November 26th- December 9th

Weeks of November 26- December 9, 2007: The Big Power Outage of 2007
Written by Annaliese

Tuesday, November 27th- Pat had the day off that day and Corrine was already at her house playing when I got done with work, so I thought maybe I would be productive and go work out at the YMCA while I had the extra time. So I dropped Allen off with Pat and picked up Corrine since she loves to play at the YMCA's kids area. When we got there I learned that there is no staff for the kids area until the afternoon- so she was able to play, but I couldn't go work out. So much for being productive! She played and then we ran a couple errands before we had to pick up Adrianna from school. We picked up Allen and the girls played with Boo-Boo for awhile. After Adrianna went home we headed back up to M&D Priamos' for dinner.

Friday, November 30th- We enjoyed a pizza night as a family and then played games at M&D Priamos' house for a couple hours.

Saturday, December 1st- We woke up to beautiful BIG snowflakes falling! Corrine of course got bundled up and had to go out in the snow. Our dogs too- and Pikku LOVES the snow! She plays in it until she has snow matter in all her hair! It's too funny! While they were all outside freezing we made Chris' favorite breakfast of biscuits & gravy. It was the perfect thing for such a cold day.

A snowy garden & Corrine jumping on a snowy trampoline!

We had orginally planned to go over to Hoquiam to see Santa, but didn't want to have to go over two icy bridges, so we opted to go to a local store that had Santa, pictures and even lunch! Corrine talked about seeing Santa the whole morning and when we finally got there she became incredibly shy- for those of you that know our little girl- she is ANYTHING but shy! So we took a picture with Allen on his lap and finally talked Corrine into standing by his chair. She enjoyed some hot dogs & chips while we waited to get our pictures back- when it came back she lit up and had to go show Santa. I guess that's all it took for her to warm up to him! We didn't stay too long as it was fairly busy and it was still snowing outside.

Allen & Corrine with SANTA! Daddy Chris with Allen

The rest of the day was spent listening to Christmas music and putting up the tree- we got a really nice one during 75% clearance last year, but didn't realize how BIG it was until we started setting it up! We had to move couches, end tables & a bookshelf to make a space for it! But with all the rearranging we were able to put it in front of the window- it looks great!

The kids by the tree- poor Allen wrapped up in a "girlie blanket".

Sunday, December 2nd- We had such a NORMAL day. The kids & I went to church, Chris did a lot of little things to help around the house while we were gone, we hung out as a family and enjoyed our newly set up tree- a pretty basic, but enjoyable day.

We had NO IDEA what we were in store for- the wind really started blowing that afternoon and parts of town lost power. We all figured it would be temporary and everything would be back to normal soon. When we went to bed, Corrine was pretty freaked out by the wind as there is a fairly large window next to her bed, and she really didn't like the flickering power so we moved her mattress into our room. Since the power was flickering, we grabbed flashlights, candles, our battery powered radio and also moved Allen into our room and shut the door to keep in the heat. The power went out for good about 1:00am. Neither Chris or I slept well as the wind was blowing harder than I had ever heard, we were worried about our kids staying warm and also trying to figure out what to do with our websites. It was a long night.

Monday, December 3rd- we had really hoped to wake up to power that morning, but no such luck. As we turned on the radio- there was only one AM station available with local news. We learned that the storm was MUCH worse than we had even realized. We were very grateful for our little radio- we learned that all roads in and out of town were blocked by downed trees and powerlines, that the whole county was out of power, and that no where in town had the ability to pump gas. Since neither of us could go to work we decided just to stay snuggly in our room.

We had peanut butter sandwiches, apples & chips in bed for breakfast! :) We tried to stay in our room as much as possible to conserve the heat, so I opened up my craft box and Corrine & I made a sock puppet, a doorknob hanger, and a picture frame. She also did lots of coloring and reading. Chris & I read a book and tried to nap while the kids were asleep. We heard from lots of friends and family worried about us- thanks for ALL your concern!

When the news reports said that the power wouldn't be back for 4-7 days we opted not to stay and freeze that night. For dinner we went over to Chris' Aunt Cindy's house. They have a woodburning stove and the house was nice and toasty- they also made some delicious food on it! It was nice to spend time with them and visit for awhile with everyone.

We then headed up to Mom & Dad Priamos'. They have a propane stove in their rec room- so it also was nice and warm. They were kind enough to let us camp out on their floor. Corrine loved the sleeping bags and it was such a relief to know that the kids were plenty warm!

Tuesday, December 4th- That morning they announced over the radio that Blue Slough was open and vehicles could get out of town. There was still no where in town to get gas and with the forecast of power not returning soon lots of people were heading out of townto get gas for generators, cars, etc! I went down the hill from Mom & Dad Priamos' house to go back to our house and get a few more things and unplug all our computers and I had to wait over 5 minutes because the line of cars leaving town was so long and I had to wait for someone to stop and let me through! We made breakfast on the BBQ that morning- french toast! It is truly amazing what you can make on the BBQ! :) Pat's (my mother in law) store was open and running off a generator. She said there were so many people wanting to go in that they had to have people posted at the door only letting in a certain amount of people at a time. It was so surreal.

We had thought about me taking the kids and going to Maple Valley to stay with my parents, but my gas tank was low and I was afraid that any of the gas stations we got to out of town would run out of gas before we could get any! While we were well prepared for a lot of things- having our gas tanks full wasn't one of them! So we opted to just wait it out. We lost service on our cell phones also on Tuesday, so we felt really isolated from the world. But we enjoyed time together- Chris built a cup castle with Corrine, we played cards with family and had delicious ribs & baked potatoes- all made on the BBQ!

Wednesday, December 5th- It was forecasted that if the power wasn't back on by Wednesday that the river would start to flood as the pumps wouldn't be working. But luckily, in the early morning hours the power to parts of downtown (including the pumps) was restored. My work also got power back, so I was able to go back into work that day. The other road out of town was cleared enough for traffic so Chris went to work as well. And some of the gas stations in town were finally able to pump gas. While we were still in the cold and dark- it was hopeful to see power coming on in the area.

That afternoon I went up to Montesano to pay our rent. I was shocked by the damage that I saw along the way. At one point there were at least 6 power poles laying end to end along the side of the road. Huge trees that had fallen across the road and done major damage to buildings and the guardrails. We were so lucky in this way. We didn't have any property damage. On the way home I saw that Baskin Robbins was selling dry ice- so I stopped in and bought some to try and salvage what was in our freezer and my in-laws freezer. And amazingly enough it worked! We enjoyed chili burgers for dinner that night courtesy of the BBQ! :)

Some of the damage done in the area

Thursday, December 6th- With work having power I was able to charge my cell phone, my toothbrush and get back online to pay bills and do some work. It was almost a little depressing to leave work and go to a dark and cold house! We made pancakes, bacon & hashbrowns on the BBQ that night for dinner. I used to think dutch ovens were the most versatile cooking thing ever, but BBQ's are right up there! :)

Friday, December 7th- We woke up EARLY that morning with lights in our faces and were THRILLED!!! The power had come back on at my in-laws about 4:30am. I have never been so excited to turn on a light switch in my life! Chris had gone down to our house to check on the cats and had reported that there was no power at our house yet, but while he was there it came back on at our house as well! Yahoo!! We took a load of our "camping" stuff and dropped it off at our house before heading to work. After work we headed back home to try and get our lives organized and back to normal again. There was plenty to do! I started on the loads of laundry that had accumulated, tried to get some work in and cranked up all the heaters to try and warm up a frozen house. Later that evening the power went out again (we think they were doing work in the area) and it was so depressing- Chris & I just looked at each other and said "not again"- 4 1/2 days was long enough. It came back on about 20 minutes later and we could hear cheers from several of our neighbors houses as well as our own- we all were relieved. I immediately jumped in the shower just in case it went out again! I didn't need to go any more days without showering! :)

Saturday, December 8th- I ran some errands around town- finally got gas in our car and bought groceries to replace what we had lost. Chris spent most of the day trying to get all our servers back online and the websites up and running.

That night was our Ward Christmas Party. The kids and I went and enjoyed a nice dinner and program at the church. It was interesting to talk to lots of people there about their experiences during the power outage- some of them STILL didn't have power! I offered our shower to them, but most of them had friends & family who had already let them get cleaned up at their homes. At the end of the night Santa came! Corrine wasn't shy at all this time! She was so excited to see him! It was very cute.
Sunday, December 9th- Church was good, a lot of discussion on how blessed we all were through this ordeal and how we can be better prepared for other situations in the future. It certainly made us realize that as prepared as we were, there were several areas where we were lacking in preparedness! Better to have a 5 day "trial run" than a 3-month long disaster! Other areas nearby were hit so much harder- some in other parts of the county or in Lewis county had much more severe flooding and a much larger loss. My heart goes out to all of them. Late that night our power went out again for about 3 hours as they were trying to bring additional powerlines back on. Once again we breathed a sigh of relief when the lights returned. :)

November 19th-25th

Week of November 19-25, 2007: Thanksgiving & Corrine's Birthday
Written by Annaliese

Monday, November 19th- Just recently Corrine has been allowed to have gum because she knows that she can't swallow it and that she has to spit it out when she's done. We had JUST had a conversation the day before about making sure to spit it out when she's tired because it could fall out of her mouth when she's asleep and get stuck in her hair- and then we would have to cut her hair. She was horrified by the thought.

So what happens a day later- you guessed it, she fell asleep in the car with a piece of gum in her mouth. I didn't realize she still had it when I put her in her bed for a nap- so later that afternoon she woke up and came to me in tears saying that she had gum stuck in her hair! We worked at it and salvaged as much of the hair as possible, but still had to cut off about an inch in one spot. She was devastated. Needless to say, she has been EXTRA careful about spitting out her gum! :)

Corrine in some of her many "dress-up" outfits!

Tuesday, November 20th- Chris had an EARLY dentist appointment that morning for several things- the dentist thought it would take several hours to do all they needed to do, and since novicaine makes Chris tired, he had arranged to work from home, so he wouldn't be driving while tired. So he spent the day working from home and then did some work on our little run around truck. The heater core (whatever that is) broke and was leaking fluid into the cab- luckily we have good friends who are willing to help him with the labor part of it, so that the repairs we've done on this truck have been for very cheap or free. And he has fun working on it.

Wednesday, November 21st- I ran to the store after work to get a few last minute things for Corrine's birthday cake. She asked for a "rocket" cake from Little Einstiens (a show on Disney Channel)- it required me to make RED frosting, which was a feat in and of itself. That evening I made the frostings and the cakes for the next day so they would be ready for cutting and decorating. We were all up late (including our night owl Corrine) so shortly after midnight she came in and said "Mom! I'm not two anymore! I'm three!" What a cutie. It certainly made me reflect on what I was doing at that time 3 years ago- and I had just gone into labor! Ahhh- memories!

Thursday, November 22nd- Happy Thanksgiving and Happy 3rd Birthday to our cute little girl! I got up early to try and get a jump start on everything for our Thanksgiving dinner and birthday party. I cut out the cake into the shape of rocket and set it aside to frost later and got the frosting out so it could soften. I then started on some rolls. Chris, the kids and the dogs got up shortly after I did. Unfortunately Ebony (our big black lab) found the cake and ate half of it! Baking another cake was definitely NOT in my plans for the day! So we got another cake baking and then into the freezer while I finished my rolls- it was my first time making homemade rolls on my own. We had several mishaps throughout the day (like having to make a second batch of rolls, and burning the first go-round of marshmallows on the yams), but eventually got everything done, got the kids bathed and dressed and made it to Thanksgiving dinner! During the day while I was cooking Chris worked on the lights outside and got the first wave of them up.

The Little Einsteins "Rocket" cake!

Corrine was so excited about the whole day that she crashed just before we left for dinner!

We had dinner at Chris' parents house. Carmen (Chris' oldest sister), her husband, Steve, and their kids Andrew & Katie all joined us that evening as both of the kids were home for the holiday. It was fun to see them, even if it was only for a little while. After everyone had eaten we sang happy birthday and opened birthday presents! Corrine LOVES opening presents! And of course she got lots of fun stuff. After cake & pie we all relaxed and just enjoyed hanging out together. It was a nice evening. And it was especially fun to come home and see Christmas lights on our house.

Corrine getting ready to blow out the candles

Opening presents

Showing off one of her presents- her own umbrella!
It will be much used here in Washington!

Friday, November 23rd- We all went back to work and then that afternoon/evening we finished putting up the rest of the Christmas lights. It's always a fun project! We went back up to Mom & Dad Priamos' for leftovers and after dinner we OD'd on Hallmark Christmas movies. It was a nice relaxing evening as well.

Our (BIG) cat Thomas who loves small boxes and sitting on the washer or dryer- he's in heaven here!

November 12th-18th

Week of November 12-18, 2007
Written by Annaliese

Monday, November 12th- Chris had to work that day, but the kids and I had the day off, so we drove up to Maple Valley Sunday night to enjoy the day with my family. We enjoyed sleeping in and having a nice relaxing day! McKay during the night had set up the Christmas tree- he was so excited to get started! We had fun helping him get everything set up and Corrine especially loved it. She also figured since it was a "vacation day" she would stay in her pj's all day. Oh well. :)

McKay & Corrine take a break to read books :)

That night the kids & I went to the church with mom & dad to help mom set up for her seminary lesson- she was teaching about the first passover the children of Israel had before they left Egypt- so she had the room set up for a modern day passover and talked about the symbolism that it has. Sounds like it went well! I know my mom is a great teacher- those kids have no idea how lucky they are! After we got home we stayed up and watched "Elf" with Tanner & McKay until we finally all crashed.

Tuesday, November 13th- We left early (early for us anyway) to head back to Aberdeen. Traffic was good and the kids slept the whole way which made it an easy drive. I'm so grateful my family is close enough to just go for a quick visit! Chris was already at work when we got home- so we passed on the highway. I found out when I got to work that morning that Adrianna (my bosses daughter that I babysit) had conference schedule that week- so she was at the office most days at 11am. That night Chris & I still only seemed to see each other in passing. He got home and I left with Allen for a Stake Relief Society Leadership Training- it was well done and hopefully gave us some good ideas and motivation for the upcoming year. And Allen is such a good baby- he actually sat very content through the whole meeting!

Thursday, November 15th- Happy Birthday to Kelly! We talked about it in the morning and forgot to call her once our day got busy! But we were thinking of you! Adrianna was dropped off at the office by her aunt who has a 4-year old that loves to play with Corrine. He kept begging his mom to stay and play with us instead of going to daycare- I was fine with it, so I had an extra for the day! The kids were great, the biggest challenge of the day was getting 3 carseats in the back seat of my car! But somehow we managed!

Friday, November 16th- We didn't have Adrianna that afternoon so we did a lot of errand running around town- it was nice to get it all done! That night we all went to bed fairly early as we are usually exhausted by the weeks end!

Saturday, November 17th- We were up early getting the house clean, work done and a very yummy crockpot lunch started. Mom & Dad Allen arrived mid-afternoon from Bremerton where they were attending a District Scouting event. They came down to get their old fridge out of our garage as they are going to put it back in the Utah home while the twins live there this next semester. We enjoyed a nice lunch with them and they brought a few things for Corrine for her birthday and of course CHOCOLATE MILK (her favorite treat)- they gave her the cutest little tool bag complete with gardening tools in it. She has carried it EVERYWHERE the last couple days! And she calls them her "toodles" as she can't quite get her mouth around the word "tools"- it's really cute. The visit was too short, but so much fun- we always enjoy having them here!

Corrine opening presents wrapped in traditional "Allen fashion"

And here's the yummy recipe for crockpot salsa chicken:
* 4 chicken breasts (I only used 3 and could have only done 2)
* 1 can cream of mushroom soup
* 1 16oz jar of salsa
* 1 pkt taco seasoning
Mix soup, salsa & seasoning together and pour over chicken in the crockpot
Cook on low for 8 hours (mine was done in about 4-5)
Shred chicken and add:
* 1 can black beans
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1 can corn
I also added onions, cilantro and some cooked rice that we had to make it less soupy and make it stretch a bit more.
* Serve over tortilla chips or with warm tortillas with taco type toppings. So easy and VERY YUMMY! We fed 4 adults and a child with PLENTY to spare!

Sunday, November 18th- Church was very full as it was "Invitation Sunday"- everyone was encouraged to invite someone to attend church with them. Lots of new faces! And they had a nice "Linger Longer" afterwards so everyone could visit.

We found a few fleas on Pikku, our small dog, that afternoon (we don't know if she got them from outside or what) but just to be sure we bathed both dogs and scoured the house- not my ideal Sunday activities, but sometimes it just needs to be done! Hopefully we were just overreacting- I don't want fleas in my house! The rest of the day was pretty mellow as we treid to keep warm and got ready to start another busy week!

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving with Chris' family later this week- we have so much to be grateful for! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday as well!

November 5th-11th

Week of November 5-11, 2007
Written by Annaliese

A cute picture of Allen's big gummy smile to start off the week:

Monday, November 5th- Happy 32nd Birthday to my wonderful husband! Corrine woke up when Chris went to work just to make sure she got to tell him Happy Birthday first thing- she LOVES birthdays. As I was heading to work with the kids she asked when dad was going to open presents and I told her we hadn't gotten any yet, but we would go to the store that afternoon. When I asked her what we should get him, she thought for a minute and said "I think a green B (what she calls her blankie)- then he won't take mine!" (He is constantly teasing her and trying to get her to share her B with him and she is NOT a fan of sharing it). It's too funny the way her mind works!

Work was BUSY that morning with impounds & paperwork. And our day didn't slow down after work either! We ran a ton of errands including picking up babysitting girls from school and eventually to basketball practice & dance. We got Chris a couple gifts and his favorite pizza for dinner. Corrine had so much fun wrapping his presents, she especially LOVES tape. She actually does really good with it despite using 8 inches for each piece! We had a nice night together- low key, but nice.

We had also been blessed with a huge box and a huge bag of clothes for Allen from one of the sisters I visit teach. I'm so grateful for generous people that have shared with us things like this! Especially as this kid is growing fast!

Wednesday, November 7th- Happy Birthday to my Mother-in-law Pat! She's a wonderful lady! I had a Presidency meeting that night and Pat was still at work- so we went over later that evening for dinner and cake to celebrate. Corrine was already in her pj's and couldn't find a matching pair of boots (the only shoes that fit over her pj's) so she wore two different boots- one pink snowboot & one red rainboot. Funny part was that she left those boots up at their house- so going to work the next morning she wore the OTHER two of the mismatched boots- such a funny girl!

It was fun to be together to celebrate with Pat. She's such a wonderful woman and I'm lucky to have her for a mother-in-law. She does so much for her family and others.

Thursday, November 8th- Happy Birthday to Mackenzie, our niece & cousin. All of the cousins are a year apart so far- it will be so fun at Christmas as they are all a little older and can enjoy playing together. Hopefully Corrine won't boss everyone around too much! :)

Sunday, November 11th- Happy Veteran's Day! That afternoon after church I was debating going up to Maple Valley to spend time with my family as I didn't have to work the next day. But I knew that if I stayed home I could get a lot of misc. stuff done around the house as well. Before I knew it Chris had vacuumed, done dishes and folded laundry stating that if those were the things that were keeping me from going then he already did them, so I should go. So sweet of him! :)

We did end up going- we got off to a bit of a late start, but arrived safe and sound and enjoyed a nice evening visiting with everyone. I always appreciate my parents and how wonderful they are each and every time I spend time in their home. I also love that there is a wonderful spirit in their house that is very peaceful and calming. Corrine of course got McKay & Tanner to chase her and everyone took turns holding Allen. It's so wonderful for us to have them so close!

The kids are both doing great. Allen is a big boy that just keeps growing! He's pretty much out of size one diapers at only 2 months! He responds to us so much more and LOVES to smile at us. He is also very strong and loves to push with his feet and hold his head up. He is such a content baby and he sleeps in 4-5 hour stretches at night. It's SO wonderful!

Our handsome little guy

Corrine is a fantastic big sister and big helper around the house. She actually gets mad if we put away the silverware in the dishwasher as that is HER JOB. She constantly amazes us with how funny & smart she is. She definitely loves to be the life of the party! Whenever someone is in her way she says "Move over Beethoven!" (where does she get these things?) And of course she picks up on everything we say. The other morning I was getting ready for church and got all dressed- she looked at me and said "Cute outfit Mom!" She also says funny little phrases that sound so adult, like "Oh my goodness!" and "Dang It!". We are constantly laughing.

October Highlights & Into November

Month of October 2007 (and a little November)
Written by Annaliese

Ok- I simply MUST get caught up or I'll get so far behind that I'll have to "start over" again. :)

Week of October 1-7, 2007
Monday, October 1st- We left Maple Valley that morning as I was starting back babysitting that afternoon. It was a little hard to go back to "real life" but wonderful to be back home with my husband. Thanks Mom, Dad, Tanner & McKay for such a wonderful week and thanks Chris for letting us be gone for so long! That night I made my first trip to the grocery store with 2 kids! Monumental things . . .

Tuesday, October 2nd- Allen had his 2-week doctor's appointment and we were shocked to find out that he weighs 9lbs 10oz! This kid likes to eat! :) All went well and the doctor said he looks good.

Corrine LOVES holding her little brother

Saturday, October 6th & Sunday, October 7th- The kids and I watched Conference in bed both mornings. It was wonderful to just enjoy hearing the general authorities and relax and not have to get everyone bathed and dressed for church! Chris was even sweet enough to bring us breakfast in bed while we listened.

Week of October 8-14, 2007
Monday, October 8th- Allen had a follow-up doctor appointment and the kid weighed in at 10lbs 6oz! He just keeps gaining! Hopefully he slows down a little! Otherwise I'll be carrying around a 50-lb 1 year old! :) Being Columbus Day it gave me one extra day before I went back to the office.

Nice and clean after a bath!

Tuesday, October 9th- we all got packed up that morning and headed into the office. My boss had actually come in early to make sure the heater was on and that we had everything we needed. He was glad to have us back- which made me feel good! Things went smoothly for our first day back and we quickly settled back into our routine, even with an extra baby! :) Chris had a dentist appointment that morning for some crowns. He stopped by the office afterwards and visited with us for awhile and then stayed home that afternoon to help me with the kids on my first day back to EVERYTHING. He's been amazing and wonderful through all the transition with having a second child. I'm very grateful for him!

Allen often tries to pull off his hats- this time he was successful!
Must have been hard work because he promptly fell asleep!

Week of October 15-21, 2007
Monday, October 15th- I left work a little early to head to Olympia for a dentist appointment to FINALLY get a crown put on my chipped tooth (this was supposed to be done BEFORE Allen's due date- and he was 2 weeks late!). Mom Allen & McKay were so wonderful to drive down from Maple Valley to watch the kids for me. They let Corrine play at McDonald's playplace and Allen slept. We are so lucky to have them so close- I actually wish they were closer! But I love having them here in the same state and will be sad when they do finally leave. We enjoyed visiting after my appointment and then the kids and I picked up Chris from work and got to enjoy a ride home with him.

Tuesday, October 16th- Happy Anniversary to US! We celebrated our 3rd Anniversary in a pretty low-key way as it was the middle of the week and we had 2 little ones at home. But we enjoyed a yummy dinner with "the nice dishes", sparkling cider and candlelight (that of course made Corrine want to sing Happy Birthday and blow out), but it was wonderful to just be together and reflect on the past few years. I'm very grateful for my amazing husband.

Saturday, October 20th- We got up that morning and went to storytime at the library. We hadn't realized that during the month of October they were doing a Saturday storytime! We enjoy lots of the activities that the library has to offer, especially during the summer, but we hadn't been back in since Allen was born- so the Children's librarians were especially excited to see him and Corrine was more than happy to tell them all about having a new baby brother. It was a fun morning together.

That afternoon Chris ran some errands and came back with a gift for our anniversary- we have a local glass blowing shop in Cosmopolis that does beautiful pieces. He came back with a glass blown flower and pretty glass paperweight (since my desk constantly has piles of papers to be filed). Very thoughtful and gorgeous gifts!


Sunday, October 21st- We enjoyed our morning at church and a relaxed afternoon. Allen's birth announcement was in the paper that day as well! That night Mom & Dad Priamos came over to visit for awhile- always nice to spend some time with them.

All ready for church!

Week of October 22-28, 2007
Wednesday, October 24th- That afternoon the kids & I ran to the store and then made cookies to send with Chris on his trip to California. He went down to the sand dunes in Glamis, CA/Yuma, AZ area with one of our clients. It's a guy that we have built several websites for and he goes riding quads there a couple times each year. Initially we were hoping to go at a time when both Chris & I could go, but we figured with having a new baby and all it wasn't very feasible. Then Jeff (the client) offered to pay for Chris' trip. So he took advantage of the opportunity! That night I had a presidency meeting at the church- Chris was great to watch Corrine. I came home to them watching "The Polar Express" (we like to get into the Christmas spirit whenever we can!). I helped Chris finish packing for his trip to California.

Thursday, October 25th- the alarm went off early for Chris to head to the airport, and it started off a bit hectic! As he went to unzip his suitcase to put in the last minute items, the zipper broke. So I ran downstairs to grab the larger suitcase and found that the zipper on that one had calcified or something- it was not going to budge! (In defense of the luggage, I've had it for over 10 years, so I think it's served it's purpose well!) Dad Priamos was taking Chris up to Seattle, so he ran home and grabbed the carry-on size suitcase of theirs and we used our carry-on roller to repack everything. Luckily it all fit and they still made it to the airport with time to spare!

Saturday, October 27th- The kids and relaxed a little that morning and then ran errands in the afternoon- and we had to get some paint to finish Corrine's halloween costume! Luckily thanks to some well placed fans we got it done! That evening we went up to Mom & Dad Priamos' house for a birthday dinner for Carmen (Chris' oldest sister). It was fun to be there with his parents, siblings and some family friends. And of course everyone loved seeing and holding baby Allen! We slipped out just after dinner to attend our ward "Harvest Party"- Corrine went as a dalmation puppy and Allen as a little polar bear- they were ADORABLE! :) We only got to enjoy a few games before it was time for the trunk-or-treat, but that's the highlight anyway! Mickey, one of the girls I used to babysit was good enough to take Corrine around to the cars so Allen & I could hand out candy! It was a fun night. We went back over to the Priamos' after the party and visited a little more before we called it a night.

Week of October 29- November 4, 2007
Monday, October 29th- I got up early that morning to clean the house and get all of us ready to head north for the day. We headed out of town to Maple Valley where Corrine played for the afternoon and McKay went back to Olympia with me to my LAST in my series of dental appointments. He sat in the waiting room with Allen for me. My dentist and several others in the office were so excited to see him- as I started this process with 2 appointments at 9 months pregnant- so they feel like they've been waiting to see him as well! He got oohed & awwed over and then we ran over to Target. I gave in and bought a new vacuum. Both of ours just aren't doing the job for a house with 2 kids and 2 dogs! This one is made especially for pets- so hopefully it's as good as it looks!

We then went back to Maple Valley where Corrine had been well entertained. Mom & Dad were busy getting ready for a YSA dinner that they were hosting. McKay is the YSA rep for the ward- so they had invited everyone over for dinner and activities afterwards. It was so fun to be in their constantly busy house. I love and miss it. They had several come for the evening- so we all enjoyed a yummy dinner together. Corrine talked all of them into playing Duck, Duck, Goose and Ring Around the Rosie with her before they had their own lesson & activities. I helped Mom make a chart for seminary and Dad and Corrine went and picked up Chris from the airport. Chris said he enjoyed visiting with Dad on the way back over to the house and it was fun to all get to visit together when he returned.

A picture Chris took out on the dunes in Glamis

He had a great trip! They spent time riding 4-wheelers in the sand dunes and even spent a day getting sunburned out on a lake. Definitely a new experience for Chris! He kept telling me "I can see why your mom loves Arizona- it's plenty hot!" And I reminded him he was there during the "cool" time of year! He also thought it was beautiful- different, but very pretty. We enjoyed looking at all his pictures from his trip. I'm glad he had fun, but I was even more glad to have him home!

Wednesday, October 31st- Happy Halloween! After work Corrine & I carved her pumpkin that we hadn't quite gotten around to doing yet. She LOVES digging out the guts! She even reminded me that we did this same thing "yestertime" (that's her word for anytime in the past- something between yesterday & last time)- she was remembering us carving the pumpkin LAST YEAR! What a memory! We also made some pumpkin desserts that afternoon so the house smelled delicious!

Digging out the pumpkin GUTS!

The finished product!

When Chris got home we headed up to Mom & Dad Priamos' where the kids got all costumed up. It took Corrine forever to get ready because each time the doorbell rang she wanted to see the kids who were trick-or-treating! Several layers later we were bundled and out the door- she didn't want to walk to each house, she wanted to RUN! It was a cold, but fun night. We got back and had dinner and of course CANDY! :)

Tired and Happy after Trick-or-Treating

Thursday, November 1st- I had such a treat at work as I caught up with a good friend of mine from Idaho- Jamie Smith. I first met Jamie when I attended Rockland girls camp one year. We became great friends and ended up working for YEARS together at scout camp and enjoyed being at Ricks College together. It's been probably 5 years since we've seen each other or even been in touch- and lots has changed in those years! I was glad it was a boring day at the office so I could catch up!

Saturday, November 3rd- I somehow managed to break my mini hard drive that morning. This was cause for major panic on my part as my LIFE is on that hard drive. Luckily it was just the case I had broken and my brilliant husband knew what to do! So the actual hard drive is saved and we were able to put it into a new case.

That night Chris & I enjoyed an evening out together. The kids went up to Mom & Dad Priamos' while we went bowling. I did great the first game and proceeded to get worse after that! But it was fun to be out together for a little while. We came back to happy, well taken-care of kids. We enjoyed hanging out for awhile longer before we called it a night.

Sunday, November 4th- I taught the Relief Society lesson that day. I was worried about teaching with a newborn. He was a perfect gem during sacrament meeting & sunday school and of course as soon as I start teaching he's screaming at the top of his lungs! A wonderful sister in the ward was good enough to hold him, change him and rock him while I taught. I am so grateful for those who see what needs to be done and jump right in to help as I have a minor panic attack during my lesson. :) Other than that all went well and we survived!

That's our month in a nutshell- hope all is well for each of you! Love you all! :0)

September 24th- 30th

September 24-30, 2007: Week in Maple Valley
Written by Annaliese

Monday, September 24th- We started off the week by doing a small photo shoot with the kids. The Wayments in Layton sent us some darling BYU shirts- so we wanted to get some pictures of them with their BYU sports loving Uncle McKay in his BYU room. After plenty of pictures- we went shopping. I needed a few things so we ran around in Covington and then went to the supermall in Auburn. Corrine LOVED finding all the little ride on toys that cost a quarter to make them move, but she has such a good imagination- she just likes to pretend she's driving, so it doesn't even cost us a quarter! They also had a children's play area in the mall that she ran around in for quite some time. Of course we got caught in traffic coming back into town- not fun. Luckily Allen is such a good baby and took a pacifier until we could stop so I could feed him. After a yummy dinner we enjoyed playing more games of "Aw Heck"- it was the game of the week while we were there!

Tuesday, September 25th- That afternoon we went into Seattle to Dad Allen's office. Carrying a new baby certainly draws a crowd! After showing off our future Cub Scout, we took the tour of the office and met those who were still there. We grabbed a bite to eat at Wendy's and then we all parted different ways. Corrine went with Mom Allen (and threw a fit the whole way home) as she wanted to come with us- but they went and saw the temple, McKay at his work and Tanner at his- she especially loved all the toys at Goodwill. I think she wore her grandma out! Thanks for being so patient with her! :)

Dad, Allen & I went to a Mariners game. He had 2 tickets with incredible seats, the first row on the right outfield side! I've been to several games, but not that close! It was really fun as there were some great catches right in front of us! It had been a fairly rainy day, but had cleared up to be a beautiful night- so they opened the roof. It felt like fall! A woman who worked there at the stadium saw Allen in the sling and gave us a signed baseball card telling me "to help him start his collection". It was cute. Allen slept soundly the entire game. But we have pictures to prove he was there.


Wednesday, September 26th- McKay ended up having the day off and it was nice out so we decided to take advantage of Mom & Dad's annual pass at the Point Defiance Zoo. It was a gorgeous afternoon and so nice as there were very few people there. Corrine LOVES the zoo- and it was nice to have McKay around who could keep up with her! We stopped for some Subway sandwiches on the way home and of course got caught in traffic AGAIN. I think it's constant in those parts! :) We had fun talking to Graham that night to wish him a happy birthday- Corrine was worried that Emily felt left out, so she asked to talk to her and told her happy birthday as well. Such a cutie (but of course, I'm biased).

Thursday, September 27th- I was supposed to have a dentist appointment in Olympia that day, but it was cancelled, so Mom helped me can 17 quarts of applesauce from the apples our trees produced. It was so nice to have moms big kitchen and help getting them done- it would have taken me LOTS longer to do!

Friday, September 28th- Mom & Dad went to a fireside that night and came and shared their notes with us afterwards. We enjoyed visiting and playing games late into the evening.

Saturday, September 29th- was Smithsonian Free Museum day (or something like that) so

we printed out our free pass and decided to go to the Museum of Flight. It was fantastic! I think it would have been more enjoyable without a toddler (she loved seeing all the planes, just wasn't as interested in stopping long enough for us to read anything). I was glad we went early as it was PACKED by the afternoon. Especially cool was getting to go on Air Force One that belonged to several presidents and the Concord. There were 2 buildings that we didn't even get to see! Definitely have to go back sometime.

That evening was the Women's Broadcast. Mom & I went over and did the service project and enjoyed a yummy soup dinner. There was still about 30 minutes before they were going to show the rebroadcast, so we went home where we enjoyed watching the part of the BYU game and then watching Women's Conference. Always nice to be able to be with my mom for those type of things. Some wonderful counsel given by our leaders.

Sunday, September 30th- I thought I was going to head home after church, but figured why the rush? So we enjoyed a nice day at church and a relaxing afternoon with family. We had a great FHE that night talking about "Gifts of the Spirit" and sharing what gifts we feel each member of the family have and what we appreciate about each of them. And of course we got some extra game time in before bed. We did actually pack that night so that we would be a little more ready to go the next day. I was ready to be home with Chris, but LOVED being there with my family. I especially loved that mom & the boys would play with Corrine in the mornings and let me sleep in- what a luxury! :) Thanks for a wonderful week, family!