Fall Holiday Recap

Fall absolutely flew by in our home!  We enjoyed some mild weather and time with friends and family when we could.  I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, but we did have fun!  This year we (I, lol) carved pumpkins and decorated the front porch for fall harvest.  The kids dressed up on Halloween and we ventured out into the neighborhood for a little trick-or-treating.  It was a bit crazy out there, but we do have some of the neatest neighbors all throughout the community.  The weather was so incredibly perfect that many people sat outside and handed out candy--or even coffee and cookies for the adults!  Makes me want to amp things up for next year and get to know my neighbors better!

It was like pulling teeth to get pics of my kiddos!

My surprised jack-o-lantern!

Moo's kitty jack-o-lantern...

Dman's silly-face jack-o-lantern...

My artsy attempt at a fall design...it had issues, but I was proud of it anyway!

Thanksgiving is becoming one of my favorite holidays.  No surprise there--I love to eat and cook for others!  (Notice the order I phrased that?)  We shared a quiet Thanksgiving with Josh's parents, his sister and her family, and a church friend who was all alone for the holidays.  What a neat day!  Josh's parents had just moved back into their home following a monumental remodel and we got to break their kitchen in with all of our food preparation!  Everything turned out wonderfully!  The kids had fun making turkey cookies for dessert--we also placed these on the tables at each person's seat.  Fun stuff!

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went to the tree-lighting festivities at church.  I have to plug Crossroads here for being such an amazing place to worship!  Their talent and creativity is second-to-none and it's truly a genuine place to worship.  I've been blown away by the vision and the people who make it happen!  God has been so good!  Here's a pic of the kiddos and a friend--we ran into her family and enjoyed the evening together.  Love them all!

September Memories

Earlier this month we spent some time with my family in Arkansas.  The kids always have so much fun back there because we can let them run around and play without some of the worries we have here at home.  They can run through the grass, throw rocks, play in the dirt, and see lots of wildlife in a more personal way than our suburban neighborhood allows.  And Gmom has PETS!  I think Moo's favorite part of visiting Arkansas is seeing the dogs and cats, haha!

While we were back there my mom had asked me to take some casual senior pictures of my baby brother--who isn't such a baby anymore, obviously.  We went to the home of some friends of the family and scoped out their beautiful property as a shooting location.  While we were there the kiddos got to meet horses, 2 gigantic draft horses in particular.  What an experience!  My girl is horse-crazy, now.  :o)

Another fun memory we had is spending our last day there on the lake.  WHAT FUN!  I wasn't sure how the kids would do, especially our boy.  Neither have really had swim lessons and Darrin really has a fear of deep water--anything over his chin.  We figured it was something we'd have to wait out, and I think maybe we were right!  I was concerned about being on the lake and whether or not the kids would get into the water at all.  This mommy was so pleasantly surprised how well both kiddos did!  It was definitely baby steps in the beginning, but by the time we left they were both enjoying floating around in their swim rings and relaxing in the water, and Darrin was even jumping off the boat!  I can't tell you what a huge accomplishment this was for our boy, and I can't describe to you the joy we felt as parents at his excitement and confidence.  If he only knew how deep that water really was, lol...

Helping Uncle David drive the boat!

Debating about getting in for the first time...

So proud!

And here are a few shots of those handsome seniors I took pictures of.  In addition to my brother, I also took pictures of his friend whose property we used.  These guys are finishing up their senior year in high school then off to great things!

 What a great time it was being with family.  I can't wait to gather together with them again!!  It's never too soon or long enough when we are together.