Pumpkin Time!

This year we took the kids and a couple of their cousins to Schnepf farms to enjoy the fall festivities and to pick out their pumpkins. The farm is a lot of fun, but I think definitely overpriced. Next year we may just get our pumpkins from the Wal-mart bins...can't beat pumpkins for under $5 each!



(I think it is time for a new camera, mine is really not working so well!)


We had my family over this past weekend to carve pumpkins and enjoy a yummy Mexican feast! I am hoping this becomes an annual family activity as it is always a lot of fun!




Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

Vampire

Scary Kyle

I couldn't get a good shot of him because he kept moving around, so it is a little cropped. However I thought he really does look creepy! I am almost tempted to change his Halloween costume to a vampire.

Jessica's Birthday

Jessica turned '15' on October 22nd...yikes, I still can't believe I have a teenage daughter. Last year we didn't do much for her birthday since we had only been home a couple weeks with her and Erika. This year, she wanted a party so we invited a few of her friends over. They ate, played games, and sat in the hot tub and told ghost stories until the party ended. Instead of eating the cake, they all shoved it in their faces...crazy girls!

Boating

Well, I am finally cleaning out my camera and going through my pics so I thought I would post an update on what we have been up to. This summer was HOT and I am so excited that fall is finally here. Fall here is not the prettiest(no fall colors) but the temps are at least in the 80-90's for the most part which is a nice change from the 110-115 temps (not to mention all the restaurants/stores now have pumpkin flavored everything,YUM!).

We got a boat this past May which we thought would be a fun summer activity for the family. That has proven to be true! Jessica, Erika, and Kyle LOVED taking the boat out to various lakes where they could tube, swim, and explore. The girls loved inviting girls in our neighborhood which has helped in making friends and getting over their shyness. Jessica and I both are learning to wake board which has been a blast! A few weeks ago (the first weekend in October) was our last weekend boating for the season because it is now getting "cold". I use the term "cold" lightly, because it is still somewhat hot here, but the water is a little chilly...especially when us girls wake board as we spend most of our time in the water (we constantly fall!). Here are a few pics from our boating trips:

Fall Break

This last week was fall break for the kids, so we took off a few days and headed up North to camp. We met my sister (Jenny) and her family up there as well, and had a lot of fun! The camp ground was really nice, so I wouldn't say that it was completely roughing it. We did tent camp, but the grounds also had bathrooms and showers which was really quite convenient! It was cold in the evenings, but the temps were in the 80's during the day. It was great to be in the pines and breathe the fresh air which is a nice break from living in a big city. Besides seeing some pretty birds, we only saw crazy little squirrels and a few elk. We even heard the elk calls at night which was really cool, and loud! Both Ken and I were ready to go home to our own bed by the end of the week, but the kids had fun and Erika didn't want to leave! Jessica is a little more "high maintenance" if you will, and so she was also anxious to get home....she pretended to kiss the driveway when we pulled up to our house!

I love this pic! Just Kyle and Daddy hanging out in the creek. Erika and Josie (cousin) turned to pose for the camera! These two are two peas in a pod and best buds! Here is a picture of part of our campsite. You can see Ken playing chess with Josh (Jenny's oldest son) which is what he did most of the time! Jenny has 4 boys, and all of them had fun trying to beat Ken with no avail. He enjoys teaching them though. Also, Erika is french braiding her Uncle Chris's hair...her and Jessica did this a lot to all the boys! Here is Jessica french braiding Josh's hair....he looks like he is in pain, and Jessica couldn't help but laugh. I can attest to the pain; when she french braids, your head feels like it is going to explode! Erika is a little more gentle! The cousin's hanging out in the tree. It is next to impossible to get everyone to smile and look at the camera at the same time, as you can see below. I guess that's what makes them fun! Everyone in line to cross the creek!

And lastly, a funny moment compliments of Erika! She would probably get after me for posting this, but it was the perfect moment caught on video. She was trying to get her cousin, Alex,wet by kicking up water...

If we can get through one year...

....we can get through forever! This time last year, the girls were coming "home" for the first time. Wow, what a year! Jessica has reminded me several times over the past few weeks that we were coming up on the year mark, and that she could hardly believe it! Ken and I never dreamed of having 3 kids, but this is what we were lead to, and it has all been so worth it. It has been a tough year in many ways, but all our experiences have made us stronger as a family and closer than ever. I know several families that have adopted, mentioned that it takes a good year to work out the kinks, and then the family mold feels like it has always been there. I concur with this...every experience throughout this year has brought us closer with each other and it is really hard to imagine our lives without the kiddos! I love to look at all the photos that we have taken as it is amazing to see the changes in the girls. The picture above is the only picture we had of the girls for the year that we worked on our dossier to adopt them, and I love it! Here is a picture of the girls taken over the last couple months...what a difference!