Thanksgiving

The kids and I had Thanksgiving lunch with Luke's school. They provided the turkey (yes, real turkey!) and all the fixings.

After trying to get my very picky eaters to feast on the food, I finally gave up and headed to the playground. Luke created a new way of using the swings. Take a look!

After the kids played for awhile, we went home to get ready for our Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up losing power that afternoon while I was preparing dinner. However because we have a gas stove, I was able to get everything prepared. Most days I curse our little oven, but now I have to change my tune. I am grateful for the small gas oven we have and that I can still prepare food for our family when the power goes out. (As a side note, we lost power 3 times last week for several hours at a time. I am getting pretty good at cooking by candlelight.)

Our Thanksgiving dinner guests were the Lynn family, Adrian, Matt, Tom and our little family gathered together. Susan helped provide the stuffing, grilled chicken, gravy and pineapple upside down cake. Adrian brought his awesome mashed potatoes and I cooked the fried chicken (it's Great Grandma Fife's fried turkey recipe just with chicken), sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, rolls and pumpkin pie. It was truly a feast!

I just wanted to thank all the moms and grandmas out there in our lives that have worked so hard over the years to provide Thanksgiving feasts. I had no idea you worked so hard! Between trying to plan everything just right so that all dishes are warm and then the clean-up, this is a meal that requires so much work. Thank you all for making all of our past Thanksgivings so wonderful.

We are so grateful for all our family and friends. We have been so blessed as a family this past year and our hearts are full of gratitude for all that we have received. Our time in Dominica has opened our eyes as to how rich we really are in blessings and for that I am most grateful.

Luke's last Basket Ceremony

Now that we are getting close to the end of the semester, Luke's school held their Basket Ceremony as a way to honor all the departing students. Luke's teacher Mrs. Cool's told everyone how Luke was so quiet when he started in September. Now she can't get him to be quiet. She said that she has learned so much about Superman, Spiderman, Batman and all kinds of Super Heroes from Luke. She then gave him Superman farewell cards that his classmates signed as well as a basket handmade from the local Carib people.

After the ceremony, we all enjoyed treats. Here's Luke at his table in his classroom eating his snacks. Luke is one of two boys in his class. I hear lots about these little girls that are at his table.

Luke on his 3rd brownie. He loves brownies!

This is the principal- Ms. Mary Grogan. She is so involved in all the classrooms and we have been very fortunate to have her here.

I just loved this shot of Luke talking with Aspen. I thought he looked so sweet in this shot.

Spidey Web Time

Time to try out the new Spiderman web shooter! Can you see the mess it caused on the ceiling?

We decided to take the web slinging outside in order to spare me the extra cleaning work.

Here I am practicing my web shooting skills....I need a little more work, wouldn't you say?
Luke getting all geared up!

Spider-Daddy

Treats from Grandma & Grandpa

Is it Christmas already? We received a package from Grandpa and Grandma with Luke's belated birthday gifts and Halloween chocolaty goodness inside. Luke got a Spiderman mask, web shooter/water blaster, Dallas Dog book, Neighborhood sounds BINGO game and Miriam got the cutest outfit. There were also some Halloween crafts inside that the kids loved making. My kids are so crafty these days!

Here's Luke studying the Spiderman brochure with all the extra Spiderman merchandise that you can buy. He thought the brochure was as cool as the actual gift. He kept it close to him for several days and would tell us which item he wanted most.

Miriam was so happy to see a book with Molly in it. She loved pushing the button and hearing the barking sounds.

"Yes Daddy that is a cool card, but what else is in the box?"

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for thinking of us! We loved everything inside!

A little clarification...

So I think we have sufficiently confused everyone as to where we will be living and for how long. Here is the breakdown of the next two years of our lives:

1-Morgan will have completed his first two years of medical school in December. We are leaving Dominica on December 20th to spend Christmas with the Lewis family in North Carolina. We will not be returning to Dominica. Our time here will be OVER! :) Some time after New Year's we will drive down to our new temporary home in Miami.

2- Morgan will begin his pre-clinicals in Miami. A few months ago we were planning on staying in Dominica for this but two weeks cooped up in the apartment with sick kids and water outages just about drove me over the edge. We will be in Miami till the middle of April and then begin our exodus across the United States and back to Washington.

3- Morgan has to take one of the most important tests in his medical school career in May of 2009- the STEP. After he passes the STEP he will then be able to audition at hospital sites for where we will spend the next 2 years of our lives. Rotations may start as early as July but can also start in the fall. We could be anywhere in the United States for this 2 year period. We don't know how long we will be in WA but Morgan's parents have agreed to let us live in their home until Morgan's rotations assignment comes through. We are excited to be around our WA family and friends again during this time.

I think that is the breakdown of our lives for the most part...or at least to my understanding of it. I basically go where the man goes and bring the kids along for the ride. One of these years we won't be nomadic and actually plant some roots. But for now, we just go where we have to in order to help Morgan realize his dream of becoming an MD. Hang on tight and enjoy our adventures through the blog!

Morgan watches a priceless argument between Kristin and Luke

Luke: Hey Mom, why are you putting those toys away?
Kristin: We're going to play with them after we move to Miami.
Luke: We're moving to Your-ami?
Kristin: Not Your-ami Luke, MY-ami.
Luke: Your Ami
Kristin: No, It's MY-ami Luke, not Your ami.
Luke: It's your Ami Momma.
Kristin: We're moving to Miami. It's where the Disney Princesses and the Incredible Family live.
Luke: Hey Dad! Do you want to put your shoes on so we can go to Momma's Ami? It's where the princesses and the Incredible Family live.
Morgan: Don't you mean Miami?
Luke: No Dad, not your Ami, Momma's Ami!
Morgan: [To Kristin] You just should have said Florida.

Halloween

Happy Halloween! My children have been looking forward to Halloween all month! Finally the big day arrived and off we went to the branch Halloween Party. Luke decided to dress up as Superman and Miriam was a Princess.

The children decorated ghost and pumpkin cookies.

"It's more fun to eat them than decorate."
"My Masterpieces."


Luke was very meticulous in his decorating.

Luke loved the fishing game. Miriam needed a little help and Super Luke came to the rescue!

The Portsmouth Branch Primary children

The children also played drop the clothespin in the bucket. They first had to touch the pin to their nose and drop it from there. Miriam had the best time with this game. For some reason she thought it was so great to have the pin touch your nose. She made all 3 pins into the bucket!

Luke's turn

The Roy family dressed as a rainbow. Each child wore a color of the rainbow and so did Jacquelle! What a creative idea! Now I just need 3 more kids in order to pull this one off in the future...

One of the games was the "Freeze Dance." I was so surprised to see Luke really get into this game. He danced all over ... he wasn't so good at freezing for longer than 10 seconds, but he really tried.

Occasionally a balloon would pop and send Miriam into scowl mood. Check out her latest facial expression...(she does this A LOT at home)

Luke used this orange balloon as a bat and created his own baseball game. He had a blast hitting balloons all over the room.

Princess Miriam

Super Luke

"Mom...enough of the pictures!"

"Happy Halloween Everyone"