My mom just emailed this to us...

She titled it "Phil's Motto?"  And he's also willing to lose his child. See our trip to Alabama and playing Monopoly. Ha!

Fun and Gross FHE

We did Family Home Evening with some friends this week. She brought the lesson (which went over waaay better Amanda then the lie monster! Tonight reading scriptures Chase remembered what you taught!!!!) We provided the owl cupcakes and she provided Slimeaid. Doesn't that word just gross you out?

But the kids loved the drink. That's all that matters.

It's beginning to look alot like Halloweeeeeeen!

We've had the spirit of Halloween for weeks and we're excited it's only a few days away. Eliza's been wearing her spooky witch socks.

The kids have been getting fun surprises in their lunch. I'm about to pack their lunch now w/ mummy drinks. Should be a hoot!

And last Friday night was the Fall Festival at the boys' school. It was actually alot of fun. The best was the hayride which was terrifying. Seriously. Kids were hysterically crying. And I don't think the creepy freaks approaching the hayride got the memo that you don't touch the patrons. SCARY!!!

Jim Thorpe Fall Festival

Tim and Marie have been talking about the Fall Festival in Jim Thorpe, PA for years and we finally went this year. The main highlight for us was the train ride. The trees were gorgeous and the kids of course loved it!

As Hunter said, "This is the boy side."

Cute cousins.

"And this is the girl side."

Chase in deep thought. I really think he was. He stood this way for a while. We were listening to a band and chilling.

Are you kidding me? Hunter kept a close eye on Eliza for us. She'll be a good sister one day! ;)

I know I said the train was the highlight, but for Chase this might have been. Let's just say it wasn't his best day. He literally cried and whined ALL day, but as we walked to our car to leave we walked by the river and saw this slide. He LOVED it. It was so much fun and was a fun unexpected surprise.

Little Tiny Friends

We babysat a friend's baby and we all couldn't get over how tiny she is. It was cute to see all my kids play with her.

That same morning the boys had soccer and this is Chase waiting to be picked up by a friend. I see this same figure only taller 10 years from now. Looks so "guyish."

Party Time

We made the decision that the kids will have a friends party every other year. So this year was a family party and Ty decided to go to a Go-Kart place down in Cherry Hill. It was great!

The guys got competitive. Of course.

Chase got competitive. Of course.

And afterwards we left holding hands and singing Kumbaya. :)

Oh, and when we got home THIS was in my front yard! This is the second one we've seen in 4 1/2 years and it explains who is eating all of my hostas and portulaca! I have no idea where it's coming from. Weird!

Baptism Day!

Tyler's Baptism turned out great. In our church you wear all white and are completely submerged in water just like Jesus was baptized.  Most of our family was involved in some way. Mom played the piano, Jenn was the chorister, Doug said the opening prayer, I spoke on Baptism and Jackie did about the Holy Ghost, Phil performed the baptism and confirmation, Dad and Travis were witnesses to the baptism, and Dad said the closing prayer. One of the highlights for me was Tyler singing! He sang the same song I sang when I was baptized 300 years ago. "My Baptism Day" was sung by the cutest boy w/ his front teeth missing so it was a little lispy. He was so confident and I was so proud of him-it was a tear jerker!

Phil and Ty. I can't believe it was almost 8 years ago exactly that Phil himself was baptized!

Our excited family. This was a big day!

Tyler was lucky to have so much of his family attend. Phil's mom came up.

Marie and Hunter came. Tim had work obligations he couldn't get out of. And Hunter was running with a pack of kids when we took this.

Phil's Uncle Bill and Aunt Barb came!

Ty looked so darling in his new "big boy" church clothes. Jess-he loves his CTR tie tack!

Eliza enjoying some snacks. The ones we brought! I forgot to bring some of the food. Last minute chaos. Oh, well!!!

My parents drove up from Alabama!

Doug and Jackie came up from Virginia. And of course the Meyerson's were there. It was great to have everyone there to support us. Thanks!!

Afterwards we all headed back to our house to eat the snacks we forgot and order some Subway. We all had some really great conversation and everyone enjoyed themselves. Eliza tried on my old Brownie Scout uniform and I wanted to smooch her to death!

Dad sharing the gospel with Bill. The evening was full of great memories!

Battleship NJ Part Deux

My dad has wanted to go to the Battleship NJ since it came to rest here in Camden. So when they came for Ty's Baptism we took advantage of the time and went. It was really fun!

Miss Lex. Doesn't she look all touristy in that hat? All that's missing is a fanny pack!

My boys. Actually The Boys. That's how Eliza refers to them now. "where are the boys? hi boys. i miss the boys. i can hear the boys" etc. etc.

Dad with his grandkiddies. He really enjoyed touring the ship. It's right up his alley. It was nice to have him along b/c he knows so much about these class of ships so he helped fill in the gaps for me.

A quick break. They all decided it wasn't all that cozy to sleep on the ship!

Dad coming out of a gun turret.

Posing with some ammo.

Since we had more time we got to see some things we didn't see before. This was cool. If your ship was stranded at sea and another ship came to rescue you, this is how you got from one ship to another. Hanging in a basket attached to a pully-rope. Crazy!!!

Their faces are priceless. I told them to look scared and they were spot on!!

In the "brig" or jail. They look fearless here, but they were kind of freaked in there. That's a good sign for the future.

In the barber shop.

That's an ashtray they're playing with. We talked about how smoky it must have been on the ship in those tiny confined spaces. Yuck!!