A Wonderful Visit

Some of the highlights of each year are visits with family and friends who live far away. Over a year ago one of my closest friends moved to Utah and I have truly, truly missed her. Her husband Josh has made it back to Maryland for a few visits due to work so I suggested to her that the next time he came out she needed to come with him. Yippee yay, she finally made it out here in November! Although she was only here a few days we managed to spend some quality time together, going to lunch a few times, shopping, and a couples dinner date. 

Lunch with friends!

My sweet, wonderful friend Lenae!

I can't wait for our next visit! 

Soccer Comes to an End

  It's always so hard to say goodbye to outdoor soccer because we absolutely love, love, love watching our kids play! Noah's last game of the season was probably the most exciting. His team ended up down 4-0 but rallied in the second half to end the game with a tie with one of those important goals coming from our No.

A nice throw in.

Gearing up for a big kick with that left foot of his.

One last tunnel! Check out Noah crawling his way through.

Receiving his trophy.

The Blue Tornadoes!

What a cute little soccer player!

Xander's team also had a great last game and ended up with a win which placed them in third for their league. Not too bad for their first year together!

In his final few games the coach had him play defense with the option to attack and score. Unfortunately Xander wasn't able to put any in the goal but he sure kept a lot of goals from being scored.

Hanging out with his team at the year-end team party. What a fun evening! We even ran into his old rec soccer coach who was wondering what had happened to Xander this season and wasn't too happy to see that he had lost Xander to a travel team.

Really kind words about Xander from Coach Kevin.

Another trophy to add to his growing collection.

Savannah's outdoor season ended with a tournament up in Pennsylvania on what could easily be called the coldest day of the century. We always have to be at her games 45 minutes early and about 10 minutes before her game had even started Noah was crying, begging us to take him home. We bundled up as best we could but we were so not prepared for the frigid cold.

I seriously do not know how Savannah survived playing in the cold. She refuses to wear leggings because she hates extra clothes on while she plays. Crazy!

They split their games, winning 1 and losing the other. They were guaranteed a game on Sunday but, due to the cold, the tournament was cancelled on Sunday. Yes, it was that cold! So, outdoor soccer is finished but our soccer lives continue with indoor! Soccer is never officially over for the Pierces!

Uncle Bryan

My brother Bryan was presenting a paper in North Carolina and decided, since he was only a few hours away, that he would drive up to visit us. We were so excited to have him here, even if it was only for a few days. My kids love their "funny Uncle Bryan", as they like to refer to him, especially little No.

Bryan got here on Friday and then all of Saturday was spent going from soccer game to soccer game. It was the one Saturday the entire season that the kids didn't have any conflicting games so Bryan was able to watch all of them play!

The weekend went by way too fast but we soaked up all the time we could with Uncle Bryan. We talked about so many different things, laughed, played, watched movies, and just enjoyed having him here and the fun and laughter he always brings with him. All too soon it was Monday morning and time to say goodbye. The kids enjoyed some last silly moments with him.

Serious.

Silly.

Sad.

Mad.

Surprised!

Excited!

Just plain cute.

One last hug, sniff, sniff.

He's planning on visiting us again in March and we can't wait!

Halloween Festivities!

Halloween is one of our family's favorite times of the year! We always have lots of fun festivities to keep us busy during the month of October. One of those activities was our ward's Trunk or Treat. This year Noah was a ninja;

Savannah and her best friend Celine were fanatical 49ers fans (Savannah didn't really have to try hard for this one);

and Xander was an evil jester. Xander was a little bummed about not being able to wear his skeleton mask to the Trunk or Treat but I think David did a good job on his face paint.

I had no idea what I wanted to be but at the last minute I threw on the Medusa costume I had borrowed from my sister several years ago and have never returned. (Yes, I'm a bad sister.)

Once we got to church, we roamed around, looking at all the great costumes. I love that the people in our ward, including the adults, really get into the Halloween spirit. I see some of the best and most creative costumes at this event. Some of my favorites this year included characters from The Princess Bride, the Fragile Box along with the Christmas leg lamp from the movie The Christmas Story, and Little Red Riding Hood accompanied by her husband dressed as the wolf disguised in granny's clothes.
Hanging with friends!

This year I made Halloween sugar cookies for the women I visit teach and I roped the kids into helping me decorate them, the part that I like doing the least. They did a great job! I only had to remind Noah a few times that once he licked a knife he could no longer use it. No worries, I kept his cookies out of the plates I gave away.

Carving pumpkins! We barely made this year, carving them on Halloween afternoon and getting them on the front porch just as the first trick-or-treaters were coming by.

What is becoming a tradition - a tasty Halloween themed dinner!

Getting ready to head out and get some candy!! Thank goodness the evening was warm and the kids didn't even need jackets. Love when the weather cooperates! Notice Xander's cool skeleton mask!

Xander got TONS of compliments on his costume! I must agree, it was pretty cool. What wasn't as cool was the $16 jester stick he talked me into buying at the costume store because it was essential to his costume and then was subsequently left at home because he didn't want to carry it. Nice!

This was the first year that Savannah got to go out on her own with her friend Celine. We live in a very safe neighborhood but a parent always worries. But they had a great time together, covered A LOT of ground, and came home on time and with a full bag. David escorted the boys around leaving me to hand out candy. I loved it and think we'll stick to the same plan next year.

Savannah's puking pumpkin that got a lot of comments. I told all the little kids who mentioned it to me that that's what happens when you eat too much candy.

When Noah got home he quickly took over my handing-out-candy responsibilities.

The kids always spend lots of time sorting and trading candy. David was there to sample the goods...I mean he was there to "supervise".