Anxiously Waiting.......

Almost two weeks ago we had our family pictures done.  It was a blast!!!  It has been a few years since we had professional pictures done and it was high time we did it!!! 

They should be available for us to pick up the cd today!  I can't wait!!!  We were really pleased at how well they turned out!  When we did our sneak peek and chose our favorites, there were 40 of them that we wanted!!!  That includes family shots as well as individual and a few of Scott and I together.

Needless to say, we went way over budget this time around!  But that's ok, pictures are priceless years from now!!!  :)

Can't wait to share them!  Stay tuned!!

Teeny, Tiny Ballerina!

A couple of weeks ago, Olivia wore the cutest little dress to church.  She looked just like a little ballerina!

Isn't she precious???

 

 

I just love the tutu and the ruffles on her socks and the pretty little bow in her hair.....just adorable.  Sigh.....

November!!

We just love Fall at our house!  The weather is still mostly nice, it's starting to get a little a lot cooler but still blue skies and crisp yellow, orange and brown leaves to play in! We love the warm, cozy dinners and all the yummy smelling things that come out of the oven!

We love being able to wear boots and sweaters!  We especially love the holidays that are right around the corner!  People often skip right past Thanksgiving but it's one of our favorites!  We love the food, but more importantly we love the opportunity to reflect on everything we have to be thankful for!

This year we have experienced two funerals in less than a year.  One was a time of rejoicing!  The other was a time of extreme sorrow.  We have heard how losing a child can tear a family apart but for us, it pulled us together even more.  We clung to each other in the hard times. 

This past Sunday marked the 1 year anniversary of Zachary's passing.  It was a hard day but at the same time, it brought so much comfort to know he is surrounded by the love of family that have passed on.  He is waiting to for us and we feel his presence in our lives constantly. 

We truly have so much to be thankful for!  We have the love of family and friends, we are blessed with the things we need, we see the hand of God in our lives on a daily basis and we honestly couldn't ask for anything more!

Enjoy this month of Thanksgiving!  I hope you take the time to truly reflect on all your blessings!

Annual Fall Family Festival!!!

It's that time of year.......Fall!!!  As many of you know, every year we have a Fall Family Festival!  Our kids look forward to it, I look forward to it!!  It's always a fun time!!

This year we still had family in town from the funeral.  My oldest brother was still here with 4 of his kids.  It was so fun to include them in our festivities!! 

As usual we made cake doughnuts for our doughnut eating contest!  We also made 10 dozen sugar cookies (we used some for the 'cake walk'), most got eaten shortly after they came out of the oven! 

We got a few pictures but I kept forgetting because I was laughing too much most of the time!  Haha...we had a lot of fun!  Anytime extended family is here we have a good time and this was no exception!

Cousins busy rolling out cookies while our kids were in school!

 So many yummy cookies!!

 



Lots of snuggles with Miss Olivia! 



Little cuties trying to get their doughnuts!

It's hard work to get those things in your mouth without using your hands!

Haha, these two were quite the pair!

Good job, girls!!

Haha, there was lots of laughing going on! 

Cake walk!!! 

 

 

 

 

Lots of fun, lots of laughter, lots of eating, lots of smiles.......I would say it was a good night!

Heaven Gained An Angel!

This past week, Heaven gained a very special Angel.  My sweet 93 year old grandmother passed away.  And while we were sad to lose such a special lady, we were overjoyed that she was able to finally go home!!

My dear Grammy waited a long time to be reunited with her sweetheart and family who had passed on years ago.  She was ready.  We were ready to let her go.  Knowing that she is free from pain, that her mind is clear and she is with her family is the most comforting for us to know.

I feel so blessed to have had her in our lives for as long we did!  What a treasure for our children to have known their Great-Grandmother!!  She was one of the most loving, caring, honest, hard-working, talented women I know!  She taught me things that I will never forget.  She had handmade aprons that I loved to wear, she made buckwheat pancakes, she hung her wash on the line outside, she taught me how to plant peas and carrots, she gave me a love of daffodils, she had the best handmade quilts made out of my grandpa's old work pants, she made the best bread pudding and she always made nestle quick milkshakes on Sunday nights!  Yeah, she was the best Grammy a kid could ever ask for!! 

  I love you Grammy! 

Pumpkins! Pumpkins!

Pumpkin carving is always such a process!  Scott suggested we do it outside because it was such a beautiful day but I didn't want to drag everything out to the picnic table......in the end, it's always a good idea to do it outside!  :)  The clean-up would have been done in 5 minutes instead of 30!  Scott's so smart, this was one of those times I really should have listened to him!!  Just don't tell him I said that!  :)

Here are a few million pictures!  Enjoy!

Vanessa and Isaiah!  Sitting on the table gave him much better leverage to work on his pumpkin!

Girls working hard!!

Wow, quite the action shot with Savannah's hair!

Sam introducing Calvin to pumpkin seeds!  He really could not believe that his mother wanted him to put his hand in there and pull those slimy things out!  It took some coaxing!!

"Look at me, Mimi!!"

I just love the 'photo bomber' in this pic!!

All lit up!!!

Some great pumpkins there!!

I just love Scott's pumpkin on the far left!  It's his family tree pumpkin!  Mom and Dad, then 12 kids, and going down from Sam's dot, there is one for her husband, a smaller one for Calvin and a tiny one for that new baby growing inside!!  Clever Scott, so clever!!

Talisha, rocking the polka dot pumpkin!!

Savannah and her flower pumpkin!!

Everyone is looking forward to our Fall Family Festival next week!!!

Pumpkin Patch!

Last Friday we went to the Pumpkin Patch!!  We used to go every single year, but the last two years we haven't been!  We missed it.  All of our kids have always loved going to the pumpkin patch.  There is usually a hayride or even sometimes, a small train ride included and this year was no exception!  The 3 older boys had already been to the corn maze (also at the pumpkin patch), so they weren't really interested in going again, so it was just the youngest 6 that came with us!

They had so much fun!  We went at the perfect time!  All the school groups were gone for the day and the Friday night crowd still was a couple of hours away!  We almost had the place to ourselves!!  We went through the petting zoo, climbed the tower of hay to slide down the big black pipe slide, rode on the hay wagon to the pumpkin patch, drove some pedal tractors, went for a ride in the barrel train, ate a few too many mini doughnuts and filled our lungs with good ol' farm air!!!

Now it can officially be Fall!

Talisha!

Savannah! (She looks pretty serious!)

Isaiah could not be bothered to take pictures!  Haha..

 Jazzy and Vanessa!!!

All lined up!!

The gigantic hay stack and slide!!

They climbed and climbed!

And down they came!

Isaiah.....and shocking....he's on a tractor!!!!  :)

Haha, silly girls!

A couple more sillies!

We love the barrel train!!!

 

 

 

 

And where was Olivia?????

 

Right here, snuggled under my chin!!!  She slept through the whole thing!!!  She loved the warm sunshine on her face!  It was a beautiful day!!

 

 

 

 

I will post pics of our pumpkin carving adventures next!!! 

 

Happy Fall!!!!