Grandparent's Day

Grandma came to school on Wednesday for Grandparent's Day.  The kids had fun doing activities with Grandma in all their classrooms.  Rebekah, Bethany, and Jonas sang "Jesus Loves Me" in the chapel service and did a really great job.  I love this Trinity tradition!

Pumpkins!

We went to Bipperts farm to pick pumpkins from their pumpkin patch.  Jonas ended up picking one from inside because he didn't think any in the patch were big enough.  I personally think it's more fun to find one in the patch :-)

We carved our pumpkins in Collins with some fun carving kits from Grandma Gabel.  The kids did really great.  No whining about pumpkin guts or anything!

Oooh, scary!

Happy Birthday, Jonas!

Jonas turned 7 on October 8th.  He is growing up to be such a smart, funny boy.  He is very interested in science right now, and decided to have a volcano birthday party.  We invited all his cousins, Brynn, Bransen, and his friend Denny from school.

"Hot Lava" game (like Marco Polo)

Making our own volcanoes!

Our balloon race - don't let the balloon touch the ground!

Presents!

Our volcano drawing contest - The kids actually got really into this!

Cake Time!  We put sparklers in the middle of the cake to be the exploding lava.

The next day we went out to Collins to celebrate Jonas' birthday with the Gabels.  Duane did a Mentos/Diet Coke experiment and the kids blasted off a rocket with Papa.

We spent most of the afternoon outside finding caterpillars, playing on the trampoline, and launching apples into the woods with a giant slingshot.

Then it was time for LOTS of ice cream cake!  

And, of course, presents!

Thanks to everyone for sharing Jonas' special day with us!  

Random September Stuff

Jonas painted a project for our Compassion child, Benjamin.  The Lafferty girls painted some for their Compassion children, too.  We wrote Benjamin a letter all about what fall is like here in New York!

Our last boat ride of the year

A campfire in the woods in Collins

We went over to Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary's to watch Star Wars.  Jonas was really spoiled with lots of good treats!

Reading together :-)

Little Rock City

Duane and I took the kids and Austin (Duane's nephew) to Little Rock City in the beginning of September.  The kids had a blast climbing on the rocks and walking through the super narrow tunnels and caves.

Bransen and Jonas fell asleep on the drive there.

The kids went exploring a little bit while Duane roasted some hot dogs.  They found this cute little orange salamander!

Some of the tunnels were really muddy.  We had fun trying to balance on logs and sticks to stay out of the mud.

Cool tree roots and goofy kids...

Trying to stay out of the rain!