Our Halloween costumes this year.

Fun glasses.

Two Already

Opening presents.


Blowing out candles, she knew just what to do.


Ready for bed with her new baby doll and Dora p.j.'s.


We had a fun day today packed with a lot of excitement. I dressed Austin and Lily up in their Halloween costumes and headed to the library for their little trick-or-treat parade. They both had a blast, and it was good to be inside away from the freezing cold. I treated them to lunch at MacDonald's where they played for over and hour and then I took Austin to his tumbling class, it was also dress up day. Lily wants to join in every week and I always end up in the car with her. After tumbling we headed home for a much needed nap and then went to the school for Sivai's parent teacher conference. Let's just say there's going to be a lot more reading going on at our house.... I guess the recommended 20 min. a day isn't cutting it.
We came home and had dinner and then waited for presents and cake. Lily was really patient all day and I think her brothers were more excited than her. She had a blast ripping open her gifts and seemed to love them all, most of them ended up in bed with her. It was a long day, notice Miss Lily's frazzled hair, but it was fun.

Samoa

Many of you have probably heard of the tsunami that hit Samoa this past week. We were so worried about so many people there, but through the grace of God we have found out that none of our closest friends and family were injured.
This is a picture of the fale (house) that Sivai spent a year of his life in. It's where we met him for the first time. It's where we stayed for two weeks getting to know him and his beautiful foster family. It's where we had so much fun dancing and singing in Samoan.
We learned that it was swept into the ocean, and I can't imagine the devastation that must be left. I'll always remember the first morning there waking up to the sounds of the ocean splashing up against the rocks about 5 feet from us, and the feel of the cool ocean breeze. We could see the sunrise from our window and we lay there in aw watching it rise over the ocean.
I hope that we can visit our friends and family there soon and make some new memories, but I'm so greatful for the ones that I have to cherish.

Visit

Lily and Grandma Yeager

Miley

Has anyone else noticed that Miley Cyrus has a new clothing line in the teeny-bopper section of Wal-mart? Austin has. He's had a healthy obsession with Miley/Hannah for about the last six months. I try not to feed it, he's not allowed to watch the t.v. show but he continues with his little crush. He's even asked if we could go to the beach and visit her.
While waiting in line the other day at Wal-mart Austin ran over to the Miley display, grabbed one of the shirts (the same one that she was wearing in the ad. picture) buried his face in it and took a big sniff. He came running back to me with the biggest smile on his face and announced that he had smelled Miley Cyrus' clothes! I think he truly believed that she had worn them, sometimes he just melts my heart.

1st Grade

Sivai would only give me this face when I told him to smile...what a ham.

Sivai started 1st grade this week after much anticipation. I think he was most excited about eating school lunch and playing at recess, like most 1st graders. But we did have a little excitement that morning.

The day before school started we went to our splash park for a little fun. After being there a while Austin came running saying that he got stung by a bee. Apparently he had caught it and was trying to pull off it's legs. I didn't feel much sympathy for him. He went on his way and then about 10 minutes before we left Sivai came running saying that his foot hurt. I can't remember if he said it was a bee or not, but it wasn't red, and there wasn't a stinger. I told him he probably stepped on a sticker and to keep playing. He didn't mention it again until the next morning, the first day of school. I looked at his foot and it was swollen and had a black and blue circle where he obviously had been stung. I debated out loud whether or not I should take him to the Dr. or not and he begged to go to his first day of school. After some antihistamine and a fathers' blessing I let him go. It cleared up after 48 hours and luckily I didn't have to take him in to the Dr's. (Notice the note pinned to his shirt alerting his teachers to the situation.)

He had an exhausting first week of school, but loved every minute of it. I thought he would like having a half day Friday, but when I asked he said he was mad because he only got one recess instead of three. He's really lucky this year because his kindergarten teacher moved up to 1st grade to team teach, and Sivai was lucky enough to be in her class again.

I thought Austin and Lily might have a hard time adjusting to him not being home but they seem to enjoy their freedom for the most part.

Lily

Isn't she cute? I have to remember this while trying to potty train.