Let Me Sum Up The Last Few Weeks. . .

Vance received treasures from his Grandma Godfrey and has been putting them to good use--but not sharing them with his brother.

Flynn discovered that he loves listening to music on the TV --once the music stops, though, he's done watching.

Nutmeg's been acting old and grouchy and she got a swipe of Vanilla's ear.  I hate when they fight!

Vance picked his little watermelon he's been growing.  It was just getting too cold for it outside.  The kids said it tasted terrible -- so I took their word for it. I was just impressed that he grew on a watermelon at all.

Noah got his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts!  Super proud of him!

We got a few pumpkins to carve . . . just a few.  Flynn thought they were pretty awesome, but not too tasty.  He did nibble on a few.

Carving pumpkins is always fun at our house!

Myshel carved all 3 of their pumpkins by herself.  She was very determined.

We had a few seeds when we were done.  Myshel cooked them for us and even made some with pumpkin spices.  They're very yummy!

Noah turned 11!  Wow, where does the time go!?

All Noah talked about for a month was that he wanted a jean jacket.  When he opened his present, though, he thought it was just a pair of jeans and was completely disgusted with us. Kids!!

Happy Birthday, Noah!  We love you so much!

Trunk-or-Treating  on Wednesday night AND Trick-or-Treating on Thursday night!  What was I thinking???  Flynn made an awful cute giraffe.

And Noah was a handsome, little cowboy.  Boy, it's a good thing he got that jean jacket, huh.

Carved pumpkins all lit up . . . they're just really fun!

Checking out his stash.  I'd love to say this was all he got, but I think this was only about a third of his take for the 2 nights.

Someone else thought he should have a birthday, too.  I just can't believe it's been a year since he was born.  What a sweet little guy he is!  He's such a blessing to our family.

This is what Flynn did while his parents opened his presents.  He wasn't interested in them at all.

He did like the lollipop his Oma gave him, though.  Silly, Oma!

Happy 1st Birthday, Flynn!!

He thought the cake was pretty good.

 . . . needed some milk to wash it down.

He didn't get too messy, though.

Chad and I helped take the youth on their temple trip.  I always love being in the temple with the youth.  It was especially fun this year, because there were several kids that just turned 12.  So, I've known them in Primary and then got to be in the temple with them.  Such a great experience!  This is McKaylie and her 2 friends that rode up with us.

These were actually taken the beginning of October, but I decided to add them here.  We had a friend of ours take some family pictures for us -- before Vance leaves.  She always does a great job.

It was the beginning of October and we were thinking that we would have wonderful weather for our pictures.  It turned out to be the hottest day in weeks.  We were dying.  I'm amazed that the pictures turned out so well, considering.

Flynn did so good that day.  He complained the least of all of us.

Chad and I

We really won't be together like this for much longer.  Next year will bring a lot of changes for our family.

Flynn and his Momma

I Love Maine's Fall Colors!

The pictures never do them justice, but here's some of my favorites this year.

I love Autumn!!!!!!

It's my favorite time of the year!!!

The kids picked out their pumpkins and now my porch is looking a little more "autumny". I love the cooler weather. I love the leaves starting to change color and I love the kids being back in school!

Let's Go Fly a Kite........

The weather was a little warmer this weekend so on Saturday we took the kids out to fly kites. There was just barely enough breeze to get them up. It would come and go, too, so it was not the best day for kite flying. It was a good day for some family fun, though. It was just that much more exciting when we did get them up there and flying. We all really did have fun, even the teenagers. It was a nice relaxing weekend.

Autumn Colors

One thing that I love about Maine is the beautiful fall colors. Everywhere you go, you see bright oranges, reds and yellows! This is my favorite time of year. I love it when the air gets cooler and you can go for walks in your cozy sweaters. I love the colors and the leaves falling off the trees in the breeze. It's just beautiful and peaceful!