Pumkin Patch

A fall tradition of ours (and many others, we couldn't believe how busy it was that day!) is to hike around a local pumkin farm in search of just the right pumkin! With 6 kids trying to choose just the right one, it did take a while but we sure enjoyed our time together! We love living so close to some of our cousins. Happy Pumpkin picking!

Look who's 2 months old!!

I can't believe it has already been two months! Joshua is just a joy to our whole family. He loves to smile and loves his sisters. They give him a lot of attention and he is pretty easy going about it all. He is starting to grow into his skin a bit and loves laying in his bed watching his mobile! He has slept through the night a few times and is getting into somewhat of a routine.

Joshua, we are so thankful for your life and what you add to our family. We love you!!

Fabulous Fall!

I just really love fall and always seem to take a bunch of pictures this time of year. As I was trying to decide which ones to put on the blog, there were too many cute ones, so of course that means I have to make a video right!? Enjoy our little cutie pies!

JBU Homecoming

It had been 10 years since we had walked the grounds at John Brown University. It is where my life truly started, where I became more of the woman God had made me to be. It is where Nate and I met and fell in love. It is where lifelong friendships were made. And although much has changed about it and we have changed much as well, the memories have not. It was a great weekend to remember and be ever thankful for this journey God has taken us on. Walking down the 100 Stairs

(we actually did not walk all the way down them this time, the girls were too tired out!)

Nate told me that it was half-way down these steps, on a bench, that he fasted and prayed, asking the Lord's permission to marry me!

I cannot deny that I had tears in my eyes as he told me that.The bench outside Mayfield where Nate would wait for me to get ready for our "not really a date" dates...this was before we were officially dating but spent a lot of time together!Doing what we loved to do back in the day - spending time at Lake Weddington -

"Looks like a Weddington day!"Girlfriends, couldn't do life without them!! (Heidi, we missed you!) The kids - they all got a long great!

A great weekend with great friends!

Smiles!

We finally caught some of those precious smiles on camera!

Baby boy

Joshua is growing and changing so much these days. Yes, he is still so little, but he is filling out and having much more awake, alert time. I have yet to capture one of his amazingly cute smiles on camera, but each time he gives me one, he melts my heart. We have had some hard nights lately but I hope it's just a phase and he will soon work into a routine that suits us all better!

We are daily thankful for his life and place in our family!

Roadtrips, hello's and goodbye's

God has blessed us with some amazing friends throughout the years. This next week we get to catch up with some of them at our 10 year college reunion...can't believe it has been 10 years!!! So, just like the good ol' days, Nate and I will hit the road and drive down to Arkansas. This time our traveling companions will be our three kiddos, a little different than the last time we took that trip, but still very fun!

Last weekend we also took a roadtrip. This one, although very fun, was hard because the reason for the trip was to help some dear friends move. Brian and Sandra have been a huge part of our life these past nine years. We began to meet together with 3 other couples before any of us had kids. Through the years we have welcomed 12 babies into our group, laughed and cried together, and we have just shared life together! An amazing friendship for sure. Brian has been going to PA school the past 2 years and was just offered a job in a town about 6 hours away. We are so happy for this job opportunity but hate that with this job came a move. So last week, we helped load up two trucks and all of us caravaned down to the southern part of CO. It was so neat to see where they will live and help them get settled in a little. It was SO hard to say goodbye and drive away knowing we will not get to share in the daily life stuff for some time.

Through all the hello's and goodbye's I am forever thankful for God giving us these amazing friends!

Our group on last year's annual camping trip!

Light and Dark

Homeschooling has been going really well for us, we have just begun to get into the curriculum and we are all enjoying it.

This week we focused on the letter 'S' and studied the sun. On Monday we went into a dark room with no light and talked about how darkness was over the earth until God made the sun. I opened a door, letting the sunlight flood in and we all were so thankful that God made the sun! I then shared that our hearts are like this dark room until we ask Jesus into it, then it is filled with light and that light is to be shared with those around us.

Both girls thought is was really neat to sit in the dark and then have the light come, such a stark example to them.

So we discussed light and dark for a little while and then Sarah said, "Mom, I want to ask Jesus into my heart right now." I was thrilled to hear this and we prayed together right then. Praise Jesus that she has decided to ask Jesus to come in and take over her life, shining His radiant light in her life.

What a delight to share in this with her! Overall, I'd say it was a very successful week in homeschooling!