Picking Pumpkins

We decided to go to the metro park to take a hayride to pick our pumpkins this year.  Our thought was, "what a great deal to pay for the hayride and get a pumpkin thrown in."  Yeah, so apparently we missed the 'fundraiser' memo.  I think we purchased the most expensive pumpkins in MI because we didn't realize it until the kids had already picked out their perfect pumpkin.  Live and learn, I guess=)

 Hayes didn't want to stay and play in the leaves; he went to buy tickets with Dad.  As you can see below, he has good news he can't wait to share.

We found this great cape at a yard sale earlier that day.  One or the other of the girls had it on every second for days.

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?