November Happenings

 Nate ran a marathon!

The night before Veterans' Day, Nate told me, "I'm gonna get up at 4:00am and do a long run in the morning.  8:00am comes around and he's still not home.  He comes back near 8:15 to tell me he's not going to the exercise class we usually go to because he's "still not done running."  Even with my asking, he still wouldn't tell me what was going on!  What was up with this unusual excitement about running, a sport he used to despise?  I passed him on my way to exercise class and he finally told me he was running a marathon -- solo.  He just up and wanted to see if he could do it.  Well, at 10:30, he called me and asked me to pick him up -- he finished, and got first place!!

 Soul has discovered the joy of placing small objects in a container.  Here he is placing pebbles in a roll of twine.

 I don't know what he is doing here, some sort of ostrich move, but he had a great time doing it!

 

I love how the girls love each other!

3.  We went to the Valley of the Temples, a cemetary which hosts a large Buddhist temple.  Beautiful, but after seeing so many in Taiwan, probably not worth a drive over just to see one.  But the girls loved feeding the koi and even the birds fed right out of Ivy's hand!

 

 Voter spirit!

We all got into the patriotism spirit this year.  We were strong Romney fans.  Here are the girls making a sign for Romney

 Elysse and Soul at Preschool

 This made me laugh:  You see how much pancake is left on Elysse's plate?  Well, she brought the plate to me at the end of breakfast and said, "I just can't handle any more".  Really?

 Elysse and friends

At the Triple Crown contest this weekend (a big surf contest at the beach across the street) Elysse met a mermaid with her friends.  She happened to be there when she was being interviewed, so got to be on the webcast of the contest. 

Soul being sung to at Tutu and Me preschool

Happy 1st birthday, Kalani Soul!

We invited the Clark family over for dinner and cake and ice cream.  I attempted a chocolate pie made with avocado, but my avocados weren't ripe yet, so I experimented with sour cream and avocado and eventually created a pie that was actually quite good.  At least Soul ate it!

I had been wanting to get a swing for Soul, and happened upon a swing being given away on facebook.  The owner brought it over just in time for the party, and Soul LOVES it!!

Grandma had also made her famous chocolate cake, and we all had a great time eating and chatting and celebrating Soul.

Soul is such a joy in all of our lives.  He lights up a room when he's in it with his winning smile and mellow mood.  We love you, Soul!