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Hello to all who are still checking in on us. We've been super busy leaving little time (and energy) for Blogging. Now, where to start... Molly and Aidan turned 3 at the end of October. So hard to believe they are 3. People are forever remarking how quickly time flies as your children grow and man are they spot on. What an amazing age. Everything is a wonder. Their imaginations are in high gear and they are fascinating to watch. Aidan continues to refine his train drawings and has started to write letters. He also can write his own name. Molly and Aidan are babies no more. They are really neat little people. We celebrated their birthdays with a family party with all the trimmings including one Thomas and one Princess cake. The kids were showered with gifts and lots of love.



Molly and Aidan had their 3 year well exams and both are healthy and growing like weeds. Molly is in the 75-95th percentile for height and weight. Aidan is in the 75-95th percentile for height and 25th for weight. The Kazakh man is lean and mean. We had been practicing what to expect at the doctor's office with Molly and Aidan's toy doctor's kits and the doctor chuckled when the kids said ah before she even had to ask. I told Molly and Aidan that they would probably get a needle at the doctor's and they both received two. There were tears but cool band aides and lollipops helped to lessen the sting.

Pat has been doing a bit of traveling so one of the weeks he was away we headed to VA to visit Aunt Barbara and Uncle Charlie. This trip I left the pack-n-plays home and brought Molly and Aidan's kiddie-sized blow up beds. We set them up in the same room the first night. DUH. Do you really expect two three year olds to stay in their beds? There was much hilarity despite multiple visits and request to stay in bed by all three adults. On occasion Uncle Charlie saw two faces peeking out of the door (which was quickly shut when they spotted him). Charlie opened the door to find two kids in bed. When he asked "what are you doing?" they replied "sleeping". After two hours of partying Molly and Aidan finally fell asleep. It was funny but not conducive to a good nights sleep for anyone. We put them in separate rooms for the remainder of our stay and that worked out much better.



November 18th marked the arrival of Torin Daniel Evans, my niece Kristen and her husband Russell's new baby boy. I had the honor of being present at his birth. Kristen did wonderfully and when it was time to deliver she pushed the boy out in about 20 minutes. A beautiful, healthy baby with a full head of wavy black hair. Hearing his first cry was amazing. Torin is doing well and the new parents are happy and exhausted.

In other exciting news, our dear friends Bob and Beth welcomed home from Guatemala their daughter, Grace. They're getting settled in (including big brother Nicholas) and we can't wait to finally meet her.

Holiday preparations are underway and the kids are having a blast. This is going to be one magical Christmas. We've seen Santa several times already. Aidan leaps on his lap ready to chat and recite his wish list. It's hit or miss for Molly. Pat think the length of Santa's beard is a factor. The longer the beard the scarier the Santa. She's doing better than last year and actually sat on his lap on two occasions. Rudolph, Frosty, and as they call him, The Little Boy Who Drums are big, big hits. Their not big fans of the Bumble or the Winter Warlock as one might imagine.

Mo and Pop Pop arrived at lunch time on Sunday to baby sit while Pat and I did some shopping. Molly was headed to the potty as we were leaving when we heard her begin to wail. I thought she must have seen a spider in the bathroom as she did once before. I peek my head around the corner to see two little feet wiggling up from the toilet seat. The poor girl sat back too far and dunked herself in the toilet. Mo quickly rescued her and she doesn't seem to show any lingering effects.

Other than that it's been the normal whirlwind of life with our two 3 year olds.