From Blah to Beautiful!

For a VERY long time now I have thought on and off about painting our dining room. It is WAY too dark in there. So I thought what color.... and about 10 minutes later I came up with burnt orange. (Maybe a little Fall inspiration) A few days later I come home with color samples. Paul knows that once the color samples arrive painting shall begin very soon!

AND so it did... not the best color combo! Although Alyssa wanted to paint a nice picture in the middle.

The results.... bright, happy and BEAUTIFUL! 

Come on over and see for yourself!

We love New Hampshire

Instead of a birthday party this year Alyssa and Xander wanted to go to North Conway, NH. What a wonderful choice! We got so lucky with warm, sunny weather and fall foliage. There are so many great things to do! 

We started off our day with taking Lola to the park to play ball.

Then it was off to Monkey Trunks so the kids could climb their hearts out!

 They were exhausted after 2 hours of climbing, swinging and ziplining 

 We all love the fact that Lola can come along. The hotel people LOVE dogs!

 While driving through the White Mountains and appreciating all of the colors we came across something even more amazing! A baby moose! 

 Then it was off to our favorite hiking spot-
The Basin at Franconia Notch State Park

 THIS is the reason why we LOVE New Hampshire- family time in the great outdoors!

Tonight we had the sister missionaries and Grandma Barbara over for dinner. We were talking about technology since the kids were showing the sisters their new phones. Later our discussion turned to prayer and communicating with God. I said to Alyssa it is not like you can just text God. She said, "If I could He would be one of my "favorites".  Love it!

Apple pickin'

Today the kids had a half day before their parent teacher conferences. 

So we met up with friends and went apple picking right after school.

 It was a great day for it! Windy and crisp outside. 

Alyssa found a wooly bear (another sign that Fall is here) before any of the picking began 

so it s-l-o-w-e-d down the actual apple picking part, but the kids had fun with the catepillar. 

 Joe Cool wearing his sunglasses he got for his birthday. 

 

 Tyler was wooly bear sitting so Alyssa could actually pick a few apples!

Mmmm! Crisp and delicious fresh off the tree! 

Apple crisp is already in the oven! 

Tic tac toe anyone?

Betcha' can't guess what this is!

Lola has been miserable all summer with itching and scratching and chewing her toes. She would get up several times each night to scratch! The 9 benadryl a day were barely taking the edge off. So we finally broke down and got her allergy tested. Hopefully the pet insurance will cover it because it was WAY more than we wanted to spend. *Fingers crossed*

They found that she is allergic to mold, grasses, pollen, trees, dust mites and storage mites. Just a few things! So in hopes of making next summer more manageable we have started giving her shots every few days to try and desensitize her to these allegens.

In the mean time we'll play games on her side until the hair grows in! 

It must be Fall!

It is beginning to look like Fall

It even smells like Fall

I LOVE FALL! 

If only it wouldn't bring winter...

11 years ago...

 

 

these two little miracles were born. The best (and most exhausting) day of my life. 

Fast forward 11 years later...

  We surprised the kids with cell phones for their birthday. We set the alarm and put them next to their bed. It was so much fun waiting in our room for them to come in!! When they ran in with phones in hand they said:

Xander-  "It scared the crap out of me!" (yup! he's my son)

Alyssa- "I woke up early and saw the phone and thought that Grandma Barbara left hers here, 

but I was hoping..."

They love their new phones. I can't believe they are old enough to be embarking on this new phase in life! Today as I was cleaning out the storage area I found an album with the pictures of the day they were born. My sweet little loves.

Thankfully they still are my sweet not so little loves! Even if they aren't impressed about holding up two fingers for 11.

Of course they had to get new cases so that we all can tell which phone is which!