Happy Autumn!

Happy autumn, everyone! It truly is the greatest season!!!

 Kate made these deeelicious shortbread acorn cutouts to celebrate the occasion. How did y'all celebrate?

Spray Bottles, Dragons, and a Makeshift Choir

Summer days in this baking desert have been very full of work, play, family, and community. So many things to be grateful for!!
I'm grateful for...

• My nephews--Bobbers, Lum, and Beef Stew (or Stewy). Each one of them has touched my life so much in their own little ways. We were so happy to have them live with us, but we're also very glad for them that they have their own little house. ; )
• Being able to help Perry and Tyler move. It was great to be able to see their house and help unpack some things. What a cute little house for a cute little family!
• My chaperoning job. I've gotten to do it five days in the last week or so! ; ) I really enjoy hanging out with the cute happy people and serving them in this way. (And it pays really well too. My "clients" treat me to all sorts of yummy things, and when they went to Prescott I got to go too. Hooray for cool weather!) ;P They are so considerate and inclusive (as any two courting people can be). ;P  It's a joy to be with them!
• The old Jimmy Stewart movie "You Can't Take It With You". Wow! It is so awesomely funny! If you ever want a glimpse of what our life is like--watch that movie! We had a family movie night with that and some yummy microwave popcorn.
• Bible Bee hive meetings. My memorization partner is such a joy! Hi, Hannah!
• The Green Ember by S.D. Smith. Don't let the Beatrix Potter style cover fool you! It's a full-blown, amazingly written adventure! Very good!
• The Restoration Hardware store! *Alice steps into Wonderland* *Angels sing* *Kate goes crazy*
• Singing in a makeshift choir after church. Thank you, Paul and Matthew for setting it up!! It was so much fun. We had a great time singing to the Lord, and it was surprisingly good sounding for a bunch of people who hadn't practiced together before. ; ) One of the newcomers to church actually thought we were a choir which flattered us all immensely. Very good times. ; )
• Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Aimee's generous Man brought us a sampler of them. It was so much fun to test them out. (Thank you, Aimee's Man!)
• The sweet texts we're getting from Perry telling us all the cute things that the babies are doing. We taught Lum part of the cup game while they live here, and he just decided to do part of it today! ; )
• Little friends at church! So many of them came up to greet me and give me hugs or hang on my arm as I was talking to someone older.
• Matching my two littlest sisters at church. We wore red skirts and white shirts. ; ) It was so fun! (Every time Daddy would say, "Where's so and so?" I'd just say, "She's in a red skirt.") ; ) 
• Hilarious family discussions of whether or not the word "both" could mean more than two. Google may have settled the issue. For now... ; )
• Music. I'm loving Josh Groban's instrumental "The Wandering Kind (Prelude)", almost everything by the PianoGuys, and "The Cup Song". Here's the original version of it from the movie.(Please note that these links are on YouTube, so be careful to guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Also, "The Cup Song" does unfortunately have a reference to drinking, but what I enjoy about that song is its sound.) Great background music for working in the kitchen or any time the mood needs a little lightening! ; )
• A fresh notebook and about four story ideas! County fair story here I come! Children's picture book second draft here I come! Dragons and chimney sweeps story here I come! Robin Hood, Peter Pan, Queen Susan, and King Arthur all in one story here I come! (I know, the last two story ideas are crazy. I love them.)
• Crazy family spray bottle fights. Wow, enough said there. O.o.
• Our sweet dog Ella. (Lum calls her "Lella".) Love. ; )
• Danny Kaye. We were laughing over our favorite parts in his old movies ridiculously late last night. ; )
• The love of God, so rich and pure, all measureless and strong.

Today what are you grateful for?

Originally posted by Kate at http://thesacramentofliving.blogspot.com/

Catching Up Part 3: Late Night Ice Cream and Splash Pad Fun!

Late Night Ice Cream

Paul had the cool opportunity to help out a friend at his booth at the AFHE convention over the weekend. Saturday night he joined Aimee and Tyler and Perry at the Minion movie.... 

And the others had a party of their own. : )

The younger kids were ecstatic when Jerry flicked the lights on in their room at some late hour and asked, "Sorry to disturb you guys, but would you come help me eat some ice cream?" This was greeted with shrieks of delight (of course).  

  Four different flavors to pick from and heaping bowls. :) 

Mmmm. Yum, yum!

Splash Pad Fun

One day the boys had work to do at a park nearby and took us along. 

The playground was unusual but interesting!

 Then we found the splash pad and...wait for it...SPLASHED! A LOT!

Then to dry off some of us played around on the basketball court which was in direct sunlight and warmed up in no time! Then Jerry treated everyone to pretzels or nachos, and ice cream cones from the cute little restaurant, Windy City Dogs, in the middle of the park! Such a fun summer activity and the perfect thing for hot weather!

Moving Day!

Praise the Lord the Ks' finally closed on a little home of their own! As sad as we are to see them go after living together for close to 6 months, we are soooo excited for them and look forward to seeing them in their new place! On Friday numerous friends came and offered their help and 15 passenger vans. The Ks' were soon moved and even partially unpacked! Here are some pictures from the work!

First we pulled everything of theirs out of the the backyard and packed up their  bedroom.

Then we packed the van full for the first load.

Looking so grown up!

Entertaining the littles and keeping them out from under foot.

Little brother wants to see too! Love the tip-toes! 

So cute! He was pretty thrilled to be able to see everything that was going on.

The first load all ready to go!

The crew.

Meanwhile all the peoples at home base were loading up a trailer. The first crew got back and refilled the empty van, joining the rest of the moving crew back at the new house.

With the dog and everything!


Some of the moving helpers.


The play room. :) Keeping the littles occupied.

"Where does this go?" I love how the boy in the brown shirt looks like he is getting a ride. :P

King of the house. :)

Almost done unloading the van!

Everyone loved Perry's cool typewriter and of course they all had to try it out. :)

The awesome assembly crew had the boys' room put together in no time.

While the girls worked on unpacking the kitchen the boys teamed up on junk in the shed and got it cleaned out and ready to be used for storage. 

Everything was done by 4:00, and we left soon after. Thanks to everyone for helping with the blitzkrieg!

Next we will continue the update with:

Catching Up Part 3: Late Night Ice Cream and Splash Pad Fun!

Make sure to look for it on the 29th!