Lolee's class field trip to Erwin's Orchard

 We took a wagon ride out to the orchards to pick our very own apples.  They gave each of us a 1/4 peck bag to fill.  Lolee's teacher had read them a story about picking apples, and you could hear 15 kindergartners chanting "Lift, twist, pluck. Lift, twist, pluck."

 We also got to choose a pumpkin to take home.  These may very well be some of the cutest pictures I've ever seen of my kids=)  Lolee got so many compliments on her hair that day that it has become her favorite hair style.  She asks me to do it that way almost every day.  To clarify, she says, "the way you did it for my field trip, remember?"

 It was so great that they allowed siblings to come.  Hayes had at least as much fun as Lolee.  The look on his face was pure ecstasy as he rode the big tricycle down the hill.  He didn't even flinch when the goat ate out of his hand.

 The kids were all playing on the haystacks when I looked over to see Hayes on top of one, reaching down to help this little girl up.  He enlisted Lolee's aid from below, and together they got the unknown little girl to the top of the stack.

Troy and Sydney got married!

Welcome to our newest family member, Sydney!

 The siblings

 David and I don't very often get pictures of the two of us together, so it was fun to have a camera-happy crowd to snap a few shots of us.

Isn't she gorgeous?!

Playing in Michigan

Aunt Tricia claims to not be able to pretend, but she and Jarilyn threw a great tea-party while they were tending our kids (it was even her idea)  The kids still talk about it!

 We took Tricia and Bear to visit Frankenmuth.  Moments after we got there, Myriam threw up at least 3 days worth of milk all over me.  This was the most disgusting thing I have experienced to date in this adventure we call "motherhood".  Tricia made an emergency trip to Walmart to buy me some new clothes.  Myriam's clothes were also destroyed, hence the naked baby driving the car.  She had lots of fun.

 Myriam loves to do the Wheels on the Bus go round and round.  it's a sure-fire way to get her to smile.  Getting her to look up is an entirely different matter.

Family pictures--by Jarilyn

We bribed Jarilyn to use Tricia's fancy-schmancy camera to take our family pictures while they were visiting us. The weather absolutely refused to cooperate for longer than about 2.5 seconds at a time.  Despite that challenge, I think she did a great job, considering what she had to work with=)

 My glow-boys.  Hayes refused to smile like any other creature besides a chipmunk that day.  (We're not sure exactly why, though we suspect it has something to do with all the commands to smile normally.)

Myriam doesn't have a poker face; she made it pretty obvious how she felt about this great idea of her mom's.

Who doesn't love a grandma? Myriam obviously loved playing with Grandma Teeples when she came to visit in January. We had such a wonderful time we're counting down till she comes back!

Grandma barely had a moment to catch her breath before our in-house cosmotologist, Lolee, set to work doing her makeup.

Hayes and Grandma are both born snugglers, and he took advantage of every chance he got.

Lolee's footprint morphed into Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer on a plate. She was so very proud of her creation.

Elyzabeth is getting to be an amazing little reader. She loves to read from the scriptures and is making great progress reading her Book of Mormon on her own. She reads on the bus and is on page 10.

Elyzabeth is losing teeth all over the place! Isn't she cute without teeth?

We have adopted into our family a wonderful sister from our ward, Auntie Jean. She helps us feel the spirit of the season, whatever season it may be:) Hayes has informed me that he is not my sweetheart--only Auntie Jean's. He makes us laugh to when he associates his pants (jeans) with Auntie Jean.

We were so very lucky to have Aunt Tricia join us for Thanksgiving. Tricia and I are both teaching early morning seminary--me in Michigan and her in New York. It has been a wonderful reason for us to talk more and continue to build our friendship. I'm so grateful for her insights and her wisdom and advice. I am very blessed to have her for a sister.

Everyone helped prepare Thanksgiving dinner--with a smile.

Grandma came to visit us the week after Thanksgiving. We look forward to visits from Grandmas more than you can imagine. This time Pilot Grandma took the kids all kinds of cool places. They are fascinated by the idea that people have to come on an airplane to visit us.

Like mother like daughter

Baking with Grandma is so much fun

The kids loved playing games with Grandma--operation is the noisiest, therefore the favorite.

Lolee is such a great big sister

Study buddies

Our October Adventures

Lolee went with her preschool to learn some gymnastics. She was more timid than expected, but she eventually got brave enough to try a few things out.

Halloween brought fairy tales to our house--everything from Cinderella's pumpkin to Pete's Dragon.

We love autumn!