Family Pictures

Before we headed out on our journey, our good friend John Petersen took family pictures for us. He got them to us and they turned out great. I so appreciate that he does this for us.

Gingerbread With Dad

The kids and I picked out a gingerbread train set from Walmart the other day and they asked Jesse to help them put it together. I'm glad that he was the one that did the majority of the work on it. He has way more patience and attention to detail than I do. Cambria had fun for a bit but then lost interest. Atreyu helped the whole time and had a blast doing it. I had fun cooking breakfast and watching them work together.

Movies and Cold

It has gotten a lot colder than it was when we first got here. We are going through propane much quicker and it's not as nice to explore outside. We're used to the dry cold in Idaho but this humid cold really sinks into your bones. I'm cold a lot of the time. It rains the majority of the time and it even snowed the other day but we do get the occasional sunny day.

I decided to go for a walk with Diesel and get the mail the other day but the kids chose not to come since they didn't want to get cold. I noticed a bunch of ducks down in the lake so I tied up Diesel and tried to get closer but they flew off before I could get very close. 

Jesse picked up a shift last Friday to make some extra money so I took the kids to see Moana. It was such a good movie and Cambria keeps saying that she wants to be Moana for Halloween next year. We'll see if she sticks with it all year.

Santa and Tanks

A couple weekends ago we were able to go to the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett. It was a wonderful WWII collection. I wish that the kids would have let us read more of the interesting history but it wasn't as interesting to them. They did a few crafts and were able to see Santa.

While the kids were coloring, Jesse and I were able to visit with a 94 year old WWII veteran. He had some incredible stories and it really made me so incredibly thankful for the sacrifices so many men and women made during that horrific war.

A Little of This and a Little of That

The most wonderful time of the year is upon us. I don't know how Christmas comes around so quickly but I love the whole season. As per usual, I got my kids new Christmas clothes for church. It was hard to get a picture of them. I think they cooperated better when they were babies.

I love our cute little tree. There was no way I was going to let the Christmas season pass us by without a tree, RV or not.

We've been busy with homeschool and playing. Since it has gotten so much colder we haven't done much outside recently.

We've been invited over to a few different families' homes for dinner. It's nice to get out and the kiddos have had fun playing with other kids.

I really love the ward here. They have really welcomed us and it makes being away from our home ward a lot easier. Cambria thought it was so fun that she and her new friend, Jessica, have the same dress. I love that the church is true no matter where we go.

Fort Casey

This past weekend we drove down to Everett and took the ferry over to Whidbey Island. It was one of our rare, non-rainy days. We went to an old military fort called Fort Casey. Atreyu loved playing "army" with the giant disappearing guns. There were different stairways and hallways. Some of them were a bit dark and kind of scary. It didn't help that Jesse kept teasing everyone by making zombie sounds but that's what dads are for.

At the fort we were able to go down some stairs to this beach covered in driftwood. People had made a bunch of different little forts along the beach and the kids had fun finding and playing in them all.

We found this steep path back up to the top of the hill that the kids had to climb up (and then climb back down).

We then went over to the lighthouse at the fort. It was so darling! Since it's so late in the season, we weren't able to go inside but we enjoyed just being able to see it.

The kids then climbed trees for a bit and we were able to go down to the beach again and have a picnic before it got dark. Cambria is doing awesome writing her name, even in the sand.

Just another good day with my favorite people.