PATRICK GOT HIS MISSION CALL!!

I copied and pasted this (and edited a little) from my sister's blog, mainly because she was there, I was on Skype (you will see that later on).... 

And where is he going you may ask?.........

Well let's start from the beginning.  Patrick got his call and wanted everyone there to open his call. So, Jana and Brant (and kids) were there.  Wayne and Crista (and kids) came out for Thanksgiving, and on Skype was Brent and Megan (and kids), and Larry and Andy (and Cayman).

Here is everyone waiting around till it was time.

Jana took a picture of Larry, Andy and Cayman from skype. (oh yeah and Wayne)

Megan, Brent, Leila and Ben.

and our silly Leila (fourteen days and counting till they are here We (Jana and fam.) have a chain count down.)

As soon as he started everyone froze up on the computers so the intensity was killing Pat.

Here is dad getting impatient while we got everyone back up on skype.

Finally we got everything working and He opened it!!
Chihuahua Mexico!! Spanish speaking.

I would say he is pretty excited and not so nervous anymore. Having to look at it all day long.

A proud momma!

And a proud Dad!
There was also a video, but I couldn't get that to work so here's what would work!!

We are so excited for Pat and  can't WAIT to get out there to hug him and congratulate him!! We are proud of this awesome decision you have made to serve Pat! We LOVE YOU!!

October Fun!!

Well, we did a LOT of stuff in October, and failed to blog about it! So, here is a quick review of our month:

Ben has grown a ton!! 

  He is pulling himself up on everything and is now climbing the stairs!

He is such a handsome guy and ALWAYS has a smile on his face!

He absolutely LOVES the tub, even when he sees the tub he gets so excited and kicks and starts his splashing motion.

Leila is our Princess!!

She is our singer, dancer, loves make-up, and dressing up! She is ALL girl!

Our friends invited us to the botanical gardens and it was so beautiful with all the colors changing.

 

Here is Leila riding a raccoon... and here is Ben when we were getting ready to go. Can you tell he really likes his car seat!

 For FHE one night we decided to make Halloween sugar cookies. Daddy helped Leila and they had a fun time making their own shapes.

We also made carmel apples (not the same night, even though Leila looks the same) 

 These pictures are from when we went to pick apples and pumpkins at Eckerts 

PUMPKIN CARVING: 

 

HALLOWEEN NIGHT:

 

 

They both seemed to enjoy the night-- but got tired soon after our trunk or treat at the church so we just went home and had a relaxing night. 

Oh and P.S. we've had some weird comments on our blog from people we don't know so as of

November 10th we are going private... if you want to be invited please e-mail me or leave your e-mail address!! Thanks!

I STILL can't believe it!!

Anyone who really knows me, knows that I do NOT like running! Never have, and probably never will.  However, this past Saturday I ran a 10k!! To some that may not seem like much, but it was a real accomplishment for me! I trained with my friend and neighbor, Lindsey. We started training at the end of August, with neither of us really knowing what we were doing. We did a small 5k in September and it was tough for me, so I thought would never be able to make it in a 10k. After more and more training I was getting excited, but the week before the race I ran 5.5 miles and totally died! I had to ice my knees for two days after!! So I started to get really nervous to run, but like the title states I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT!! I don't have any pictures running, but this is a picture of SOME of the girls that I ran with that morning.
 

I really couldn't have done it without them to push and encourage me along the way, and I really couldn't have done it without Brent!!! He was always encouraging me to run even when I didn't want to and he watched not only our children, but Lindsey's boys too!! And he was always there at the finish line cheering me on!! Thanks honey, I LOVE YOU!!

On the Farm

We had a great time last weekend at Eckert's farm!  The fall colors are coming in and the air is nice and cool--it was almost bitter when the wind was blowing. We picked lots of fresh apples and even picked up a little pumpkin for Halloween!

 

 

 

Nauvoo the Beautiful

I had a short break from school this weekend, so we made a run for Nauvoo as a family. We arrived in a monsoon at about 11:30 p.m. and set up camp in the downpour. The tent was soaked, along with many of our clothes and we didn't get our children to sleep until past 1:00--I assure you it was not the best start to a vacation. We heard on the radio the next morning that we had received over 4 inches of rain that night! Now we know what the swamp might have been like ;) The next morning brought beautiful weather and things only improved from there. Jordan and Chelsea came up with us on Friday and this enabled us to attend the temple on Saturday, which was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Nauvoo holds such a special place in our hearts...it has become a sacred place for Megan and me and hopefully our children. Our testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith were strengthened and we are grateful for those who so faithfully endured affliction and sorrow in order to preserve the blessings of the gospel for us today.


Oh, and when we arrived home, Ben was so excited to get out of his car seat, he cruised almost everywhere in the house he could think of, then got high centered on the Capri Sun box and started grunting because he couldn't get off. :) It was great!