Halloween, house projects and happiness

There's something special about the holidays and for me it usually begins with Halloween and goes through New Years (sometimes I even count Valentine's Day when I'm feelin it). We had such a fun Halloween with Sasha being the lucky girl who got to wear 3 different costumes (thanks to all those who let us borrow them!) - Minnie Mouse, an elephant and a monkey. Unfortunately, I only have photos of the Minnie Mouse costume so that's all the cuteness you'll get this time. Since Sasha is such a girly girl, this was a fun costume for her. She especially loved the glittery, red shoes and pearl necklace. You might notice that Aaron and I were slackers and didn't dress up, but in our defense, we counted ourselves good with getting Sasha dressed up and we were her accessories. How did we know that Sasha loved Halloween, you ask? Well, for a few weeks afterward, she said, "Trick or treat" every time the doorbell rang.Aaron is my superhero, handyman husband. Let me explain. We've been doing lots of DIY projects lately, some by choice and some not. Here's a list of all that Aaron's done in the past few months:
Replaced the kitchen light with 6 recessed lights after a water line burst and flooded the kitchen through the light.
Finished the huge project known as the playset in the back yard (included clearing and levelling a 20'x20' area that was filled with 3 foot weeds, sanding and staining the playset we got for free through a generous neighbor and putting everything back together for Sasha to play on)
Rewired the TV and internet cables so we could relocate all of our electronics to a new location in the family room (included lots of drilling, installing new outlets, rewiring and patching)
Reorganized our shelving down in the basement
Saved all of our cds digitally onto a network hard drive and got rid of all the hard copy cds (and came out with a few new Wii games in exchange)
Helped with everything around the house and with Sasha when he was able (this is by far on the top of my list and he has been so amazing!)

Sasha is such a doll! She is such a talker and loves to copy everything that we say (I mean, everything). I love how sensitive she is and how she is always anxious to comfort everyone around her. She can immediately sense if something is wrong and always goes to the person who seems in distress. She'll usually pat or rub their back and say, "It's okay. It's okay. You need hug (pronounced hud)?" This girl loves to laugh and play, but watch out if you even think of going against what she wants - you will suffer the wrath!

I'm still loving my job now that I've been there just over a month and learning a lot as I work with new people in different training settings. I love being able to teach circuit training 3 days a week and all the challenges that come with it. Aaron is making progress with SUR Technology (the renewable energy company he, Troy and Mike have been trying to get going this last year). It looks like a project should be going through in the near future so we're excited.

We're so grateful for this time of year and the opportunity to spend time with family and friends. Mostly, we're just happy to have so much fun with our little Sasha as she experiences everything with wide eyes. We can't wait for Thanksgiving this Thursday and the fun of Black Friday to follow. We send our love to all of you, wherever you may be.