STEVE AND EMA VISIT FROM COLORADO!

Evan, Brennan, Ema, Ella, Steve and Kaily came to visit yesterday, sharing with us about their ministry at Camp Redcloud in Colorado. It was fun to see how the kids have grown since we last saw them and how God is working in their lives.

Evan and Brennan

Steve and Ema

JAY AND HIS TRIKE!

I originally was going to watch Jay so Carrie could go to work, but Tuesday morning I found out Carrie had been sick all night and was staying home in bed. So Jay and I hung out together and had fun with his little trike with the handle on the back. We must have made at least 4 trips around the block with Sandy. I love the enthusiasm of these little ones. Jay would get so excited every time he heard an airplane in the sky, too.
Jay is not much for cameras so I was happy to get these pictures.
John and Carrie also have their friend Lance staying with them; so he arrived late afternoon followed by Daddy. Mommy felt better by the end of the day, so all worked out well. Glad you're feeling better Carrie.

Isaac, Levi and Elise

Elise is almost 3 months old already. She has really grown since we saw her a month ago.
Elise is smiling and loves to be held which was fun for Grandma. Isaac still loves to put puzzles together and play games and watch a movie. He plans out the whole day when he gets up in the morning. Levi is talking a lot more and can say Mama (for Grandma) and Bumpa (for Grandpa).
Levi will sit on the potty and go, not always, but it's a start. We enjoyed the day with Jenny and the kids. Jenny got Levi's album completed too. Congratulations Jenny!

A trip to Lake Villa!

A Trip to Lake Villa to see Isaac, Levi and Elise and Mommy and Daddy!

Doesn't Elise look peaceful? So cute!

Mommy and Elise!

Daddy and Elise resting!

Update from the Lake!

An early morning fog set in. About 2o minutes later it was sunny and a beautiful day!

Notice the little black gum tree at the bottom right of the picture. Les did a good job planting it.


This is our replacement tree for the one we lost this summer in the wind storm. This is a 6 foot black gum tree which should grow to be 30 feet high. But not in our lifetime! Well, hopefully it will provide a little more shade in the next few years.

Nice job on the fence, Les!

This new fence will deter drivers from landing in the hole where the

drainage culverts are located.

Les is organizing his shed with his new tool box.

Tomorrow we leave the lake to go home. It's been a great 10 days here. Tonight we went to one of the local churches for a spaghetti dinner followed by a Bluegrass Gospel Singing Group who were very talented and sang a couple of Grandma Larson's favorite songs: Beulahland and I'll Fly Away, which brought back great memories of Grandma Larson.

We sat with a couple who spend their spring and fall here, but actually live in Mission, Texas. It is a small world. That reminds me that Mom and Sylvan are on their way to Mission, Texas now with stops at Sharon and Ree's on the way.

Good Fishing at the Lake - October 25,2010

Les has been catching fish off the dock all week. Today I rode with him to get gas in the fishing boat; so before we put the boat away we went out fishing and caught 5 fish. Les caught four and I got one. We had a few other bites, but either didn't get them in the boat or they were too small. I could get to like this fishing when I actually catch fish.
This is the first picture I've taken with the camera since we've been at the lake. Wow!!!

Dollingers Farm - October 14,2010

A fun day at Dollingers Farm with Caleb, Seth, Noah, Ellie, Grace and Nathan taking in the petting zoo, the pirate ship, measuring the kids to see how tall they are this fall and playing on the bales, tepee, fire engine and slides.
Les drove the big van so we could all fit and we picked out pumpkins and apples and a honey stick for each of the kids. Toot enjoyed being with all the kids and taking in all the sights of the beautiful fall day.
When we arrived back at Paul and Amy's, Amy had a great meal for us and got a chance to visit with Toot.

A Visit from Toot

Les met Toot at the airport on Saturday, Oct. 9th, and they drove to Jenny's to see Jenny, Isaac and Levi, while Dan was gone on a weekend retreat. This was the first time Toot had met Elise. The little red dress Elise is wearing in the photo with Toot was Jenny's when she was a little girl, one of my favorites, which is why I kept it all these years. Les commented on how Elise really likes to swing with a little bit of gusto. I was having Croptoberfest so didn't get to make the trip this time.

Tuesday we watched Jay, after Jay had a hernia repair on Monday; as Carrie and John were both working . Jay was doing fine and we tried to keep him from being too overactive. Aunt Jenny had found this Thomas the train set for Jay at a garage sale. Jay loves Thomas. Jay's saying words like Dada and Mama, Sandy, choo choo, and Bob. We had dinner with John and Carrie and Jay retired early as he only slept for an hour during the day.

Today Toot and I took a trip to Emerson Creek Pottery where we enjoyed lunch in the Tea Room and shopped in their gift shop. The days are starting to get cooler, but was still a great fall day.

Croptoberfest

What a fun two days celebrating CROPTOBERFEST! Stacy Schott, Roxanne Dorsey and Lisa Dailey cropped all day on Friday, joined by Carol Brower and Bonnie Schmitz in the afternoon. The Cheerful Power Palette was highlighted with each person accepting the challenge to complete coordinating pages. Donna Preisler joined us in the evening and her page layouts were voted the best pages by her peers. Donna spent the night so got an early start on Saturday.

Saturday Sandy Denewellis, Cara Weber and Cher'ie Huspen joined us for cropping with Cara's page layouts voted the best by her peers. We also had grand prize drawings with Cher'ie winning the Tools Caddy, Roxanne the Autumn Additions, Donna the wavy tearing tool and Cara the Cheerful Christmas additions.

Thanks to all the scrap bookers for a great day. Sandy and Donna tied with 13 pages and Donna stayed later completing a total of 21 pages.

Celebrating Levi's 2nd Birthday!

Levi can't wait to get a taste of his yummy birthday cake!

Levi turns 2 today-October 3rd. What a fun day with all the cousins together. Levi loves balls so his birthday cake had lots of fun soccer, baseball, football and basketballs on it. How fitting to have the party in the garage! Jenny had a great meal with yummmmy chili and all the trimmings!

Levi has the cutest little smile and loved opening all his fun birthday presents. We were blessed with a nice day and the kids spent some time outside-Levi loves their swing set, too.

Levi's Uncle Paul has a birthday on October 4th, so we sang Happpy Birthday to Paul, too.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEVI!!!

Soccer and a day with the Larson grandkids! Celebrating Paul's Birthday!

Caleb, Seth and Noah had fun at the CYC playing soccer. Paul and Amy took Caleb, Seth and Ellie to Amy's cousin's wedding while Les and I kept Noah, Grace and Nathan. The time between the wedding and reception Paul and Amy brought the kids home. Nathan entertained us with his sunglasses and stocking cap. What a comedian! We celebrated Paul's birthday the day they got their well finished. So what a celebration that was. Thankful for an overflowing of water. PTL!!! Amy made a yummy pumpkin pie and the kids decorated it with whip cream.

Celebrating John's Birthday!

Celebrating John's Birthday at Mongolian Barbeque! We met John and Carrie for dinner at the Mongolian Barbeque. While waiting for John, Jay entertained us by waving at all the cars, etc. driving by. John just came from work so was all dressed up with his shirt and tie. After dinner we went to Barnes and Nobles where Jay loves to play with the train.