Trip to Oregon

In early October we headed to Portland and then to Rockaway Beach on the coast. We saw old friends and loved every minute!

 

 

 

Aayla and Ella's first chance to get their toes in the sand

our condo

JOY

old friends

hitting the falls on our way home

Gabe & Nancy Visits

One of the great things about the fall is that football season rolls around. We all love football, but the added bonus is we get frequent visits from Gabe, Nancy, Jameson and now little Molly too! The cousins are all having a great time really getting to know each other. It's awesome!

 

 

Just because I love this picture

Birthday in Green Bluff



I think I've mentioned about a million times that I like to hang out in Green Bluff. It was a gorgeous summery fall day when my birthday rolled around this year, so we headed up to GB and picked some apples, had lunch, took the kids on a pony ride and enjoyed the day. FUN!

 

 

playing in the pit of dried peas. It's alot more fun than it sounds!

Walter's Fruit Ranch's friendly Newfoundland: Leo. Luke loves Leo - and ice cream.

Luke's baptism

While Seth's Mom and Dad were in town in September, we took advantage and had Luke baptized at church. It was a special day for us and he did great! I guess Pastor Scott has a perfect record when it comes to baptisms and not having any crying babies. That record is still intact! :)

Cougar Football 2012

We were very excited about Cougar Football this year. Mike Leach and Gabe's great seats in the new addition....what's not to love? (That's an easy question to answer now that the season is over!) Seth and I made it to the first home game of the season this year - courtesy of Tim and Margaret staying with the kids while they were visiting. What a treat! The Cougs managed and win, barely, and it was a really fun day.We also got to tailgate with a bunch of our neighbors from our street. We've got a lot of Cougs on the block, and a couple of die-hard EWU fans too, and since the Cougs were playing the Eagles we were all in Pullman for the game.

Thanks Gabe and Scott for sharing your amazing seats!

flags flying at the tailgate

Neighbors - Ben and Jana

thought I should include at least one pic from the game itself...



Me and my bro

block party
 

Just when you're least expecting it.....

I've been checking in with a couple of my favorite blogs - ones created by my friends, keeping track of their busy family lives. I'm feeling inspired. So to catch up on what I've neglected to post in the last few months I'll do my best to catch you up in a handful of posts summarizing our fall and the holiday season so far.....

Preschool Begins!



Ella started her pre-school year (yes, over a month ago now), and she was SO ready. She loves school so much, and this year she was super excited to get started because she knew who a couple of her classmates would be and knows her teacher from church too. Grandma and Grandpa McKinstry were here and it was a special morning getting ready and dropping her off for her big day. Last year of preschool....Kindergarten next fall - unbelievable!

 

 

It's finally here!

next to her name and coat hook...can't stop smiling

huddled up next to Mrs. Stephens, ready to start

A visit from Grandma & Grandpa

 

Seth's Mom and Dad drove all the way from South Dakota to visit us last week, and we all had a wonderful time together. We had a big BBQ in the backyard, inviting Zac and Kristen, Tom and Ruth, Kellie, Bret and Abby and my Mom and Dad. We had a picnic in the park for a symphony concert. We went shopping and to the Children's Museum. We all celebrated Ella's 1st day of preschool for the year. What else??? Oh, the guys worked on a huge project in the backyard during the times they weren't busy with all these other things. It's always so nice when Tim and Margaret are here. They spoil us in our own house and the kids and Seth and I simply love havin them around. Thank you so much for making the journey out to Spokane and spending the week with us. We love you!

Grammy and her girl (with her new girl: Barbie)

I don't know how he does it - Papa's got more energy than the kids!

2 Grammies

2 Papas

 

 

Zac & Kristen put together a kickball game at the BBQ.
Rules be damned, it was so much fun for everyone who played
and were watching!

Kristen rounding the bases with Ella & Abby trying to keep up!

the fans

Luke catching a ride

Grammy showering Ella with gifts from her shopping trip

Papa passing on his frisbee throwing knowledge

this is how you do it

Tim & Seth took on an enormous project - pulling out bushes and
old fencing between our driveway and the yard and replacing it with
new fence. It looks wonderful! Ella was so into helping - it was awesome!
 

the guys watching Ella work :)

Tim & Margaret were here for one of our favorite events in Spokane,
the Labor Day concert at Comstock Park. So much fun!