Falling Leaves

We don't have too many, but the leaves from all of our trees are piling up quickly! Mom and Dad decided to take advantage of today's gorgeous weather and rake up piles of leaves to jump in over and over and over!
I was inspired by my cousins blog that you can see if you click here and decided to try a couple of his diving moves!

I loved getting buried in the leaves and watching the clouds! I could lay there all day!

Above you can see Sadie getting in on the action and below Mystic even tried it out! We had a blast and I suggest if you haven't, build your own pile of leaves, to dive on in!

Harvest Festival 2008

Harvest Town, USA was this year's theme of our church's annual Harvest Festival and we had a blast! After a great lunch Hannah headed straight for the ponies! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the fun definitely ended too early! After, we headed to the "Pumpkin Shoot!" Where there were at least a gazillion empty shells on the ground by the time we left and they weren't even close to done for the night! Hannah had a blast playing with 4 other girls and making "dirt soup" "dirt salad" and "dirt dog food!" Everyone laughed at the girls, who walked by, who were basically the color of dirt by the time we left... especially Hannah's friend Eva who was in a white shirt and white tights when she showed up! Good thing for bleach! (I left my camera in the car and you had to walk through a crazy uneven field too far to motivate me to go back and get it! Sorry!)
She's a natural! =)

They also had a petting zoo that we could barely drag Hannah away from. She especially loved the ducks! We have spent the summer feeding them and she is continuously asking to pet them but can't because they are wild. Today she was absolutely thrilled to get up close and personal with this little guy!

A dwarf pony just her size! At the request of a horse for her birthday I use an excuse that a horse is too big.... Now what?!?!?!?


Hannah loves dogs and we always teach her to ask the owner before she walks up and pets a new dog. We tell her not all dogs are nice like Sadie. Well since they had this dog in the petting zoo we didn't remind her because we didn't even think about it. So Hannah walked straight up to the girl (we were wondering what she was doing?) and this little voice asked "Can I pet your doggy?" It's a little cheesy but we were proud! It always feels good when your child functions independent of you in a way that keeps them safe or aids in smart decisions! Hannah tends to turn the fear function off and can dive into things pretty quick so it was nice to witness her taking caution... even if only with the dog in the petting zoo! =)

Then we headed for the hayride! We had someone playing the guitar and everything on ours! It was so much fun! Hayrides are my favorite thing!

And here we are enjoying it!

There were HUGE cupcakes.... Hannah loves the frosting! This cupcake was so big that she only made it halfway through before she stopped and said "Mom... I need some water!" =)

We kept her going all day with sugar and looked forward to the crash when we got home so we could all go to sleep! (Instead John and I watched a movie but it was nice to have Hannah to bed earlier than usual!)

Hannah being a goofball, if only we could use this method more often! =)

1 House + 2 gallons of "Milk Chocolate" paint = The same house... but better!

John and I are definitely the persons who adore change... explains one of the reasons why over the past eight years we have never lived in the same place for over two of those years! December 30 of this year we will have been in Nampa for 2 years! (With no plans of leaving! Sorry Grandma! Crazy I know!) But the fact hasn't changed that around this time we begin to itch for change. So instead of packing up and closing our eyes while we point at the map for our next destination... We headed to Home Depot, approx 7miles away! It's amazing what a couple of cans of paint, some clearance plants, and rearranging of the furniture can do! We feel like we're in a new place! =)

So yesterday we began the process of change, and it feels so good! Of course Hannah needs to be part of our projects so she sat high above the safe floor and handed John paper towels and any other necessities he might need to prep the walls.
Hannah couldn't have been more excited that she was able to help her Dad with such a grown-up project! She's getting so big!
Hannah even got to help paint the walls herself! So excited!
This is the picture where Hannah is claiming Child Labor! Ha! Don't let that look fool you, she was thrilled! So we are taking this process in stages... 1-2walls per night (all we are painting is the family room/kitchen, but the house has tons of separate walls, nooks, etc.. don't have 12 full hours to paint non-stop anymore!). When we finish I'll post some pictures of the final product!

When 6 become 11

We are a happy little family... John, Christina, Hannah, Sadie, Mystic and Susie... But the house was still so empty that we have adopted the 5 dogs pictures above. They showed up about 3 days ago when Hannah and I came back from the wilderness trip and have never left. Since it seems as though they may be around for a while Hannah has given them names. They are "Uno, Dose, Tress, Cuatro, and Daisy." We still don't know what breed of dogs they are but I do know this... You don't have to feed them, clean up after them, or make any additional room for them! That is the beauty of imagination!