Thanksgiving Part 1

For Thanksgiving we headed to California for the week.  Our first stop was in Sonora, to visit our dear friends, the Loverins.  We left super early Saturday morning and arrived to their place around 7 that evening.  It was SO wonderful to see them again! Even though the kids hadn't seen each other in about 2 years, they quickly became great friends again.

 These two buddies were born just 2 months apart and have been friends from the very beginning! Trent & Josiah

 My dear friend, Sharla

 The "kids table"... lots of goofiness and laughter happening here!

 On Monday morning we enjoyed a hike near the Colombia College (basically in the Loverin's back yard)  With Wesley as our guide, we girls had a fun time adventuring through the "enchanted forest"; the moss on the big rocks were amazing!

 Friends ~ Wesley, Eliese and Katie

 We met up with the guys and rest of the kids at a nearby historic mining town called Colombia.  There were rocks to climb on and we spent time exploring the little tourist town.

 Possibly the future "Mr and Mrs"?!

 The Stagecoach

JoJo, Jakob, Tys, Wesley and Trenton

Fall Fun

I love that our kids like to dress up and play their imaginary characters! By the time Halloween arrived they all had worn their new costumes many times and played all sorts of different games.

That evening we took the kids to see our friends, the Larsons & the Jacksons, then, we spent the rest of the evening visiting with friends at the Zion school Trunk or Treat. There was a bouncy house, hot cocoa and lots of candy!  Mostly, it was wonderful seeing old classmates and dear friends!

Pumpkin Patch

A local farmer just a few miles from our house had a little pumpkin patch that we could go to so, one afternoon in October we invited our friends, Pam, Grayson and Ava to go with us! We enjoyed a little hay ride and picked out pumpkins.  The kids had fun running around in the patch and finding the best pumpkin ever!

Linder Farms

One of our favorite things to go in the fall is visit the pumpkin patch!  We love the hayrides out to the patch, picking that "perfect pumpkin", eating mini donuts and drinking hot apple cider, visiting the petting zoo and riding a few rides.  Usually the kids get to go to Linder Farms on school field trips but this year my mom and I took them in an evening after school.  The weather was perfect for being outside and we had a fun evening!

Saige's Birthday

October 5th was Saige's birthday and because she's a part of our family, we celebrated it with a special party!  On Friday evening Katie invited her girlfriends over (and their American Girl dolls) for a party that included BBQ hamburgers & hot dogs and a yummy two layered cake.  Saige's favorite thing are hot air balloons so I made her a balloon cake :)  It was a fun evening with lots of giggling girls!

Jackson and Jogging

This week is already shaping up to be terrific!  Last night we got to babysit my sweet little nephew Jackson and we loved every minute!  He's such an easy going, happy boy!  Katie Rose got to help with him... which included lessons in diaper changing and wiping up spit up :)

Kristiana and I are enjoying our morning fall runs along the Nampa greenbelt.  I've figured out a pretty good 6-7 mile route that includes a stop by the park and animals along the way.  She loves seeing the cows, horses, ducks, goats and sheep.  Our fall weather has been amazing this year!  We're experiencing the beautiful change of colors on the trees but, also having warm temperatures so we can get outside to enjoy it all!

Boo In The Zoo

Last weekend the kids had a 4 day weekend due to parent/teacher conferences (all three kiddos are doing fabulous!) so on Friday the kids and I went to stay at my parent's for Fri & Sat.  On Friday night we went swimming at their gym which, is always a family favorite activity!  On Saturday Mom & I went to the gym then, took the kids to our favorite yearly fall event of Boo In The Zoo ~ at Zoo Boise.  There are LOTS of people dressed up in their costumes and fun cartoon characters walking around handing out candy to the kids.  It was nice to have Kyle, Marie and Jackson meet us there too.  And, Jackson was his cutie pie self in his adorable "Baby Chef" outfit!