Success...

Ryan had 1 1/2 hours tonight and he took all 4 boys hunting! Usually this means that their chances for actually getting anything are slim to none. But they have fun just trompsing through the woods. Today however, they had success! First, Dylan shot a squirrel on the way to the duck pond! Then he was able to shoot a duck too! He called me when they were on the way home to tell me, he was so excited! He said that Daddy had to go swimming to get the duck out of the water...

Sure enough, Ryan was wet to his shoulders!! I couldn't believe he did that! Ryan said Dylan shot the duck at 6:30, and they were supposed to be home by 6:45,(so I could go to Bible study) so he just jumped in and got it for him so they could get home on time! What a great guy! Crazy, but great!

Dylan's duck had 2 bands on its legs, one of them said $100 reward! If he gets $100, I may take up duck hunting!!! I guess we have to call in with the band number, so we will see! Uncle Matt says its true, he will get $100~and Uncle Matt knows duck hunting so Dylan is pretty pumped!

This is why...

I love fall! This is the view from our house just a couple of weeks ago on Sept. 30.

And this was the view this morning! These pictures don't do it justice, but you get the idea. I love how beautiful everything is in the fall and the cooler weather suits me much better than the summer heat, although Sunday it was down right hot, but I am not complaining!
Thanks God for your beautiful creation, we sure do enjoy it! If only it could last a lot longer!

On another note, guess who had a birthday? MAX! I cannot believe what we do for our children. We had a birthday party for....a DOG! We actually did it for the kids~not the dog. They were so excited that it was Max's birthday so of course we had to join in!

Yes Max got a cake and a big bag of bones! Look at him licking his chops! We actually ate the cake.

Max only got a bite! I was grossed out, and made sure the fork didn't get reused, but look at the pure joy and happiness on the boys faces, that is why Max got a party! (Anaya is scared of the dog so she didn't get in the picture!)

carmel apples....

Dylan did his last and there wasn't enough carmel to cover his apple!
Easton wasn't quite sure how to eat such a messy thing!
Jayden ~ of course didn't care, and dug right in!
Spencer and his master piece. I let them decorate them with sprinkles and chocolate chips, and as I was cleaning up I found Anaya sitting under the bar stools and she was drooling chocolate!! She obviously found a few on the ground, and she was not very happy when I moved her away from the mess! (unfortunately I didn't get a picture first!)

Wow, what a mess! But boy were they good! I eat so many apples in the fall, but I rarely ever eat them at any other time of the year. Apples and chili, which I made two batches of today, are the epitome of fall~my favorite season of the year!

Look what Anaya is doing....

Yes, my baby finally took her first steps this past week! I was able to catch a few of them on video! (She doesn't really suck on a pacifier, she found it in her toy box and was trying it out!) She has been walking further and further, she has even bent down and picked up something and started walking again! She loves it when we clap for her ~ she walks then sits down and starts clapping for herself! It won't be long and I am sure walking will be her main means of transportation! There is always a happy/sad feeling I get when the kids start walking. Happy that they are doing what they should and sad that they are growing up and leaving the baby stage! The boys think it is fun to have her walk back and forth between them, and she loves all the attention! Fun stuff!

Fun filled weekend....

The 3 amiga's! Ana, Anaya, and Bella all lived at Hannah's Hope together. Jenifer, Susie, and I were able to get the girls together on Friday and have some time for us to chat, and the girls to play! It was great to see them all together. They all have such different personalities, and it was so much fun to see them! Thanks Jenifer for having us over, and Thanks Susie for the adorable pictures! Can't wait to do it again!
After we left our friends house, we went apple picking! It was a beautiful day, and we thought we better get out and enjoy it. My parents, sister Steph, and all of the cousins went with, and we had fun picking~it went very fast as we had so many helpers! Anaya loved licking the apple, she hasn't figured out how to eat it without help as of yet!

Look at the size of those apples! They were huge! Unfortunately they are the ones I got just for eating, the ones I got to make sauce out of were much smaller. That means more work for me!
The gang at the orchard. I love fall!
The boys were picking them and transporting them back in their shirts! Smart kids!

Thursday we spent the evening with my sister in law's and all the kids, while the guys went hunting. As they were sitting in their tree stands, we received a call from our friend telling us about her brother in law, and his fall from a tree stand. That put a knot in every ones stomach, as we all know how easily accidents happen. We all know Jeff and his family and are praying for them regularly. His wife Neesa is Spencer's teacher at Friday Addition, and they have 3 daughters around our boys ages. Please be in prayer for this family. They have a care page set up at http://www.carepages.com/ search for Jeff Elenbaas, if you are interested in praying for them more specifically.

Please pray...

Our friends' brother fell out of his tree stand tonight, and is having surgery right now. I don't have much info, but it did not sound good. Please pray for Jeff, and his wife Neesa and their girls. Pray that the surgery would help, and that he would not be paralyzed!

~Just a vivid reminder of how fragile life is and for all you hunters out there to BE CAREFUL!

They love their Daddy.....

And it is all smiles when they get to go hunting with him, but that was not the case tonight!

Tonight they were all in a tizzy because Ryan is leaving to go down to Hamilton so he can hunt tomorrow morning, and they had to stay home! Usually he takes them with him when he goes, except for opening day of course! Well, today was opening day, and he did go out for a little while this morning, but tonight he was HOME for dinner(and then we had church!) Home for dinner on opening day of bow season ~ this has NEVER happened! As long as I have known him(like~almost 20 years)he has never missed going out on opening night!! So as you can imagine this was very strange for him, and then he had to deal with the boys too! It was so funny to hear him "guys, I take you with all the time... Daddy just needs one day to hunt alone... I will see you tomorrow night at Grama's house... Friday, I will take you hunting...it is just one day..."

He came upstairs looking frazzled and said~"Am I selfish?" ABSOLUTELY NOT! You go and have fun Ry!! I love that man!