bit tired. Disney passed out a lot of candy to us and Greg took most of it to work with him, but not before Gabriella had a few pieces. The girls loved the event and we look forward to making this a repeated tradition.