Weekend Update

We had a busy weekend. Matt's quarter ends in threes weeks, so he's swamped with end of the quarter projects, quizzes and tests. He'll be so happy when his on-line Hebrew class is finished. He's doing really well, but it's been a ton of work! Anyway, in between Hebrew lessons and Greek review, he and Anna made some apple bread for Aunt Jo-Jo. Then we headed to Grandma's house for her birthday celebration.

Yesterday, we headed to Fremont to visit with some Ripon friends. It was wonderful to see them again and catch up on all the news. We had a busy, but great weekend.

Field Trip

We took a field trip with the Soul Care group that Anna and I are a part of on Tuesday mornings. (It's a group for seminary spouses and kids.) We went to a farm not too far away. They took us on a hay ride, gave us cider, donuts, an apple, and a small pumpkin. It was a very chilly morning, but we had lots of fun. The seminarians were invited along and since Matt didn't have classes today, he came with us.


They had tons of animals there, too. It was fun to see peacocks, a turkey, a white deer, and lots of chickens, ducks, and goats.
We took Anna's picture with "Old Scary Bear" (this cute bear that she decided was a character from one of her books).

Pumpkins

We had some fun family time together last night. Before supper, we got our pumpkins in from the front step and did some decorating. One of them was starting to get a little rotten, so instead of carving that one, Anna painted it. Matt did the carving on the others and I cleaned and roasted the seeds. We think they turned out pretty cute.

De Luca's

Yesterday we went to visit my sister and her family in Grand Ledge. It was another beautiful day and the kids had a blast playing outside. Anna's cousins raked a huge pile of leaves to play in and throw in the air.


We brought some things up for them and they had a bag full of stuff for Anna. After the goods were exchanged, we got down to the real reason for the visit~a trip to De Luca's restaurant for some pizza. We hadn't had good pizza in a while, and it was delicious!

Big Girl Bed

Anna was super excited at the cottage to be able to sleep in a big girl bed. Matt rigged up some side rails so she wouldn't fall out. She did really well! She's back in her crib for now until we get a big-girl bed for her at home.

Up North

We finally got a chance to go up north this weekend. Matt's sister and brother-in-law were headed up to a cottage in Traverse City and invited us and his mom to come along. The weather was fantastic and the color was spectacular. It was a great weekend to get away and this was an awesome place to go. We all arrived at the cottage Friday night. The others left Sunday evening and Matt, Anna, and I stayed a few more glorious days by ourselves. (Matt had off for Canadian Thanksgiving. Thank you, Canada!) We spent a lot of time enjoying the color in the trees, looking for Petosky stones in Lake Michigan, playing and exploring. Here are just a few of the (100+) pictures we took (in no particular order).

Klackle Orchard

We headed to Greenville this afternoon to visit Klackle Orchards. There were so many things to do there! There was a small petting barn, a few play areas and bounce houses, some rides, and of course, lots of apples and pumpkins. We had some great family time together!

Anna didn't do too well with the little tractors to ride. She hasn't yet gotten the hang of pedaling. She loved the barrel rides, though. She took her driving very seriously.

We had a tractor ride to several orchards where we could get off and pick from a variety of different kinds of apple trees. Tasting was an added benefit! Matt and Anna generally prefer the tart apples, while I like the sweeter ones. We picked up a few different kinds. Now it's time to do some baking!


We also got to pick out a pumpkin to take home. Anna kept picking up pumpkins that just weren't right, so I kept telling her to put them down and go look at the other ones. She finally settled on picking up rocks instead.
She was very pleased with our selections in the end. I think we'll have fun carving them and roasting seeds. We had a great day!

Catechism Lessons

Matt has been teaching Anna the Westminster Shorter Catechism for Children. She's got the first 3 questions and answers down. Thought you'd enjoy seeing this!