This is from several years back...

Chris and a buddy of his were planning on opening a butcher shop before we moved all over the US and they practiced on his buddy's own herd while they were taking slaughtering classes. I have not eaten beef since as I did not enjoy having cows hanging in my garage.

Neighborhood Trunk-or-treat

Hannah took these pictures of our sad, rotting pumpkins and other decoration around the yard.

 

Saturday night we had the ward/neighborhood trunk-or-treat. As much as my kids love Halloween and dressing up you can bet they were really excited.

Isn't this the sweetest little witch you have ever seen?

It was time to break free from the Super Hero streak of 6 years and be a scary gate-keeper. The costume is much more scary with his mask, but he was not able to wear it to the church.

 

After getting buckets full of candy we headed inside for face painting, bowling, donut eating, bean bag tossing, and other really fun activities.

I laughed so hard during this activity. The kids were doing it at the same time and they both were just so funny that I had tears in my eyes. Look how cute they are!

It was a lot of fun and we still have many more fun Halloween festivities the next few days.

Jack-o-lanterns

The kids had fall break last week so I let them carve their pumpkins so they would not get bored, besides one of them was going bad so I was OK with it. they had a lot of fun and did all of the dirty work.

 

Batman and Catgirl

We stumbled across the very old Batman series on tv the other day. Of course, the kids' creative juices started flowing and they made masks to play along. They are so funny!

 

32 weeks

So we are almost there. This is the first pregnancy picture I have taken because with Richard and Hannah I really didn't look pregnant and I just kept forgetting this time. But I have NEVER been this big. It is kind of fun to actually look pregnant.

 

Elk in the freezer

Chris shot a beautiful 5-point elk this year. He spent about a total of 12 hours dragging it out and 4 hours processing it. Now the meat almost fills our freezer. This picture was taken after we had already given some away so it would have been much more. Even though I don't eat it, I am thankful for the security that this food storage brings. And I have a little extra room for the peaches I ran out of jars for and some jam. :)

 

 

When I have access to the picture I will post the after-shot picture.

 

Corn Maze

I took the kids to the corn maze near our home. It was a surprise to them for being good kiddies. We had a lot of fun, even though it was getting cold and dark as we found our way through the fun maze. We had a fun time trying to figure out which way we should turn and doing a questionnaire to earn a treat at the end.

 

My babies...

I cannot wait to welcome my baby Ella into the world. So in anticipation, I stumbled across these baby pictures of my kids which brings back mostly good memories, with a few tears.

 

 

Richard was born at 26 1/2 weeks weighing 1'4" and was 11 1/2 inches long. He was born at 26 1/2 weeks. Richard was such a trooper and has risen beautifully over his very small, very early beginnings.

 

 

Now he is almost eight and has quite a fun and large personality. I love this boy so much and am thankful for all that he has brought our family.

 

 

Twenty-eight months after Richard was born we welcomed our beautiful angel, Hannah. She weighed 7'2" and was 20 1/2 inches long. Hannah was born at 39 weeks. 

 

 

Now Hannah is five. She is so full of life and love. We are thankful for the joy she has brought to us.

 

 

And very soon, about 10 weeks, we will be blessed to welcome our little Ella. I cannot wait to see what she looks like and watch her personality develop. The Lord has blessed us with so many miracles and I am very thankful for each of them, including this life that has already blessed us.

Deer hunting/camping

Over the weekend the kids and I joined Chris for the deer hunt and camped at my Grandpa's property. After hunting for a few hours the kids were getting antsy and needed to run around and do some activities. They painted rocks and played some games in addition to exploring the property. This is one of our favorite places on Earth.

 

 

 

Soccer again

Richard has been doing very well with his soccer and has been enjoying every minute of it.

 

Grandma Kia, Grandma and Grandpa Taggart, and Brielle came to support him last weekend. He was really excited to have so many fans cheering him on.

 

And look how adorable he is!!! Richard played a lot of defense this last game and did a pretty good job. His shoe even flew off when he did a goalie kick. It was cute. I love this little guy and I have as much fun cheering at his games as he has playing in them.

First day of kindergarten

My little supermodel is ready for school. She has been anticipating school for two years and the time has finally arrived. I am so proud of her and how she is not nervous one bit for school to begin. Hannah has been counting the days for two weeks. Good luck my little one, I love you!