Happy Thanksgiving!

What a wonderful time of the year! It was a great feast, great company and extremely cold outside! This year Christina didn't want to eat turkey. "We don't kill turkeys... they should be with their families." I told her that man was given dominion over animals and that we can eat turkey because we do it sparingly. "We don't eat turkeys." So what will we eat then? "Waffles." However, she didn't have waffles she had salad, potatoes etc. etc. So now we are joining a protest group that pickets on Wednesday's against animal testing (on beauty supplies).

Bath Time

I've heard how some kids hate bath and water... not my girls! Every night is screams and laughter.

A Greek Funeral

Today was John Droutsas' funeral. We went mainly because of his wife Vasiliki. She is just one of those people in life who is genuinely kind and loving. She had a rough life, but she always was good to everyone. It was Christina's first time in the chapel of the Greek church. The stained glass windows are beautiful and there is lots to look at. When Joe asked her how she liked the church she said, "It's maimed."

My mother was baptized as an infant in the Greek Orthodox church. She was very religious mostly because of her Papou Christos and Yaya Irene. She grew up in orthodoxy and even as a teenager became a Sunday School teacher for all the kids. She said that she just thirsted for more and to learn more, but there was nothing more there to learn. Eventually the missionaries came and right away she knew that she had found what she was looking for in life. One thing her mother told her is if she was going to get baptized then that was it. No messing around with God. She met my dad, asked him if he wanted to learn more about her church (to which he thought was quite an odd pick up line) and he also got baptized. My father was baptized Catholic as an infant and even went to a Catholic school in Arizona, but didn't necessarily have a religious family. They were married in the Oakland Temple and sealed for time and all eternity. How do I ever thank my parents for being so in tune with God? I'm so grateful to them and our Father in Heaven for His divine plan. I have happiness and joy everyday because I know my purpose in life and where I am trying to go.

The Dynaride

Our newest edition. A 1993 Buick Roadmaster. Do I really need to say anything else?

Kochothondie

As if my sweet baby has not been through enough the past two weeks! She currently has 3 teeth and 5 more are breaking through... all at the same time.

Veteran's Day Weekend

We are finally feeling better after the flu, croup and who knows what else. All of us were sick, all of us survived, thank you to the Big Man upstairs. We were miraculously spared in an intersection where a car ran a red light. There is no other explanation other than divine intervention that we aren't in the hospital right now. Thank you again Heavenly Father. John Droutsas died this weekend and all our love goes out to Vasliki. And on a lighter note we were at the Claim Jumper (fantastic restaurant) and the waitress told us that our pretzel was going to be four more minutes to which Christina told her, "Your four minutes are up."

Santa at the Mall... Already...

Ok, today is what, November 9?? And Santa is already at the mall. We tried to avoid him, but with all the decorations up how can you say no to an excited little girl? Well, thank you Reno, you continue to amaze me by hiring a meth mouth Santa. WHO kisses our little girl! I thought Joe was going to attack the guy right then and there. Then Santa has the nerve to say, "Daddy, let your other little one come cuddle on my lap." Joe walked the other way, I could see fury in his brow. We quickly got Christina and left. Oh my! Oh my! I hope the creepy man catches our croup. Tsk Tsk Meth Santa. Tsk Tsk.

RIP Daddy, the fish

When does a feeder fish ever make it more than 1 day let alone 1 1/2 weeks? And what do I do. I accidently kill daddy. I need to be shot with a pellet gun in the leg. I had to tell Christina the news, my heart heavy with sorrow. Honestly, I felt really really bad, I killed daddy (he fell down the kitchen sink drain while I was changing his water). So she told me, "No worries mommy. Where is he?" I told her he might be in the truckee river or he might be dead. And you know what that smart little bugger said, "Well... now he's maybe free."

A moment of silence for our 2 "free" pets. Dumbo and Daddy, you brought us happiness, thank you.

The Halloween Finale

It's over! Hooray! It was lots of fun, we have too much candy and now we can look at pretty Christmas decorations instead of scary skulls and twitching bone hands.
The final Halloween festivities were as follows:

5. Robert Mitchell School Halloween Carnival on a scale of 1 to 5, 2 ish. We did the cake walk and this boy wins. He starts whining he doesn't want that cake. No cake for you then, pick another number! But alas, the teachers just gave him the cake and were like next time you can pick. Ahhh, over indulgence... I think we did play Christina's first official game of Bingo. And we did the fishing booth about 15 times.

6. Spanish Springs Highschool Trick or Treat 5!!! 5!!! We came at just the right time (at the very beginning) and those wonderful teenagers put games and paper doors all around the school so the kids could trick or treat. They had pumpkin decorating, jab the zombie, octopus ring toss... it was great! It was well organized and the students were really good with the kids. Kudos to Spanish Springs.

7. Actual trick or treating (should I be using hyphens?) 5!! 5!! We used our wagon and pulled the girls up and down Yaya and Papa's streets. It wasn't too crowded, the weather was beautiful and Maria loved looking up at the stars.