Fall Happened!

As usual, fall was a blur but there were some things I wanted to remember as we roll into the holiday season!
First, this guy started preschool!!! I love it and although he has days where he just isn't sure about going, I usually manage get (*bribe*) him to go and sometimes he wants to be carried in but once he's there he loves it and I love it! His preschool is wonderful!On the 10th anniversary of 9/11 (yes, I know that was back in September) a monument was put up in town made of actual steel beams from the wreckage at the World Trade Center. As we enjoyed that beautiful afternoon paying tribute to those who sacrificed their lives, I felt the same reverence that we did when we visited ground zero in New York City.
We went to the pumpkin patch with Bradley's preschool! I am so glad I still have one at an age where the petting zoo, hay pyramid, maze, and picking out a pumpkin is a big deal. We also got to take our friends, David and Grant Gill with us because I watch them occasionally while their mom keeps her nurse certification up.


Bradley's preschool Halloween party.
This is what happened to our little ninja before the trick-or-treating festivities even started.
Then we met up with cousins, trick-or-treated at the Uptown, ordered pizza, went to a friend's incredible Halloween maze they put together in their home and then hit the neighborhood. It was a really fun night!
Then, before we knew it, football was over, soccer was over and we got our first snow of the year! Bradley remained glued to the window until he could go outside.
It wasn't much but it doesn't seem to matter when that first snow comes--so much excitement!
Megan started orchestra this year and plays the violin. I am so glad she is trying something that is new to all of us and challenging herself. They just had their first concert so this is the one little snapshot I was able to get. I'm glad she enjoys it; she's been good about getting up and out the early since it is before school.

Backtracking

Here are a few recent fall highlights as I slowly catch up on our family happenings:For Nate's birthday we went to the EWU Homecoming Game. Bradley loved Swoop the Eagle!
We took Papa and Grandpa with us.
Had a lot of fun at the Inferno!
Back at home, Amanda had her own Homecoming excitement going on!
Love their cousin relationship!
Her awesome friend Jaclyn came to hang out before the big date, too!


Amanda and Tanner! He's such a great kid! He wrote her a song to "Hey There Delilah" called "Hey There Amanda" came over and serenaded her on the guitar to ask her to homecoming! I only have it on my phone video unfortunately but it was awesome!
Their group had a lot of fun together. I love that there is a large group of incredible kids for Amanda to hang out with, date and make fun memories with. She has definitely had a social and busy fall!

Soccer

Megan had a blast this soccer season. She was put on a combined U11/U12 team but was able to stay with most of her friends.
Sports are always better with friends and families carpool with!

Beauty, Weddings, Last days of Summer...

We had some great days to close out our summer. After we stayed with Sherrie in Utah, she came here to spend a week with us and attend a wedding of a friend of hers. Of course it was great for me! I had lunch and dinner plans, movie nights, etc. My kids seemed to enjoy her too (Nate even says she's okay :)


Right after Sherrie left we headed up to Spokane for something Megan has been excited about since May: Andrew and Eva's wedding! Megan got to be their flower girl. She adores Eva and thinks she is beautiful!
Megan and Paul, my cousin Kati's son, are the cutest together! He really likes her and was the ring bearer so she tried to help him with what they were supposed to do. I love this picture of him looking at her!




They are an amazing couple and we are so happy for them! I am so impressed that these two young people are dedicated to putting God first in their lives and trying to live their lives accordingly. We look forward to all the future holds for them!
The reception was held in the Greenbluffs area of Spokane and in an absolutely gorgeous setting. Amanda took advantage of the scenery and had a little photo op. At one point in time we looked over and saw about 10 deer running through the fields around us. Amazing!

Of course, Kevin and Emily were so nice to let us stay with them and drive back and forth to the festivities and then spend a little time with them. Their property is my favorite at this time of year. The kids loved the paddle boat on the pond, the wildflowers, 4-wheelers and all the fun stuff we get to do when we visit.


The weekend was quite a busy one and Nate and Jared made it to the wedding and reception then had to sneak away to Cataldo, Idaho for a campout and a scout 50-mile bike ride. Jared made it but wiped out the last mile, scraping himself up a bit. We were glad it wasn't serious and wish someone had taken a picture. Other than that, it was a really nice end-of-summer trip. *sigh*

Catching Up

I'm not done with summer yet! Good thing the weather is still nice! We spent some quality time on the river this summer, which was fantastic since we didn't get to go at all last year due to a very long broken boat story. We also tried to squeeze in some swimming lessons. I mean, really squeeze them in--both Meg and Bradley got some sort of major summer flu right in the middle of the session which left us attending about half of the session. Whatever it was wiped out each child for about a week--crazy! Once we got past that and scout camp and volleyball camp and Gonazaga camp, etc. etc. It was time to head to Utah to pick up Amanda and several others who attended EFY together in Provo.
At that point in time, Jared was the only one able and/or willing to go with me and it was SO MUCH FUN to take that one-on-one time with him! We took advantage of the situation and stopped in Boise where he was *dying* to see the blue turf and spend some time at BSU in the bookstore. He was very excited about that!


Even the bathrooms were decked out in orange and blue.
Once we got to Utah, we were lucky to stay with Sherrie and hang out for the time we were there. We wasted no time getting to Rumbi Island Grill for dinner--I hadn't had my favorite salad in three years!!
Pretty sure these pictures are out of order but Jared was about seven years old the last time he had been to Utah and really wanted to see temple square, the conference center, etc. It was nice to be able to take the time to do that.
On my list was to hike the Y. It was a nice, warm day and we really enjoyed our hike.





Of course, more eating! Yum!
Sherrie is such a great hostess! We love her (and Jeremy too)!