We're Thankful

It is hard to believe that American Thanksgiving is already past and Christmas is well on its way, eh? Well, this thanksgiving, we are thankful for friends...including friends who can cook:) We had a great time at Chris and Abi's house, although we did have to trek through the snow to get there. Thank goodness we only live a few minutes away! Yes, it is true - it is still November, and we have already had a couple of feet of snow! Kaiya celebrated this Thanksgiving by having her first taste of non-rice cereal solid food in the form of carrots. Since then she has also been introduced to sweet potatoes and apple sauce. Surprisingly enough, apple sauce is not her favourite. We only know this because she makes some creative faces as we are trying to shove it through her tightly pursed lips. She only resists for a short time, though, because food is food. And she likes food:)

Last weekend we had a ceremony at our church called the Hanging of the Green. Hyatt and I had a very important role to play, as we were the ones who read about the significance and meaning of poinsettias at Christmas time. For those of you who do not know what the Hanging of the Green is, which I am assuming is most of you, it is when the church decorates for Christmas and prepares for the advent season. I had never heard of it, either, until a couple of weeks ago, but I think that it is a great idea. It was so special to start this season off in the right way - keeping our minds on Jesus from the start. We're hoping to do advent as a family, too, although that means that we still need to find a wreath for the table, and a book to guide us through. Perhaps this year we will just be a little creative, and maybe we will come up with some traditions of our own. Anyways, at the end of the Hanging of the Green ceremony, they had everyone in the church come up and hang an ornament on the tree, and Kaiya was more than happy to participate (truthfully, she was in the nursery, so she had to hang her ornament after the ceremony was done).

I've also included a picture of Kaiya sitting up, although it is a little misleading. Yes, she can sit, but she cannot sit for very long on her own, and someone has to be right ready to catch her as soon as she takes a dive. So, she's getting there! You will also notice a classic picture of Kaiya spending quality Halo time with her dad on a Saturday morning:)

Kaiya's Not Crawling

Yes, rather anticlimatic... Kaiya is not crawling yet... but she IS beginning to make slight attempts at it. So, here is a video so you can watch her wiggle around on her tummy and make noise. This noise has become her new favourite thing to do for the past few days. She most frequently lets me hear it when I am feeding her rice cereal. I get to listen to it in between most bites. At least her mouth has to be open to do it, which assists me as I am trying to get another spoonful in there:) Oh, and I should mention that she had drooled on the plastic piece on her playmat, so that's what she's trying to reach out and smear around:)

Lady Liberty in Japan

I'll keep this short, but Ellie and I (along with the girls, of course) took a little trip today to see the Japanese version of the Statue of Liberty... just a short 20-25 minute drive away from my door! How convenient. I suppose since Lady Liberty knew that I couldn't see her in person for a while yet, she decided to come see me instead... in Japan:) The park was beautiful, as all of the parks here seem to be. What I can't quite figure out is where the money comes from to create and upkeep all of the parks here. There are so many, and they are all on the grand scale. Yet another question to add to my list. Right now it is still a mental list, but at the rate that I'm adding questions these days, I will need to start actually writing them all down (especially at the rate that I'm forgetting them all these days).