Pumpkin Patches

Claire and Keeley with their perfect pumpkin.

When we were in Illinois we took the girls to what we thought would be a great pumpkin patch. Well, as it turned out they were almost done for the season and all they had left was the corn maze. We gave it a shot and then headed to our old favorite The Apple Barn. The girls picked out a pumpkin. Claire picked out the exact same type of pumpkin as she did last year; tall and thin. Every year we try to get her to pick out a nice round, fat pumpkin, but she has a preference to these tall, thin ones. It always takes her a total of two minutes to find the one she wants. Out of the hundreds of pumpkins to choose from, she quickly makes her decision and sticks with it!

Today we took the girls to another farm that also has a pumpkin patch. One of Nathan's clients owns a organic farm that raises organic chickens, pork, beef, etc. I I have been wanting to go check it out for some time so we thought today would be the perfect time to go. The girls had a blast. Although I will say Claire had to get used to the mud. It rained all day yesterday and so naturally her shoes got muddy. This made her quite upset. She kept insisting that we take her to the car, get a wipe and wash them off. We convinced her that it was fine, a little mud never hurt and that there was no reason to clean them so soon, they would only get muddy again. She is such a diva!

Keeley loved watching the animals. She is so fascinated with animals and gets really excited when she is around them. She loved looking at the turkeys, goats, and baby pigs. The cows were the only animal she was not quite sure about. I can't blame her, they must look pretty big to a seventeen month old!

We ended our trip with hot apple cider and I cidersicles for the girls. There is nothing better than a beautiful fall day outdoors, especially in the mountains!

"I'm going to Jackson"

Claire and Ali being silly
Claire and her good buddy Katlyn.

Claire and Gracie playing Tea Party

Poppy and Keeley

Claire and Preston at church. (Preston was quite shocked and excited to see Claire.)

When we began planning our trip to Illinois, I began scheming to see if there was anyway I could manage a visit to Jackson. Nathan's parents ended up meeting us on our way back to NC and they took me and the girls home with them. We spent a few days at their house and then they let me borrow their vehicle so the girls and I could go to Jackson and spend a few days! It was absolutely wonderful!!! It could not have come at a better time. It really did my heart good to see all my close friends again and to see Claire with her friends too. We stayed with my friend Sarah who has a little girl named Gracie. It was so wonderful to be able to catch up with her and to watch the girls play together again. While we were there we managed to see several friends and we even got to meet a new friend that we had been waiting on for some months now! Our good friends had a baby three weeks prior to our visit and we got to meet their sweet little girl! Nathan came to pick me up that weekend, which was perfect because it was the weekend of his birthday. On Sunday, before we headed back to NC, we went to church at Fellowship. It was so good to be back with our church family and see everyone again.

Trip to Springfield and Jackson

October 9th through the 13th my brother had a four day leave, so we headed to Illinois to see him one last time before he actually leaves the country. (He was deployed in August, but has been in OK for training since then and will actually leave for Afghanistan the first week of Nov.) My Aunts and my uncle came to Springfield to see him as well and to celebrate Thanksgiving a little early. It was so good to see him. When we said goodbye in August we really thought that would be the last time so it was such a treat to get to see him one more time. I enjoyed just hanging out with him and Rebecca and the rest of our family. It will be hard this year not to have him around for the holidays so it was good to celebrate Thanksgiving. So much has changed in our families lives since this time last year. It was a great time just to reflect on all the things God has done for us over the past year. I am already looking forward to next Thanksgiving when we will be celebrating Quentin's safe return home!