Wow! It has been awhile since my last post. Mike is off work for a bit, so I haven't been able to sit down and write.

Ruby has been so into The Jungle Book, what a fun story and movie! She loves Baloo, she scratches her back on the wall like him. She also loves to sing all the songs throughout the day. Who knew it would be such a hit. I bid on a 40th anniversary edition and won today. Love ebay, only $7.50 for a brand new set of DVDs. Ruby will love it and it will probably be here for Christmas to open.

We went to Ephrata on Saturday to visit Mike's brother Steven's family. His son, Tyren, turned 4 this week. Ruby loved running around with them. They all dressed up in play clothes and played together, so cute. Ruby loved these little shoes and wore them almost the entire time. All the kids were all over Mike most of our visit, it was fun to see all the interaction.

We went to Old Navy yesterday, so much fun! They were having all kinds of deals. Mike found a super cute, warm coat for Elsie that matches Ruby's coat. I found a fleece and a bright green hat to wear. We are pretty much set for when snow hits. We decided to go to the mall to check out Santa, Ruby seems excited to visit with him. She really wanted to go sit on his lap, but we weren't ready quite yet. We hope to do that on Christmas Eve.

Elsie started clapping yesterday, Mike saw her. Today, she was clapping up a storm. When I would say "Clap! Clap! Clap!" she would sit back and put her hands together high in front of her head and proudly clap. So cute! It is funny to compare milestones between my girls. Ruby didn't clap until she was almost 10 months old, Elsie is only 8 1/2 months. So far they have been following the same patterns, except for sitting up and this. It will be fun to see how close they are on the ones to come!

We had a few moments of sunshine today without rain, so we hightailed it out to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge to take some family pictures. Mike set up the camera on the self-timer and we found a neat spot. We were on a bridge that Ruby loves. They turned out pretty good and I just love it out there, so gorgeous no matter where you pick to explore. Right when we got back into the car, it started back into the rain. Perfect timing.

Mike's Dad went in for surgery today, he had a tumor in his stomach removed and one of his kidneys that also had a tumor on it. Everything went okay...just praying that they tests come back that the one on his kidney isn't cancerous. We are heading there tomorrow so Mike can go see him and the girls and I will spend time with her aunt and cousins. Later in the day we will exchange gifts and have dinner together, should be fun!