Our Herd

On Saturday we participated in our ward service project, which was to clean up a park by GRCC. The girls helped pick up garbage, branches, and scrub some benches. Jer and I think that they did really well, especially since there was a playground just waiting! When we finished up there, we went to the pumpkin patch. The girls were quick this year to find their pumpkins, we were in and out, which I know Jer loved. They are really excited to carve them tomorrow. It has been a good week and we look forward to the trunk or treat and halloween coming up! YEA!

Field trip

Well yesterday we went on a field trip to V2 farms in Enumclaw with Cassie and the rest of her preschool mates and their families. It was a lot of fun! This farm has new owners who decided that their mission is to have a farm, but allow it to be open to the public so they can experience a little of the farm life. They had animals, a donkey that was so cute, a pony, two trouble making goats, chickens, pigs, horses and a dog. The kids did a hay maze, went on a hay ride, visited some teepees, picked corn and fed it to the horses and pigs, jumped on the bouncy toy, chased chickens and played some games. It was two hours of action packed excitement. Krista, a good friend of ours, went with us too. She knows farmer Andy and Jenny from a fundraiser they did this summer. I think she had as much fun (if not more) than the girls. I really appreciated all her help too!

MT SI

"Are you Crazy?" Is what Cassie might have asked me if she and we knew what we were getting into. We wanted to spend our Saturday doing something fun. We had a few ideas and somehow we decided to go on a hike. Jer suggested Mt Si and I aksed him to look it up online to see how easy it was. He got directions and we were on our way. The girls love to be outside and they like hiking. We just did not realize how grueling this hike is. It was beautiful, pretty much all up hill, lots of stairs. Not that these are bad things, just challenging when you have a 10 month old, that doesn't like her carrier, a 3 year old who wants to be carried and a five year old that is whinny. To get to the top is 4 miles but I think we are lucky if we made it to one before turning back. Abby screamed almost the entire way back. Yikes! It made me realize how out of shape I am, my legs were jello about half way back. I am sure Jer was thinking he was going to have to somehow drag me back. Don't get me wrong, we had a really good time, it was just challenging. We decided that next hike we will make sure it is family friendly, and Jer and I will conquer mt si on our own.

Fall

Fall is probably my favorite season. I love all the beautiful colors. The oranges, reds and yellows always get my attention. I enjoy the warm days and cool evenings. I even welcome the rain. We have a road by our house that I love to drive down the end of October, early November on a slightly windy, but sunny day. It is lined by huge really old maples. The leaves fall all around as you drive and it's really hard to describe how it makes me feel, but it is something I look forward to doing every year. Another reason I love the fall is because it means the holidays are just around the corner. I also enjoy the baking that comes with the weather change. The smells, tastes, its a piece of heaven!

Picture Time!

My side of the family hasn't had any pictures since I was in about 8th grade so we were really over due. We asked Kali Leenstra to be our photographer, she took Janni and Caleb's wedding pictures, and once again we are impressed with her work. Here are a few that she had posted... the rest are still to come and we can hardly wait to see them.



Here are Lane and Rj. They are both so Handsome. I like how proud Rj looks, almost like he's showing Lane off.


This is my little Bro, Matt and his girlfriend Taylor. You can tell these two are in love! They're so adorable!

Here are a few of the girls! They are so beautiful!




Last but not least, one of all of us.

Lately

Well it has been a while since I have posted anything, so I summarize what we've been up to.
We went on a trip to Idaho, we drove with the kids who did really well. We went with Rusty, Nea and their boys & other Grandma & Grandpa. We went to Preston to visit Phyllis and the rest of the Moser family & to scout it out for a potential move. We love it there! We would love to have the kids grow up in a place like that, but we do not know how realistic it is. We also went to Utah to visit our friend Katrice. It was great to see her and the kids loved seeing each other. I wish we had more time to spend together. Since we were in the area we went to temple quare. It was fun to be able to be there and feel the spirit no matter where you were.
We went to the fair too. The kids loved the animals, food and rides. Cassie was especially funny. On every ride she'd put her hands in the air and yell, Woo hoo! Jessie is a little timid, she hangs on for dear life. Jer was able to take a break from work and meet us down there for a few hours. We really enjoyed his company.
Cassie is in Preschool this year. I was so close to skipping it, but she loves going and loves her teacher. It is every Mon, Wed and Fri for two and a half hours.
Abby says mama and dada, and is figuring out her tongue. She loves to eat too.
Jessie is going through a sassy and argumentative stage. I hope we are done with it soon. She is so smart and remembers everything she hears, so I have to be careful how I deal with her.
Jer went hunting and got a deer. He says it makes him feel good to see all the meat in the freezer. I have been canning lately too and that is rewarding to see when its on the shelves.