Quinn's First Birthday

A darling backpack from Aunt Pam. 
"Let me show you how this works, Quinn"
Incrediblock from Daddy and Mommy. 
Shop and go walking toy from Nana and Pa. 
Most of his presents - I think a few are missing from the picture - Sorry!
"There we go - that's what I'm talking about!"
"Oooohhh, that is good!  Only thing wrong with it is that it's too small.  Give me a real piece - I mean, who's birthday is this?"
Let's try a cupcake first.
"What is this and what do I do with it?"
A Big Bird Birthday Party!

Fall pictures

Quinn never smiled during this photo shoot, but at least he's not crying in this one!  And that's only because he's holding his cheerios!
I think if we had kept at it, we could have gotten a cute picture because it's such a cute scene with the pumpkins.  Unfortunately, this was while we were packing up to go home and we couldn't spend the time necessary to get the perfect shot. 
This was the best picture I got of the boys this fall.  I don't even care that Quinn's not smiling.  I'm just glad he's not crying or crawling away or sucking his paci - I could keep going of all the things he could be doing that would make for a not so cute picture.  I'm choosing to be thankful for the picture I got - you gotta be with three little boys!

I just love fall pictures.  There are so many cute options for taking pictures of children in the fall.  Playing in the leaves, sitting in front of pumpkins, standing in front of a beautiful, colorful fall tree, dressed in cute halloween costumes.  I wasn't greedy this year, because I knew it would be difficult to get all those pictures with my boys.  I just wanted one great picture.  It didn't happen at halloween because I was out of town and Jeremy did fall festival on his own and didn't get around to taking pictures.  It didn't happen with the leaves because we don't have enough trees in Texas to produce enough leaves to play in.  It didn't happen with pumpkins because I waited too long to buy them - did you know that they don't sell pumpkins after halloween?  I didn't, and I think that's really dumb.  I mean, it's still fall - you've still got a whole other month to use fall decor.  Anyway, Thanksgiving at the cabin was my last chance.  There were leaves to play in AND a pumpkin scene.  I posted the best picture from each photo shoot.  It probably would have been funnier to post all the pictures that didn't turn out.  The grumpy, crying, crawling away ones.  The tear-streaked, frowny, are we done yet pictures.  I'll keep those pictures because it makes me cherish this one all the more. 

Thanksgiving at the cabin

The Peru room - mine and Jeremy's room at the cabin - the blanket, art, and pottery all came from Peru. 
Papa with his boys. 
Mimi with the birthday boy. 
Uncle Terry found a huntin' buddy!
Keller and Anna Bekah having some down time. 
For a boy, there's nothing better than going exploring in the woods.
"I can't see any deer! Everything's so little!"
Uncle Terry and Jared carving the smoked turkeys.  They were soooo good! 

We spent Thanksgiving with my Dad's family in Satartia at the cabin he and my uncle share. It's so nice to have a place we can all stay together, so we can spend more time visiting with each other.  The little cousins had a blast playing together.  I didn't get pictures of all of them, but there are 11 of them now.  We ate lots of good food and did lots of things outside, including deer watching, hunting, exploring, playing in the leaves, riding on the golf cart, making smores, playing ball, and catching critters.  We had such a good time and can't wait to go back again. 

New Bunk Beds

Keller "reading" a bedtime story to Creston. 
They take turns sleeping on the top.

In October we bought the boys bunkbeds so they could start sharing a room.  Quinn finally moved into the nursery and is sleeping in a crib - he loves it!  We got a great deal on the bunkbeds and got the bedding at Target.  One set of sheets has different colored stars and the other has different colored cars, trucks, boats, planes, trains, etc.  They just love their new big boy beds.  We shouldn't be surprised, but we have to go in their room almost every night to tell them to stop talking and playing and go to sleep.  I guess that comes with the territory!

Girls Getaway Weekend

Me and Lindsey
Me and my new friend Audra.
Game night - we had 16 people playing Cranium.  It was a blast!
Lindsey and I went kayaking. 
I rode a horse named Schadoosh. What a name, huh?  I loved it - riding is so relaxing!
Rachelle and I getting ready to go down the zip-line. 

Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX sponsored a girls getaway weekend called Flavour Roadtrip.  It took place Halloween weekend, so I hesitated to go because I knew I would be missing Fall Festival with my boys, but I'm so glad I decided to go. I think there were close to 300 women there of all ages gathered together to get away, reconnect with God, and have some fun.  I had an absolute blast, as you can probably tell from the pictures.  I did things I haven't done in years like the outdoor activities shown, read more than 1 chapter of a book at a time, have an entire weekend to myself, and spend so much quality time with my sister.  I can't wait for the next one!

Pumpkin Patch

Playin' in a pile of hay. 
Quinn was being uncooperative, so I got the big boys by themselves. 
No smile, but no tears either!
Creston had a ball playing on the rope swing!
Riding the go-carts was Keller's favorite activity. 

We went to the Mainstay Farms pumpkin patch at the end of October with our Lifegroup.  The boys had so much fun and were very sad when it was time to go home.  We will visit this same farm in December to go cut down our own Christmas tree.  We love it there!

Fall 2008

What a boy - asleep with his favorite ballcap on!
Quinn is already an avid reader. 
Creston's getting the hang of riding his tricycle. 
Quinn playing in a baby bounce house at a birthday party. 
Keller, Creston, and our new friend Landri at a pumpkin party!

These are just random pictures taken throughout the fall. 

Simple pleasures

There's nothing like eating blackberries right off the bush. 
Keller loved taking a ride in Papa's canoe. 
Fun's over........it stopped raining. 
Two happy soaked little boys. 
Gettin' a drink. 
Look how wet I am........my bellybutton is filling up with water!
Stopping a minute to catch his breath. 

The boys love spending time at Papa's cabin.  It's a boys' heaven!  These pictures were taken in June 2008 - very spur of the moment.  We were sitting on the deck when it started raining and the boys ran out to splash in puddles and catch raindrops on their tongues. We also went for a canoe ride and went blackberry picking.  Oh, the simple pleasures of being a child!

Summer 2008

My favorite picture of Quinn from last summer. 
Keller loves the water!
So does Creston!
Love brother moments!

It was really hot this summer, so we spent a lot of time playing in water.  We went the the Saginaw Aquatic Center, neighborhood pools, drug out our backyard pool, and played in the sprinklers.  The boys had a lot of fun!