Fall Fun

We've really enjoyed taking walks this fall. There have been some beautiful days lately! And this house has an enormous yard for the kids to play in. The house sits on 13 acres of which a large part is wooded. They keep several trails mowed through the woods. We've loved walking the trails and finding all kinds of treasures!

This morning, the kids and I went out to collect some leaves.

At one point on the trail, there's a salt lick for the deer. In the same vicinity, there are some apple trees. So Noah always likes to line up a few apples for the deer and then check back to see if they've eaten them!

Here's a view from the front yard looking at the house. This tree is beautiful!

Miller's Apple Hill

It wasn't ALL work while my parents were up! We spent a play day at Miller's Apple Hill.

This has become one of my favorite family traditions. Each year we visit the apple orchard to pick some apples. There's also a pumpkin patch and a kids' play area, too. It's always a fun day!

Here's Abby walking up the driveway at the new house just before we left.

And here we are picking out some pumpkins!

Noah seems very serious about his choice!


Abby was just amazed by the soft bunny rabbits. She had so much fun watching those little critters!

Noah fed the donkeys and goats some apple slices.

And both the kids ran around in the hay maze.

Then we loaded up on the hay wagon to drive out to the orchard. I'm pretty sure both Abby and Noah picked an apple off the first tree we came to and then spent the rest of the time eating. They both love apples! Noah has discovered caramel dip this year (with the help of Grammy). Every meal (no kidding!) he asks for apples and "cawmel" dip.

Catching Up

Wow.......that word pretty much sums up the last six weeks of our lives! Since the last post, we have sold our house, packed up all our belongings, moved into a new house, and spent two weeks sick with the swine flu.....seriously.

It's been a hectic month! We've never sold a house before, and it's been a LONG time since we've had to move -- which is a completely different experience with kids! We closed on our house October 1. We praise God that He sold our house so quickly (we had a contract in under 30 days!), giving us a better price than we should have expected. Luckily, my mom came out to help me pack -- it was originally scheduled to be a five day trip, but it turned into a 19 day trip! We spent a week cleaning our "new" house, and then Dad flew up at the last minute to help us make the actual move. It was an absolute blessing to have their help!

Luke and I had made plans to rent a small house, but it ended up a gentleman in our church offered to let us live in his vacant house at NO CHARGE! This is kind of a dream house to us. It has more space than we could have hoped for, and it's out in the country in a beautiful setting. We've loved spending the fall here! It's definitely going to be hard to leave.

So let me back up.......over Labor Day, Luke took Noah to the Cleveland Air Show. They drove to the nearest station and rode the RTA downtown. Noah was, of course, thrilled!

I can't really comment on any of the photos because I wasn't there, and I don't know what any of that stuff is! They came home with good reports, though!

Luke celebrated his 29th birthday on September 10. This is how he spent most of his special day:

.....working on the wiring at the old house -- there were a few things we had to do at the buyers' request. And luckily, Luke's handy around the house which has saved us lots of money over the years!

We did have his favorite meal for dinner -- stuffed pork chops -- and he got a few presents! I love this picture of my family. I think Noah and Abby actually look like a brother and sister instead of completely different like they usually do!

It's a GIRL!!!

...still due January 26th-ish.

August

I'll give you a quick update on our August days spent in Ohio. Since we were in Missouri for 2 weeks, there's not much to say, but I have a few cute pictures.

Luke caught Noah filling Abby's hair up with sand.

Luke decided the best way to get it out was by vacuuming it! She didn't seem to mind! Then she got in the bathtub for a good scrubbing.

Here are the kids back in Missouri swimming in the same stock tank I swam in when I was a little girl. Dad had just filled it up with water from the well, so it was FREEZING! But the kids both had a blast!

Here's Noah playing with a birthday present. He calls this his "big train". He doesn't like to actually turn it on, he just wants to drive it himself.

Noah playing in shaving cream -- I'm trying to encourage him to draw and write, but he doesn't like to sit down with crayons or pencils anymore. So now I have to be more creative!

One of the last warm days of summer, we went out in the slip n slide. Abby just loves the water!

Noah was giving his fire truck a bath.

Here we are at the nature center. The first time Abby's been able to crawl through the great big hollow tree trunk in their lobby!

Luke and Noah checking out a raccoon.

I finally feel like I'm getting caught up around here! We've been working on printing, folding, and addressing newsletters for the last week -- I've run out of ink twice and paper once. I'm definitely better prepared for next time! Or else I'll see about having them professionally printed! Anyway, expect to get them soon. Not to spoil anything for you, BUT we have 64% of our monthly support pledged which we are thrilled about!

Also, we have a contract on our house. This is the part that makes me a little nervous! So long as all their financing goes through, we'll need to be out of here before the end of October. We're in the process of looking for some temporary housing. Our plan (subject to change at ANY time!) is to stay here until after the baby is born -- also so we can finish raising support! So we're planning to move next February or March.

We'll find out on Friday whether this baby is a boy or girl. We're more excited this time around than any, I'm pretty sure. I'm not sure why! Now that we have one of each, I don't think it really matters to us as much, but we REALLY want to know!

Both my kids are awake now, so I can't delay my day anymore. We pray you are well! Love to you all!

Birthday Party

We had a birthday celebration for the kids while we were in Missouri. We went to a local park and had some birthday cake! Noah had train shaped sugar cookies, and Abby got cupcakes shaped like a flower. It was a simple family affair, but the kids had a great time!


Here's Abby before cake.


And here's after cake! She loves sweets!

Both the kids were showered with gifts!

When we got home, Noah had a special present from Grandpa & Grandma Jobe:

Can you tell he was excited?

Helping Daddy put it together...

And playing afterward! I'd tell him to smile, so he would but then he wouldn't take his eyes off his new treasure!

Branson Family Vacation

Every year, my parents take us on a week long vacation. This year, we chose to go to Branson, Missouri. It's a place we frequently visited when I was growing up, so it was really fun to be able to relive all my childhood memories with my own kids!

The first day we went to Silver Dollar City. All Abby wanted to do that day was walk which unfortunately she can't do independently yet. Luckily, there were enough of us, we could take turns!
Noah got to ride another train. There were plenty of kiddie rides (he loved the teacups!) and shops to browse through.

Noah loved the ball pit. There were vacuum hoses that could suck up the balls -- he got a kick out of that!



It was blazing hot the first half of the day, then in a matter of a few minutes, it cooled off and was incredibly comfortable! Then suddenly it started pouring on us! I don't think anyone complained though. It felt so nice after the heat! We crawled through the landscaping to find some shelter.

Here's one of my favorite parts of Silver Dollar City -- the winding and hilly streets.

Luke and Matthew participated in some kids games.....

The cabin we stayed in was beautiful! Every room had a big jacuzzi tub. The kids enjoyed bathtime more than ever! Abby would always drink out of the faucet.

I couldn't leave this picture out. Dad and Caleb (my brother) worked on bubbles for a couple hours seeing how big they could make them!

We spent a couple days on the lake. Cool Aunt Cindy has some friends with a lake house and a swimming dock. We rode in the boat, went tubing, and swimming all day. It was wonderful! The kids were stuck in their life jackets the whole time. But they eventually adjusted!

Noah and Luke went on the waverunner -- Noah was a big fan!

Luke lost his watch by toothpicking through the center of a tube. He came up with all kinds of contraptions and spent hours trying to retrieve it from the bottom of the lake, but all were unsuccessful. I think these pictures will always make me laugh!

Luke's big catch!

Here are the kids down at The Landing in front of the fountain show. I love the look on Noah's face!

There was a candy shop that had a train running around the top. Noah wasn't as interested in the candy, but the train -- that's what he wanted to see!

Noah's first mini golf experience.

The last night we all went to the Dixie Stampede. We cheered for the South and had a great time!

Noah's third birthday was on Saturday (the day we had to pack up and leave.) This was try number two for his birthday breakfast. The first time he threw up everywhere. But after an hour he felt better and wanted his cinnamon roll!

That's the brief version of our vacation. I seemed to speed through it the longer I typed! We had a wonderful and relaxing time and made some great memories!