Signing time

We have let Emilie watch some baby signing time dvd's and she has loved it. She is understanding that you sign with you hands and everytime we turn it on she starts waving and clapping her hands. She loves it and has really been paying attention to the show. Hopefully it will soon pay off and we can better communicate with her.

Fun with leaves

I know this is a picture overload but the kids had so much fun and it was so fun to capture it. Having lots of trees means having lots of leaves and the kids love to play in them. I think that raking leaves is therapeutic for kids (not for me ;).











After they were done with the leaves it was time to hit the playset. Emilie loved every minute of it and so did the older kids.

Oh the beautiful colors of fall

My wonderful neighbor called me a couple of days ago and asked if I was interested in pears. She wanted to get rid of some of her abundance. As a result I spent most of yesterday making different variaties of pear jam. I made strawberry kissed pear, plain pear and spiced pear. I just got a apricot-pineapple (I made this one last month) out of the storage room so I could take this picture. I love the colors of fall. I love fall!

Picnic in the mountains

We finally decided to head up to the mountains for a picnic. It is sad to say but this was our first time this season even though we live so close by. The kids were so excited. As soon as we entered the canyon the temperature started dropping quickly and it was only 70 degrees. It was very pleasant.

We started by building a little fire so we could roast our hot dogs and brats.


I made sure everything was fully cooked so we only had to head it up. Made everything a lot easier and faster.

After dinner it was time for smores.

Elizabeth loved hers. Thomas got his all ready looked at it and decided he did't like it (without even trying).
Let me assure you that even though Emilie is in none of the pictures she was there with us. I had her in the carrier on my back. This was not quite the place for her to wander around with the fire and water around us.



After we finished eating we went to the water and let the kids play for a while. They loved throwing sticks and rocks in the water.

It was a very pleasant afternoon and we all enjoyed ourselves.

The actual birthday celebration

The birthday girl

Her actual birthday was on Tuesday but since Bruce was out of town we celebrated it on Thursday.


Babi, Grandpa, Leslie and Nathan came over for dinner and we had a wonderful time together.



Emilie was again enjoying her cupcakes.




She loved her presents. Thank you all! We had a great time.

Happy Birthday Emilie

Our sweet baby girl turned 1 today. I can't believe how fast this past year has gone by.

Family Pictures

Last month my friend Tina was so kind to take some pictures of our family. They turned out wonderful.