Fall has brought us....

Happy Halloween, Thanksgiving, Fall, and whatever else you celebrate! Even though we got the flu bug, we've still tried to do what we can to celebrate this beautiful time of year! This is what our Fall has brought us...

First off... we've enjoyed many wonderful meals from our children! Glenn made superb spaghetti and meatballs... just look at how Alex enjoyed that meal! And Glenn also helped me make the dinner in a pumpkin. The kids love the responsibility, and I love teaching them kitchen etiquette... don't taste your product with your finger! :-) Anyway, we've had some fabulous meals lately because of our boys!


Second... fall brings us pumpkin patches! We've all had a wonderful time playing to our hearts content at 2 fabulous pumpkin farms... Airlie Pumpkin Farm, and Heiser Pumpkin Patch! What more could you ask for... delightful company while your kids play in corn/hay mazes, go on tractor rides, try to pick up pumpkins bigger than them, slide down slides, watch pumpkin cannons shoot pumpkins at least 300 feet through the air, and climb on giant hay bails that look like spiders. Oh, and a cross race right through the middle of one! Life was good...

Then, our third reason for loving fall... took a u-turn. Our family got stuck with the flu bug, and our typical Halloween of going to Astoria and watching people ride their bikes in costumes... well, that will just have to wait till next year! We did make it to downtown trick-or-treating, though, and went to a few houses in the neighborhood, but other than that, kept it quiet. We did have a few visitors that we walked around with, to make our Halloween much more enjoyable. We were in full StarWars attire... James was Luke, Glenn was Darth Vader, and Alex was a clonetrooper. And I put Ellie's hair up in 2 mini buns... I never did get a picture of her, though... go figure! So, Halloween was good, but we do hope that next year we won't be sick! And here's to a good winter, since we're chalk full of antibodies... right??!!

Our fourth reason for loving Fall... it's Glenn's birthday! Grandma D was visiting, so we celebrated a day early, and he was in seventh heaven! We declared it Glenn week, and had a great time showing him how much we appreciated him, and what he brings to our family, and to our individual lives! And Glenn was SOOO excited, as you can see, to have Grandma D here to share it with him. The highlight of his birthday, was going to StarWars in Concert up in Portland, though. The boys LOVED it, especially Alex. They were riveted every second of the performance! And before/intermission, the boys loved finding the StarWars characters. Everyone got a kick out of Alex, though. Everyone else posed to get a picture with the characters.... Alex posed as to play the part WITH the characters.... always pretending to fight with his light saber, etc. It was hilarious. The kids had a great time!!! Well worth the trip! It is hard to believe Glenn is 6 now, but he is growing like a weed, and is so anxious to catch up to his brother!!! Hmmmm.... think I should break it to him that he won't? :-)

Fifth reason we love fall... that's when Todd's parents are moving to OREGON! Grandma D came out here to look at a few houses, and although we saw one house we liked, Todd and I never saw any houses that we knew would be perfect for the Dye's. Then.... we happened to call the right realtor, who knew of the right place, and before we knew it, Grandma D had bought a house in Philomath! I say Grandma D, because Grandpa D still hasn't seen it in person! But we have taken lots of videos and pictures for him! It still doesn't seem real... even though the deal is closed! I still feel like I need to be pinched, but I don't dare tell my kids that! :-) The house that they found has a gorgeous view of the mountains at sunset... perfect! They should be moving in around Thanksgiving!!!!! So, we will officially not have Thanksgiving alone this year!!!! I am so excited to actually be able to cook for a crowd! We always actually do cook for a crowd... we just have lots of leftovers! :-) When Grandma D wasn't looking for houses, though, Alex was her little sidekick! Alex read books with Grandma D, laughed with Grandma D, and cried with Grandma D (even though he was usually crying tears from bumps, and Grandma D had tears trying to contain her laughter). Alex made sure they were taken care of, with blankets, pillows, and monkey to make sure they weren't lonely! Anyway, we are all so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa D out here with us!!!! Only a few more weeks!

Last, but not least, we are happy for fall, so we can count our blessings over this past summer. The Relief Society from our church recently gave Alex a quilt which they made for him. It's a very special quilt. I'm already having to get the tissue box! People from our church were invited to contribute one block for Alex. Then the blocks were sewn together to make this quilt. What I had envisioned being a lap blanket, turned out larger than I could have imagined! And what made the quilt even more special, is that everyone who contributed a block, also contributed an 8.5X11 sheet of paper which contained a swatch of the fabric, and a note to Alex. The sheets were put into a binder, and became a game for Alex. As we go through the pages, he has to find the fabric which corresponds to the swatch. Then when he finds it, we read the message to him. James helped Alex with this game, and even when he was done, he commented on how good this blanket made him feel. It was made with love, sewn with love, written with love, and helped us feel the love for our family.

Well, that's it from our family. I truly hope that your family is doing well! We really do miss all you midwesterners, and hope you make it out to Oregon sometime! One last thing I thought of, I also am enjoying this fall, because Ellie's hair is finally long enough to do things with! Here are 2 pigtails... still looking forward to the day I can braid it, though! Take care everyone, and Happy Fall! Stay happy and healthy!