A Wonderful Week with Annie

October 12-16th was a wonderful week! Annie was able to come for a visit during her kids' fall break. It was perfect timing with all the beautiful autumn leaves! Monday was a preparation day. (I have been reflecting that to be effective, the pattern for each event, even each day, is Plan, Prepare, Act, Maintain, and Recover.)  I spent time last week planning - menus, activities, timing of household duties etc. I also prepared by getting ahead on laundry and things like that. On Monday I was able to finish cleaning, grocery shopping, and organizing.

 Annie arrived shortly after the kids got out of school. We had a fun time showing them our new home, yard, and pets. The kids were so excited to have their cousins to play with, and Annie to talk with. We also thought it was cute that the little boys had matching pajamas without us planning it.



Wiggly Boys with matching PJs.

These sweethearts were in heaven playing together!  Sheri loves to fix Mary's hair.

On Tuesday I let Sterling and Sheri skip school, and we went to the zoo.  Here are the kids being fun.

The boys liked to scream when the roosters crowed.

Wednesday I took Annie up to Amish Country.  Here we visited a furniture shop and a bakery of some Amish folks that recently joined our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We were able to talk with the man who first joined with his family, and hear some of the challenges and blessings he experienced through this experience.  He basically had to give up his way of life and his community to a large extent because of joining the church.  He has found a way to work with his community and use his skills, and is doing missionary work in his own way.  It was definitely inspiring to hear and see his faith!  The drive was beautiful, and Annie and I enjoyed the chance to talk.

On Thursday, we went to Lynd's Fruit Farm to pick apples.  I wish they had more activities during the week, but we still enjoyed the apples and the beautiful autumn outing.
Here are the boys enjoying a dog.

While we were there, Annie and I were inspired to pick out some gifts for Jennifer's birthday.  I think she is the one who first exposed me to the romantic idea of fresh picked fruit, especially apples and berries.  She was definitely in my heart that day, especially since it was her birthday.

After the farm we enjoyed some time in the backyard with the warm sunshine.  Mary and Jonathan really seemed to love the cats, although we discovered that Mary might be allergic to them.

 In the evening we celebrated Mary's Saturday birthday early with Halloween cupcakes.  Of course the girls got in as much play time as possible after school was over.

 On Friday we only had a short time before Annie and the kids had to get to the airport.  We decided to take a short hike to a waterfall.  The waterfall was not as full as I'm sure it is in the spring, but still, the scenery was so pretty!

I really enjoyed this visit with Annie and her kids!  Annie seems to understand me so well, and she really helped me see the good that I am doing.  She also expresses confidence in me that I sometimes lack in myself.  Isn't that what a good friend should do?  I am surely blessed to have her as my sister and friend!  I sure wish we lived closer so that we could raise our little munchkins together and see each other more!

Family Photos October 2015

I wanted to share some of the photos we had taken this autumn.  Whitnie Solberg in our ward was our photographer.  I sure love my family!

 We got lots of other good photos, but I won't overload this post.

I am grateful for a wonderful husband who has, and continues to help make all my dreams a reality!

I acknowledge that God has blessed me tremendously!  I am eternally grateful for these wonderful blessings in my life!

September 2015

September was a lovely month!  While we enjoyed getting into the swing of school and dance we also had time for some other fun things.

Labor Day was spent around the house, but we did manage to get out and boat in the evening on the river.  It was fun to bring Eve's good friend Maya!  We are happy that Eve has found such a good friend at school!

On Christian's Birthday I took him to the zoo.  We had fun riding the train and we found a new area where there is an old air plane that the kids can play in.  He loved it!
We also had a Cars themed cake with car toys.  He is such a happy, sweet, and loving boy!  He brings us such joy each day!

One other note, Christian is really becoming such a big boy!  He is pretty well potty trained, loves play dates with friends, and has been enjoying his dance and gymnastics classes!  He gains strength, and understanding daily.  He loves story time each day with me.  He also loves going to the park!  I love this little darling of mine, especially snuggling him and kissing his sweet chubby cheeks!

Near the end of the month we went up to Michigan to see the BYU vs. Michigan State football game with Marcelino and his family.  Although BYU lost terribly, it was fun to be at a live game with friends (Regan and Riley Fackrell also drove up) and family.

Here are a few other fun pics of the month.

What a happy month!