More leaf fun

One of the annoying, but fun things for the kids during the fall season is the amount of leaves that we get at our house. Being at the bottom of a cul-de-sac that is surrounded by trees, the wind blows the whole neighborhoods leaves into our yard. It also doesn't help that we have two beautiful, but leafy Maples in our back yard. Finally we have had some nice weather, so we went out to rake up the leaves. Having kids makes a yucky chore a lot of fun. I actually look forward to it (a little)


We never get tired of seeing Isaac run and jump into the leaves. I cringed when I realized we did not change him out of his church clothes!


Even Mommy and Daddy got in on the fun. One of the great joys of being a parent is the freedom to be a kid again (even most of you think we have never really grown up!)


Matthew got to join in on the fun as well. He kept trying to eat the leaves (yucky!) But had a good time watching his brother.


(Notice the abandoned Chicken coop behind me....my intentions to get a few chickens were sidelined when we got Matthew, but I am anxiously awaiting springtime when we WILL get a few!)

Pumpkin Patch Day

On Sunday we made our annual trip out to Hood River to go to the Pumpkin Patch and the apple orchard. We had all been sick for the last week and needed a day out of the house. Luckily the horrible rainy weather had ended and we had a nice dry day to be out. We started our day out at our cabin. Our friends the Lorenz's joined us for lunch and helped Chris load up the truck with firewood for our house. I love this picture of the girls and Isaac praying before they eat their lunch! How cute is that...and all done without any prompting from us. :-)

We then headed to Ramussens Pumpkin Patch in Hood River. They have a great storybook area for the kids, along with games and a easy corn maze. Isaac loved running around in the mud,and Matthew was curious about everything.



We then headed to our favorite apple orchard, Kiyokawa farms, in Parkdale. It is a longer drive, but well worth the extra 1/2 hour. Their apples are wonderful, organic and cheaper than the apple stands closer to Hood River. They had a Mariachi band and a great play fort for the kids.

Fall already?? Time flies

It is hard to believe that our little guy is now 6 months old, it seems like just the other day he was so small and cuddly in our arms. Now he is 20 pounds of laughter and fun (and a lot of spit up still) hehehe. Matthew is really such a joy to our lives. Watching him and Isaac play together is so cute, Matthew adores his big brother, and Isaac is turning into such a a good Mommy's helper. Here is Matthew at 6 months, and just for comparison (and because he is too cute) here is Isaac when he was 6 months


Matthew is super smiley (though the last 2 days he has been working on his top teeth and has been super fussy) Gotta love this pic of him with dad's wee jimmy hat on!


Fall is one of my favorite seasons, and we have the best tree's in our yard for watching the leaves change.

Though they are a bear to clean up. But having kids around makes the leaves fun and a toy. Isaac had a blast helping daddy rake the leaves and then jumping in them. He really has become all boy lately and any chance he gets to jump and run, he takes.

Welcome to the flock!

On Sunday, we had Matthew dedicated to God in a ceremony at our church. This is an occasion that we cherish as it is our opportunity to pray over Matthew, and pledge to him that we will bring him up to be a Man of God.

We wrote a letter to Matthew, that we read to the congregation. Being the sap that I am, I could barely read my part, and cried hard. :-)

Our elders then prayed over us and Matthew. This was so special to us, to have Matthew dedicated at our new church home. Everyone is so friendly and caring at this church, and we really feel like we have found a home.

After church we had our families over for a big lasagna dinner and also celebrated my birthday! We had a great time eating, and eating, and eating and just hanging out. We were glad that Chris's parents could make the trip from Victoria to be with us this weekend.