Holiday Season in full swing!

Well here we are at the end of November! Let's back up to the weekend after I got back from Hawaii. That Saturday, we had tickets to go to the Kraken/Oilers game. In my life, I have never dreaded going to a live Oilers game. It's always a very exciting event that I very much look forward to. This season has not been anything to be excited about, and I was not looking forward to the game:-(. Thankfully, we went anyway and it was a great evening! The Oilers actually won for the first time in ages, woohoo! Adam did fine with Maggie back home and all in all it was a successful outing:-D.

That Sunday, Nathan had a virtual piano recital. As usual, he did a fantastic job! I am so proud of him for working so hard on his piano, he has the potential to go really far with it. The week after that was busy with basketball and my first volleyball open gym, so excited for this season! Lynsey had invited all the girls on the team over on Sunday for a team bonding event, and then I went to the makeup tryouts in the evening. We needed two more players and we found them, yay! After the tryouts, the owner of the club took the coaches out to Olive Garden to eat and I got to know Heidi and Shay, the eastside 17s coach, a lot better. I am feeling more and more like I'm a part of Northwest Juniors and I love it! I think Heidi and I will get along really well. Our first official practice was on Tuesday and it was such a nice change from what I was used to with Sabry last year. She actually has a purpose to everything she does. Our new players were great, too - I think it's going to be a good year!

Brian's parents got into town Tuesday evening and we had a great Thanksgiving with them! We had a delicious turkey dinner Thursday, and during the day Brian and Mark put up our new TV in the living room (and transferred the old TV to the garage room). The garage room is really coming together! Frances, Lynsey and I did some shopping on Friday and we got some pillows to go with the chairs, and today I ordered an area rug. Before we know it, that room will be done! Brian still needs to insulate the ceiling (process for that has started, not sure how much longer it will take) and then it's just the final inspection and trim. We didn't do a whole lot this weekend, lots of visiting, some walks, and we went to dinner yesterday for their last evening here. I took them to the airport this morning. Such a great visit! I had missed hosting people, it's been a while! 

Today is Brian's birthday, although we didn't really do anything special today. We had a cake for him on Saturday so we celebrated then. We finally put up the tree today, we usually do that on Black Friday but our schedule was a bit off with Mark and Frances here. I am almost done Christmas shopping, tomorrow I need to take out all the gifts and figure out who still needs a bit more. Adam as always has been a tough cookie to shop for, I wish I had more inspiration for what he might like. We did get him some things but it feels like we aren't very creative when it comes to his gifts. Maybe something will come to me yet.

 

Family Pics 2023, Ebright Park, Melanie Smith Photography

 

Halloween, garage room work, a Sweet 16 celebration AND a trip to Honolulu!

Whew! Lots going on in the last few weeks! Halloween this year was pretty uneventful. Nathan was the only one that got dressed up and went trick or treating, and we didn't have a lot of trick or treaters this year. I am perfectly happy that Halloween in dying down in our house, I am happy to just be the house that gives out great candy, which means all I have to do is buy candy and be present:-D.

Lynsey turned 16 last Friday! Such an exciting milestone for her! As I mentioned in the last post, she had already passed her driving test, so after school I took her to the DMV to get her license. I'm excited for her! She has been driving quite a bit in the last week, I think she's getting more and more confident in the Civic. For her party that night, her friends came over and had some butter chicken with us for dinner, then I took them to the Crossroads theater to watch the Taylor Swift movie. After the movie we had ice cream cake and the girls slept over. There were a total of 6 girls so getting all the beds ready (and cleaned up the next day) was a big deal as always. Brian made crepes for breakfast (and I finally had the ingredients to make gluten free pancakes for Arabella so she wasn't left out!) and that was the party! Saturday was a busy day because Brian was busy putting down the floor in the garage room (Nathan was a big helper) and I was busy doing laundry and trying to get things ready for my trip to Hawaii Sunday morning. Everything got done, and the floor looks great! Adam is finally able to be in there with his rock bin! It's not completely done, but it is habitable now. So exciting!

Sunday morning, Brian drove me to the airport and I boarded my flight to Honolulu! The flight was uneventful, and I was so grateful to be able to check into my room as soon as I got to the hotel, around 1:30 local time. I relaxed a bit and got settled in, then met up with the Daveys and the Vanees. It was SO good to see the Daveys again! We hung out for a bit and then it was time to get ready for the bachelorette party in the evening. Elisse and Kristy had bought all these decorations so we went early to get things set up. It was a fun evening! A bunch of Yelena's friends and family were able to attend, and the food was really good as well (all the food I had on this trip was fantastic!). They all wanted to go to a bar after the dinner, and I joined them for a short time even though I was dead on my feet. I didn't want to be a total party pooper but all I wanted to do was fall into bed after my long day! 

Monday morning, I joined the Daveys and Vanees on a trip to Diamond Head mountain to hike to the top. It was a nice hike, beautiful views at the top! Stunning! When we got back, I spent some time on the beach by myself which was lovely. Nothing like soaking in some sunshine on a beach in Hawaii! That evening, the five of us (Daveys and Vanees and myself) went to a luau. It was a great time! Again the food was better than expected, and the show was pretty entertaining. We came back to the room and played cards for a bit before heading off to bed. 

Tuesday was a bit of a cloudy day, but still lovely and warm so I rented a beach chair on the beach for 3 hours. I thoroughly enjoyed laying there, listening to my podcast, just relaxing. Came back to the room and got ready for the wedding which started at 4:30. The wedding was so lovely! Beautiful venue, the weather cooperated, and once again - fantastic food! Steak and lobster at a wedding?? Thanks Philip and Yelena! All in a all a beautiful day for the happy couple, so happy I was able to enjoy it with them!

Wednesday morning, we joined Philip and Yelena for brunch at the Hula Grill. Kelly and Elisse left around noon, so Kristy and I walked to this shopping mall where she had a bunch of things she wanted to buy. We met Philip and Yelena and Philip's friend Dwayne for dinner at Roy's, I had some very tasty butterfish which I would gladly eat again. We walked back to the hotel via the beach (which apparently didn't connect where we thought it did and we had to scale a gate illegally - oops!) and had a drink at the beach bar before turning in for the night. Not many photos of today, as it was mostly just me chatting and catching up with friends. Just one picture of Kristy climbing over the gate lol!

Yesterday was the last day, sigh. Kristy and I got some Acai bowls for breakfast and said good bye to Philip and Yelena who were leaving a bit before me. I had to check out so I put my stuff in their room and Kristy and I walked around the shops for a bit. Then it was time to head to the airport! Such a lovely trip, I was so thankful I could go to celebrate Yelena's wedding, and most importantly for me see Kristy again (and Andy, but mostly Kristy:-)). Hopefully we can keep finding ways to see each other at least once a year!