Exciting Fun (title by Aidon)

"I will be your God throughout your lifetime - until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you." -Isaiah 46:4

I relate to that scripture as I reflect back on how my 39th year was celebrated the past few weeks.

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My dad and mom's 3 girls, all the grandkids, and loved ones, met at a Tea House restaurant to gather for Minda's birthday...and I was pleasantly surprised that the family celebration was also for me! That Tea House was on my list of places to go!!

For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth and friends above;

For all gentle thoughts and mild:

Lord of all, to thee we raise This our hymn o f grateful praise.

-Folliott Pierpoint, "For the Beauty of the Earth".

The evening of my actual birthday, we enjoyed Sea Horses at the Birch Aquarium:
Another day; my sis Marn, the boys, and I hung out at the beach at dusk:

Pete took a vacation day and we enjoyed my birthday cupcakes. Mmmmm. Now, I see why my sis Missy and cousin Chaz go out of their way for cupcake dessertiers!

The family celebration Pete and I planned watching the youth theater production of HONK! :) My immediate family cancelled out one by one due to health and illness leaving their tickets available just before. I'm thankful for friends that are not offended by last minute invitations.

These guys have been friends for 21 years now. they've become dear family friends. Now the family:

and the kiddies...

Take #2 on the "Yellow Balloon"

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Psalm 19:1 Our boys saw my post of Pete and I on the helium balloon, and wondered where THEIR pictures were! Okay. Okay. Here come the pictures of our high rise time as a family!

LoOking skyward - silly.

what's just above:

We fly as high as the Washington Monument and higher than the Statue of Liberty!

Harvest Fest

Our tradition is to giddy up on over to the Harvest festival in customary western wear. Here are the boys trotting over to meet up with friends. All the action was a blur!

Gettin' Ready for Harvest

The day before the Harvest festival, our home fellowship gathered and many of the children came in costume :) here they are before he study began!

JoyFULL days

many October days were simple and joyful. I enjoyed joining Aidon in his JogAThon. He ran-walk-sprinted a whopping 9 laps (over 2 miles!). The day before...at practice, Aidon mustered up the strength for one lap, then encircled with support from his classmates as he sat out the second lap. The last day of the month, was birthday cupcakes:
Josh at a visit to the harvest pumpkin adorned Park this october.
While Aidon was jog-a-thoning, Josh was celebrating the Harvest with classmates:
Cowboy Josh

PJ breakfast

A nice end to a fun weekend. Breakfast in our disney PJs.

Happy 6th Birthday!

Here we are at Mickey's House on the First day of being SIX years old! Story to continue soon...

The fall season is upon us and what a blessing that the weather has been just a tad bit cooler lately. This morning was overcast and cool -- just right for heading out to the farm! We checked out the candy barrels, farm zoo, petting kraal, ponies, and pumpkin crops:

The four of us with our pumpkin of choice:

We were so please to see the boys pick our family pumpkin together then work together to carry it over to Pete and myself. Here they are with Pete joining in with the "hauling":

This is the pumpkin Aidon thought was the biggest on the lot:

We stopped by the store and picked a couple of candies from the barrels:

Mmmm:

Kicking back on pony Sonny:

Loving on a baby rabbit:

Watching Aidon hug and cuddle a baby goat was a pleasure for mom and dad too:

Can't wait to carve that pumpkin!

It's Carving Time

The kids marked the pumpkin's face and daddy carved! We read the pumpkin gospel while we made our lantern. We learned how God cleans out our Icky sin when we confess and repent... and He makes us white as snow.
Here's the finale at bedtime:

and the finished product:

Simple Pleasures

October is "kids free" and employee appreciation month at the park! family enjoyed complementary rides on attractions! Pete and I enjoyed some "alone-time" with the view above the San Pasqual Valley at 500 feet. We were the only ones on this balloon ride :)

I highly recommend this yellow balloon ride! We rode a free flight balloon years ago over Rancho Santa Fe, and this is similar, at a fraction of the cost!

Put your pedal to the metal

Sometimes our younger son misses the previous house, or just the lake nearby. I'm glad we headed out there after church one day cuz it turns out the lake will be closed til November to boating/fishing. Above is our "pedaler" and below is our "navigator":

Here are the three guys that are the "muscle" behind the moving vessel:

It was a beautiful morning

Pickin' candy rather than apples

We headed back up to the same dwarf apple orchard as we did last year. This time, two months earlier, thinking this would lead to a bigger apple harvest to choose from. Do you see any apples on the trees behind us?

Last year there were apples everywhere, and we went after the season was over. It was truly abundance last year, and such a blessing to take part in that! (still don't see apples do you? there ARE some there though)

It was still fun to hike through the thousands of trees, check out the apple harvest, watch people make cider, and enjoy the occasional breeze on this hot day.

On the way home, we stopped by a candy shop, mom had been wanting to take the 3 guys to.

We had fun checking it out

then picking from dozens of candy cane stick flavors

may as well end with a happy dance!