The Last of November

It's been warm and dry all month, making it very hard to stay indoors. Marly and Ayla decided to go for a walk along the creek.


This time of year the sun is much lower in the sky, and sparkles on the water in new and beautiful patterns.


There are still a few seeds clinging to their pods. I am surprised they have not been blown away by the wind by now.


Ayla listens to a message from the babbling creek. Tomorrow it will snow.


But, today we will enjoy the warm sunshine.

Hugs,
Kiki

Thanksgiving

It's been such a busy day that I have barely have time to post. All of us modern girls got dressed up for a Thanksgiving Day feast. We think of this day as a chance to reflect on what we are grateful for in our lives.

Kit is the pastry chef and if rolling out the dough for the pumpkin pies.


Emily is in charge of the decorations and...


...the turkey!


We are thankful for friends and family, and all of YOU!

Hugs,
Kiki

New Orleans Girls

Hi again! I wanted to report that Cécile is right at home here with us.



Holly insisted she try on some modern clothes and come meet the gang at the treehouse. Everyone thought she was really sweet. But, we knew something was wrong. Didn't she like us?


It turned out that Cécile was just uncomfortable in modern clothes. She put back on her dress from her own time period and then her long lost sister, Rosalie, came running down the stairs.


It was a wonderful reunion and I took a quick photo. Cécile and Rosalie are busy setting up their home and said I am welcome to come visit any time so I will be reporting more later.

Au revoir!
Kiki, who is now learning French! teehee

Kiki's Day at the AG Store

Guess what! This post is about me! Yep, I got to do something very worthy of reporting on and sharing. Yesterday Holly and I got to go to Denver to the American Girl Store. I've been there before so I got to show her around.




Look at all the dolls waiting to go to new homes! And behind us is the salon where dolls can get their hair done.



Christmas presents! I need to make my list!



Holly and I really liked this girl named Cécile. We begged and begged to bring her home, and finally Tía Meli said OKAY!



We said goodbye to the dolls in the store and wished them well. They told us not to worry because they will all have new homes soon. Besides (and this is a secret) they have a great time at night after the store closes. They play with the horses and other animals, eat yummy doll food, have concerts with the musical instruments and do all kinds of fun things!



Next, we got to go next door to the doll friendly restaurant for dinner. They have special chairs for us to sit at the table. It's a pretty fancy restaurant, and Holly was amazed. Of course, I've been there before!



When dolls eat there they get a special dessert for free! That's how I like to be treated. We felt like royalty!



After all that shopping and food it was getting late. We took a photo of the pretty lights outside and headed home. I have to admit that Holly and I both fell asleep in the car and I had sweet dreams of ice cream and dolls.

The Larson's Cabin

Hello from Kiki! Today we are going to visit the Larson cabin. They live in a lovely valley in the mountains and have been working hard on getting the new cabin ready for winter. I took some photos to show the progress they have made.
In the main area they have a new fireplace. They also made a hearth rug to place in front of it. I hope they have more firewood outside!



Kirsten is really proud of the new table and chairs because she painted them a lovely blue to remind her of Sweden. Her big sister, Greta, added the flower designs to make them even prettier.



There is still a lot to do in the cabin, but at least Greta and Kirsten are cozy and warm for winter.

That's all for now!

~ Kiki

Halloween Celebrations

Do you love Halloween as much as I do? I like dressing up as a favorite character and getting LOTS of candy! ;)

Some of my friends and I have been decorating our treehouse for a Halloween party. Chrissa is helping me haul up a big tub of candy. Eva, who loves to decorate, put up the pumpkin lights.

These girls love to decorate and bake and are getting ready to have a party for the younger kids in the neighborhood.

They have lots of good food like candy apples and pumpkin pie.
There is even more food being made in the kitchen. Anya is rolling out more cookie dough, Emily is in charge of decorating the pumpkin cookies, and Tina is watching the oven. Those girls are organized!

Meanwhile, at the rancho, Josefina is preparing to celebrate El Día de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Most of this food is for the ancestors, but the kids get to eat calaveras de azucar, or sugar skulls!

I hope everyone has a save and Happy Halloween!

Hugs,

Kiki who is eating lots of kandy! teehee

Snow Day

Kirsten was still asleep as the day began to brighten with the dawn. Even half awake she began to sense something was different. There was a hush in the air and the cabin felt cold. She shivered even though wearing her warmest flannel nightgown.

Then she sat up with a start! Wait! Could it be...?

She ran to the door and threw it open. "YES! It's snowing!" she cried.

"Happy snow day, everyone!"

The first snow of the season is always very exciting. Mia, Eva, Luci and I all hope to go out and play in it when we finish our chores!

Hugs,

Kiki, your trusty, ace reporter from Pleasant View. :)

Colonial Autumn

Hi! It's your trusty reporter, Kiki, here with more news from Pleasant View! (that's what we call our doll town!) Today the autumn festivities continued as the colonial girls, Felicity and Elizabeth, were invited to ride their horses in the parade. They had to wear their most fancy riding clothes, and were actually too hot in them, but they kept smiling anyway.
First they got the horses ready.

They headed off to the parade and ended up having a great time waving to the crowd while riding slowly through the town.

That's it for this report. Kiki, over and out!

The Montoyas at a Harvest Festival

It's Kiki here and don't tell me I haven't written since Easter! Golly, Gosh, and Gooseberries that's a long time! Well, there is a lot going on around here now. We have been reorganizing our rooms and houses and doing all kinds of new things. It will take time to catch everyone up on the activities around here, but I'm going to do my bestest!!! First I want to fill you in on what has been going on in the Montoya family. Josefina and her older sister, Esperanza, and younger sister, Adelita, have been getting ready for the annual Harvest Festival...

From Harvest Festival

Esperanza: "¡Mira, Josefina! Look! Isn't my new dress lovely? And look at my hair. It took Mamá three hours to get it the way I wanted. I just know I will be the prettiest girl at the Harvest Festival. Don't you agree?" Josefina said, "Claro. Of course," while she rolled her eyes with a smile. She knew that her big sister was always thinking about her looks, which Josefina found to be a bit silly.

From Harvest Festival

Then Esperanza said, "Where is Adelita? I don't want to be late. Or, maybe it is more fashionable to make a grand entrance a bit late. But, by then everyone will be talking in groups and I won't know how to fit in. Oh dear! I think we should hurry and get there early so I can be sure and find my friends right away. Josefina just shook her head and went to find their little sister.

From Harvest Festival

Josefina found Adelita outside practicing her weaving. She loved to do anything artistic and was already showing promise as a weaver. "Adelita! You don't have shoes on and it's time to leave."

From Harvest Festival

Adelita replied, "Okay, I'm coming. I wish I could finish this blanket, but I'll hurry and get my shoes. I know there will be lots of yummy treats at the festival.

From Harvest Festival

It was a beautiful and warm afternoon for the fiesta. On the way there they girls saw farmers bringing in the hay bales for winter and one was constructing a shelter to keep the hay dry when it snows. They were glad to be early to the fiesta and saw some scary sights there.

From Harvest Festival

One of the best parts of the day was the hayride. The hay wagon is pulled by horses in the Montoyas time, but today it was pulled by a tractor. The kids and adults climb aboard and sing songs as the wagon goes through the fields of pumpkins and corn. There were still other vegetables growing, too: eggplant and tomatoes and the scent of herbs filled the air.

From Harvest Festival

The girls had apple cider and candy apples and roasted corn to eat. Josefina found the perfect pumpkin to bring home. "This will make lots of pies!" she exclaimed.

From Harvest Festival

When it was finally time to go the tired sisters posed for one last photo to remember their wonderful day.

Happy Easter!

From Kiki: We were lucky that our person got in a sewing mood and made us all new Easter or spring dresses this year. We decorated our treehouse and posed for a photo.



Of course, little Fina had to have a dress AND a hat. She is the lucky one!



HAPPY EASTER!!!

~ Kiki

We Were Tagged!

Hello from Kiki! We were tagged by the Bolton Girls to write seven things about one of us and tag seven people. Jayd wrote about the girls' mama and we also decided to write about our person, who we call Tía, which is Aunt in Spanish.

1. Tía is not African, but spent time living in a hut in Zimbabwe and learned the traditional music of the Shona people.

2. She has lots of different kinds of dolls from mini to child size.

3. Tía used to teach blind people how to ski as a volunteer and hopes to do that again.

4. She can hibernate for days in her sewing and craft room and never think about coming out until there is hardly any food in the house!

5. She plans to go to Ireland next fall.

6. Tía's favorite food is Mexican food and anything hot and spicy.

7. And finally, she loves animals and has had dogs, goats, rabbits, chickens, turtles, fish, parakeets and cockatiels, but now only has one dog. :)



We tag:
1. Tiggy
2. Jen
3. Shriara
4. Marlowe
5. Penny
6. Wendy
7. Anyone who wants to join in!

~ Kiki

Spring Break

From Fina:


This week was spring break in our town and it definitely looked like spring!


We didn't go anywhere, so I entertained myself at home as usual. I debated on becoming a blonde, but decided that was not the right color for me!


Actually, we did go one place - we went on a tour of the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory. It smelled so go in there, and there was lots of free tea to drink. Plenty of the teas don't have any caffeine, so kids can drink them, too.


I met the "real" Sleepytime Bear."


On another day at home I started coloring some pictures for Easter. Can you believe we found Hello Kitty Easter pictures! I love Hello Kitty. :D


Friday night there was a little neighborhood party and I helped make some horsdoeuvres.

That's about it! Hugs from Fina :))