Thanks for Giving

The week of Thanksgiving was an exciting one here in the Northwest. We started off with the earliest, coldest storm in 25 years. It started snowing on Sunday and we woke up to it snowing Monday morning. It continued snowing most of the day until we ended with about 3 inches of snow. Not much by the sound of things, but in practice it wreaks havoc on everything from driving to trying to make phone calls. The power went out Monday evening at about a quarter to 5. We have a wood stove and gas range and oven, so we stayed warm and were able to cook food. But the Comcast we out and so we had no phone. Dad hooked up a generator and we had some light and movies to watch for a few hours. Matt ended up going in the ditch on the way home from work so he and dad went out lat about 9 pm to get his car out. Luckily he didn't have to tryh and make the drive to work on Tuesday since his office was closed due to the storm. We still didn't have power. Kenley had wanted to build a snowman with Daddy, but the snow had frozen overnight. So they took a trip down to the beach to see if the fish were biting. Brisen, Mom and I took a trip to the grocery store to try and get the last necessities for Thanksgiving dinner. All the milk products were being kept outside and the frozen food sections were roped off to prevent the doors being opened and having them melt. So no ice cream for dessert. Sloan, Julia and Mikyn left Tuesday from Provo to make the drive up for the holiday. You can check out Julia's blog to find out how the 13 hour drive turned into a 25 hour drive. They made it finally at 12:00 noon on Wednesday just after the power came back on at 10:45. The rest of the week was a little less stressful. Thanksgiving dinner went well, all the food turned out wonderfully. We ate, played with family, ended up napping after the turkey comas hit. Friday everyone came again and we took pictures of the Rehder grandkids in matching outfits. 4 little girls 3 and under make for a quick photo session and some interesting pictures trying to get one were they all are at least looking at the camera. We also had the annual Rehder family gingerbread house decorating party. They turned out as unique as usual.

Trying to get the girls seated on the couch. Kenley and Brisen had
had an earlier photo shoot so they were more cooperative.

Cute Cousins

Brisen's first snow

Kenley catching snow on her tongue

Another Fish Post - Just Kidding

So I am finally doing a family update. Not that I haven't tried before, but every time I try, I start by trying to upload a video and then after an hour of that not working, I get frustrated and quit. This time, I am starting with the pictures and text and then if I feel like, I will try a video.

We have had a fairly busy fall. Matt's parents and Adam came for a visit in September. Will do a post on that later. Then the girls and I did a quick trip to Salt Lake for General Conference. Then there was Halloween. Recently, we celebrated Matt's birthday with an overnight trip to the southern Washington coast.

Brisen is growing well. She just had her 4 month checkup. She is 14.9 lbs which is the 75%. Kenley on the otherhand weighs just twice what Brisen does at 3 years old - 28 lbs, which is the 14%. That is up from the 3% where she usually hangs out.

Kenley is beginning to learn to read by learning the sounds for all the letters. She is pretty good at this now and points out letters on signs and tells me "look Mommy, K!" She enjoys going to storytime at the library; playing with her friends, especially at the playground; she is learning to count too.

Brisen is growning fast. She is right on target with other 4 month olds. Can sit up supported, although she would rather you held her standing up. She loves looking around the room and at people. She smiles all the time and likes to laugh too. She is just starting to try and roll over. She has accomplished this while laying on the bed, but not quite on the floor. She began to eat solids too. Since she has started to wake up 2 times a night to nurse, we (I) decided that maybe we should try solids to fill her up more in the evening.

Daddy holding Brisen

Kenley giving loves to her little sister. She loves being a big sister.

Smilely, happy Brisen

Chubby Cheeks

On a walk at the state park. Kenley didn't like the sun in her eyes, so my shadow is helping out.

At Long Beach for Matt's b-day. Thats a pelican. He was quite friendly.

Feeding the seagulls

Chum spawning in small creek