Nina's Visit

Brandon had Fall Break last week - it ended up being almost the ENTIRE week - (he just had school Monday), and his Mom Tina, affectionately called Nina by the kids, decided to pay us a visit. We are so glad she came!!!

Here's a shot of Jemma ElAtEd because she's going to get Nina from the airport.

Drum roll please... the arrival of Nina!!!

We did a little hangin' out and relaxing - a little movie watching ("Phantom" and "The Wizard of Oz") and Brandon managed to get his mom down to the school to sit as a patient for him. What a good sport!

Jemma didn't like being far from Nina's side, so she went along...hopefully she wasn't too distracting. :)
Nina and the kids.

We also took Brandon's mom to the Tillamook Cheese Factory - it's a self guided tour that can be very short if you don't stop and try out their ice cream...I am personally a big fan of the "Udderly Chocolate" flavor...they had some rather delicious fudge there too!

Here are the kids swinging on the bars you are technically supposed to stay in front of when looking down on the factory workers.

They were pretty infatuated with these cows...Jemma was especially intrigued by the utters...hmmm.

I thought I got a good shot of Jemma and her Nina behind one of those cardboard/plywood cut outs where you can stick your face through the opening...Jemma was the cow and Nina was the farmer...it turns out the picture was blurry and the clear photo was actually a video...maybe I'll post the video later. :)

Thanks again for coming out to see us! We are always so glad to have you and so sad when it's time for you to go! (Jemma stood at the doorway after Brandon and his mom drove away, headed back to the airport, crying. :( She said, several times, "I miss my Nina! She's gonna miss me at her house." It's rough living so far from family, but we have been so blessed to see them as regularly as we do. We LOVE you! Thanks for visiting us!

Fall Photos

I decided that, although we had family pictures taken in the spring, we really need some in the fall too...the leaves were just beckoning for a photo shoot! My good friend, Lisa, was SOOO awesome and took pics for us on two different days. We did some of the kids at another good friend's home (thanks Ashly for the use of your AmAzInG tree!) and then we did some more down on campus...gotta document having been in Forest Grove and Brandon attending Pacific, right? Right. :)

Enjoy!

Betcha couldn't tell how much the kids LOVED being in this tree...I think that's the ONLY time we got smiles out of the little man...

I hadn't planned on being in the photos, so I certainly don't look as cute as the kids...but aren't those leaves GoRgEoUs!!!

Thanks again Lisa! You are FaBuLoUs!

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween was probably one of the FuNnEsT Halloweens we've had as a family! (Probably because Jemma is old enough to understand that it's PaRtY TiMe, and Carter is old enough to tote himself around during all the festivities!) Anyway, the pictures are pretty much in order of occurence...we had a party the night before Halloween with a bunch of other Optometry students and their children, then the night of Halloween, we had chili and cornbread and decorated sugar cookies at our good friend's Shannon and Molly Mitchell's house before attending the church "Trunk-or-Treat" and then we finished off the night with some traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating. (The trick-or-treating at houses was a first for us this year...Jemma LOVED it!)

Here are the kids in their costumes, just after getting ready upstairs. I had a lot of fun putting their costumes together this year. Jemma wanted to be Dorothy (or "Dorpy" as she calls the character) and I was a little relieved that it wasn't a princess! So that left Carter with 3 options...tin man, scarecrow or lion...he made a darn cute scarecrow if I do say so myself! :)

The kids out front, set to collecting all their goodies! (Carter was actually saying "cheese" in the pic.)

Jemma and Carter at the party we had with fellow Op students...this was after the donut eating contest...Carter snagged that donut out of the box when no one (except me...:) was looking. Too funny.

This was Carter right after he had settled down on the edge of the stage to devour his loot. :)

Jemma (who says you can't use your hands!?!) chowin' down a donut in the donut-eating contest.

All Done!

Sharing a cupcake from the "cake walk".

Jemma showin' off a cookie she decorated at the Mitchell's.

Carter on his way out the door to the trunk-or-treat. I told you he was a dang cute scarecrow!

The kids with Brandon in towe.

Me, Carter, Jemma and Jemma's friend Kiera handin' out candy at the trunk-or-treat.


Jemma with friends Addi (left) and Kiera (right)...takin' time out for a little sugar on the trunk of our car. :)

Jemma and Carter even met up with a few fellow cast members from The Wizard of Oz...the Wicked Witch of the West and one of her flying monkeys! Pretty sweet! (Thanks Julie and Jace for lettin' us snap a pic with you!)

When we got home that night, Jemma said COUNTLESS times, "Thank you so much for taking me to Halloween! Halloween is my favorite! I loved it. It was so COOL!" Let's just say that Halloween is "so cool" when you have kids that make it SO MUCH FUN!

Carter's first Tie, Jemma's (overdue) haircut, and Carving Pumpkins

~Carter's First Tie~

I have been looking for a little clip-on tie (that wasn't $20 bucks!) for Carter to wear to church for a while now and I found this little shirt and tie set at Old Navy. On Sunday, I pulled it out for Carter to wear, and I figured he would yank it right off, but he LOVED it! He kept pointing to it and saying "Daddy!" - he knew he looked like his Daddy and he thought that was AWESOME! Too cute!

~The Overdue Haircut~

We have always kept Jemma's hair short - it's just easier to manage and when you have thin straight hair, the shorter, the better. But for the last 5 or 6 WEEKS I have been asking her if I could cut her hair..."No, I want it long", she would tell me...BLAST! She was forming her own opinion and had decided that she liked her hair long...

So, today when it was time to get ready for dance, I was trying to get her hair into pigtails - it has to be out of her face - and she kept saying that it was hurting and giving her "owies" and she wanted to take it out. I simply told her if she wanted long hair, then this is how it goes on dance days, but if she would let me cut it, then she wouldn't have to wear it up!...still a no go. So after dance, we were eating lunch and Jemma said, in true Jemma fashion, "I have an idea! Let's watch a movie!" To which I responded, "I have an idea. Let's cut your hair and then watch a movie." Jemma:"No, we can't watch a movie." To smart for that one. So, I decided, as long as I'm bribing her, "Jemma, if you let me cut your hair I will let you choose 2 BIG treats out of the treat bowl!" Jemma: "Okay! You can cut my hair!" HA! So, here are some pics from the affair on hair!

Before

During

First cut.

After

She told me when we were all done, "I look so beautiful!" I agree. :)

~Carving Pumpkins~

On Monday, we decided to carve our pumpkins for Family Home Evening. Last year, we skipped out on the whole thing cuz the kids and I didn't get back from California in time. But this year, we went for it. It's always messy business, but the kids loved it and it ended up being pretty fun!

Carter with one of the little pumpkins we grew in our garden. (We got 9 little pumpkins this year...our big ones didn't get pollinated in time and died when the cold weather set in.)

Jemma scoopin' out the seeds.

Almost done!

Ta-Da! I know the pic isn't that good, but there they are! Jemma wanted a girl pumpkin, so Brandon attempted to do some eyelashes...not bad! (Jemma has deemed that one the "girl pirate pumpkin!" If only we had an eye patch!)

Lakeview Farms

I have REALLY been wanting to take Jemma and Carter to a pumpkin patch and there are so many around here in Oregon, but I had to find THE BEST...I think I may have lucked out! Last year, Jemma went to a couple of fun pumpkin patches with both my parents and Brandon's parents while we were out visiting, and at both, she got to go on a pony ride, so, that was a priority on my list of MUSTS! Come to find out, there are not many around here that offer that, but we found one...Lakeview farms...that had pony rides on the weekends. SO, Lakeview farms it was. We were probably only there an hour or two, but the kids had so much fun!

Jemma and Brandon...Brandon is quite talented...Jemma couldn't reach on her own, so he's holding her up and looking out for the pic! Impressive!

Carter!

Brandon and the kids, checking out how tall they are.

To get over to the pumpkin patch, you ride on a little ferry boat...they had a shark and a dragon that popped out of the water (I only got a pic of the dragon) that Jemma has talked endlessly about ever since.Carter on his pony, Fancy. He LoVeD it! I wasn't sure if he would stay on, but he did great! (Brandon walked along side him though, just in case.)

Jemma, however, needed no supervision! She is quite a natural on horseback. Her pony was named Bemany. (Kinda sounded like Emily...) Jemma gave her lots of pats on the neck and encouragement..."good girl Bemany", "What a cute little horse you are Bemany!" Etc. Jemma was convinced that these were baby horses...she hasn't quite grasped the concept that ponies are just small...even when they are all grown up! :)

Another shot of Brandon and Carter

Jemma again, having a BLAST!!!

Checkin' out the pumpkins...needless to say, we did NOT purchase our pumpkins there...not when we can get them for 8 cents a lb. at the grocery store! But they were sure fun to look at!

Brandon and the kids. I don't know that you can see it that well in the background, but this little spot had such beautiful landscape! Across the lake were all these trees changing color and the weather just happened to be PeRfEcT! Blue skies and sunny! (Those days are few and far between this time of year.)

To get back over to the parking lot, you took a little train back. Jemma and Carter loved this too. It took you through a little tunnel with all these scarecrows set up doing things like laundry, eating dinner, etc. (The scarecrow heads were, of course, pumpkins.) Very Cute!

Me and the kids on the train.

Brandon and the kids in front of the train after our ride.

We had such a good time and the kids and I were so glad to have Brandon along! It now officially feels like fall, and this little Saturday get-away has got me all psyched up to carve pumpkins!

6 months DOWN!!

My brother Reed has already finished 1/4 of his mission! I seriously cannot believe that. (Most of the time anyway.) I've been pestering him to send some pics to Sharee to post on her blog (My scanner doesn't work anymore) and here of a few of the ones he sent. To see more, visit Sharee's blog.

"We saw this car all over town so we stopped here and took a picture."

"PT's Bike
(our Branch President)"

"My trainer, Elder Rusk"

We love you Reed!!!

Fall Fun

It's official...Fall is here. Living in Oregon, that means lots of rain, but it also means baking, sweaters, crisp mornings, cozy nights, hot cocoa, autumn leaves and ... prep for Christmas (dare I say what I have not yet begun...) Here's a little of this that and the other...what we've been up to lately.

Carter escaped out into the rain this morning...I didn't have shoes on either so I was trying to coax him back into the house without having to go out myself... it took a little while. :) (The rain is too much fun! Especially in bare feet!)

Jemma and I attempted to make wheat bread the other day...it's quite a tedious process since I only have a manual wheat grinder. (Someday, I will have to invest in an attatchment for my kitchen aid that will do it for me!!!) Anyway, after a fabulous arm workout, we had enough wheat flour and turned out FOUR loaves of bread...

It doesn't get much better than fresh bread with a little butter and homemade strawberry jam! :)

A couple other moms and I have been doing crafts once a week with our kids...it fills in an afternoon and keeps their imaginations spry. :) One week we did these "Leaf Crowns" and another week we made swords and shields and turned the apartment play-structure into a castle...I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the castle...probably cuz it wasn't all that impressive...anyway, Jemma insisted on having princesses on her shield...how appropriate.

Here's Jemma and her friends Miles (left) and Trennon (right) in the "dungeon".

Cute kids! (Don't know if I've mentioned this, but Jemma is one of the only girls in the apartment complex in her age range...she seems to do fine playing "cops and robbers", "star wars" and other boy games...it keeps things interesting. :)