Mother nature gave us several inches of beautiful snow, so Jake took three of the kids on their first trip to Trollhaugen for the season this week. He went with Shecklet #3 last night and Shecklets #2 and #4 today.
Oh and Shecklet #4 found $20 on the slopes! She bought a treat to share and a hot cocoa for herself 🙂
We took Jake to the airport this evening – he is heading to Vegas for a conference. Since it was dinner time, I decided to let IKEA do the cooking tonight.
We went to the mall to make a return and found these sparkling ornaments for taking pictures ❤️
Shecklet #1 used his height and balance to help hang the lights on Great Grandma Lois’ house for Christmas. He and his dad also decorated the front pine tree with lights, which was a fun surprise for her.
He also used his talents to help hang his Aunt Larissa’s lights, too!
Our friends, Melissa and Tom, treated us to delicious Vietnamese takeout to celebrate my latest trip around the sun (a few days before my actual birthday.) The food was delicious, the game we played was fun – and we laughed a lot! And I received thoughtful gifts of earrings and a puzzle. One of the most notable parts of the night was walking in and seeing my heads on the motorbike sign that they had for their little guy’s reptile party a few weeks earlier. I never knew I was so adventurous!
My actual birthday was on a Tuesday and we were hosting our friends for a few days. I made a new chicken recipe for dinner and baked the famous Settergren chocolate vinegar cake with GF flour – and it turned out great! A few friends came to help me celebrate and see our visitors.
Grandma and Grandpa came to watch Shecklet #3 play a couple of basketball games today.
Our friends invited us to celebrate a birthday this afternoon! Part of the celebration was a reptile show. Because of our small group, we were able to see and touch more animals than they often bring out. It was so much fun to celebrate our little friend and get up close and personal with snakes, tortoises, and lizards.
Our SIL/kids’ aunt is in town and was planning to help her brother’s family move into their new house. We piled into the suburban and gave them a hand. The extra hands made short work of the unloading moving truck!
Meeting their new little cousin 💗 Shecklet #3 was a bit sniffly today, so she and Jake stayed home. She will meet this little one in a different day.
Hooray for the return of another “normal” activity! The kids and their friends ran through the neighborhood collecting an incredible number of full size candy bars this year. (I must admit, I jumped on this train of thought this year and it was amazingly simple – and about the same price, if not cheaper, than buying all of those mini bars of candy.)
While kids did their thing, a friend of mine (and mom to 4 of the kids,) hung out, handed out candy and sipped cider. Yum!
Two dogs and to Darth Vaders. These four made quite the haul!
