Thanksgiving 2021

Another lovely Thanksgiving spent in Bellevue with puops and Rong. We ended up spending the entire weekend in Seattle and had a great time hanging out with Ev and Didi and attending multiple Husky sporting events (Apple Cup - boo - and UW Men's soccer - hurray! - winning the semifinals to make it in to the Elite 8 this coming weekend)

 

Santa in a window at Nordstrom. We just had the kids ready to take a photo and then a nice lady on the street asked if we wanted our entire family.

Totally exhilarating game. We won in overtime 3-2!

Gyro window (Aladdin) on the Ave that I made everyone go to, and Ev had to go twice with me. So delicious.

Little helper helped all day with Thanksgiving prep.

Was pouring at the soccer game. Ponchos were very helpful. Tickets were general admission $12 per adult, $6 per child. Such a deal!

Big Time Brewery before the game is always fun.

O (Fake) Christmas Tree

We finally went fake after hearing Christmas trees would be 3x normal cost this year. I don't think we'll ever look back! It was too easy, too well-lit, and very cost effective.

Costco purchase

A little larger 12 years down the road...

Starting their salmon project at school

Day spent with just me and little guy. Lots of reading...

Typing...

Finally went to Captain's Cod food truck. It was good, especially their chowder and gourmet cod sandwich that Olin pronounced "gour-mette"

I guess large boxes never lose their allure even for middle schoolers

I know the kids will not appreciate me posting this but I figured it might get the seal of approval since it shows some abdominal muscles. hahaha.

Still lots of knitting happening

Pacific NW Dental Conference Mini-Reunion

I got to see my dental worlds join when 3 of my closest friends from dental school met with 3 of my closest friends from Portland Kaiser at dinner during the Pacific NW Dental Conference. My Portland friends stayed with me in the condo for 3 nights and we had a great time chatting and attending classes.

To start the weekend I drove to Bellevue on Wednesday to see Puops who was recovering from ablation surgery. Ev was already there since Monday. I basically did nothing but sit around, watch Netflix and eat her food. ha!

The weekend rounded off with me driving to Yakima to see Olin's soccer game and then our family drove back up to Seattle. It was a great weekend!

The group pic that Puops kept airdropping to Ev until she finally accepted it

Portland dental girls in front and UW dental girls in back

Lots of PJs

We went to Lola for lunch and shared a few Greek plates. It was so good, and we were hungry, and we literally finished off the plates completely bare.

Minah's mom knit hats and brought a whole stack for us to choose from!

I asked Christian to cut his school photos for me to hand out. The task was completed promptly and laid out for me the same evening. :)

Vaccine!

 

He said it was the best shot he had ever gotten. haha

First Middle School Dance

Christian was looking forward to his first middle school dance. I think they had great turnout - as far as he knew almost every 7th grader was going. When I picked them up at 9:00pm they said it was "awesome". They said the first 1 1/2 hours were slow and everyone was milling about but then someone started the Macarena and a Congo line and from then on they all danced together to fast songs. They said during the slow songs neither he nor Henry asked anyone to dance but that a bunch of the girls were going around asking boys to dance so they got asked a lot. haha! Interestingly, CK's policy is that if you get asked to dance, you have to say yes, but if you get asked by the same person another time you can decide whether you say yes or no. 

7th grade class photo. Henry wore his nicest shirt on top and grey sweatpants on bottom because he wanted to "look nice but be comfortable". So funny. 

Always fun to see Megan for a walk. This time we met in Ballard at Red Arrow Coffee and walked around the hills at a snail's pace due to soreness due to my first weights class in a year. 

Richland nature

 

We've had a lot of rain and sunshine intermixed in the days and it creates these crazy colors! Especially in the evenings. No filters. haha.

The leaves have been really vivid

Home Decor

May not look like much, but these bathroom shelves have housed 1) absolutely nothing and then 2) a 3 year expired bottle of Children's Motrin and Children's Claritin for the past 8 years. I finally decided to spruce them up a little bit and give the bathroom a nicer feel. We already had the vase with Christian's lovely origami rose and the clog from the Netherlands and the rest was Target. I also picked up a $3 banner at Target that I strung up in the kitchen for the season. haha

Kids were like "what's WC?" haha. Surprisingly, they loved the new decor a lot. I didn't know if they'd notice much or care. 

I enjoy the photos sent from school (even if they are poorly lit :). Olin's been working on this author report with Claira and Areen for a couple of weeks and could not contain his excitement at the anticipation of presenting the report. He asked me to put "set out black outfit" on my to do list so that he wouldn't forget to wear all black, and he asked if he could go to bed early the night before so that he could get good sleep for the big presentation. He presented Brandon Mull (Spirit Animals, and other books) and Trenton Lee Stewart (Mysterious Benedict Society). He said it went better than practice!

 

Hula Hooping, Halloween...

 

Halloween crew at Ursula's house for Halloween party. They live in Benton City on some acreage.

I told the kids they were living like kings back there, reclined, tons of snacks

Absorbed in the scenery....of his book. Mornings in Seattle!

Somebody got ahold of my phone

Very wet but pretty walk along the river

Their differing hula hooping styles

Hilariously true

Olin's soccer has had some issue with rented fields and whether or not there are lights. Last week the coaches turned on their car headlights when our overhead field lights didn't come on

Seeing Zane Lamprey (host of Three Sheets, an old show that we loved) at a brewery in Fremont for his stand-up act. It was great!

HHS Alumni at the grand opening of the HHS football stadium