youth FALL retreat

Last weekend, we finally got to go on a youth trip!!! YAY! I haven't been able to go on youth trips... FORever... b/c of being pregnant or having little babies. So, this year... they allowed us to bring the whole family to the Fall youth retreat and it was awesome. What a blessing to be able to serve the youth and watch them rededicate their lives to Christ... all the while with our children right beside us! The last 6 years have seen many difficult changes in our youth group, but this past weekend was encouraging for both Kep and I.Savannah's new buddy is her cousin, Brit! Noah loves Hannah, too! He is just fussing b/c it was an exhausting weekend for our little guy who had strep throat!
Savannah has always been big-time mama's girl but the Fall Retreat changed our girl! She turned 6 months old and now... "it's cool to go to others". So, that is possibly the biggest highlight for my last month.Parker loved hanging out with the youth and eating the snacks. It was sure fun to watch our kiddos enjoy being with those youth. When it was time to roll up the sleeping bags and pack up the car... Parker was less than THRILLED- he wanted to stay at Solid Rock Camp!

MOPS convention

Well, it has been 3 weeks, since I had the great pleasure of attending the annual MOPS Convention in Dallas. I am the finance lady for our local MOPS group where 9 of us traveled to Dallas to be inspired by talented speakers and song artists. This is my 3rd year going to a MOPS Convention, and it was a bit different with a baby!!! I loved; hanging out with my girlfriends, having quality time with Savannah, shopping at outlet malls BUT this year I didn't get to attend all the seminars that have always been super inspiring and refreshing for us young mamas. One of the best parts was... I got to spend time with my mom. It is difficult to live so far away from my family so this was a perfect treat for Savannah and myself! I am thankful I got to go to Dallas to have a break from daily life and be encouraged by the few speakers, I actually heard!

3 generations We always stay in these gorgeous Gaylord Convention Centers with beautiful gardens and gold people! Savannah was asleep and I wasn't about to wake her with the site of a gold man- she'd become even more of a mama's girl!
Savannah lovin' her spot in the "nursin' mama's" room. This is the room where Savannah and I hung out for the majority of Convention. They had big over-stuffed chairs, a big-screen TV and surround-sound to help us mama's-with-babies hear most of the speakers. I had fun meeting moms from all over the country. We, of course, were very popular as we attend the same church as Sarah Palin!

bitter sweet

Bitter... sweet- this is how I feel about Fall! I love the crisp/refreshing Fall air and the gorgeous/multi-colored leaves BUT this means our long-awaited/warmer weather is gone for another 7 months!
We do make the most of our short Fall by taking family bike/walks where we are surrounded by the fabulous colors. Of course, the best part of Fall is raking the leaves then making a mess of them!

At the end of our walks, we always end up at this playground! It's kind-of our bribe to get Parker to stay on his bike for the entire walk!!! That little guy would rather run! Savannah is now sitting on her own, so she's ready to slide. I think this slide was made for our family of 3!

rainy days= dress-up days

Here is Savannah in the cutie-patootie tu-tu that my mom bought her! She seemed very pleased to be a ballerina, so this might be her 1st of many tu-tus. (is that even how you spell "tu-tu"- I've been a mom of boys for so long that the word makes our family giggle!).
We were all ready to walk out the door this morning, but our meeting got cancelled and the weather was rainy, so we decided to hang around home and play dress-up. Noah's not much for dress-up and didn't care to be in any pictures. He had more fun building Lincoln Log fences for his animals. But, Parker was in heaven! He had on 3 different costumes within a half hour! And, then to see his sister in a tu-tu... that really made life fun! Parker insisted on dancing with his little ballerina...
Every ballerina needs to be able to 2-step in her tu-tu with Woody, the cowboy!

our Titan racer

Our racer boys... Kep's school had a Teeland Titan Trail Run on Saturday. There was a 100ft. toddler run that both of our boys ran in. It was so cute! They all dashed out (except Noah- I had to coax him along) and ran to get a balloon at the other end. Apparently, that was just a warm-up for our #138. (I'll let Kep tell you about his run with #138)...
After sizing up the competion we had a few last words at the starting line before I left him alone with his buddy Layne (blue hat) to start the race alone. I would later meet up with him and keep him company around the 1.2 mile course.

All went as planned. After the initial 100m burst from the starting line I began running with him through the forest of turning leaves, autumn air and 3 inch standing water holes. Very nestalgic actually. Our only stop was to lose the pants he had on over his race shorts. After the pit crew was done we were back on our way. We did lose two places in that ordeal but those were quickly gained back with the renewed energy brought on by one less layer.

We had a good time on the trail just the two of us. We passed some of my past and present students. We talked about the animals we resembled (jaguars, snow leopards, horses). At one point, he actually mentioned that "this is fun Dad". I was just glad he was running, let alone talking and "having fun". We did pass a few that weren't having near the fun we were so we gave them a little encouragement and pressed on. He's a fun little race buddy.As we rounded the corner back toward the field, Parker could hear the people cheering the incoming runners ahead of him. I thought he might speed up at that point but he just waited for his turn to break out of the woods in triumph...and he did.

So the youngest runner in the race ran his little legs off the whole way to finish 59th in a pack of about 100. He was a proud 4-year old and had a giant smile pasted across his face for the last 30m. Funny, 'cause that was before he knew they'd throw a medal around his neck at the finish line! Does it get any better than this?!

expressionate Noah

These 4 pictures are to share just a bit of our Noah. This silly guy keeps us laughing and entertained. God gave him such a cute LITTLE face but it is BIG with expressions! These next 4 pictures show just 4 (there are many more) of Noah's expressions during our recent family photo shoot. I wanted to post a few more but the picture size was too large, so these pix will give you a glimpse of why we can't get enough of our Noah.

our sweet cupcake is...

5 months old! Savannah is getting more fun every day. Don't ya just love this cupcake hat? My super-talented-momma-friend, Amanda, made this for little Savannah. It is A-dorable!
Savannah is now...
rollin',
squealin' (like only girls- squeal),
gigglin' (a TON) for her brothers AND
gettin' chubby cheeks...

We LOVE our little missy/sissy!

soccer for Parker

This is Parker's first time playing a sport and he is loving it. We have a new Sports Center in the valley and it is offering a soccer program, Li'l Kickers, for little kids! Kep played soccer and his Uncle Tills still plays, so it has been fun for Parker to play as well. We get to go to soccer "camp" every Friday morning, so it is definitely the highlight of Parker's week!

I'm pretty sure the biggest "hit" of this whole thing is that Parker gets to wear a uniform and we made sure he got #5 as that was his dad's # and is still Uncle Tills' #!

blueberries and hiking in Hatcher's

Last weekend, the weather was decent so we ventured up to Hatcher's for some blueberry- picking-family-bonding time. It was so fun to watch the boys hike through the tall bushes. Little Noah will do whatever his big brother does, so it makes the hike entertaining for Kep and I! They loved getting purple hands and we managed to pick about 4 cups before we lost their interest.

Kep and Parker hiked up to this abondoned cabin, the day before his 4th b-day, but they forgot to take a picture. So, we hiked back up there, as a family, to get a pic. of Parker with his capgun. If any of you love to hike... this is the perfect trail for young families. We have always loved hiking to Gold Cord Lake but the first 1/2 mile used to be slick and muddy and the last 1/2 mile involved (steep) hiking up large boulders But, this summer, they just cut out a trail to Gold Cord Lake that is very easy and follows along the pretty creek. And, it's no longer muddy as they put gravel along the trail- all the way to the lake. Noah was even able to run all the way to the cabin and Parker runs the entire way. Nice little family hike. This cabin is about 1/2 way up the trail so it's a good spot to stop and play (and snack)!
My four boys LOVE to hike!