As we were driving home yesterday, I noticed that Micah was being unusually quiet. I assumed that he had fallen asleep, when out of the blue he said, "Mom, we need to get builders to put wheels under our house. Then we can go everywhere, and be close to our home when it is bed time." I love how excited and proud he was of his new idea.
"When I am 100 years old, I will have white hair. I will have a cane. I will have glasses, and wrinkles. And I will have a big smile. And I will have a pet dog to guard me."
This is what my cute Nicki wrote about herself in one of her school writing assignments. It almost made my cry that even though she would be having white hair, a cane, glasses, and wrinkles, she would still have a big smile. That's my Nicki!
This is how our little man sleeps each night. He has two little bears (that he calls his babies) and he starts the evening with one bear in each arm, but when he gets ready to fall asleep he puts one on his head. He is so funny!
Yesterday we were trying to teach our kids about the first Christmas. As we were talking about Joseph and Mary and the simplicity of the first Christmas, Micah said: "Oh, ok, dad is Joseph, mom is Mary, Micah is baby Jesus." Then looking confused he turned to Kaitie and Nicki and said: "What are you?"
It was so funny to see the confusion in his face as he was trying to assimilate our family to that of Jesus. I had no idea that he was even listening. Thank goodness the girls came to the rescue. Nicki said that she was the donkey that carried Mary, and Kaitie said she was an angel.
Since Micah's hair was long enough for a ponytail, we decided it was time for him to have a big boy haircut. So here are the before and after pictures. 
Doesn't he look so good? When we got home Micah kept saying to me: Where did all of my hair go mom? Can we go and get it back in my head?
Sorry son :)
Church Christmas Party
Today we had our Christmas party at the church and I just wanted to post some pictures of the evening.
Here's my mom. She has been staying with us for the past couple of months, and I for sure do not know how I am going to let her go back to Albania in a few days. Micah and her are best buds now, so I'm sure that he will be devastated when that day comes and his "nena" won't be here to do puzzles with him all day long. 
Micah and I at the party
All of the primary aged children that were there were able to participate in the Nativity story. You can't see it well in this picture, but Nicki was the donkey that carried Mary, and Kaitie was an angel. 
After the Nativity story the kids sang a few Christmas songs, and then dinner was served. We had ham and potatoes, beans and bread rolls. It was all so delicious. 
After a few more musical numbers and dessert, it was finally time for the kids to go and see Santa. I was close enough to hear him ask each of my kids what they would like for Christmas this year. Kaitie wanted a camera, Nicki wanted five packs of gum, Micah said: anything. They sure learn fast. At least Nicki is still at the gum stage. When do they jump from that, to asking for a camera?! 
We had a great time celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and getting to know some of our church members better. I sure love this time of year!
Since I left Albania about 15 years ago, my family has had the chance to be all together (mom, dad and us two sisters) only twice. This past September was the second time, and we made it a priority to go to the Temple together and get sealed to one-another for all eternity.
My parents were so excited for this opportunity.
Love this picture of Nicki and Micah.
My parents with all of their grandkids.
Here is the forever Gremi family.
My kiddos. I love these guys to pieces!
The kids were sick of having their pictures taken, so we told them to loosen up a bit. They're all so funny!
All of us.
Rich and I were married in the Seattle Temple 10 and 1/2 years ago. It feels like it was just yesterday; I love this man!
The kids have been wanting to go to the Puyallup fair all Summer long, but since I am not into fairs (which means Rich would have to brave the day on his own), Rich put it off till the last day. Nevertheless, here they are having a great time. Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Dan decided to go along and help out, and everyone had a great time. Here are a few pictures of their fun day. 
My two favorite chicas started school, Kaitie in 4th grade and Nicki in kindergarten. Nicki was extremely excited for the first day, while Kaitie was so nervous. Rich and I felt so sad as we were watching her walk into the classroom door, knowing that she had to deal with being the new girl once more. Thankfully by the end of the day Kaitie was already in love with her new school. I sure hope we never change schools again!
Today I gave the kids each a big bowl full of edamame beans to eat for a snack, and I noticed that Micah was struggling a little with getting the beans out of the shells. I offered to help and he frantically yelled: "I do it myself, I do it myself". So I said ok and started to walk away. Just then Micah got down from his chair and ran to where I was, gave me a big hug and said: "I do it myself, but I love mom lots, ok mom, I do it myself but I love mom." Then he gave me a big kiss and went back to his chair to eat his snack.
I love how he's becoming such a nice and attentive young boy! And yes, slowly but surely he did do it himself.
We tried our hand at growing a little garden this year and we have loved every second of it. Since we're renting and cannot dig in the ground in the back yard, we just bought a few large pots and put them on our deck. The kids have had such a fun time with this mini garden. They can't wait until I wake up every morning so that we can all go out and check on the plants and see the progress that they have made. They help me water them, take care of them, and also pick and eat the goods. We have had so much fresh pesto this summer and the kids have all loved it for the first time since they were involved in growing and picking the basil for the pesto. We've also enjoyed tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and some eggplants.
Here are the kids with the pick of the day. They could barely wait for me to hurry up and take the picture just so that they could eat the tomatoes. 
Japanese eggplants are the best. They are so small and perfect for making one of my favorite dishes: stuffed eggplants. I think that next summer I might just double everything and really fill the entire little deck with vegetable pots. 
