Pumpkin Carving

"When life gives you lemons..."

....you laugh with those you love and your mom stuffs your freezer full of dinners.

Heath's mom and my sister Renae came to stay with us and help out during Ellie's surgery.
Then Ellie caught Saydee's cold the day before her surgery which has now been postponed to November 5th which is also Saydee's birthday.

So yes, lots of help and no surgery. We felt terrible that our family had come so far. But they have been so great and its been a blast to have them here. And they both helped me so much around the house and made Delicious food galore. We're set for months.

Mom, Renae and I stayed up late every night just talking and laughing into the wee hours. It was so fun, a little vacation at home. I completely forgot about pictures until after Renae had left, darn it! She is so cute and I miss her already. After that I made sure to have camera in hand for the next few days with Grandma. We had so much fun and now that she left this morning, homesickness is setting in. It's always the worst right after family leaves.
But, Thank you both so so so much for everything!

Grandma Nese and Aunt Tysha's birthday gift to Saydee. She couldn't wait!

Renae got a new haircut while she was here. I love it!

Grandma made spider pizzas

There is a beautiful walking trail right by our house.

Saydee and Grandma gathered leaves on their nature walk

We carved pumpkins and made Tyson a Halloween card.

We had heard there was trick or treating at the Zoo, and there is... it starts after dark.

Oh, well they had a new activity center open and Saydee had so much fun. The Zoo was all decorated for Halloween. It was awesome!

By the way, Grandma made Saydee's Jester costume. I love love love it! Renae helped some and I might have sewn on a bell or two... nope maybe just one.

Germany

This past week Heath took a business trip to Germany. The conference was in Garmisch and he said it was absolutely beautiful there and the weather was perfect. Most of his time was spent in meetings but he did get to do a little sight-seeing.

He was able to tour the Neuschwanstein castle built in the mid 1800s by King Ludwig II. The stories Heath told me were so fascinating. We really want to go back sometime. He wasn't allowed to take pictures inside. Most all of the rooms had elaborate murals along the walls.

This castle is also known as the "Disney Castle" because Walt Disney's Castles have been modeled after it.

Unfortunately this was the only day Heath took out his camera. Actually that's pretty good for him. But he had a great time and got to experience a little of their food and culture.

A Weekend At Ekcerts

On Friday we went pumpkin picking at Eckerts Orchard. We always look forward to going there. It's this quaint little orchard farm with cute little country stores. It reminds me of my Colorado mountain home, minus the mountains of coarse. Saydee loves to run around there, she especially loves the petting zoo.

I love it during the holidays. Right now is apple and pumpkin picking season. They load you up in the back of wagons, well more like trailers, and take you up to their apple orchards and then on to the pumpkin patches. We intended to stay on the wagon and head straight for the pumpkins. But Ellie wouldn't have it. The poor girl was so tired and started fussing on the ride. So we hopped off at the apples and walked back to our car. Personally I loved the opportunity to just walk around and enjoy the beautiful weather and all the nature.

So, we decided to give it another try on Saturday. It was another beautiful day and Ellie slept through it all. On the weekends Eckerts has their harvest fest activities. Saydee was thrilled. She especially loved the plane ride and bouncy house. She is so funny and has absolutely no fear or inhibitions. Most of the time she was all alone in the bouncy house. But occasionally, some bigger more rambunctious kids would come in and bounce her around and knock her off her feet. She loved it.

One bigger boy got knocked down and she ran over to help him up. She kept asking him "You ok? You ok?" I think he was a little offended. He definitely did not want help from our little girl.

Again we did not have time for the traditional pumpkin picking. So we picked a few up at the display area. Saydee loves pumpkins and talks nonstop about "Saydee's bunkin" and "Tyson's bunkin" and "Ana's bunkin". She can't say Elliana very well and recently shortened it to "Ana".

We'll give the pumpkin patch a try next year. We had so much fun anyway. I love the Fall!

I don't think I've mentioned this before but you can click on the collage to enlarge it.

Updates

So its been a while since the last post. To quickly get you caught up with our recent happenings. Ellie's surgery date is set for Thursday the 23rd next week. This week is crazy with Dr. apts. and preparations. Heath's Mom and my sister Renae are both coming to be with us next week. It will be so nice and helpful to have family here. And all of our friends here have been so great and generously helpful in countless ways. We are so grateful for the wonderful people in our lives.

Change of subject. We now have a house of our very own, Yeah! However, we are still not quite settled in and I take full responsibility since I'm a little particular about these things. I think Heath just feels like he gets in my way. The poor guy just waits until i ask him to move stuff around for me. This has been our 4th move in just this past year and I am so burnt out. I take great comfort in knowing I won't have to do it again for at least a little while.

I already have so many projects and ideas in mind for the house and yard. Heath says I've been cursed with a one track mind. We have a lot going on right now so I don't know when we'll even get to any of them, but its exciting nonetheless.

This picture was taken the day before we moved in. We'll post more later.

A few random pictures over the past two weeks

Saydee has been told repeatedly not to climb inside the bassinet. She thought she was so well hidden this time, cracked me up.

Man, this girl smiles all the time but it is almost impossible to catch.