Dear Santa,

We want to make sure that you know that we will not be in Pennsylvania for Christmas this year. We will be happily visiting our families in Utah. We will be at Aunt Megan's house, so if you think we've been GOOD, visit us there; if we've been BAD, you can leave the coal out on the porch in Pennsylvania.

                           With Love,

                                  The Henrie's

xoxoxoxxoxooxoxxo

Won't You be My Neighbor

This last weekend we had the opportunity to go down to our local public television station, WQED, and see something quite historic. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the fist airing of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. This program was taped here in Pittsburgh in Studio A (now named after Fred Rogers) of WQED, the first community-sponcered television station in America. We were able to tour the Neighborhood-of-Makebelieve in the studio where it was taped. It was very nostalgic to say the least! Each of the props were there (except for Daniel Tiger's Clock, which is on permanent display at St. Vincet College where Kam goes to school) as well as some of the puppets. We also go to meet Mr. McFeely! We got his autograph and a picture with him as well as some freebies including one of Mr. Roger's books. I wasn't sure if Braden would like going but he now asks to watch Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and talks about it all the time. His favorite part was the Fred Roger's Dinosaur outside of the Station (he's really into dino's right now). I am so glad we had this opportunity and wish you all could have been with us.

Fred "Dino" Rogers

Grandpere's Eiffel Tower

King Friday the XIII's Castle and the Neighborhood Trolley

Cornflake S. Pecially's "Rockit" Factory

"X" the Owl and Henrietta Pussycat's Tree

Lady Elaine Fairchilde's Museum-go-Round

Replica of Daniel Tiger's Clock

"Speedy Delivery"

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe you're 30! I am amazed by you everyday. Your dedication to us your family and your drive to do all you can to provide something better for us truly shows your love for us. I love you so much. You are my best friend in the whole world. I love you not only because you love me but because you do everything you can to make me happy, putting the "us" before the "me!" I hope your day is special and I really hope I don't ruin the cheesecake! Happy Birthday to YOU!

Getting Crafty

While here in PA I have been attempting to find ways to keep myself busy so that I don't let the homesickness get the best of me. Janey and I have been planning all sorts of projects to do. These are just a taste of some of the projects we have been working on:

Towel Hooks for the Bathroom:

I found these at Ross for super cheep. The tile in the middle was originally an ugly picture, so I just took some paper and modg-poged it over the tile to make it match my decor.

Shower Curtain:

I saw this shower curtain at one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie. I was in love at first sight but knew I couldn't afford the $100 price tag. I made this replica for less than $20 and a lot of time with my sewing machine. I am so happy with how it turned out. 

Miss-Matched Ruffled Apron:

These were made by a friend of Heidi's to be worn at a "Stories-by-Me" booth at Swiss Days a couple years ago. I made some last year but gave them all away at Christmas. I had shown the idea to Janey and she couldn't wait to make one of her own. I made this one for me! 

Super-Hero Cape:
This is another copy-cat idea. My mom had made one of these for my brother when he was little. She had pulled them out for Braden to play with before we moved out here. I decided to make Braden and Carter their own. It was a little difficult to get the sizing right, but we finished with an awesome Dress-Up for Brady. He loves it!

Curtains:
I still haven't decided if I like them ruffled or not but I love the fact that I made 7 valences for less than $15 and even have lots of left-over fabric. Thank you Walmart for the super cheep, super cute fabric!

I cannot wait for the next wave of projects that Janey and I have in store!

It's Lots of Fun on Halloween

We had a great first Halloween in Pennsylvania! Braden was very excited and couldn't wait for all the festivities. Being in Primary, we planned a Primary Halloween party that took place the week before. At the party we broke the kids up into two groups, older kids and younger kids, and had them rotate activities. We sang songs, read a scary story, did the Monster Mash, made fences with pumpkins on them, played relay games, dressed up like mummies, and ate a fun lunch of corn dogs, cheese cubes and cup-cakes! I was completely worn out after it all, but the kids all had a great time. Braden loved getting to play with the bigger kids and his favorite part was when at the end of the scary story a scarecrow jumped out from behind a curtain. I was a little nervous that he wouldn't like the scare but it turned out the only one who didn't like it was Bro. Phetsomphou's (our primay president's husband) daughter, and he was the one all dressed up!

During the week of Halloween we carved our pumpkins and Braden had a fun Halloween Party at his Library Reading School. He got to wear his costume and they read Halloween stories and the kids got to make a scarecrow and a bat. On Halloween day I went to get Braden in his costume but he got really upset and told me he did not want to be a pirate and wanted to be a "super-hero and slay the dragon" instead. I wanted him to wear his pirate costume that I bought for him so told him that he could be a "super-hero-pirate" and could slay the dragon with his pirate sword. Luckily he decided this would be okay and he finally got in his costume. That evening we got together with the Bloomfields and ate chili in bread-bowls, made sugar cookies, painted Halloween pictures and of course went Trick-or-Treating! Braden and Colter has a blast. We just went around part of our little neighborhood and still managed to bring home bursting bags of Halloween Candy. Our Pittsburgh friends really go all out here. Most everyone was out in their driveways just waiting for us to come and instead of just a little treat, they would give out either full sized candy bars or handfuls of candy! One lady even came down the hill to pass out her candy because most of the trick-or-treaters bypassed her house, not wanting to go up the hill! We have several older couples who live in our neighborhood and they all just loved to see these little ones say "trick-or-treat" with bright smiles. I was so proud of Braden who not only thanked everyone who gave him candy but also wished them all a "Happy Halloween!" I am already looking forward to another fun adventure next year!

Pumpkin Carving

Getting out the Guts!

My Two Boys!

"Arrrgh!"

Braden wanted his pumpkin to be a scary monster and

we made Carter's to look like him, with two little teethers!

Braden has been so good at drawling lately.

This is a Ghost that he drew for Halloween!