The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

...and no that is not winter or Christmas like the song says. It's Fall! I LOVE the fall! It is my very favorite season and sadly the colorful leaves only last a good month or so until everything starts to turn brown. It is about the refreshing crisp air when I can wear a sweatshirt and jeans, but still be ok to wear flip flops. When apples are deliciously sweet and everything pumpkin and cinnamon is the best! You know what I am talking about. Visiting the apple orchard/pumpkin patch is a must this time of year...and now that I think of it, it was the first time that I had ever actually gone out to the patch and picked a pumpkin myself. We all had so much fun!

    


  

A Rainbow Birthday Party

We took way too many pictures. More to see here.

Indoor Activities

row row row your boat...

a spin on the old alphabet puzzle; searching for letters in the sensory tub of beans

...and hammering in the foam letters.

This just might be the most colorful Mater EVER! It now lives in Will's room where he has made a bed with stars on the ceiling and has taken naps. :) His little "tent."

And while having a family art night coloring Mater Will turned to me and said "Look I am Rudolph the blue nose reindeer!" I love that kid! :)

I'm catching up...

Hello there. Yes, I am still alive. I have not blogged for a while because in the last couple of months I had a baby, have been adjusting to two children, we moved (just across town), and mostly because we have not had Internet. :) So I have some major catching up to do...

My kids are growing so fast! Karlie is now just over two months old. She is healthy and happy all the time! She has just started reaching toward objects in front of her.

Karlie sleeping at 1 month

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Smiling at Papa

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And my little boy is now 3!!!

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More pictures of Will's birthday here.

We have had visitors: my grandparents and friends from the Quad Cities.

Will/Buzz-Hudson-Lincoln

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We went to Stillwater to visit family for my nephew's birthday party and baptism.

Cousin Jaya pulling Will on a sled through the pile of leaves. :)

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...and of course carving a pumpkin is an autumn necessity. Will thought that putting the candle in and watching it glow in the dark was the coolest thing ever! (I liked roasting the seeds) :)

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We also made some yummy Halloween treats! Waffle pretzels+ Hershey's chocolate Hugs (melted for a few min. in the oven)+ candy corn=deliciously addictive.

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I also had a birthday. It was my GOLDEN birthday this year. I remember thinking when I was little that turning 28 on the 28th seemed like forever away...and my hubby and friends were very thoughtful and threw me a surprise costume party. It was amazing!!! Since it was a surprise I was not prepared with my camera so I don't have any pictures. Thad and I went as Gnomeo and Juliet. :) He is so sneaky...but I did get a picture of the beautiful fall bouquet that he got me. Fresh flowers make me happy. :)

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And for the night of gathering too much sugar...we have a darling daisy and Buzz Lightyear!!

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The last two months have been a whirlwind! Thad has been busy at work, and loving it more everyday. We are finally feeling settled in our new place and the kids are growing like crazy. Will surprises me everyday with how smart he is and makes me laugh with the funniest things he says. I need to start writing them down. :) I have also re-opened up my etsy store now that we have Internet. Yay for getting things back to normal again..whatever normal is. :)

Our Trip Out West

For a long holiday weekend we traveled out west 10 hours to Custer State Park. The whole Fever/Shepard clan was together spending time hiking, climbing, pine needle basket weaving, sightseeing all the wild animals and mountains, visiting Mt. Rushmore, playing whiffle ball, and enjoying the great outdoors. Will had a blast! I was so proud of him for all the hiking that he did, but his favorite part of the trip was driving around and seeing all the wild buffalo. :) Below are a couple pictures and a video...I took way too many pictures to post, so you can click here and see them all.

Although we were traveling on the 4th of July and did not experience our usual festivities, we saw a few fireworks on the road...but this trip was so worth it! It was such a beautiful place and so much to see in such a short time. We will definitely go back again. How was your holiday weekend?

...and they are off!

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As some of you know that my sister and her husband and son have been fundraising to move to Sydney, Australia to spread the Gospel for the next 5-7 years. (You can check out more about it at her blog here.) Praise the Lord they are fully funded and have made the transition down under!! About two weeks ago they got the good news that they could buy their plane tickets and they had about 10 days to get packed up and move. Crazy! There have been tears of joy and sadness. Australia is a long way and the big sister in me kind of had an emotional breakdown. It is hard not knowing when the next time will be that I will get to see them. It all happened so fast! But I am really excited for them and how the Lord will work through them as they are on this journey. They can never have too much prayer and support. Below are some specific prayer requests from Kristin, Josh and Hunter.

• Pray that God would grant us and our families peace during this transition.
• Pray that the transition on Hunter would go smoothly, and that we would be attentive to his needs.
• Pray that Kristin and I would be gracious and patient with one another during this hectic time.
• Pray that God would open up doors for ministry!
• Above all pray that He would be glorified in all things!!