Ammon

Hey Lindgrens!

Ammon here reporting from a damp and cold November in Seattle. Things are going well for the Gilberts and it has been quite the busy last couple of months. Finn and Harper are doing great--Harper is getting more and more teeth everyday it seems like and she's about 2 seconds away from walking around on both feet. She's taken up to four steps but still prefers the method of crawling for her main form of transportation (so much faster than stepping at this point). She also LOVES to eat and will pretty each eat and try everything and anything you put in front of her. Her hair is growing in super curly and much darker than her brother's, it's just a matter of time before she's in pigtails, I'm sure of it.

Finn is back in preschool and enjoying every second of it. He's still into trains and firetrucks and superheroes and watching cartoons. He's also getting pretty savy on his Skoot Bike (a bike without a pedals), so much so that we have to run after him just to keep up. He's really good and talking and communicating what he wants and what he doesn't want and he loves to talk about his day and all the fun adventures he's had at the dinnertable.

At the beginning of October we piled the kids in the car, picked up Mom and Steve at the airport, and headed down to Great Wolf Lodge, a waterpark resort of sorts for kiddos. We went to celebrate Finn's 3rd birthday and boy did we have fun! Along with fun in the water, our room was like a giant wolf cave and there was even an arcade which sucked both his parents and him in. Even Harper had fun playing in the water in the kiddie-pool area. To top it off, we had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and Finn got an exploding volcano cake--he was in heaven.

October also consisted of pumpkin patches (we hit up the same one Angela and I got engaged at) and a Halloween party with Finn and his preschool buddies and their families. Angela went all out and made our house the coolest Halloween-savy house in the neighborhood, busting out all kinds of crafty Halloween fun for all to enjoy. We then went Trick or Treating and Finn came away with more candy than any of his other friends. Don't know how, but the kid has a knack for scoring candy. Harper also go in the candy spirit and ate her way through the wrappers of a Reeses Pieces Peanut Butter Cup, a Heath bar, and chowed down about 5 or 6 candy corns--all while we weren't looking. What can I say--she LOVES to eat!

For Halloween, Finn was Buzz Lightyear... and a Zoo Keeper... and Wonder Woman... and Peter Pan. The kid loves dressing up so he had a new costume for all the various Halloween events throughout the month. His favorite was Wonder Woman though--just don't call him Super Girl. He'll be quick to correct you. Harper was also Wonder Woman--and Tinkerbell. Halloween night I was Captain Hook, Finn was Peter Pan, Harper was Tinkerbell, and Angela was Wendy. We had quite the theme going for ourselves this year.

I'm "gowing" a mustache for Movember, it's a charity thing, but also just an excuse to grow a mustache. This year I thought I'd be old enough to actually grow facial hair but as we're 2 weeks into it and it's slightly more than fuzz, I'm thinking it's not gonna really happen. Maybe once I hit 30....

Work is going great for me, I really dig working at Microsoft--except for the commute, especially now that it gets dark by 5 o'clock. But I enjoy what I do now so I can't really complain.

We can't wait for the holiday season to kick-off--it's gonna be a busy next couple of months but we'll have fun (as usual). Looking forward to hearing your stories and adventures!

Love, The Gilberts (Ammon, Angela, Finn, Harper)