I LOVE AUTUMN!!!

I think October is the best time (weather wise) of the year! It is so nice to wake up to nice cool mornings, cool evenings. This year, the mosquitoes are really bad, but even with that, it is very pleasant outside!
Today, "White" Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to pick out pumpkins just outside of town. We also got some of my favorite...Butternut Squash! YUM!

Here is Matthew! He had a BLAST picking out the biggest of big pumpkins!

Bethanie, she has a sort of ornery look, but she was totally excited to be here!

Madison is at a really hilarious age right now. The first thing she yelled from her crib this morning because she just woke up was: "HELP ME!" When we got her to the pumpkin patch, she started her pile of pumpkins she wanted. She was doing some serious shopping.

She is still shopping.

Bethanie is soooooo excited that we decorated the inside and the outside for Fall! She can remember some of the decorations from last year.

Here is Jeff (Left) Matthew (next to Jeff in red and white pants) "White Grandpa Al, and I don't know the kid behind him

It was fun. I love this time of year!

Fall Fest...

Today was Concordia's annual Fall Festival. Our Branch was part of a float. We decided to use our Primary theme for the year (I am a child of God). So, several of our Primary kids rode on the float. Some of them threw out candy in bags that contained pass along cards. :O) I think we gave out 175. Isn't that great? Even better, I only saw one on the ground as trash. <<>>

Here is Bethanie and The Dance Company dancing to "Slow Ride" (Fog Hat??) Bethanie is in the front on the end. She is such a good little dancer! This was a tap dance, but she doesn't have her tap shoes yet.


Here she is front and center-attitude and all. LOL!

Today, Bethanie's dream came true. She has ALWAYS wanted to ride on a horse. She was so happy and excited that all she could do was smile and laugh. All I saw was teeth through that huge grin!
COWGIRL BETHIE!

I had to give it a try, with Miss Madison. It has been more than 20 years since I was last on a horse. I was not sure I could even mount it. LOL! Madison giggled through the entire ride.

Our sweet Niece, Heather rode the horse also. Like Bethanie it was her first time on a horse. She was a little scared, but she loved it!



It was really neat this year, because we have a wind/energy farm coming in at the south of town, they brought a wind turbine blade for the community to sign. We all got to sign it. How fun! Haha, I just noticed, look at Matthew. Doesn't he look so happy?

It's all about Matthew...

I can NOT believe my sweet little boy isn't so little anymore! He is almost ten years old! Where does time go? Isn't this picture so cute? It really shows his personality! I love those sweet cheeks!!!

Matthew is now in 4th grade. This has so far been a very successful year for him. Next year he will be moving on to middle school, and I am sort of nervous about that...he will have several teachers and he will have to move from class room to class room. I am sure that he will do fine, but as a mom, I do worry!

Matthew has the most beautiful hazel eyes I have ever seen. He has some pretty intense interests. Transformers and Nintendo DS (Pokemon) are some of the interests at this point. He lives and breathes them! Matthew is a very bright and gifted student. He is a very wonderful reader (around an 11th grade level of comprehension) and he has a photographic memory. Nothing gets by him. I have seriously thought about asking him to tutor me in some of my college courses (Just kidding, kinda). :O)

I am so grateful that Father in Heaven sent Matthew to us, because he has been such a delight, and he has taught us so much, and mostly about not taking life too seriously. He is a master communicator, and has so much to talk about! He joined our family in a non traditional way, and looking back, I can see the Lord's hand in each step of the way in getting him into our family. He is such a sweet and loving child. He is very sentimental about things and holds things that are dear to him very close to his heart. Matthew brings us such great joy, and just looking at this picture, I can see his playfulness. I am proud to be his mommy!

It's all about Bethanie...

Here is such a wonderful sacred creature. Bethanie entered our lives in a very unexpected way. Ten years after we married, she came to be, and even though it took her that long to leave the presence of Heaven, she was in a hurry to meet us. She came 6 weeks early, but was healthy. She ws born on Memorial Day weekend. I know that my Father in Heaven gave her to us so that we can feel a peace and calmness in our lives. Bethanie is the most fun, thoughtful, considerate and gentle person I have ever met. She is shy, but a people pleaser. She is so perfect, and wonderful as a sister to both, her brother and her sister. She is patient, loving and kind with them. When I grow up, I want to be just like her. She is so soft, and snuggly. Bethanie was always clingy to me when she was a baby. We have a very close relationship, and there is quite a lot of trust between us. I am so blessed to have this wonderful little girl in my life. I know my Father in Heaven loves me, because he gave me such a wonderful gift! Of course I feel this way about all of my babies, but this is all about Bethanie.

Bethanie is in 1st grade this year. This picture (above) is her 1st grade picture. She has the most green of green eyes. She has several friends, and though right now they change a lot, she is loyal to only a couple of really close ones (one is a boy named Tristan). Bethanie is extremely shy. To speak out to people means she feels comfortable around them. Most of the time if people say hello to her, she will not likely respond, and it isn't because she doesn't like that person, she is just shy. Bethanie loves horses, cats, books (and her reading is coming along well). She loves to draw and create, usually for other people. I can see Bethanie wanting to be a teacher some day. I see so much of myself in her, and I love those qualities (GRIN). Anyway, I hope I can show it enough, but I respect this little gal for putting up with us, her wild and crazy family. She is a gem, and I am in love.....

Grades, and how they are sooooo important...

I have to admit that I have placed a ton of unnecessary pressure on myself to get all A's in my classes. I am sure that it is not very realistic, but that is my standard anyway. In all of my classes (I don't know about Music Appreciation where my grade stands), I am getting 94% or better. I have worked hard for that. One assignment in my Literature class was confusing to me. I totally biffed it, and only did half of what my instructor asked of me, I don't know what I was thinking. Anyway, as I looked on the computer to see where my grade stood, I noticed that my instructor entered that assignment as a 20/20. But he gave the grade on my paper as a 10/20. That lowered my grade to a 90%. I emailed him yesterday and told him of the mistake, and that I knew by telling him that it would lower my grade and I would be sooooooooo close to a B. Today, he emailed me and thanked me for my honesty and he gave me the extra points for telling him (and for his mistake). WOOHOOO! So instead of a 50%, I got a 100%. :OP Awe, its the little things in life....

I also had another Myofascial Release treatment for my Fibromyalgia today. I feel bruised but BETTER. Having the pressure released is so wonderful, even though I feel bruised. All the gals at Jeff's job have been wanting to meet me (and Madison) so they finally did. They all wondered if he really was married or if he was story telling. :OP

I had a bad case of...

The giggles today in my Literature class. We were paired up into groups of 3 or 4. I was in a group of 3, and the other two were boys. We were discussing a story we read and were comparing the All American Boy to the All American Girl. One of the guys in my group (slightly younger than me, and is married) popped off with some off the wall comment he whispered to the two of us in his group and the comment wasn't too nice and I know when I heard him say it, my head snapped off my neck in his direction and my eyes were as big as saucers! But, the thing that was so funny was that even though he whispered it, the whole class heard it except the instructor, and it was hilarious (I cant say what it was because it was kind of naughty), but I started to laugh (because it was so funny, and my reaction surprised me) and others were laughing at his comment and I couldn't stop laughing, I tried to stifle it by covering my mouth, turning my back to my group but my face started feeling hot (red) and tears started to flow. I tried for a good 5 minutes to not laugh. :O) It was hard getting rid of those giggles and I wonder what my instructor must have thought. At least it wasn't just me that laughed. :OP