Pikes Place Market!

On our first full day in town, we decided to go down to the water front in Seattle and see Pikes Place Market.  Which is an Amazing place!! Shops galore! Seafood so BIG it made your mouth water.. and fun leaking out of every crevice!  The girls Loved seeing it all, and we can;t wait to go back!

A Special Place to Visit

 Taylor, Arizona is home to Mommy's very favorite author and friend James A. Owen.
Knowing we were embarking on a cross-country move, he invited us to spend the day with him.
Mommy and Aunt Laura had a full tour earlier in the day that was indeed emotional for this lady, visiting Coppervale Studio, a 14,000 square foot former church turned Amazing center for Art and all things books.
 But after pizza and trick or treating, we stopped back at Coppervale to see the fun things only able to be seen at night.  Like a lit up stage that now appears to hold the whole of the universe.

The staircase leading up to the second and main studio spaces is a beautiful spiral covered in memorabilia (the Actual Templar tomb slate from Indiana Jones! "Haunted" photos.. just to name two. )
It was the exact place where, just hours before, I couldnt help the tears that spilled when I saw it with my own eyes.

In a rare photo of the bloggess, I'm standing in the reception room, where all of the foreign editions of James's books are proudly displayed.  Along with gorgeous models of his characters and books and magazines that just YEARN to be picked up and read... I could have lived happily in that room for weeks.

Halloween in Taylor, Arizona

Ashleigh wanted to be a "nice devil" and Sydney, Merida from Disney's Brave.  They had tons of fun Trick-or-Treating this year in a new city complete with new friends.

Going from house to house in a small town where everyone was known was really a lot of fun.  The girls had a blast.

The Nice Devil takes a pause in the candy action.

Merida loving her dress, and all the loot in her bucket.

They came away big winners.. buckets FULL of candy, popcorn, games and toys.  Visits where there was fresh apple cider, hot chocolate and bonfires.  Best Halloween ever, I think.  :)

Time for a Halloween Party!!

 The Devil Cheerleader

 Princess Merida

And together!  They LOVE their costumes this year.. Sydney especially loves her hair.  She's made sure to tell me several times that Merida doesn't comb her hair, and she's a princess..  And even though we're moving in less than two weeks, they get to wear their costumes and enjoy the festivities up to four times this year, including on Halloween itself.  :)

Sports Stars

 Before this weekend's belt ceremony, Ashleigh, her fellow leadership classmates, and another nearby taekwondo school's leadership group came to have a class with visiting Chief Master M.K. Lee.  She Loved it.

 He was pleased with her stance, and even more excited when he signed her belt, next to the Grand Master's name.

 Sydney's been loving her soccer camp Wednesdays.

 Been working hard on coordination and control, but most of all having fun playing games and learning good soccer skills.

And I think you can tell by that smile just how much fun it is.

School Spirit Week

 I tried loading this up on Friday, but for some reason, I was only getting half of each image to show.  And today, they work.. go figure.
So, anyway, school spirit week leading up to the walk-a-thon on Friday.  Each day, they got to dress up in fun ways leading up to Friday's big day.  Here is the bus stop gang of kids on "Dress Silly" day.  Our girls took that to mean, you didn't have to match, so un-matching they went!

Thursday was jersey day.  Daddy couldn't have been happier when he saw this one.  :)

A Special Training Class

 We drove into Evansville, Indiana for a tournament this weekend. And came early so that Ashleigh could train with a special guest: Grand Master In Ho Lee.  She said it was a fantastic night!

 There she is, right behind the Grand Master.

 After their hour long class, the group got together for a picture.

And then she got to have a moment all to herself!  The Awesome thing?  She was the FIRST to bow to him during these one on one moments, and he was pleased!  Bet everyone followed suit then!

Posing for the Camera

 A birthday party at a designer hair salon.. this is what you get.

 Silly faces with adorable hairdos.  :)

 With fairy wings to boot.

 Pretty soon, her hair's going to be a gorgeous length.  Let's just hope she lets me put ponies in it that actually stay.

 This past weekend, Daddy got to have some of his friends visit.  It was a great opportunity for Mommy to get some long awaited photos. Sydney's with Marc, her God-Father.

And Ashleigh with Craig, Daddy's best friend, and her God-Father.

Cuteness

 Somebody will be getting reading glasses within the next week.  Her eyes, so surprisingly, are like her Daddy's.

And somebody else wore her hair in pig tails the other day... at least long enough that we got a really cute picture anyway.