Pint size Pumpkins

I thought it would be fun to compare some pictures of our three daughters getting pumpkins.

Emma is 8 months old in this picture. We were in Jersey Shore, PA at the time. (2003)

Josie is 13 months here. This was at Uncle Johns cider mill with our friends the Curds. (2006)

Here is Addie. She is 8 months old here at Spicers. (2007)

Spicer's with Nana and Papa

Saturday we went with my Mom and Dad to Spicer's orchard, a perfect way to celebrate the autumn season! We had a really good time! The girls loved playing around in the kiddy area. Josie loved the miniature town. Emma tried the zip line and fell off the first time. I was SO proud of her, because she got up (after a big fall, and a bit of embarrassment) and tried again. She went three times! My big girl!

We met up with my brother Jason, sis-in-law Shanna, and Ashlyn and Cayden. It was good to hang out again.

My Dad bought some fresh pressed cider and hot out of the fryer donuts for all of us! Thanks, Dad! Addie looking silly.

Josie peaking out of one of the windows of the miniature town.

Me and my Mom! I love you, Mom!

Look! My Emma can fly!

Josie in a different atmosphere. :)

Autumn is here!

This time of year is my favorite! Josh isn't really that fond of the fall. It is too gray and depressing to him, but to me, there is nothing better.

Even on cloudy, overcast days, my heart is filled with warmth, thinking of fond memories of my childhood. I remember helping my dad bring in the firewood. The sound of your steps as you trample through the leaves. Tomesia, Jason and I used to play in the barn, and make forts. They were secret forts though, so when we referred to them, we called them "cow". "Hey, let's go to the cow!" Oh, how sneaky we were!

All that to say that, autumn is here, and I am overjoyed. I am now making new memories to cherish with my own children. I hope that fall becomes one of their favorite times of year too!

We went to Spicer's orchard and got some great pictures of the girls by with the pumpkins. :) Josie and Daddy finding a pumpkin.

My lil punkin.

Three little cuties in the pumpkin patch!

Josie still is so little! :) I feel like Addie is catching up to her!

When the wind blew, it got chilly. They look a little frozen in this pic.

I am bummed!

I have been trying to post on my blog for a while, and it won't let me upload any of my photos. :(

I am not exactly sure how long it will be to get the problem fixed, but stay tuned...I have some great pictures from the weekend!

Thanks for checking our blog!

The lives of the poor and famous!

Can't these girls get a break! Always trying to dodge the "mom-arazzi". You know they are going to end up all over the Internet. (Well, on my blog at least!)

Meet Hollywood

And her big sister Movie Star.

Can this be October?

We had such a great Saturday. After eating brunch at the school we loaded the girls up and went down town to the farmers market. It was 10AM and already 76 degrees outside!

After loading up on red potatoes, scallions and honey crisp apples we took a walk down town to the Jackson Coffee Co. Josh got a gift card there from some dear friends for his birthday. He was so sweet to share his birthday gift with us. We both got coffee, and Emma and Josie split a muffin. Who would have thought with three kids we could have a leisurely visit to a local coffee shop?

A little while later we went to Steve and Sarah's house. They girls had a blast seeing their cousins again, and we had a blast seeing Steve and Sarah again! :) They fed us a delicious chicken dinner and apple crisp for dessert! YUM!

Emma wanted to get one on those HUGE pumpkins! :)

Josie trying to stay cool at the market.

All the kiddos decorating the driveway.

No one looks very happy that I brought the camera out!

Poor Josie was so hot! The thermometer in their neighbors garage said it was 90 degrees! They kids all ran around in the sprinkler and got cooled of before dinner.

Our children's involvement in our ministry

Sometimes I feel like a lot of my time in ministry is spent after our kids are in bed, or with a sitter. This week has been a great week in showing me that that is not always the case.

We took a shopping trip with Jenna. The girls loved having her tag along on a usually boring chore to them. We also had wonderful times in the dining hall this week. Emma, Josie and Addie were each sharing their thoughts (or at least smiles in Addie's case) with the students we were eating with.

I love it. I love that the girls are involved with the students. I love that the students are just like family. Life is busy, but it is so much fun!

Here are some pictures of Addie playing with a dorm brother, David. Addie is much more fun to play with now that she is feeling better! :)

"Mom, this guy is cracking me up!"

Toothy grin.

"Hmm, I wonder if Mr. David would notice if I took that phone?"

All went well!

Addie's surgery went really well! Thank you all for praying. The anesthesia made her act pretty freaky! The Tylenol with codeine has her racked out in bed now. :)

Thanks again!

My three beauties!

Surgery scheduled for tomorrow

Tomorrow morning at 6:45 AM Addie is going to have surgery to put tubes in her ears. Please keep her in your prayers. My mom is also having surgery tomorrow on her gums and we would appreciate your prayers for her as well. I'll keep you updated. Thanks everyone!

Cutie pie.

Cheesy grin!

What an exciting Saturday!

We had the great pleasure of having some friends of ours, the Lenz family, visit us. We got to know them through the training in PA and MO. They are missionaries in Papua New Guinea and are back in the states for a little while to deliver little Daniel. We were so glad they came by. :)

What a good looking family! Robyn looks amazing! She had Daniel TWO weeks ago!

Addie clocking a mug.

Michael is such a cutie!

Adelaide's little ears

Yesterday was our appointment with the ENT. Addie still has a bunch of fluid behind her eardrums, so she needs to get tubes in. The lady who does the scheduling was not in yesterday, so we are waiting on her call to set the surgery date. Thank you all who are praying for our sweet baby girl!

Here is picture of Addie sitting up (for about 5 seconds!) We are hoping once the ears are drained she will have better balance and be able to do this for longer time periods.

Can you believe she is eight months old already?!?!

Addie loves the jumper!

My friend Keisa let Addie borrow her little doorway jumper and she loves it! I took this video the first time she tried it out. :) Sorry it is so fuzzy. Our camera has been giving me a lot of problems lately!
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Guess who's THIRTY!

I'll give you a hint...it's not me! :)

Yesterday was Josh's 30th birthday, and at a school where the average student age is 19, that means you are over the hill! Ha!

We had a great time celebrating. Jenna and Lindsey (students here) helped me make posters to hang up at school with funny pictures of Josh anywhere from birth to the high school years. SO FUNNY! We then had a little birthday open house for him here at school. It was a great time.

I still can't believe he is 30! I remember celebrating his 20th birthday with him. :)

I love you, Joshy Squashy!

The birthday boy!

The party.

Jared couldn't believe how old Josh is!

Some more partying with friends.

The spread!

* Thanks to Rachel, Jessica and Keisa for your help making the treats, for Jenna who helped decorate, and for everyone who helped keep it a surprise, sort of. :)

My little Ballerina

Today was Emma's first ballet class. There is a program here in Jackson where they offer the arts at a discounted rate for lower income families. Well, we qualified for a full tuition grant!

Emma had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures of my little ballerina. :)

Here she is checking her moves out in the mirror.

This is before class started. She has no clue what to do, but Mommy said to pose. :)

I love this picture. Here she is with a classmate as they wait for class to start. They are peaking at their teacher Miss Ginger as she gets the class set up.

This didn't come out very good because I had to take it through a window, but here she is in class, doing her stretches.

Two new teeth!

Addie got her first two teeth this week! My big girl! She didn't fuss at all. I hope that the rest come in so smoothly. :)

It's hard to see in the picture, but there are the two little pearly whites poking through! I am going to miss that gummy smile. :)

Emma is a Cubbie Bear!

Emma just started AWANA this week. It goes so late that we waited until she was a little older to start. I think she may be the oldest in the Cubbies class. She is definitely the tallest!

She had a great time and didn't want to leave. :)

Here she is walking ahead. She was so excited!

I asked her to smile, so she decided to pose with her Bible. :)

Here she is lining up. See how tall she is?

At the end of the evening they were all in the gym. They had a big ice cream party, where Emma got to make her very own sundae. Sugar was just what we needed after staying up past our bedtime. :)

Free money...that's what I'm talkin' about!

So today I got a call from a lady named Donita with the MSU extension office. They got my name from my lactation consultant. Anyhow, she wants to do this little study where they observe Josie eating snacks over a course of a couple weeks. They give me a $25 gift card for Wal-mart at the beginning, a $25 card at the end, and then in a couple of months I have to answer some questions over the phone and they'll send me a third $25 gift card. Pretty neat, huh? I am all about the gift cards. :) Oh, and they supply the snacks too. I was pretty excited, so I thought I'd share. :)

Here are a couple of pictures of my little monster. :)

Reminiscing

The Lord has really laid on my heart lately to pray for my dear friends all over the world. Won't you join me? These ladies are all wives and mothers, and also missionaries. Anytime I feel overwhelmed with my schedule here, I think of my friends, and how much more they have to do every day, living without modern conveniences and luxuries. Each of these women are amazing, and I miss them dearly.

Here is a picture taken in May of 2005, one of the last times we were together before we all graduated and went our separate ways.

From left to right: Rachel-PNG, Shelly-Indonesia, Erin-PNG, Nisae-PNG, Karrie-PNG, Me- Jackson, Beth-en route to Mozambique, Naomi-Indonesia, Megan-Philippines, (on the floor)Robyn-PNG