A Review of Fall

We have had lots of fun these past few months! The kids are really growing up, and Ellery is able to play with Kiran so well now! It's usually one big silly fest at our house!

As usual, I don't have these pics all in order, but they range from mid-October to just before Thanksgiving.


Fun at the Pumpkin Patch! We went with several families that live in our town and had a great time. Sunshine even got to go along. She was sick, so we didn't want to leave her at home alone, but we all wanted to go to the patch as a family. Sunshine got to lay in the back of the van and was able to get out and enjoy some good smells there! She had fun, and that is a special memory for us.

Kiran helped Ellery pick a pumpkin - it was really sweet!

Ellery's first big-girl painting session! She loves arts and crafts! They did a great job painting together.


Okay, before you judge too quickly, I do not let my son surf on the couch on a regular basis! :) I couldn't help but take this shot, though! He thought this up all on his own. Of course, it's the middle of November and cold outside. You could never convince him of this, though, after he watched a Scooby Doo movie about Hawaii. He took off his shirt, put on shorts, made Ellery's Rody a surfboard, and the rest is history! Quite an imagination! Amazingly, he balanced perfectly! I guess his experiences at his gym are really paying off!!!


Ellery outside ready to play in the leaves - well, not exactly! She had a few fun minutes, but this was a really cold day and she had had enough!

Helping Daddy put firewood in the wood pile

Kiran did like the leaves!

Our little artist - I have an update coming on the kids, and will explain more about this picture then.
Fall in our backyard this year!

As you can see, Kiran is always in uniform! It's awesome! This really is a huge part of his personality. I can't wait to see what he does someday and somehow try to relate it back to all of his worker and other outfits! In this photo, we decided to go outside after snack time one afternoon. I had Ellery and had told Kiran to put on his boots, which he did. But, since it takes Mommy a little longer to get Sister's shoes on, he had taken his off and had Daddy's on by the time we walked out the door. I didn't even notice until we were in Lois' backyard.



Kiran at his gym - he loves the balance beam!

Kiran is helping Ellery show off her new cowgirl boots from Ninny and Glenn and his new "worker" jacket. By the way, the yellow kitchen towel around his waste - yep, chaps for using his chainsaw, a creation following Daddy using York's chaps for cutting trees in our woods.

The day before Ellery got her boots from Ninny - yes, she put them on herself!

First fire this season

Kiran had a great time learning to measure using popcorn kernels for one of his activities.

This particular day, Kiran found his winter coat from last year. He put it on, then found a warm green coat and asked about it. I explained that Ma had bought it this summer for Ellery. So, even though it wasn't cold outside at that time, Kiran helped Ellery put the coat on. We decided to pretend it was snowing. I got all of the kids' white blankets and spread them on the ground. Soon, afterward, Daddy came home and he got a big hug to warm him up from the blizzard!


Fern, Baylan and Opal came over one day for a playdate! They had a blast in the backyard, then made their way over to Lois' porch. It's always hard to resist a chat with the girls on Lois' swing.

As you can see, I don't have to work very hard to show you Kiran's creative side! :) Kiran gets to play with princess stuff at the girls' house, but they jumped right in playing with his tools when they came over! Baylan (the aunt) and Kiran (the Dad) are measuring the slide to fix a big problem.

Decked out!


Our Jack o' Lantern
Kiran and Daddy working on the Jack o' Lantern

Ellery's First Haircut By Momma

I Love this Shot!

And this one! My 2 Cuties!


Is anybody ready for some football??? Ellery better be! Actually, she loves it! She loves any playtime with Brother.

Taken down at the 2 yard line. Kiran's goal line defense is exceptional! :) Ellery got up laughing by the way!


Uh-oh, busted with chocolate Halloween candy!
Busted again!

A Day of Thanks and Play

We had planned on making leaves for a thankful tree. Then, Cookie sent lots of leaves in the mail for the kids, so we used some of them to write down things for which we are thankful. They were perfect for our project! Cookie sent some other fun die cuts, and we had a great time gluing and talking about what Thanksgiving is all about. Thanks, Cookie!




Well, these photos show the day's events backwards, but you get the idea.

Last night, we had a blast playing outside!





Plenty of Football!



Kiran and Mommy's Apple Blossom Tart

Daddy's Yummy Smoked Turkey

Kiran has decided he likes posing now, so he got up on the counter and asked me to take this shot!
Making the Tart Together - Kiran stuck with it from beginning to end, and it was quite complicated. We had a great time!

You can't even imagine all of the machines it takes to make an Apple Blossom Tart. For example, above you see the steam roller. We also used a bulldozer, excavator, dump truck, scraper, and more! :)


Ellery helping, too!

Happy Thanksgiving

A Great Big Hug to All of Our Family and Friends. We Are Grateful for You!

The Race

Last Saturday (actually Oct. 11th), I had the privilege of running in the Race for the Cure. It was lots of fun and a special time for me as I was running in memory of Sal. I think I ran a good race, had a good running time for me, and challenged myself more than I ever have before. (I wrote this a while back and wanted Jeff to share his part of the story. His challenges of getting the kids from the parking garage to the finish line 10 minutes AFTER I finished the race were pretty funny. This was written the week we realized our puppy was getting sick and we never had a moment of down time for Jeff to tell his side or for me to publish, but I still want to share a little about this great day for me.)

For those of you who don't know, my sister and I are training for a 1/2 marathon we will run in December! Sarah will be running with us, too! In April, Amanda and I shared with Sal that we would be running the 1/2 in honor of her. For me, at least, running at all was a challenge and running 13.1 miles was the one thing I never believed or imagined I could do. As I watched Sal persevere and continue to love life and try everything to live this life during such difficult daily circumstances, I decided that I could do this. I could run. I could train. I could find time to take care of my body and improve my health. I could finish. I realized that in honor of her and in great awe of God's creation of the human body and of life, and to do something that would help me believe more in myself, I would run this race. So, I am slowly making progress. My longest run so far is 7 miles, and I will be running 8 in the next few days (actually, I have run 8 now and plan to go for 10 next week!). When I feel exhausted in a run, or when my knee starts hurting, I remember Sal and others who have endured so much and have run such a good race. Then, I put a smile back on my face and keep going.

Jeff, Kiran and Ellery have been so amazing in supporting me through all of this. I am very grateful to Jeff for sacrificing evening and weekend time for me to train, to Kiran for always bringing me very tasty ice water and Gatorade, and for Ellery for her sweet smile when I make it home! I always get my last burst of energy to finish when I think of my wonderful family waiting for me!













Mr. Kiran is not into taking pictures these days, so we take a whole bunch and usually get a few good ones. :)

Happy Halloween!

Our Little Ballerina!


Our "Worker!'



























Kiran's Halloween Party at Preschool

Our Sweet Little Girl

It is with great sadness that I post this. Our sweet dog, Sunshine, died on October 24th. She was 7 years old. Last Wednesday, she was having difficulty breathing so we took her to the vet. Our local vet was able to determine that she had fluid around her lungs. They were able to pull some of the fluid off and did some tests. After a few days of tests we were referred to a large veterinary hospital nearby. Fluid analysis results did not look good for Sunshine so on Wednesday she had a small surgery to take a biopsy of her lungs. Her diagnosis was confirmed as Mesothelioma, a type of cancer that is very rare in dogs. By this time, she was effusing fluid at a very rapid rate; a rate too great to bring her home safely even for a short time. With little ability to breathe on her own without a chest tube to drain the fluid and and a prognosis of just a few days to live, we decided it was time. We had a special time together as a family at the hospital on Thursday night and on Friday morning Ami and I went to say goodbye. She died peacefully in our arms while we sang "You are our Sunshine" to her. In memory of her I would like to tell a little of her story.

In the spring of 2001, one of Ami's professors posted fliers for a dog who needed to be rescued from a bad situation. Ami brought one of the flyers home and showed it to me.

We immediately fell in love with our sweet little girl. When we went to meet her, she was wild. She playfully chewed on every arm in sight. We knew we could work with her and committed to take her home with us. I built a fence in our yard for her to stay in during the day and a few days later we went to get her. She was my constant companion for the first 1 and a half years as Ami finished graduate school. She went hiking, camping, and pretty much everywhere with us for the next 3 years. When Kiran was born she settled down like the rest of us and instead of weekend adventures in the woods, we took walks around town and played in the yard. Kiran enjoyed playing with her and she was great with him. Ellery too had a great time with Sunshine and they even shared a meal together from time to time (usually Ellery's food but not always). The past few months had been tough for everyone with my back injury and the illness and death of Ami's Grandmother and we really cut back on walking. But Sunshine was in good spirits and enjoyed playing with Ami, the kids, and me around the house and loved the occasional walks she took with Ami. She was truly happy until last week when she got very sick.

Sunshine is survived by her good friend Rocky (our cat). Rocky likes to sleep outside when it's warm, but in the winter they always shared a bed and they were great friends who got along amazingly well for a dog and a cat. Since the weather has turned colder, Rocky and Sunshine had a few nights together before she went to the hospital.

We will remember Sunshine as loyal and sweet to those who knew her well, patient and gentle with our children, and most of all a precious companion to Ami and I.





You are our Sunshine, our only Sunshine
You make us happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much we love you
We will love our Sunshine always