Sweet Sisters!

A few weeks ago we stopped by the Tevis farm after church to get a family picture with Richie and Lydia in it for our Christmas card.  The following pictures ended up happening soon after the family picture was snapped. :-)

(The boys didn't really have any interest in getting a brother photo! :-)

Valerie's Birthday Celebration!

Yesterday, the whole family (minus working Kyle) went out to celebrate Valerie's birthday! Daddy was even able to take the day off!  Valerie thought it would be fun to head up to Olympia and do some thrift store shopping at Value Village, as they were having their Veteran's Day 50% off sale! Then, we enjoyed visiting a brand new Hobby Lobby store that recently opened up in Lacey.  What a fun shopping experience, especially in their Christmas area!  Then, a Costco stop, before heading to Thorbeckes FitLife Center to check out their facility for playing indoor volleyball.  (Which they found as a possibility in their racquetball court . . .with a special name . . . Wallyball!) Turns out, they were having a special Veteran's Day sale too, with buy a month family pass and receive a second month free!  So we did that, and then we all (minus me and B and B) had a great time playing indoors for a couple hours!


Too bad they still had their Happy Halloween sign still up! : -(

Valerie's choice for lunch:  Panda Express!

(I wasn't able to get a photo at Thorbeckes, but they all had a great time there!  So much so, that they are currently on their way back there this afternoon to play some more while I  type this!  The boys are especially looking forward to swimming in their pool!  So, I think it was definitely a big hit, and we'll get good use out of our buy-one-month-get-one-free family pass during these next two rainy months!  It was great timing!  Thank you, Lord!)

Happy Birthday, Valerie!  We love you sooooo much! 

Busy Weekend, Quiet Weekend

Last weekend was a super busy, but GOOD one!

After the 5K, we were very blessed to have a group of friends come out to our house

for an afternoon of fun together.

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I don't think we've ever had such a large Dutch Blitz game before!

It was definitely more on the wild side!

 

 Then, of course, we HAD to play our favorite game . . . . reverse charades!

Hmm . . . .looks like Valerie is trying to sleep . . . .

 and maybe counting some things???? ;-)

 Wow . . .that looks like a big wing span!

 Hmmmmm . . . . .the "Three Stooges?!!!"

 

Then at church on Sunday,

our family gave a special announcement for the upcoming Christmas Talent Program.

We are trying to recruit participants,

so we played (yes, Richie's a master on the jug!) a little upbeat tune called the "Fisher's Hornpipe"

while Timmy and Joe held up signs that said . . . . 

 "OR NOT?"

(These signs had an arrow that pointed to Kyle,

while he dropped his spoons! :-) 

"BLESS OTHERS"

 

Please join us on December 13th!!!

 

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Now, this weekend is a nice and quiet one, while Ted and Kyle are in Iowa at the

Freedom 2015 conference.

We are planning to catch up on some things,

and I'm hoping to get my fall bulbs planted before the ground freezes here soon! 

Celebrating Birthdays Quadruplet Style!

From early on, we've tried to give each of the quadruplets a special day to "call their own" in celebration of the special gift they are to us, and the unique person that God has made them to be. 

Over the years, it has changed to giving them a couple different days . . .

one in which they pick their favorite breakfast, dinner and dessert choice,

and then another day where they can choose a family activity.

So far, Kyle, Caroline and Victoria have celebrated their birthdays with their special activity,

and we've fit in almost all of the special meal days!

 

This year, they decided on going out to our favorite Chinese Food restaurant for a combined dinner celebration.  We did this back when Papa Bob and Meemom were still here . . . in early October!

 

For breakfasts . . . .

 

Valerie chose monkey bread!

Victoria chose Caroline's amazing fruit Danish . . .

this time with peaches!  

(Thank you, Caroline, for making it!!!)

Caroline chose waffles with strawberry topping,

and egg casserole.

 Kyle chose "Dutch Babies" with apple topping!

 

 

For the desserts, we only got two out of the four in,

as we have been baking soooooo much for other things in the past couple weeks.

(We did bake and take two cakes to Kyle's birthday bash on the beach.  Unfortunately, we just didn't end up getting them out of the camper to the beach to share with our friends!  And then once we got them home, we didn't take a picture!)  

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Caroline requested Valerie's special peach pie!

(Thanks Valerie for making it!!!)

Valerie requested homemade cheesecake with cherry topping!

Victoria asked for mint brownies,

and she actually did get them made for her on her first day of work at the Veterinary office.

But we didn't get a picture of them that day,

thinking we would make them again for her birthday celebration. 

But after all our baking, she decided that was probably not needed! :-)

 

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Here are some pictures of all the sweets we've made recently . . .

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The following five photos were of desserts made for the dessert competition at the WPC Heritage Weekend conference in Vancouver.

Caroline's Caramel Milky Way Bars
They won second place!!!

Valerie made these Fudgy Reeses Bars

Our special sugar cookies!



Valerie's special peach pie!



Victoria's beautiful pumpkin roll!
She also made the most amazing apple spice muffins with sea salt carmel topping.
But they needed to be somewhat assembled once we got there,
so we missed getting a photo of them!

This counter full of goodies were made for a Family Fun Harvest Party at church.
They were part of a raffle that benefited Richie and Lydia's adoption fund!

 And then today,
we took these goodies over to a dear friend's house who was also hosting a fund-raiser for Richie and Lydia.

 

This picture below was taken today at the Christmas décor/egg-nog latte and baked goods sale

(by donations)

that our friend hosted.  Thanks SOOOOOOOO much, Brooks!!!!
What a very special blessing!