Halloween and Hiking

 This was before the Halloween Family Fun Night at our church.  Jack was a fierce lion and Sasha was a beautiful happy flower for Halloween this year.  Jack loved to roar and put his paws up in a menacing way.  Sasha insisted on just wearing her bath towel for her costume.  I got off easy this year!

 A lion zooming on a roller coaster is really pretty funny.

 The weekend before Halloween we did one of our favorite hikes, "Las Conchas", along a mountain stream close to Los Alamos.  There were many little bridges, natural and manmade, to cross which always adds to the allure for Sasha and Jack.  I have decided that hiking with my family is one of my favorite things to do these days.  No distractions, happy kids, happy mom and dad, deep blue New Mexican skies, and invigorating exercise.

 Zipline fun one afternoon

 Sasha at her station on the counter helping cook this or that.  Just liked this picture of her....

 For the actual trick-or-treating, Sasha changed her mind at the last minute and wanted to wear the ghost costume we had lying around.  Jack screamed and hid from her at first, but got used to it eventually. 

He was very brave going up to each house by himself and saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you".  The last of the candy was just finished off last week.

Mid-October

 October was a fun month filled with fall activities and many afternoons spent lingering outside in the warm sunshine.  As you can see above, Jack is really into football (and soccer, and baseball, and any other activity with a ball).  He loves watching football on TV and exclaims "Whoa, that was really cool" when there is a good catch or a big tackle.  Sasha picked out many pumpkins for our house this year and got very attached to each one, so much that she became tearful in November each time she would discover that another was beginning to turn soft and rotten. 

 We went to McCall's Pumpkin Patch during the week with my mom and dad had a great time in the corn sand box, taking a hay ride, and picking out pumpkins.  Jack loved getting to climb on all the old tractors sitting around the property.

 I have orchestra rehearsal on average 2 times/week so while I'm gone for 3 1/2 hours Phil and the kids find fun things to do at home or out and about.  On this evening Sasha helped Jack by cutting out his doggie for him and he did the gluing, I hear.

 Goofing around in our dressy clothes before our first ever professional family photo shoot.

 The Santa Fe Community Orchestra concert.  I am third from the left in the front.

 Sasha came to the concert for the first half and then went to get ice cream with Phil for the second half.  

"Leaf Jumping Day" at Sasha's school.  Something I took for granted growing up in the Maple City.

October Indiana Trip

 I flew back to Indiana with Sasha and Jack to visit both of my grandmas who are 93 years old.  It coincided with my mom's visit to Goshen so she was able to help out with the kids both in Indiana and Ohio so I could really spend some quality time with Grandma Gingerich and Grandma Yoder.  I respect both of them so much and treasure those conversations and meals we shared.  Phil joined us in Goshen for a long weekend where we got in on a Smucker reunion and had lots of time with the local cousins. 

 Jack, Phil, and I at first Fridays in Goshen.  We enjoyed listening to the Goshen College Jazz Band (good memories for Phil) and got some turtles at the Olympia (my favorite candy in the world).

 A trip to Rise 'n Roll in Middlebury has become a must  with every trip to Goshen.  It's no wonder I always gain 5 pounds whenever we travel back there!

 Jacked loved playing with the multitude of trucks and other vehicles at grandma and grandpa's house. 

Sasha doing one of her favorite activities, Color Wonder, with Mary. 

September 2012

One highlight of September for us here in New Mexico is going to the State Fair down in Albuquerque.  This year Phil took a day off in the middle of the week so we could all go down and enjoy the day without all the crowds on the weekend.  Sasha predictably loved all the kiddie rides and Jack was content to watch.  He really enjoyed getting to feed the animals in the petting zoo area and we all thoroughly enjoyed the fair food.  We've spent so much time outside this fall with nearly perfect weather every day--literally it's been 70 degrees and sunny ever since I can remember.  Both kids like to play frisbee, do obstacle courses in the yard, be chased by mom and dad, play hop scotch, and kick the soccer ball around.  This is Sasha's first year playing on a soccer team and she really enjoyed it.  She is very enthusiastic and runs her little heart out on the field.  Sasha has formed a very close friendship with Katie (above) in her class at school.  She and Katie are equally adventurous and tomboyish and just love spending as much time as possible together inside and outside of school.   Sasha has taken off with reading since this summer.  She can read just about any kids book by herself now--she doesn't always like to--but every now and then she'll go on a reading marathon and just sit down with a stack of books and read them aloud.  It has been an amazing thing as a parent to watch this evolution.