Kids playing outside on one of the last nice days in September.
Thanksgiving Weekend!

Uncle Jared and Lucy with the animals at Davidsons.

Lucy taking aunt B for a spin.

We took the kids to Davidson Orchards in Vernon on Thanksgiving Monday. For those of you that have been there, they've added a whole new section for kids that the kids absolutely loved. They had duck races (Jordan and Nathan were super competitive with eachother hence Nathan's deep concentration), hay mazes, tractors and other "farming" things to keep their little bodies busy.

Mom strutted her stuff on a John Deere Trike.

Poor aunt Bee just couldn't get the hang of it:)

I love this picture! The kids had so much fun playing in the hay. And I had so much fun trying to get hay out of their clothes the next day. How do farmers do it?

The three cutest villains I've ever seen.

Lucy just loves animals! Any kind, but especially dogs. She will chase them down and then bark frantically at them in between giggles and screams. Big or little, she loves them all. She had a blast at the petting zoo and expecially loved discovering these little bunnies.

Nathan was so brave and fed these donkeys apple cores right from his hand. Jordan not so much.

Aren't these snake squash the coolest thing ever?

Jordan and Nate with their new adopted parents, I think Nate likes them more than us.

Mom made the most beautiful pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving that I just had to document it!

We were so happy to be able to spend thanksgiving at mom and dad's in Vernon. They are always such wonderful hosts. We had a blast playing killer bunnies, playing Wii and eating delicious food together.

All the ladies at Thanksgiving dinner ready to dig into some pie. Apple pie is one of Jordan and Nathan's favourite desserts. This year, they loved the pumpkin pie too!

Ok, so Thanksgiving weekend, I ran my first 10 Km race in Kelowna. At the end of the summer I decided that I needed a new goal physically so I decided to register for this run. Because of soccer and the gym, I wasn't starting from square one, so it was reasonable to train for 10 km with the 5 weeks that I had. Jared drove with me early Sunday morning down to Kelowna for my run that started at 7:30am. I was so nervous! Primarily because it was a unusually COLD (it was -6 degrees) morning and I wasn't sure how warm I'd be by the time we started. Fortunately I had a great warm up and felt ready to go by the time the run started. I love race atmospheres, the people, the music, everything. There was just over 600 people running so it was a good size! I had such a blast running, Jared made me a killer playlist to listen to! It was a nice flat course through downtown, along the lake and through a couple of neighbourhoods. My goal was to finish at the 50 minute mark but i ended up finishing in 48:40. I was really please and felt that I'd had a pretty good run. It wasn't until after the results had been posted that someone I knew notified me that I was first in my age class females 30-39. I was totally surprised. And also hooked. I think 10 km is a good distance for me. Long enough to be challenging but short enought that you can give just give her.

Mom and Britt are the best! They drove the kids down to see me finish! So happy to see them there!

The kids being brave for the picture, but they were about to freeze to death in this picture! Good thing Grandpa sent some hot chocolate.

Happy birthday Jared!
Jared celebrated a birthday last week! I just love birthdays, good food, cake, a reason to get to together. Jordan made Jared this special birthday hat for his big day. Happy birthday babe!

Mom, Jared and Britt came out for dinner and cake and to help us celebrate. After dinner we went to a movie while mom watched the kids (thanks mom!).


Nathan's surprise for dad....

Surprise!! Your very own little blonde, adorable, strong, transformer-loving,

three year old, with the same sense of humour as you and that looks exactly like you!

First day of school!
Jordan's school starts at 8:15, so it was an adjustment getting everyone ready and out the door by 8 after a long lazy summer. Jordan was thrilled to start grade 1 and has been doing so well. She's speaking more and more French at home and is thriving in school. We're full blown into dictees, reading programs, piano lessons and other responsibilities. Does everyone else get a letter from either the teacher or the school almost every day about some sort of program or event?? So hard to keep up!

It's dad's first day back to school too!

A picture of the gang. I started working again too. We've got a young girl that comes to the house so it works out pretty nice. I've been substitute teaching about 2-3 days a week. I'm only working at Jared and Jordan's schools so it's been great! Jared went to Portland this past week for a few days and so I worked for him, so his students went from saying "Monsieur King" to "Madamme King." It was a great few working days, but I gained a new respect for single working moms this week. He had a great time attending workshops on assessment and he even got to go to a Trail Blazer basketball game. We're happy to have it home.

I missed getting a picture of Nathan when he gave his first talk in primary so this is a picture of him the day he gave the prayer (not his first). The great thing about being in a smaller primary is that the kids get so many opportunities to participate. Nathan did not want to his picture taken but that's why these pictures turned out so great! So funny!

Lucy loves her babies! It is so cute. She carries them around with her, rocks them, wraps them in babies and reads to them.

Such a cute stage when babies love babies!

I just want to squeeze that face all day long, and I do!

Enchanted Forest

Labour day we ventured into the mountains and took the kids to Enchanted Forest, aka the best place ever for kids. This was Lucy's first visit. She was mesmorized by the creature-infested forest from the moment we entered. From the dungeon to the three little pigs cottage, the kids loved every square inch of that place. Since our last visit, they added a new feature; a hike to a small pond with boats and life jackets readily available for anyone to use with no supervision. I know! We thought it seemed like a liability but were happy to use the boats, they even had little life jackets for Luce!

Jorji's really into posing right now and Nathan's really into funny faces. Even dad got in on the action

We had such a fun day - a perfect way to end an amazing summer.

Lucy loved the creepy miniatures hidden in the forest, the creepier the better.

Just some pics of our three little cuties playing outside at the end of the summer, too cute not to post.

P.S. Back to school and jared's birthday post coming soon!