HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We enjoyed our first night trick or treating in Adel!!











Jacob was a Viking football fanatic or player or something.

Rachel was a great witch!

Dig In!!

Jack-O-Lanterns

Let the slaughter begin!

The kids are getting good at doing a lot of the carving themselves....with the right tools!


Rachel and Mom made the Frankenstein while Jacob mostly made the other creepy guy with some help from Dad.

Pumpkin Patch!

OUR TRIP TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH!

Picking out the perfect pumpkin...takes time...and good balance!

We actually went to a tree farm and visited their pumpkin patch this year. The pumpkin patch has a beautiful view of the valley and the great fall colors.

FOOTBALL!!!

Football games started on a cold and rainy day!! Though the boys did well and won big, we spectators nearly froze!!

The rest of the season provided much more agreeable weather. The boys ended the season with a 3-3 record after losing their first game in the play-offs. They really had fun this year, learned a lot and did very well for being one of the smallest teams at the 5th grade level in our league.

Our boy became quite the tackling machine this year...sack after sack!!

New Adventures

Since our move we have started many new activities.
Rachel and I started taking Tae Kwon Do...which is actually quite fun and good exercise.

Jacob started playing with his new football team....practice started the very first day of school.

The kids started their new schools on August 18...it was a challenge...riding a bus for the first time, going to new buildings, all new kids and teachers...but they have handled it very well! They seem to have adjusted well and are busy making new friends(as well as keeping contact with old friends!).

Laura and Mark's Wedding

On August 9th, Rachel was the flower girl in my cousin Laura's wedding to Mark.
She wore(yes, actually wore) a junior bridesmaids dress and looked way more grown up than 7 years old!

She had a wonderful time and did a fabulous job!

July!

After our big move this summer we spent most of our weekends traveling...to some extent. We didn't spend a weekend in our rental place for 6 weeks!


The Fourth of July at Grandma and Grandpa's...excitement!


Sparklers are always fun while waiting for the fireworks!!

We took a riverboat ride on the Mississippi with our friends from Marshalltown for a former co-worker's anniversary.