25 Questions with Evie and Norah

We returned from Florida early Saturday morning. Our girls spent a week at the grandparent's house. All our worries about them missing us too much were for naught! We had a good time enjoying warm weather. Justin sort of had to drag me onto the plane back to Alaska. This woman was made for sunshine. :) We got to take a short boat tour of part of the Everglades...it was awesome to see the wildlife and experience a climate I'd never been to before!

 

We came home to a little bit of snow (finally!) and it feels like Christmas! This picture's a little blurry but I always enjoy watching Justin put the lights on the tree. We like finding Charlie Brown-esque trees from the woods around camp. It's always an exciting hunt to find one with just the right amount of character!

Back to Florida because my photos loaded out of order and I am technology deficient. This is a happy little boy eating his chocolate at the marina. We had just spotted a crocodile sunning on the boat ramp!

The girls were very excited to help decorate for Christmas. They got to fill their own side of the back doors with window stickies. 

I love how the gap from her two missing teeth on bottom is visible even from this far away!

Camp is staying pretty busy despite it being the holiday season. There are lots of upcoming family getaways and groups coming through this month. Dusk is falling at about 3:30pm and it's dark by 4:00. This is the time of year I really struggle with living in Alaska (more specifically, living in the mountains, which block even more sun) so it's very healthy for me to be able to get out of state once in a while and I am very thankful that I was able to!
All three of our kids are down with a stomach bug right now and I am only praying I don't come down with it until the little ones feel better and I am caught up on laundry and disinfecting everything! Growing up, my mother never caught the stomach bug when we kids did so I have decided it's very unfair that I always end up getting it along with the kids. ;) Justin is the one in our family with the iron immune system! At least we should all be better by the time the Grandparents come from Minnesota for Christmas. The girls are eagerly anticipating their arrival and they already have some fun things planned!

I wanted to share something precious: Yesterday morning, Evie asked me, "Mom, can you be rich in something besides money?" I asked her what exactly she meant and she said, "Well, we have a lot of toys. Does that mean we're rich in toys?" I replied yes and she began to list all the things we are 'rich' in. I love her perspective and her heart, and how she cultivates that heart of gratitude from such a pure, childish point of view. It was so valuable for me to hear her words as well, since at this time of year I can easily make my goal for everybody to get everything they want as far as presents and the whole Christmas 'experience'. She reminded me that I don't need to worry or stress about budget and material things for Christmas because we are already rich in so many, many ways! She concluded our little conversation by saying "Wow, we're really rich, aren't we?" Sometimes I am the student and she is my teacher. :)

Last year I did an interview with Evie and Norah that I enjoyed so much and found so amusing I wanted to make it a tradition (at least till they're a little older). So here are this year's 25 Questions with Evie and Norah!
(if you want to read last years' interviews and see how their answers have changed, here is 2013's: http://hostettersatvictory.blogspot.com/2013_12_01_archive.html )

Evie's Interview

1. How old are you? 6. 
2. What makes you happy?A hug from my parents.
3. What makes you sad? When I'm sick.
4. What makes you laugh? A trampoline. It's so much fun. I laugh at fun things.
5. What do you like to draw? I love to draw elephants, and other animals.
6. How old is Mommy? 27.
7. How old is Daddy? 32.
8. What is your favorite thing to do? Have a friend over, and they stay all day.
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a schoolteacher.
10. What are you really good at? Ballet.
11. What is your favorite food? I don't have one yet.
12. What is your favorite Christmas song? Away in a Manger.
13. What do you hope you get for Christmas? I hope I get like an Elsa and Anna house. And there's Elsa and Anna and a bunch of furniture. And Kristoff, and Hans...
14. What does Daddy do for work? He probably writes stuff on papers and does stuff on laptops.
15. What does Mommy do for work? Take care of the kids.
16. Do you know why we have Christmas? 'Cause Jesus was born.
17. Where do you live? In Victory Bible Camp.
18. Where is your favorite place to go? Disneyland!! Well, I want to go there. So that would be my favorite place in the world to go.
19. What are you going to do on Christmas? Spend time with family.
20. Who are your friends? Lucy, Alison, Taylor, Raeghan, Makayla, Kannika, Elizabeth, and I have one more...what's her name? Darci.
21. What is your favorite thing about bathtime? Getting wet.
22. What are your favorite books? A Frozen book.
23. What is something that Mommy always says to you? Turn that frown upside down.
24. What is something that Daddy always says to you? I'll see you after work.
25. What is love? Um, it's when you like to do the same things. And you just really like each other.


                                        Norah's Interview
1. How old are you? 3.
2. What makes you happy? That I would get an Elsa doll.
3. What makes you sad? That Grady hits me with a super hard thing.
4. What makes you laugh? When Daddy tickles me. Then I laugh like this: (proceeds to giggle)
5. What do you like to draw? Pretty princesses.
6. How old is Mommy? 27. And Daddy's 28. Is Daddy 28?
7. How old is Daddy? 28.
8. What is your favorite thing to do? Feed the cats cat treats.
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? A chef. I would cook food you like, and Evie likes. Like sausage, and beans.
10. What are you really good at? Well, painting pumpkins. Really good at painting pumpkins.
11. What is your favorite food? Jello.
12. What is your favorite Christmas song? Jingle Bells. I like Away in a Manger too, but I like Jingle Bells a little better.
13. What do you hope you get for Christmas? Well...a Frozen set, and it's like Elsa and Anna and they have their own castles with lots of furniture...(describes everything in detail)
14. What does Daddy do for work? I forget.
15. What does Mommy do for work? I don't know.
16. Do you know why we have Christmas? Christmas lights.
17. Where do you live? Camp. And we do live in camp!!
18. Where is your favorite place to go? Lucy's house.
19. What are you going to do on Christmas? Open presents.
20. Who are your friends? Lucy, Makayla, Alison, Kannika, Darci, Raeghan and Raylee.
21. What is your favorite thing about bathtime? Playing with the toys.
22. What are your favorite books? I have a Frozen coloring book. And You Choose!
23. What is something that Mommy always says to you? Do chores.
24. What is something that Daddy always says to you? We're going to go to Disneyland someday.
25. What is love? Kissing and hugging. Now can I have chocolate chips?