These pictures are from Nov 1-17.
The weather was in the 60’s and 70’s for several days. We were able to play in the leaves again and enjoy the outdoors!
My view from the kitchen sink window. Can you see the boys?
Tanner and Dallin had a lot of fun building forts in the basement. They always have some kind of pillow fort or a boat house being constructed.
For snack one day, we had strawberries with whip cream. I was intrigued by how differently my boys chose to eat because it was a perfect reflection of their personalities. Tanner meticulously cut his strawberries into slices…
Then ate it carefully with a spoon.
Dallin took a couple bites out of his berries, then discovered the cream, and went all in!
Lilia and Manny took us out to eat at the Chinese buffet. We had a great time!
There was a hot air balloon out back one morning.
Dallin asked Jeremy for a ham and jelly sandwich. Huh? Jeremy decided why not, and made one for him. It was actually really good!
Hurray for being innovative with food, Dallin!
Lol, this just happens to be the next picture in our files. Another silly way to eat food. Dallin loves shredded cheese in a bowl. He eats it by the spoonfull!
On our last night with Lilia and Manny, we ate a yummy dinner together. I made cashew chicken and Lilia made egg rolls. Manny made more paper kites for the boys and we wrote down the instructions so we can remember how he does it. We gave the Bravos several special cards that we made.
Tanner and Manny worked hard on the kites together.
The next day, it was time for them to go. Tanner cried and cried and cried. Dallin cried too. I was able to hold my tears back until after they drove away, then I cried, too. We were so blessed to have them in our home from Sept 5 – Nov 12, almost 10 weeks! While they were here renting from us, they cleaned our dishes and kitchen everyday, helped babysit, kept the boys company and made us yummy Filipino food. They joined us for many meals, especially Sunday meals, and for family night every week. I learned some Tagalog phrases and some Flilipino recipes. And we had many fun outings as seen in previous posts. This picture was taken right before they drove away, so everyone is a little sad.
The last couple of weeks that they were with us was spent helping them figure out where to move next on their journey to visit/live with family. I felt bad seeing their plans fall through over and over again, along with them being very sick, it was hard on all of us. But eventually, God opened a door for them to go to Kansas where a family member can take care of their car while they travel overseas. Jeremy volunteered to drive them there. He said it was one of the best road trips he’s ever had. He took their van, dropped them off, and then came home on a greyhound bus.
We have missed the Bravos a lot. But we are glad they are visiting/living with family that they haven’t seen in many years. We will always remember the sweet spirit that Lilia and Manny brought into our home! Salamat and Mahal kita!!! (thank you and I love you!!)
Here’s a little project we worked on one morning. It’s for the song “Grey Squirrel.” I got some cute videos of them singing, but can’t post those here.
A trip to the Spam Museum one afternoon (or morning? I can’t remember). Yes, shorts in November!
We were able to go to the library one morning in between my teaching schedules. We don’t make it to the library too much, mostly because we have hundreds of our own books, several that the boys still have not read. Their favorite part about the library was playing on the computer, haha.
I made some sensory trays for the boys with flower and brown sugar so that they could practice writing their names in the “sand” with their fingers. (thanks to Sheila for the idea).They loved it and we did it several times over the month.
Check out this fort I made with the boys! A fun way to spend a November day.
