Fall Quick Takes (Picture Style Again)

Since it is clear I don't do well with weekly updates I will have to settle with seasonal. Fall has come and gone, but thank goodness for photos to remind us of the fun we had.

1.  Genevieve started Kindergarten.  We are still homeschooling (which I love more and more every year).  However, we also go to a school two days a week, so we get the best of both worlds. 

Look at her in her big girl desk!

2. Lucia is just the sweetest baby.  She is always smiling and is happy if she is with her family.  What joy she brings to all of us.  Here she is 7 months.  She loves to eat just about anything and always smiles.  She also loves to make a clicking noise. 

3.  We took time to go to a pumpkin patch.  We went through a corn maze and played some fun games.  Plus we got pumpkins that we were able to carve!

4. Joey is a great reader and loves to take care of his little sister.  She wanted to return the favor.  Siblings are the best.

 

5.  We spent another Halloween Trick-or-treating.  This year we had one dog, a spiderman villan, a care bear, and a pink dinosaur.

6. Grammy and Granddad hosted another pumpkin carving party.

In their new KITCHEN!

7. We watched a lot of Seahawks this Fall.  It is always a family event, which we love. 

8.  We played a lot with our siblings.  A favorite game is laying blankets on the ground and playing pretend.  My favorite is when they lay a blue one down for water, and a tan one down for sand and have picnics on the beach.

9. We visited Dr. Dad and got our teeth cleaned....2 of us needed fillings....

Overall Fall treated us well!  We played Soccer, took the hs youth on a high school retreat in North Idaho, and played lots of games.  Monopoly, Life, and Boom are our current favorites!

Lucia Elizabeth's Newborn photos

This post is so overdue, but I don't want to forget these sweet baby moments of Lucia.  First of all, my sister Nicole has so much talent it is unbelievable.  The girl picks up the camera and creates such beauty.  I don't even know if she understands how amazing she is.  It is just by chance that she found out this amazing gift God gave her.  She was a mom of two young girls and she happened to get a camera.   You put the right tools in a persons hands and you never know what they will create.  She has an eye for beauty.  She can take anyone in any situation and make them amazing.  Okay, I'm done bragging about my big sister :).  Here are a few snaps of our sweet Lucia that she took on Easter weekend when she was a few weeks old.  How precious are these?

that face

those rolls

This is her daughter, the oldest grandchild on my side of the family holding the youngest.  Bella is in high school, they are 14 years apart.  We have 5 granddaughters and 1 grandson.  Girls dominate on my side (I only have sisters).

Yikes we are so blessed!

Quick Takes Summer style part 2

1. We did a lot of hanging around and doing some of the local activities such as going to the Indian's games.  We also had Ava's Godmother come for a visit.  We all love Molly visits.

2.  We served at the homeless teen shelter, which we do once a month.  The kids love it!

3. Lucy and I took a bunch of high school students to the Steubenville conference in Spokane this summer.  What a fun weekend learning more about our faith.  Lucy was awesome and met a lot of fun people.

4.  We spent about 5 days camping at Priest lake.  We had a constant flow of family staying throughout our stay.  We had a blast!

5. Lucy and I took a lot of solo adventures.  We flew to Seattle for a high school reunion with some of my closes friends.  It was so fun to see these girls and spend time laughing.  Love them! We also got to meet up with our high school cross country coach who was a huge influence in my life.  She got to meet Lucy too!

 

6. The weekend Joey turned 7 was a fun, full weekend.  My college roommate and her family drove over from Seattle.  We spent the weekend doing so many fun things: Splash pad, Green Bluff picking fruit, playing games, eating good food, dancing, baking cupcakes, and laughing a lot.  Poor Duncan didn't know what to thing of Wild Ava, but by the end they were the best of friends.  How we treasured the time with them.  When they left Cory and I kept saying how easy it was to have them.  We can't wait for their next visit. We ended the weekend with a birthday party at my parents lake house.  So much joy.

7. One last camping trip back to Priest Lake again! So beautiful!

What a fun summer.  See why I haven't blogged in awhile...we were busy.  :)