Pumpkin Festival

The first Saturday in October we drove down to Hartsburg for their annual pumpkin festival. It was so much fun. We really didn't know what to expect this year, but next year we will know to get there early.
We got to eat some great food. Tornado potatoes and roasted corn on the cob.
Then we got to pick out some pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.

Troy, Missouri

Sometimes when Mike has accounts that he has to be gone overnight for, we all get to pack up and stay in the hotel with him. One Thursday morning after we stayed the night with him in Troy we found a state park to play at.


Brandon found and collected these nuts. The light brown ones still have their shells on. The dark brown ones are the seeds inside. I'm not sure what kind they are but we got a bunch of them.





Hyrum found this little caterpillar. He carried it around for the rest of the day.








Declan just looked so cute!!






Overall we had a great time! We loved spending sometime with Mike and getting to enjoy the great outdoors!!

Our House

In case you are wondering what our house looks like here it is.

The front, we live on the right side.


And this is part of the backyard.

Derrick's First Birthday

For Derrick's 1st Birthday we bought cupcakes gave him his own special one with a candle on top.


He got a little upset about not being able to touch the fire. But after we put the cupcake on his tray he was better. It didn't take him long to discover it was good.

Weekend at the Lake House

This weekend Brad invited us to his parents Lake House in Gravois Mills. It was beautiful.

Friday night we played on the swim dock. We feed the catfish and watched the sunset.

Then we started a fire and ate snacks.

Then Saturday morning we woke up and Brad bought them each a life jacket. They were in heaven.

We spent the whole day swimming in the lake and riding on Curtis's boat, and wave runner. (Curtis is the Mobile guy that lives in Kansas City.)

Declan got to ride on the wave runner

with Daddy! He loved going fast!

Inside the Lake House Derrick learned to walk using a little red chair and the tile floor.

The Lake House was such a fun trip- Everyone had a good time. And best of all,

they slept the entire way home and a couple of them couldn't wake up when we got home!!!!!!

Derrick

I couldn't help making a new post just for pictures of Derrick. He is getting so big. It seems like all of a sudden he isn't a baby anymore. I is so animated and his personality just shines now.

He loves to play with his older brothers!!!

Pop-Up Trailer Campout

One of the guys from St. Louis gave us this tent trailer. The kids have been wanting to set it up and play/sleep in it, so this weekend we did it. Mike pulled it from the garage into the backyard.

After we go it set up the kids spent some time playing in it.

Then they packed their pillows and blankets and carried them out.

As they were getting their jammies on Declan kept saying "There no monsters in trailer."
So I wasn't sure if he would make it the whole night, and sure enough after a while he came back inside with me."

Mike and the two older boys stayed outside all night.

Hyrum with his new phone. (Mommy's old one.)

BIker Stunts

Train in Moberly

For one of the Friday fieldtrips we went to Moberly (which is about 30 minutes away) for a ride on the trains. Each cart was homemade. The first ride we all rode on the blue train, the second time Hyrum and Brandon got to ride on the red train.
eDeclan wasn't to happy that there wasn't any room on the red train and that he had to ride with mom.
Brandon was loving it. It was a great adventure. We went over a bridge and thru a tunnel.

Abundance of Wildlife

The first week without Mike brought many wonders. One of them was a little buuny. Every morning we saw him under the same tree eating grass. Every night he was under the same tree. That weekend when Mike was home we didn't see the bunny, but the next week when Mike left, the bunny was back. One morning we saw a squirrel and the bunny eating together under our tree. (If you look closely you can see them both.)

Little Gray Tree Frog

This little gray tree frog started our love of Missouri. Mike heard it and knew it was a frog. He found a video of it on Youtube. He opened the window and played it out the window until it called back. Then he went outside with a flashlight and found it in a tree. He brought in to let the kids see it, then released it back into the wild.

A current picture of us minus Mike (he's taking the picture.)

I finally did it!

I finally made a blogspot. I have been promising for a long time and now it is done!