First Big Snow of the Season!

 Our crew is always so thrilled to wake up to the first fresh snow of the season! 

 Porter said, "I just love how I feel when it snows and is Christmas season!"  Joy. 

 

Headed to the little sledding hills. . .

 They couldn't wait to make the snow fly on the trampoline :)  And of course, food coloring/water spray. . .

Someone is not going to let mom in the house without a snowball fight ;) 

 

Selfie in the snow. . .

 

 

After a fun day in the snow, we had the opportunity to go serve those in our community.  It was a very meaningful time.  Porter said, "We love to go out in the snow, but I bet the people without a home do not."  Thankful for a day where we were able able to play together and serve together.  And thankful for a warm house to come home to. 

Happy Halloween 2014!

Our baby, pirate, Darth Vader, and army guy. . .

Trick or Treat Grammy and Grampa. . .pizza please! 

The people handing out candy loved these babies as they said, "Twick or Tweet." One of the ladies told them they could pick 2 candies and then she said, "I'm impressed you can count to two!" ;) 

Eleven. . .lots of laughs

Ainsley turned 11 and had an Art party.  Seriously, these girls are so much fun.  They laughed and laughed together! 

 

 

They each got to paint a canvas and decorate a picture frame with buttons. . .

 Ainsley and I stayed up late the night before and made her birthday treats. . .we went heavy on the food coloring and the girls mouths turned colors. . more laughter :) 

Happy 11th Birthday Ainsley!  We thank God for you and for the beautiful young lady you are becoming. . .on the inside and out!  We love you and we love laughing with you and your friends :)

 

Girls on the Run 5K

This was Ainsley's 3rd and last year in the Girls on the Run!  She is already looking forward to Girls on Track next year :)  These girls set goals for themselves before the race and met their goals! 

We were thankful to have cheers from Grammy and Grampa along the way!  Sporting their medals after the race. . .Ainsley sprinted at the end and her mom couldn't keep up ;) 

 And my fav part. . .Starbucks afterwards to celebrate and warm up!

Way to go girls! 

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or imagine. . ."

On Wednesday, as we were at 411 pieces I asked my Bible Study girls to pray, as we were getting so close to 500!  Thursday, we went to the mailbox and the first envelope we opened took us over our 500 pieces!  Thank you, to each an every one of you, for supporting us in this way! 

The above verse immediately came to mind.  It's found in Ephesians, a book whose purpose was to "strengthen the faith of believers by explaining the purpose of the church-the body of Christ."
We are so grateful for the body of Christ! 

Ainsley added the last piece :) 

 

I'll post a few more when it's framed and finished :) 

Family Photos 2014

It's that time of year, when we hit the parks and they are swarming with photographers and fancily clad families posing for Christmas card photos.  The weather was gorgeous and the lighting was perfect the other night and our boys started posing ;)

Christmas card worthy?  Probably not. . .

but they sure had fun posing. . .

 

 Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like posing with a frog ;)

 

I think they were just glad it wasn't really their turn, and that they were already done with our annual family photo session!  One of my dear friends and mentors took our photos this year. . .

 Ainsley Brielle. . age 10

Porter William. . .age 9

 Trey Coleman. . .age 7

Ryker Matthew. . .almost 4 in this pic :) 

And as an almost 4 year old, he wanted to stand in front of us for this pic ;) 

GooF. . .age 35 lol

13 years of marriage. . .

 

 

62 years of marriage to go :) 

 

And just for fun. . .

Guess who picked this pose?  He saw this pic today and said "That is awesome!"  Glad he liked how it turned out :) 

 

 

 Next time we head to the Falls, I'm sure we'll be a lot less matchy, but Ryan said the photo session wasn't actually too bad ;) 

 

406 pieces down. . .94 pieces to go!!

Checking the mailbox, reading your encouraging notes, and adding pieces to our puzzle has become the highlight of the day!  Thank you for your continued donations! 

 

Yesterday. . .

 

Today, hitting over 400. . .

 These kids can't wait to add a little one to our family!