Get-Away

The weekend of October 11th, Kyle and I went on a quick get-away.  We decided to explore Coeur D'Alene, which is only about 45 minutes away from our house.  Friday evening we ate dinner at a really neat Japanese restaurant with a Koi pond in the middle of it.  Then we walked around the shops and galleries of downtown Coeur D'Alene.  It was fun to feel "artsy" for a night, pretending like we were cultured with all the other gallery-goers. :) 
Saturday we hiked around a beautiful hillside that juts into Lake Coeur D'Alene.  It is right next to the famous Coeur D'Alene Resort and had beautiful views from all sides.  Then we drove awhile around the lake, enjoying the fall colors and sites.  We ate lunch at a fun European Bakery/Restaurant then went up to the cemetary to see Anneca's grave before heading home.

My only complaint is that it went too quickly, but it was definitely rejuvenating and wonderful to have time with my honey.  It was fun to come home to the kids, who were very excited to see us and had the "awesomest time ever" with their babysitter, Mary.
 

Susan's Visit!

In October, Susan Collie came to visit us for the weekend--all the way from Palmyra, New York!  Susan and I were roommates our Freshman and Sophomore years at BYU.  We were randomly selected to be roommates that first year and hit it off right from the start.  We have been the best of friends ever since.  It is hard to believe we have known each other for almost 20 years.  As soon as she heard about Anneca, she wanted to come visit.  We decided it would be best a few weeks after when things had settled down a bit.

Friday afternoon after her plane arrived, we took the kids to a pumpkin patch right along the Washington-Idaho border.  It was fun being in two states at once.:)  Then they went crazy running through a corn field (that was kind of a corn maze), picking out a pumpkin, and playing.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday we relaxed in the morning, then when Kyle got home from his campout, we went and got pedicures together, went to a cute local bakery, then walked around a beautiful city park that was awash in fall colors.  We also watched Les Miserables that evening.

Sunday morning we went to visit Anneca's grave before church.

The kids loved "Aunt Susan."  I think my kids are now confused as to who is their real aunt or just a friend they call "aunt".  It cracks me up.  Susan brought them pictures with leaves from the Sacred Grove and t-shirts, and played with them a bunch.  Andon especially loved her.  She brought her green frog that she had when we were in college and we took him to the pumpkin patch, etc., with us.  Andon fell in love with it, and she left it for him.  He still sleeps with froggy most nights! 

 

It was so wonderful having her here and having the time together to reconnect and talk about Anneca with her.  Now it is definitely time for me to go visit her in Palmyra!  Hopefully soon!

I really do have the most wonderful friends!

Visit from the Harms!

The Harms are our dear friends and former neighbors in Wilsonville.  Kylene and Lidya were best friends while we lived there.  As soon as Barbie heard about Anneca, she emailed and asked if they could come for a visit.  Of course!  It was much too short of a trip, but we LOVED having them here.  The kids started right back where they had left off, running around wildly, playing and having a great time.  Barbie and I soaked up the time together, talking about life in general and the sacred experiences surrounding Anneca's delivery.


Aren't they darling?!
Andon, Skyler, Tsion, Spencer, Raegan, Kylene, Lidya

 

This is unrelated, but I just came across this picture.  Kyle's family purchased this beautiful Bonsai Ficus for us as a gift after Anneca's passing.  We have named it our "Anneca tree".  I love ficuses (I had a full size one for several years), and this miniature one is perfect to represent our tiny baby. 

 

Outings and Such

I haven't much been in the mood for blogging about anything besides Anneca.  Now I have some catch-up to do.  Despite the sadness of her passing, we have had some fun memory-making times as well.

In September, on a beautiful Saturday morning, we set out to explore Spokane's Riverfront Park.  It is a beautiful downtown park, with trails and bridges over Spokane Falls.  They also have the world's largest Radio Flyer red wagon which doubles as a huge slide.  The kids had fun playing on it.  We enjoyed the scenery, the squirrels, the leaves, the hike, the clock tower, and playing briefly in the fountain.

 

Last weekend we set out to explore the Nine Mile Falls area, the Spokane River, Lake Spokane, and a couple of dams along the river.  Very rural area.  It was a cold but pretty day.  At one point, Kyle pulled off on the side of the road and we went on an "explore".  We hiked back in to a mountain and Kyle and the older kids climbed up a ways.  They loved it.  Andon found the perfect walking stick for himself and carried it most of the way.

The two dams we saw were really pretty, in particular the one at the lower end of Lake Spokane. ("Lake Spokane" is really just part of the river but because of the dam, it has essentially become a reservoir/lake.  It really doesn't look at all like a river.)

 '

We enjoyed our Halloween festivities.  (Mom enjoyed them, too, except the candy aspect.)
Skyler was Batman for our ward Halloween festival then switched to Robin for trick-or-treating.  Andon was a lion that wouldn't keep his mane on for the ward party, so we tried out the giraffe costume for Halloween.  He kept that on for a few minutes, but really didn't want to be outside in the cold.  Even the candy didn't tempt him.  He only went to a few houses and his candy was gone before the other kids got home:).  Kylene was a fairy and Spencer was Annakin again.  I love reusing costumes!