Abbott Orchards

At the end of September we went to an orchard for their Fall Festival and to pick apples.  It was my first time to pick apples even though the kids have gone the two years previous. The weather was perfect in the mid 70s.  There were farm animals to look at and other activities for the big kids.

Apple trees really aren't shaped very nicely.  They are definitely a tree for producing fruit and not to look pretty.  They don't have to be very big either.  If they were too big you wouldn't be able to reach all of the apples.

Large slides for the kids.

This was an apple cannon.  The guy in the white shirt would stuff an unwanted apple
 into the cannon and let kids shoot them into a field.  They really went far. 

Rebecah's turn.

Posing by an apple tree.

Family Goal

Today marks the 20th anniversary of President Gordon B. Hinckley reading The Family: A Proclamation to the World.  In honor of the 20th anniversary our family decided 6 months ago to memorize this document as a family before September 23rd.  We were very excited to reach our goal last month and now we just have to work to retain what we have memorized.  It has been a blessing in our family to have this as a daily part of our routine.

11 months old

Only one more month to go and then we will be celebrating two birthdays!  The last month has been a big one for the babies. They have mastered so many skills.

Annika is our adventurer.  She loves to climb the stairs and anything else she can reach.  She has fallen off the table and the couch, but also has learned how to get off the couch safely and to go down the step into our family room.  She is standing and taking a few steps, but doesn't care too much about walking.  I don't really want her walking for a few more months.  She is becoming a little more picky in her food choices.  She really likes applesauce and yogurt and most vegetables are mixed with applesauce in order to get her to eat them.  Annika has a great smile and people always comment on how happy she is.  Her 8th tooth came in this month.  She likes to be outside and doing anything that makes her feel big.

Here are some "Annika" pictures:

In the first picture she thought it was great fun to sit in Rebecah's toy stroller.  The 2nd picture she was sitting too close to the diaper bin so she grabbed them.

"HELP!  I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Rebecah gave Annika a ride in the stroller on a different day, and more time in the toy box.

Annika LOVES the dishwasher.  If she hears the door swing down she makes a beeline for the door. She even has Lincoln joining her these days. 

Eleven month picture.  I had to take a picture of her on the stairs...that is her favorite place to be besides the dishwasher.  If no one notices her on the stairs she will make sounds, usually, so we give her attention and tell her to get down.  After we tell her not to climb the stairs she starts climbing as fast as she can.

A few weeks ago we went to Salmon River Falls.  It was overcast and a few sprinkles fell.

I don't usually get too many shots of them together, so I included this one.

I didn't get as many pictures of Lincoln this month.  He is doing really well too.  He started army crawling 3 weeks ago and he quickly progressed to hands and knees.  He is so much happier being able to get around.  We start cheering for him when he enters a room and he gets a huge smile on his face.  He will usually pull to a stand or at least a kneeling position.  He has become very picky when it comes to eating.  He will just shake his head if he doesn't want to eat or just hold up his hand and wave...as if that will distract me.  He is pretty happy as long as I'm around. Last week in church he was waving to the congregation as if he were a politician or on a parade float.  He was quite the distraction.  Joseph trimmed Lincoln's hair around the ears a few weeks ago and it instantly made him look like a "big boy".  I'm sad that my babies are getting so big.

Lincoln has been diagnosed with congenital scoliosis.  I noticed that his vertebrae seemed a little more pronounced that most babies that I have held so I asked about it at the 9 month visit.  That led to x-rays and discovering that Lincoln has an extra half vertebrae in his Lumbar region.  We went to a spine Orthopedist on Friday and his best guess is that Lincoln's case will be mild.  Lincoln will go in for x-rays every 6 months to check the curvature in his back as he grows.  Right now his congenital scoliosis is manifesting as a front to back curvature (kyphotic) instead of a left to right curve (scoliotic).

What a big boy!

Joseph was taking pictures of Lincoln when I came down the stairs.  The next few pictures are Lincoln's expression when he saw me.  I love being someone's favorite person.  I'm so lucky to have someone think I'm their total world!

 

 These babies are perfect and I'm so glad that Heavenly Father sent them to our family.  I love hearing their laughs and giggles.  Life without them, or any of my family, wouldn't be life.

First Day of School 2015

School started today.  We made it through the summer.  I was worried that the summer would be completely crazy trying to keep the big kids entertained while maintaining a schedule for the babies.  It was crazy, but better than I thought it would be.  The big kids went back to school today.  They were a little excited and nervous all at the same time.

Rebecah is in Kindergarten.  There are only 14 kids in her class.  I love the small class size.  In the Kindergarten grade this year there are a lot more boys than girls so in Rebecah's class there are 5 girls and 9 boys.  One of her good friends, a boy from preschool, is in her class.  She came home with a lot to say and excited to go back tomorrow.  She didn't get to finish her lunch so she'll need to learn to eat faster!

Kimball is in 3rd grade.  Where did the time go with him?  He is so grown up.  Kimball is in the class with peanut allergies which he wasn't too excited about.  He can still take peanut butter, but kids with allergies have to sit at a special table.  He is really excited to have a planner this year to write his assignments.  He also intends to write down his plans too and not just the assignments from his teacher.  He wasn't as forthcoming with school news as was Rebecah, but I managed to get a good report about his day.

I think the kids will have a great year.

        

 

Priesthood Restoration Site

Yesterday we took advantage of our last day of Summer vacation to take a trip to Oakland, Pennsylvania to visit the recently finished Priesthood Restoration Site.  The buildings opened a week ago for public tours and it will be dedicated by President Russell M. Nelson on September 19.  We have been to the Susquehanna area a few other times, but it has changed a lot with the new visitor's center and the Hale and Smith homes.

The Visitor's Center is really nice with interactive things for kids to do and see.  There was also a nice video explaining the historical and sacred events that happened in this area.

Here Kimball is doing an interactive game spinning the wagon
wheel to move the horse and carriage on its way.

This is the sugar maple grove where John the Baptism visited Joseph and Oliver.

Issac Hale home.

Dining Room

Parlor--the rooms were very "busy" with all of the decor, but it was true to the time period.

Desk in the Parlor

Lincoln by the fireplace.

Kitchen

If you look closely you see a little tunnel which has a walking path under the road
so visitors can safely get from the visitor's center to the houses.

Joseph and Emma Smith home.
The rock wall was made with rocks from the original foundation.

Translation table.

Susquehanna River.  We have had a really dry summer so
the river was a lot lower than it usually is.

Kimball and Rebecah at the Hale's graves.

Operation Walk Guatemala

Joseph participated in Operation Walk--Guatemala this year.  You may recall that he went to Panama 2 years ago for the same purpose.  Operation Walk provides free hip and knee replacements in Third World countries.  Joseph was gone 9 days.  It was a really long time to have him gone from our family.  We hope he doesn't go on another trip like this for a long time!  The kids just need their dad on a daily basis.  Here are just a few of the pictures Joseph took while he was gone.  The "work" pictures are mixed in with the sight seeing pictures.

The Op Walk Team.  Joseph is in the black sun visor on the left of the picture.

Sisters!  Both of these ladies had both hips replaced.

These next few pictures are monastery ruins from the 1600's.

Joseph heard this man whistling a hymn from our church hymnal and after chatting with him discovered that he was a member of our Church.

These last few pictures are from the Volcano hike that Joseph did on the "free" day. Mount Pacaya is an active volcano that is constantly spewing steam from it's top.  Guides take tour groups to the top and let them roast marshmallows in the steam vents.

Bathroom anyone?

Joseph enjoyed his trip especially being able to talk and interact with the Guatemalan people.