Trunk or Treat

We had our annual Trunk or Treat celebration at church this past weekend.  The kids look forward to this every year!  And I love getting our trunk decorated!  This year, Erika asked a friend to come with her.....our neighbor and Erika's classmate, Helmi.  So fun to have a friend in the mix of our family fun.  The kids got a TON of candy and have been doing their best to eat it all before they get even more on Friday!

 

Laurel the Rainbow, Helmi the Vampire, Erika the Witch, and Levi as Dopey.  Erika borrowed her costume from Helmi's costume box.  She has another costume she is wearing for Halloween.  And my mom made Laurel's and Levi's (and Erika's other costume) this year and did an awesome job!

The kids with their favorite teenage (and babysitter!), Angell.

It was pouring rain until about 5 minutes before the trunk or treat started.  This little rainbow was happy to welcome the dry weather!

Levi wasted no time eating his candy.  He was very concerned that he wouldn't have hands to eat his candy....but that obviously did not slow him down!

Our trunk.

 

The kids have been doing some other costume wearing...

Such as scarf lady

And Donatello the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

The Cousins

We went to Corvallis this past weekend to spent time with our family.  Our nephew, Judah, refers to our kids collectively as "the cousins".  Which is fitting because, as my brother pointed out, our kids travel in a pack.  You rarely see one without seeing the other two nearby.  So they are known as a group rather than individually!  Anyway, "the cousins" had a great time playing in Grandpa and Grandma's house and backyard with Judah and Ezra.  It is so much fun to see these kiddos play together!

 

Judah, Laurel, Levi, Erika, and Ezra

 

Laurel with Ezra.  She loves kids who are younger than her (who aren't her brother) and was so happy to be anywhere Ezra was!

 

Erika and Ezra.  As the oldest of the younger set of cousins, she takes her responsibility quite seriously as the leader!

 

School pictures were last week.  Here is a sneak peek of the girls picture outfits.

The kindergartener

The second grader

The crazies

 

Erika has been reading the Harry Potter series with either Matt or I at night.  We had been waiting to introduce the kids to the series until we thought they wouldn't be too scared or confused about the storyline.  Since we are reading the books (slowly) we also started watching the movies!  Erika and Laurel watched it....Levi wasn't interested and wanted to watch Disney movies instead.  We are watching the movies almost as slowly as we are reading...I really want Erika to enjoy the book version first.  Laurel is not quite ready to sit still for long chapter books, but she will wander in and out of our reading.  I love these books and am loving sharing them with the girls! 

Family Recipes

I have had this project in my mind for over a year now and I finally got around to completing it.  I have handwritten recipes from my mom and both of my grandmothers that I put in picture frames to display in my kitchen.  I love the idea of the handwriting being in my kitchen to remind me of these three women.  And, I love the recipes!  Each of these recipes are something that I associate with the individual who wrote them....my Grandma James's nut roll, my Grandma Parnell's nuts and bolts (party mix), and my mom's cracker jacks.  Coincidentally, all of these recipes are made around Christmas time, so they bring special memories as well! 

 

Vacation Day

Last Friday, we had a Day O'Fun!  The kids didn't have school and Matt had the day off from work.  We first headed to get our flu shots/mist....every kids dream on a vacation day.  But we rewarded them by taking them to Chuck E. Cheese after they were so brave.  It was our first experience at Chuck E. Cheese and it was a lot of fun!  The kids got 50 bonus tickets if they wore costumes, so we brought a prairie girl, Lightning McQueen and Minnie Mouse with us.  The little rides the kids got to play on were there favorite things to do. 

 

After our morning of play, we had a pizza lunch, ran more errands, went to the church building to take our family picture for our directory, and ended the day with popcorn and a movie.

Crater Fun Run

Last Thursday, Laurel and Erika had a fun run fundraiser at their school.  It was our third year attending and the kids are so lucky that the weather always cooperates for them!  Laurel ran in the morning and had perfectly cool, sunny running weather.  Erika ran in the afternoon and the sun was a bit hotter, but it was still a good temperature.  Laurel and her kindergarten class ran "laps" along a straight stretch of pavement in the baseball field area while Erika ran actual laps (0.5 miles) around the baseball complex.  They both had a great time!  Grandma Parnell, Levi and I came and watched them run and got to cheer for them.  I ran a couple laps with Laurel and one with Erika.  They both did great!

 

Laurel ready to start with the rest of her class.

Getting her "mark"....they got a mark for every lap they ran and the top two lap runners in the class get a prize.  Laurel ran 13 laps and two other kids in her class ran 14.  So she did quite well!

Post race happy face!

 

Laurel let Levi run a couple of laps with her.  As you can tell, they are both very happy about it!

Laurel made sure Levi obeyed the rule of running around the red cone.

Lolie's kindergarten class

My sweet girl!

 

Erika and her class giving a thumbs up to show they are ready.

Laurel, her friend, and Levi cheering for Erika

Erika had lofty ambitions of running 8 laps.  She ran 5 and did very well!  Hardly walked for any of the laps.

I got to run one with her!

Erika and a friend

Post race red face!

Erika and her second grade class

Sold

Back in 2005, Matt and I fell in love with this patch of dirt and snow. 

 

In a few short months, there was more to love on this land.

 

And the snow melted.  And the building continued.  And we were so happy because we got to choose the house colors, the carpet, the fixtures, the cabinets. 

 

Our dream house (for the time) was finally built!  And we loved that house!

 

 

And we added a dog.

 

And a fence.

 

And some landscaping.

 

 

And finally a baby!

 

Sadly, after only two short years, we had to leave our house that we loved and worked so hard on.  But we still owned that house for another six years.  And God blessed us tremendously with renters who took great care of our house.  We wanted to sell our house once it became clear that we were staying in Oregon.  And that day came today!  We are so thankful that we are no longer landlords and the owners of two homes.  God has provided for us and taken care of us and we praise Him for that.  And we wish the new owners of this home many happy years!

Model 'A'

Matt and I spent our 11th anniversary driving to Yakima to pick up our inheritance from my grandparents.....Grandpa's 1931 Model 'A' Ford.  We feel so very blessed to be able to keep this car in the family and let our kids and their cousins experience what my siblings and our cousins got to experiences...riding in the car for a quick trip to the store or in a parade.  I cannot remember a time when this car was not in my grandparents garage....now my garage smells just like theirs always did with the Model A in it!  We are so happy to get to drive and take care of it!

 

Grandpa and Matt have been working on the Model A for almost 10 years now.  But there were still lots of last minute things Grandpa needed to tell him.

Such a beautiful car!

Grandpa

Its new home in Newberg.  With its new kids who love it already!  Erika tells everyone we come in contact with about the car.

Ready for their first ride around town.

So much fun!  Soon not all three of them will fit in the rumble seat.