I know…I’m behind, LOL…I’ll get my Thanksgiving pictures up later :) I’m keeping things chronological!
Ethan had a bowling party for his birthday. It was a blast for him and (hopefully!) his friends, too!
Taylor
Curtis (the kid was in perpetual motion…I’m just glad I got as good of a picture as this one, LOL!)
Uriah
Jayden
Trey
Cameron (and Dad)
Rachel
AND….
Ethan!
Ron bowled some when Cameron was just too tired to bowl any more (he and Rachel had been at a lock-in the night before and were up all night.)
Ron gave some bowling tips,
but it backfired when Rachel beat his score!
Pizza
presents
and friends
make for a GREAT Birthday party!
Guess who has a birthday today? 
An ELEVENTH birthday!
At 8:31 (ish…I know…bad mom….) on November 19, 1998, Ethan Andrew was brought into our family. He completed us. We were so thrilled to have him be a part of our lives.
In 11 years, a great deal has changed for all of us. We still live in the same home, which is awesome! We have many of the same friends. .. But lots of changes. School colors/song/mascot have changed. We now whole grade share with our neighbors from grades 6-12 (big move for Eman next year!) We’ve traveled to different parts of the country. A grandma has died. Mom has gone to work at the school…Ethan has 3 older siblings that can DRIVE (and one that has left home for college! (blessed child…Caleb caled his little brother tonight to wish him a happy birthday…what a kid!)
Ethan is greatly loved. He’s loved by his siblings (even though they might disagree at times…they really are good big brothers and a sister!) He is loved by his school and church classmates and friends. He’s loved by his cousins/aunts/uncles/grandparents (and we can’t wait to see some of them next week and the rest of them next month!) And of course, he’s dearly loved by his old mom and dad! He is one of the joys of our lives!
Ethan has a personality that just makes you grin. He almost always has a grin on his face. He’s a jokester and enjoys being the life of the party. He has a helpful spirit (when he isn’t being pulled away from video games, LOL) and he likes to have a bit of friendly competition in the sports field.
I can’t begin to express how blessed we are to call this boy “son”. He jut makes me smile!
I baked and frosted the brownies…big sister, Rachel decorated with icing and sprinkles!
HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, Ethan Andrew!
You are LOVED!
Last weekend was family weekend at Iowa. We all went down on Friday night and ate ate Buffalo Wild Wings…a family favorite! Cameron spent Friday and Saturday night with Caleb in his dorm room, and then Caleb got him a ticket to the big game on Saturday. It was a sad day for the Hawkeyes as they lost their first game all season (AND their quarterback…ack!) But the two boys had a great time together at the game.
oh the MASS of people in black and gold! Cameron thought it was cool on the walk back to the dorm that it was just one continuous moving mass of black and gold.
Rachel often doesn’t care for her school pictures and usually wants me to take some for her. We had a few minutes of “mostly” daylight left on Thursday after school, and here are some of the better shots of the day.
I think this is my favorite.
of course…I love her giggle/grin in this one…
but then there’s this one…
oh and I love this one!
ok…so maybe I don’t have a favorite…I can’t just choose one!
THEN, after I got them all uploaded…I started playing . I love the B&W look…(It’s difficult to see, but I left the blue sparkles on her necklace blue.)
And I really like the way this one looks with just her shirt in color…
Then I started in with my Virtual Photographer. It’s a great little toy to play with. It puts filters on your pictures. And…the program is FREE!
Oh, and then there is this next one. But don’t tell Rachel I showed you this one. It isn’t her favorite picture :)
but this one is!
I just love this girl and her enthusiasm for life!
I found time to scrap my favorite picture of the day! It felt good to get a page done!
The kit I used was a freebie from Pineapple Plantation Designs, called “Autumn Whisper”
The kids don’t agree with the title of the last post…they don’t like the words “raking” and “fun” in the same sentence! Rachel and Ethan did get a little down time today, while Cameron and neighbor Jim hauled the leaves away.
The pogo stick provides a great deal of enjoyment! He went for a LONG time on that thing!
The scooter came out for a while, too.
of course, a few leaves had to be raked up again after all this!
It’s fun to watch them have fun together!
It’s that time of year again! The leaves are down, which means we get to spend a sunny Saturday getting rid of them! Of course, we couldn’t get started until after that ROCKIN’ awesome Iowa game!
I’m sure that when Caleb sees these pictures he will be SO homesick and just really wish that he were here to pitch in and lend a hand!
We are so very thankful for good neighbors with a pick up! They let us use the pick up and toss all the leaves in the back to haul away, rather than having to bag them all up! Much quicker this way!
The last job of the day was for Ron to cut down the branch of our tree in the front yard that had this lovely hornets nest in it! It was sure a big thing! Thankfully, nothing stirred inside it when he cut it down!
Today is the celebration of an historic occasion in the Lutheran Church! It’s Reformation Day!
Of course, it is also Halloween! Here in town, trick or treating was last night, so we got that all out of the way to make room for OTHER fun today! (see the next post for more on THAT fun!)
awww…isn’t Ethan CUTE? (Ick!)
Ethan and his buddy Jayden…all ready to go out and nab some yummy chocolate to bring home to their mothers :)
It was chilly by the end of the evening, but we had around 87 kids stop here last night. That was one of our highest numbers. It was cute to see the little ones from the preschool run down the steps and say “Mommy! That’s PASTOR!”
For most of the sports my kids participate in, I enjoy watching them, but I’m usually glad when the season ends. But I am always sad when Cross Country season ends. I just love watching those kids run! Here are a few pictures from the district meet last night. Both Cameron and Rachel set personal best times last night! Way to GO!
LOOK at her expression….that water was COLD!!
Look at that pack of COUGARS!!! Luke and Josh and Cameron…go get ‘em guys!
Cameron didn’t mind the water!!
What a great season it was! It was really fun for me to watch Cameron and Rachel improve their performance, and have fun with their friends. Can’t wait til next Cross Country season starts!
Wow…my kids ROCK! On the 13.6 mile Cross Country run of the game ball from the Middle School to the High School tonight, Rachel ran 9 miles, and Cameron ran THE WHOLE WAY! They just amaze me! I just don’t get why they LIKE to do this, but I’m so glad they do!
It is homecoming week here in our little corner of the world. Today, the elementary and middle school kids traveled to the high school for a pep assembly, skits and crowning of the king and queen. Oh, and we can’t forget the parade!
Trouble at its best! Josh, Justin, Tony and Cameron
Bridget, Rachel and Karli
Rachel is just under the stop sign. Cameron, of course, was on the opposite side and I couldn’t get a picture of him. I’m counting on my friend Julie or my friend Christi to get me a picture of him!
At 4:30 the Cross Country team met at the middle school. The MS Principal, Mrs. Glenn handed off the game football, and the XC team will run the ball all the way to the football field, which is about 13 miles away! Cameron SAYS he’s running the whole way. We’ll see. They also have XC Parent’s night tonight (yeah…I get to hold onto their hot, sweaty smelly bodies and walk across the football field with them…ewwww….) and then they perform their full contest program for marching band at half time. THEN…they come home and get a few hours sleep and catch a 6 am bus for Dubuque where they have State Marching Band Contest tomorrow. Whew…what a weekend!
They decorate the school bus with their names. The bus follows the XC runners to help keep them safe.
The team gets lectured by Mrs. Wright about how to run safely!
yeah…that’s my daughter with the blue, green and gold XC uniform with PURPLE leggings…
SFXC 2009
The handoff of the game ball!
And they are off! (Cameron is wearing the white shorts)
Running along the highway…trying to stay safe! Watch out for the semi trucks!
See ya later!
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