Chiefs game

Since we moved to Washington, Ben has been waiting for the Kansas City Chiefs to play the seahawks so he could see his favorite team play live. They finally came, and Ben just HAD to get tickets. I think he bought them as soon as they were available. We were in the front row, on the 40 yard line, right behind the chiefs bench. It was more fun than I thought it would be. I imagined it to be a cross between the many BYU games I've been to, and a mariners game. (both of which are plenty of fun). But this game was way better. It was a long walk into the stadium, being heckled and booed by all the seahawks fans. Ben only felt the need to say something back once, when someone yelled, "Joe Montana sucks!" He just couldn't let that one slide without defending Joe. But walking back to the car after our big win, we did not get heckled or booed even once.

Ben enjoying his birthday/christmas present! This was at the beginning before all the excitement really started up. We were sitting by a lot of other KC fans, which made it more fun. There were a few seattle fans near us, but they stayed pretty quiet.

this picture shows how close we really were to the players. They could hear us yelling things, and got more into it toward the end when the game was in the bag.

Bowe is one of Ben's favorite players. He had a really good game.

Touchdown!

Lots of Seahawks fans in the first quarter...

not so many left by the 4th. This ended up being the final score.

I was wearing Ken Dorsey's jersey. (well, a pink version of it). I made sure he saw, and he smiled and thumped his chest at me.

another W for the KC chiefs!

a fun day without the kids. Ben said he didn't think about them once while we were there. I did, of course, but I knew they were okay at home with Papa, and Jason and Lisa. This is the longest they've ever been left with babysitters. but it was worth it.

Kiersten loved having Papa around. She is very sad today that he is gone. When I was taking Kara to school, she told Kara's teacher that Papa went home on the airplane, and Daddy was gone to work. Then she started crying.

The girls sure loved having Lisa and Jason around as well. They played games, and Kara showed off her scrapbook.

now it's time to get back to regular life. (at least for a few weeks until Christmas!)

thanksgiving and zoolights

We decided to have our thanksgiving dinner on saturday this year, so we could have it when Ben's dad was here. So thursday, we just relaxed. Ben had wednesday and thursday off, so he was able to help with the girls and other things around the house. thursday night, Kiersten went to bed early, so Kara got to help make a biscuit wreath. I saw something similar on food network, so I just did a simplified, more kid friendly version. Ben helped us get started. Here she is cutting out the leaves with cookie cutters.

the finished wreath.

the girls were able to easily rip up the vinyl I used to cover the stools. so I bought some fabric for outdoor funriture. It is not rippable, but still washable, so hopefully this will last longer.

Ben worked friday, and took Kara with him, so Kiersten got to spend the day helping me get things ready. Ben needed to leave by 9, so I had to get all the christmas shopping done by 8. I got most of what we needed. So I will have lots of wrapping to keep me busy. Here is kiersten after eating a treat she got for being so helpful with cleaning.

She loved helping me bake. Here she is smashing crackers for a cheesecake crust.

and here she is helping me with pumpkin pie.

smelling the baked pie. When she woke up this morning she asked if she could have some for breakfast.

Ben picked up Kerry from the airport on his way home from work. The girls have been having so much fun with their Papa. Here they are doing a puzzle together.

getting ready for dinner. We like to eat ham for thanksgiving, so someone has to dress like a turkey.

the crew ready to eat. Karalee set the table. I helped her roll the napkins.

Kara and I made these place cards from ice cream cones. I wanted to fill them with candy corn, but couldn't find any, so I used runts instead. It's hard to think of ideas that will be cute, but that the kids can help with. This one was pretty successful.

full of rice cereal, and ready for a nap.

Even papa wore the turkey hat!

After dinner, we went to see the zoolights at PDZA. I love Kara's pose in this picture.

Ben spoiled the girls with these glow batons.

Kerry rode this camel with the girls. It was pretty exciting for everyone!

This tree is always purple and green. I like seeing it every year.

snow

Kiersten is so happy to have inherited Kara's old jewelry box. She is constantly taking things out to wear, and then putting them back in. And Kara has been a little obsessed with inheriting my old one. I've had this since high school, so it was time for a new one. I also had a shoe box full of necklaces, that all have a home now in my new jewelry stand. I haven't taken a picture of it yet since Ben put it together for me.

It has been snowing the past few days. The girls absolutely love it, and were excited as soon as they saw it was snowing. I am not a fan of the snow, but I tried to keep my mouth shut and just let them be happy about it. It was hard last night not to say anything, as the snow caused Ben to be stuck in traffic for hours. It took him a little more than 5 hours to get home. His drive is normally 45 minutes to an hour 10 minutes on bad days. Kiersten started crying and asking why he wasn't home yet when we ate dinner without him.

Ben played in the snow a bit with the girls on sunday. here he is kicking off his flip flops. I can't remember why that happened.

they love sliding in the snow, because they go down really fast.

yesterday it was still snowing. While Kara was at school, Kiersten really wanted to go outside, but was unwilling to wear pants. She was so stubborn, and threw a fit every time I tried to put her pants on, so she never ended up getting to go out.

Today she was more willing, because Kara was out there playing, and she got jealous. It's pretty cold, but at least the sun is shining today! I had to tell her 4 or 5 times to stop eating snow.

Kara playing soccer in the snow. she lost her boot a couple times.

Kara spent a good 5 minutes trying to make a snowball. She handed it to Kiersten, who promptly threw it back in her face.

Ben decided to go in to work today, though he thinks his appointments probably wont show up. But he can get caught up on other stuff. There don't seem to be as many cars out and about today, so hopefully he wont have such a long commute tonight. I was watching the news last night while waiting for him to get home, and they were just reporting accident after accident non stop. I remember it being the same way 2 years ago when we had snow. It seems like common sense to me that you don't speed or slam on your brakes in the snow, but I guess not everyone is aware.