Awana Grand Prix

Awana Grand Prix was this Wednesday evening. If you don't know what that is, it is similar to the Pine Wood Derby. Anyway, this is Lexi's car, The Weiner Dog. She was very excited to run it in the race. It was not built for speed, so it came in about 15th place, but it was fun to watch.

As you can see her, she did take a prize for "Best Non-Car Design". She took 2nd. One of the leaders asked if she put a real hotdog in the "wood bun". Dad thought that was great because they worked so hard on making it look like a real hot dog. It actually had the "seam" markings on the ends.

What....she's not afraid??

As many of you know, Shelby is afraid of just about every living thing. She is very scared of dogs, cats and has never liked petting zoos. Here you see her feeding a goat. She spent about 1/2 an hour feeding these goats. She had such a great time.

She is so happy to be by the sheep as well. She actually pet the sheep. I can't even tell you how excited I was to see her having fun instead of being scared.

She is actually petting a bunny. She stuck her fingers in the cage and everything. She wanted to spend so much time with the animals, I was a little concerned that someone had stolen my child and substituted her for someone else.

Lexi was also very excited to spend some time with the animals. She was feeding them as well.

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Today, we went to the pumpkin patch with our small group from church. We had a great time. They had a hay maze for the kids, a corn maze, and fire pits with private party areas.

We had roasted hot dogs and made smores. It was a lot of fun. We attempted the corn maze, but after about 1/2 hour we ended up at the entrance again and we did not think we could go any further. We had a great time walking around in circles.

We went on a hay ride and the kids had a great time. They thought it went really slow, but it was fun no less. John and the guys in small group started talking about tractors with scoop hoods and dragster possibilities and the women just rolled our eyes and laughed.

They had a petting zoo as well. The girls actually had a good time feeding the goats, sheep and pigs. All in all we had a great day. The weather was good, but a little cold. It started to rain at the end, so it was a good time to go.

Our beautiful girls

I was out taking pictures of the beauty that we live in and the girls were with me. I had to take a couple of pictures of the beauties that God gave us. Shelby is 7 1/2 and doing great. She is still so active and growing like a weed....how do we make the growing thing stop?

I don't know about anyone else, but this little one does not look 9 1/2 to me. She is getting so mature and really loving the idea of growing up. I, however, am having a very rough time of it.

I look at these smiling faces and I thank God for my girls. We have been so blessed with healthy, active, crazy girls and I would have it no other way. There are days when I want to pull my hair out, but I think I will print this picture and remind myself of the treasures that I have.

This is what I get to see when I drive to my house everyday. The mountains, the colors, the apple and pear trees, the river.....WOW!

Fall in Naches

I wanted to send some pictures of Naches and the beautiful picturesque setting that we get to live in.

These are pictures of the Naches River and the beauty that God created.

Just another amazing setting that God gives us to look at.

Lexi plays piano

Thanks to Uncle Mick, Lexi has been able to begin piano lessons. Mick sent us a digital keyboard and Lexi has been having a great time learning how to play. Right now it sits on our dining room table, but Grandpa is making a table for it. The table is coming along and we are excited to add it to our home decor.

Mrs. Montgomery is Lexi's piano teacher. She is wonderful. She is bubbly and ever so kind. Lexi is learning a lot and is hoping to play a Christmas piece in December at a retirement community in Yakima. We are so proud of her and the wonderful progress that she is making.

Updated House Pictures

OLD FRONT OF HOUSE.......

NEW FRONT OF HOUSE.....

Pete, Betty, John and Lynn all had a hand in making this house look so good. Pete and John did most of it, but you know. This is what it looks like today. We are still going to make the columns bigger and do some painting, but I wanted to get an updated picture for you. As you can tell, the color of the strip under the lights is the actual color that we are painting the house. I don't know, there is something special about having a "racing strip" on the front of your house.