Halloween

The kids always have such fun dressing up. Lily was a dolphin, of course. Hanna went from pumpkin to princess. Trey was set on being a pirate. And Maggie was a wonderfully cute paper doll (which was perfect since she LOVES paper dolls).

Pumpkin Face Pancakes and Carving

We had fun carving pumpkins. One photo is with flash and one without...so you can see the light.
We always talk about the pumpkin analogy:
Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.

Hanna made a baby pumpkin (nuk and diaper and all!) while Maggie wants to use her pumpkin to make pumpkin pies, so she doesn't carve it.
A bunch of sillies.
Hanna helped Lily carve a dolphin pumpkin.
Trey pretty much kept saying, "Gross. I don't want to take the seeds and slime out. I am picky that about that. Gross!"
Maggie decided to use a small pumpkin to carve.
We went to IHOP for the scary face pancake day.

Trey likes his longer locks...Carl hasn't cut his hair in a while because he doesn't want to lose the summer blond!
Little Lily
Yummy!
It was fun to have Mrs. Lilly join us.
Carl likes to whittle! I let him use our butter knives. Hmmm...I wondered why they were vanishing!

Pumpkin Farm

We had a great outing to the pumpkin farm on an extremely warm afternoon. It was fun to see all the animals, go on a ride, and go out to In 'N Out afterwards :)

Lily's Baptism and Vati & Heidi's Visit

It was great to see my father and Heidi this past week. Opa is still a terrific rollerblader!

We enjoyed Screamin' Mimis ice cream, of course!
Vati and I enjoyed a stroll to see some of the views I've painted out Dry Creek Road.

Hanna and Opa played their violins together.
On Sunday, October 9, Lily and several others publicly professed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and were baptized in the Russian River.





Afterwards, there was lots of fun swimming and jumping into the freezing water from trees up high. Here is Hanna's jump.

Trey found a tree just right for him.
Maggie's jump looked like she was walking on water.

Philippians 3:7-14

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Harvest Fair 2011

The kids and I had such a great time at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair. We went on a wagon ride, got apples, pumpkins, wool samples, pet chicks, saw lots of animals, and won prizes for our entries. Here's Lily...

Trey...
Maggie...
and Hanna.
We saw llamas.
And goats.
The cowgirl show was fun.
We loved seeing the piglets.

The bees were super to see.



Lily Bee.