From Our Family to Yours...

Happy Halloween.

More to come... Complete with costumes and candy! :)

When I look in the Rear View Mirror...

Fun Fall Pictures

Just having fun one afternoon with the kids, camera and pumpkins! I love the colors of fall!

You Know Your Getting Older When...

the kid you used to babysit gets married! And by kid I mean a 27 year old man!

The term babysitting has never been so literal as when one was babysitting Nick and his brother Aaron! I actually had to sit on them sometimes to keep them from killing each other. These two were so funny. They would fight and fight but not like normal kids. They both thought it was fun! They would laugh and laugh and then laugh at me for stressing out trying to stop them! Aaron, the youngest and smallest, was determined to beat his brother up. He would say, "One day I am going to be big enough! I just have to keep trying!" I clearly remember one time sitting on Aaron to hold him down on the couch while telling Nick to stay in the chair and not even touch the floor. He would grin and look at me while sticking his foot on the floor and say "touch. touch. touch." AHHHH!!!! Oh it is stressing me out thinking about it! But deep down I too thought they were hilarious! They both have always had a charisma for life that is contagious.

Nick the oldest of the two got married this past Sunday afternoon on the beach. It was a beautiful ceremony and a beautiful day! I don't think one could have ordered better weather.

It was especially nice because most of the guests were standing which meant that we didn't have to keep the kids contained in a seat. Instead they got to play in the sand! They thought this was the best wedding ever!

The boys played with their cars.

Darcy danced to her own beat.
 They climbed the dunes quietly.

Pierson REALLY wanted to go get in the water!

After the ceremony we took a few minutes to snap some pictures.

If you are wondering how we got all of the kids looking in one direction while smiling at the camera....

think no more! Uncle Ian is a nut! :)

Grandma and her grand babies.

The reception was a lot of fun. And if I ever wondered where Nick and Aaron got their enthusiasm for life (which I didn't) I need not look farther than their dad! This is Rick, the father, dancing with my kids. Let's just say it was very interesting dancing and the kids followed every move!

Aaron carried three of them around. I think they were having fun!? :)

Then the groom danced with them. It was wonderful to see the kids become so easily attached to the "boys" that feel like my little brothers. Nick let them hang from his arms then teetered them like a seesaw. For days the kids talked about dancing with the "funny guys". I think they were a hit!

Congratulations Nick and Liz! We love you and are so happy for you!

Love Notes

Love notes from Daddy. Many mornings when Daddy leaves to take Pierson to school/go to work he leaves Maylin a little note to find on the mirror when she wakes up. And each morning Maylin's eyes light up.
The notes are then matched by her own notes to him.

 

Her note says "I yube u. MayYen"

 Sometimes she gets a little help with the pictures. :) But they are all her ideas

Post-it-notes, cheap.

Love notes, priceless

Sometimes You Just Need to Chill

We've been pretty busy around here recently. It seems like we haven't had time to just sit and be a family for weeks. Friday afternoon Adam looked at me and said "Do we have anything to do tonight?" After thinking for a moment I said, "I don't guess we do!?" I was at a loss.  What does a family do on a Friday night without plans? After a little bit Adam said, "Let's make a fire." 

So we did! We began to collect rocks to make a fire pit. Around the backside of Mom's house there are lots of quartz rocks so we got the wheelbarrow and filled her up!

After an intermission which included a doctor's visit and dinner out (Maylin got a small log (aka GIANT splinter) stuck in her foot. This one was too much for Mommy and Daddy to handle.) we began to build our fire.

 Maylin carefully putting her shoes on. She was very excited about the fire, although I am not sure she knew what to expect. However she wouldn't let the "mushyewows" out of her sight. Some how she instinctively knew those were going to be a key part of the night!

 Daddy is an expert fire builder. He had this fire started in no time. The kids were super excited about this. They collected leaves and little sticks to "hawp" Daddy.

 Pierson I think is going to be a bit of a pyro!

 Daddy keeping the flames going.

 Pierson brought his guitar out to play with Daddy but Maylin was the one who ended up playing with him. It just makes my heart happy to see the kids want to be like their dad. He is a wonderful role model and father.

 Pierson couldn't stop himself from poking the fire with sticks. He loved this fire. I think we are going to have to do much more of this.

Even Chaucer enjoyed the festivities! He laid close by the fire watched the kids play. Maylin wanted to make sure he wasn't sleeping and sang him a song.

For having no plans at all we sure had a great family night. Great idea Daddy! Sometimes the most fun is right in your own backyard.

Our Beloved Sophie

Around here animals are family members. Once an animal comes to this house, they are here to stay. They know that they will be taken care of and loved deeply. Sophie has been no different. She was brought to us along with her brother 15 years ago as a tiny, fur ball of a puppy. Our friends had found them in a dumpster (I can't even imagine what kind of person could throw two little puppies in the trash to suffocate and die.) and brought them to us. The original plan was to find another home for them as we already had two other dogs... but as time went by they became family and we just couldn't part with them.

Sophie has been a funny little girl. In her younger years she would dart off into the woods each time we came home to show us that she could catch a squirrel. (Although I don't think she ever did). She would run, run, run. In her older years she became more of a house dog. She would lie in the entrance foyer and wait for someone to come by and give her a nice scratch on the head. She has been a spunky little girl. She was the smallest of the dogs on the S_____ farm but she ruled the roost! In the last year she became slower moving, and harder of hearing and seeing. You could literally step over her and she wouldn't wake up. I can't even tell you how many times I stopped to see if she was actually breathing. When she was awake she would come over and bury her head in your lap until you finally stopped petting her. Then she would nudge you one more time just to make sure that you were really done before moving on.

Over the last week she had been getting more and more frail. She was having trouble walking on hardwood surfaces. Her feet would slip a little here and there. She seemed to become even more hard of seeing. We often found her standing in a corner not knowing what way to go.

Yesterday afternoon she went outside with the kids and me as she had done MANY times before. She had been pacing all day. I knew she needed to use the bathroom. The kids and I went to the playground and within 20 minutes she was gone. Frantic we went inside put on our tennis shoes and jeans and went hiking through the woods to find her. For two hours we searched to no avail. I tried to explain to the kids what was happening and why we were looking for her. (She has wondered through the woods many times before and we have never needed to go looking for her.) Maylin would hold my hand and ask to whisper in my ear, "We no find Sophie, I be sad." Pierson called and called for her even though I knew she couldn't hear us. After our legs had climbed over as many fallen trees as they could we headed back to the house to wait for Mom. Sophie has been Mom's companion for a long time now. We knew the news of her disappearance would be sad. We all sat out on the half-brick-wall in front of the house and cried as we shared the news. Maylin went inside and came back with Pierson's guitar and her pink bible. As the rest of us cried Maylin said, "I hewlp make you happee." and she started to sing "Jesus yubs me dis i yo for ya bibul teylls me show..." Be still my heart. And she is right. Jesus does love us, and the bible does tell us that! Even though my mind was racing with all the things that Sophie could be going through I knew that God had her in his hands and wouldn't let her suffer. I feel certain that she wanted to go into the woods to die quietly. They say that dogs do that. But I still couldn't fight the urge to go look for her. Through the night our dog Chaucer howled a couple times. My crazy mind said, "He has found her!" So I put on my flip flops and in my night gown I went out for a few  minutes to see if she had made her way home. To my disappointment Chaucer came running and just wanted in the house. Today, 24 hours later, the kids and I went out one more time to look... I knew that in the condition she was in there was no way she would have survived the thunderstorm through the night but again my mind just needs to know what happened to her. We still haven't found her. I pray that she is resting peacefully and comfortably.

Bye Bye our little Sophie. We have loved you dearly!

A Birthday Party in the Country!

Happy Birthday Jayden we had a great time at your birthday party!

 Pierson and the birthday girl. Jayden goes to church with us and is in Pierson's class at "Big see-cool"

 It was a great party full of face painting, pony rides and bouncy houses!

 Maylin couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror!

Princess Maylin in all of her sparkly glory!

 Pierson wanted to be a tiger, but Clown said that the orange doesn't wash off immediately. Since we were going to have our family pictures done later that day we decided he should be a brown lion! :)

 He turned out pretty darn cute if you ask me!

Sweetest little lion on the planet!

 Maylin is in love with horses! She was flying high on this gentle giant!

 Have you ever seen a lion riding a horse?  Well... now you have! :)

Have a ROARING day!