Silly Unicorns in the Bath

 Earlier this week Mama heard a lot of giggles coming from the bathroom. Papa used shampoo to shape our hair into unicorn horns!

Moving Back Home to Washington

This is unexpected and very exciting news for our family! We will be moving back to Washington state at the end of the month. We give all the praise and glory to God for orchestrating this huge blessing. Auntie Amy grew up in southwestern Washington and describes the beauty of the area as "God's Country". Below is a press release Saint Martin's did on Papa this week.

Brewer Selected As Saint Martin's University

Head Cross Country And Track & Field Coach

LACEY, Wash. - Jim Brewer has been named head men's and women's cross country and track & field coach at Saint Martin's University becoming the fourth head coach in program history as announced today by athletics director Bob Grisham.

"We had a large number of applicants for the position and Jim surfaced as the person who we felt could increase the squad size and at the same time improve on our ability to compete, said Grisham. "   

A 20-year veteran of the coaching ranks at both the high school and collegiate level he joins SMU having served as the head cross country and track & field coach at Concordia University-Irvine, a NAIA Division I program in California, for the past two years.

"Becoming a part of the Saint Martin's family is a tremendous opportunity," said Brewer. "I am very grateful for this privilege to help build up the track & field and cross country programs and establish great winning traditions for years to come."

During his time coaching at CUI, Brewer coached the women's cross country team to an 11th place finish at the 2012 NAIA Championships. In two years with the Eagles he had 42 national qualifiers and nine All-Americans. Most notably last spring a total of 16 athletes qualified for the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Prior to his time in California he served as the head cross country and track & field coach at the University of Great Falls in Montana from 2007-2011. Brewer had national qualifiers every year while coaching a nationally ranked men's cross country team in 2010.

Brewer worked at the Division II level as a volunteer assistant coach at Western Washington on two separate occasions: 1996-97 and 2003-07. He was a part of helping coach three cross country teams to the national championships.

He coached at both Mount Baker High School in Deming, Wash. (1998) under the tutelage of legendary coach Jim Freeman and at Stanwood High School in Stanwood, Wash. (1998-2000) under the leadership of highly successful head coach Paul Johnson.

A successful collegiate runner in his own right he competed at Western Washington from 1993 to 1996. During that time he earned All-American honors at the 1994 NAIA Cross Country Championships and was a five-time national qualifier (3 cross country, 2 track & field).

Brewer holds United States Sports Academy level III coaching certification. He also holds U.S. Track and Field level II certification.

JUST A SIDE NOTE: Below is another picture we submitted for the press release. They didn't use it, but it's one of our favorite "coaching pictures" of Papa (and Karen) at the GSAC championships last spring.

Cowboy & His Horse

 My sister and I couldn't wait to dress up and participate in all the festivities today.

 While I was at pre-school this morning, Karen went trick-or-treating at a senior center in Irvine like we did last year.

 She loved giving high-fives to many of the residents.

 She came home with a full bag of treats.

 Karen also participated in some craft activities on the patio of the senior center.

 Then my parents and sister came to watch my pre-school Halloween parade.

 I loved waving to the audience!

 In conclusion, we sang three songs (with hand motions) on stage for the parents.

Olivia (a pre-school classmate) was also in Western attire.

 And for those of you wondering if I ever tried to ride the horse...yes, I made several attempts all over the house. We had a blast!

Pumpkin Carving

 We carved two pumpkins and baked some seasoned pumpkin seeds this weekend.

 Papa had amazing concentration...even with me hanging from his back for much of the carving.

 It was a lot of work cleaning out the pumpkins.

 Karen helped mama sort seeds to be baked in the oven.

 I made sure there was nothing left inside.

 The pumpkins looked good by our front door.

 We tried some candles inside the pumpkins at night.

Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

 I had so much fun helping my mom make (and decorate) pumpkin cookies for friends and family this week (while Karen was taking a nap).

 Cookie cut out.

 Uniquely decorating each cookie with frosting, sprinkles, and candy.

 Selecting my favorite cookie.

 Admiring the whole tray of pumpkin cookies. .

Sampling a cookie before giving some away!

Hidden Stickers

A few nights ago we discovered Karen had hidden some stickers under her shirt for part of the day. Her secret was revealed on her tummy before bath time!

Firefighting Legos Completed!

I was so excited (and proud) when Papa and I recently finished this really cool firefighting Lego set. It's taken many hours and lots of patience. The fire station, ambulance, helicopter, hook and ladder truck, and equipment truck are all made out of small Lego pieces. I've shown two of my vehicles at pre school during show & tell.