November Recap

We give thanks for the month of November and the time that we had together as a family. Much of our time was spent at home this month. We decided to tackle a big project: rip out all the carpet in our downstairs and replace it with laminate flooring. We did this because our carpets were in bad shape and 3/5 of our family is seriously effected by allergies. Despite the difficulties of having all of our furniture smashed in our dining room and kitchen and having to block off access to our family room, our evenings were better in that we weren't distracted by television and could focus on spending time together. When the kids went to bed it was work time for Mom and Dad...many late nights and almost the whole month of November later, our floors were finished!

We were able to get out and celebrate our 8th anniversary this month. Uncle E and Karissa came over to spend time with the kids and we went out for a nice dinner. It's hard to believe the past 8 years have come and gone. We are so grateful that God brought us together. He's blessed us with three beautiful, healthy kids, amazing family, and great friends, and continued growth in our relationship with Jesus. Every day we get together is a gift and we are so thankful for each one. 

Speaking of kids, they were very big helpers this month. They enjoyed playing in the leaves and helping out around the yard this fall. 

We were given the opportunity to help out some friends collect food for Wheeler Mission and the kids jumped at the chance to serve! They pulled wagons, they carried bags, and they rang doorbells to ask for donations. It was awesome to see them give up their afternoon, face their fears, and use their muscles to help those in need.

They were very hands on when it came to cutting down our Christmas tree. We tromped through the farm and found our little tree, and then the boys set to cutting it down. Kinsley said "hello" to some goats (literally, "hello" is her favorite word these days) and cheered the boys on whole heartedly.

We finished off our month with family, celebrating Thanksgiving. It was a fun weekend praising God for our many blessings!

October Recap

October...it is always one of our busiest months of the year. It's also one of our favorites. It's smack dab in the middle of fall, with beautiful brisk weather and colorful leaves on the trees; there's the tasty treats like pumpkin bars, caramel apples, and chili; and of course, two birthdays to celebrate! We started our month off by celebrating Kinsley's special day. She dove in to her cake, she pulled tissue paper out of presents, she signed "thank you", she looked cute as could be and she smiled so much on her big day...it couldn't have been better. We were so grateful for the family and friends that joined us to celebrate our precious little girl. 

She woke up a one year old!

Taking a page out of mommy's book, crying because she's growing up too quickly!

She loves cuddling with Doggie every night and woofing at him.

We followed up her birthday with a get-a-way to Gatlinburg with Uncle E, Almost Aunt Karissa (as the boys call her), Grammy & Papaw to celebrate their upcoming 40th anniversary. The kids traveled well, which was a huge answer to prayer. The cabin was beautiful, the breakfasts were delicious, and we had lots of fun spending extended time with our family. The boys did not mind the daily rain that kept us from most of our planned excursions because it meant they got to go miniature golfing and spend extra time in the hot tub. It was a great trip!

Next, we had a visit from Uncle John & Aunt Emma & Niah. They stopped to visit us on their way back to Denver; we had a great time at lunch, the IMA, and watching the Cubbies trample the Cards in the NLDS (much to Uncle John's chagrin). Niah was very sweet to let the kids play with her.

Yes, that went right in the hoop.

Next up, we celebrated Rykerman turning 7. He lost another tooth and was very excited at the "straw holder" that its absence created. He grew two more inches over the last year! We got to have a visit with his best bud Emerson and their family, which was a great surprise for him. They had fun playing baseball and taking in a fall festival at the park. The next weekend, he had his party. He took the reigns on his party planning this year. He wanted to have his own fall festival, with s'mores and caramel apples and pumpkin chucking to celebrate. He and his friends had a great time sling shot-ing pumpkins off the playset across the backyard, playing football, roasting s'mores and eating ice cream cake.

We didn't really do Halloween this year. It's never much of a thing here at our house; generally the boys dress up and they visit a couple of neighbor's houses and call it a night. This year, only Deklan really wanted to go (driven by his love for candy, he overcome his fear of ringing the doorbell). Grandma came down for the weekend, so we hung out with her and then our whole crew headed to Chipotle for "boo-ritos" all dressed in something unneccessary; Ryker had on his baseball attire; Daddy had on his baseball attire + cape; Deklan had on his Batman outfit + Baymax mask; Mommy had Hulk hands; Grandma was Super Mario. I wish their photographic evidence of this outing, but you'll just have to take our word for it!
Our month also had some extra time with Grammy & Papaw, due to some traveling they did. We got to spend some time with Aunt Treesee, Aunt Mimi, Avery, Grandma & Brandon, too! As if there wasn't enough going on, we sold Mommy's old house and began putting laminate floors in our house. Whew, what a month!