Pumpkin Carving

Last weekend we were finally able to carve our pumpkins! It's pretty interesting to see how the personalities of our kids played out in the pumpkin carving process. See what I mean:

Sadie had her hand in there getting all the goo by herself and loved it.

Drew posed as if he were sticking his hand in, but in reality, he wouldn't touch the insides.

We didn't even bother asking Zack if he wanted to clean out his own pumpkin!

Drew drew his own face that I carved, and then he had to paint it.

Zack picked out a pirate skeleton stencil and had Daddy carve his pumpkin. I'm not sure he ever even touched his pumpkin. ;)

Sadie designed AND carved her own. I was not allowed to help one bit.

And the final products! Three equally beautiful but different pumpkins, representing my three equally beautiful but different children!

"I Drew Daddy!"

I didn't know that Drew could draw. The kid doesn't sit still long enough to do anything of the sort. But yesterday he was playing with the Magna Doodle and says, "I drew Daddy!" I was shocked to see that he actually had drawn a face! The above picture is the first one he drew. He promptly erased it and drew this one, which he went and showed to Daddy. I must say, we were quite impressed!

Assignment Reconfirmed

I have always wanted to be a nurse. Seriously. My mom has this memory book of mine from every year of school and when I was in second grade, I said I wanted to be a neonatal nurse. (Don't ask me how I knew what that was...) Anyway, these days I struggle with really liking my job and being thankful to have it and just wanting to be at home with my kids and not miss one single thing. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a bad attitude about work, it just sometimes makes me crabby when I have to go.

So yesterday morning at 6:00am, I was headed in the dark to OHSU and listening to The Fish (Portland's Christian music station) when the song "Follow You" came on. I knew immediately that through this song, God was talking to me and was reconfirming His call in my life to be doing His work at Doernbecher. And because of that, it is okay for me to miss a soccer game here or a school event there. Of course, what I do as a mom and a wife is very important, but what I do for God and His people outside of my home is just as important. Here is the link to the song on YouTube. Take a few minutes to listen and watch.

Follow You

I just want to encourage everyone - take a look at your life. Have a conversation with God about His plan for your life. I believe that God calls us all to do different works for Him. For some, it is traveling to other countries and doing work with the poor. For some, it is giving money to the needy. For some, like me, it is serving those who are sick. For some, it is being at home and raising children to love the Lord and preparing them to be lights in a world filled with darkness. Whatever you are being called to do, do it and do it with the confidence that you were chosen by God to do His work. If we don't, who will?

The Lion King

The Oregon Zoo has been working on a huge project for quite awhile now - Predators of the Serengeti. It opened a month or so ago, and we finally took the time to go check it out! We saw the usual animals first, like the cougar. Not sure what he was doing up in the tree, but he looked so funny with his right leg up on the branch!

Samudra the baby elephant sure is getting big!

Drew kept asking to see the "Lion King", so we moved on to check out the Predators of the Serengeti. It is a super cool exhibit, has neat animals and tons of stuff to look at and do! Here are the two lionesses, chillin on a rock. The male lion is on a rock behind them, but I couldn't get a good shot of him. Did you know that lions rest up to 20 hours a day??? Not sure if they eat bon bons, though... ;)
There are two cheetahs as well. This one came right up to the window! What an amazing animal!

Look! I recognize those animals!!

For Aunt Jeanie and Grandma Betsey

Family Birthday Celebration

Last Sunday was Sadie's family birthday party. It was so fun to see everyone, and this was the first time in a long time that all the grandparents, aunts and uncles were able to come! The only person who wasn't there was the kids' soon-to-be Uncle Casey, who Tony's sister, Alyssa just got engaged to! It was fun to celebrate Sadie's birthday, as well as Grandma Jacque, Uncle Nik and Auntie Chrissie's birthdays!

The Barackman Family was all sick, so Jeni brought Sadie's present over before the party. Jeni made her this darling skirt! She is so awesome!!

Uncle Aaron and Auntie Chrissie

The delicious food

Papa Paul, Grandma Jacque and Tony (not the best pic, but I didn't get any better ones!)

Jenn and her youngest son, Blake came and stayed with us for the weekend

Sadie and Jody

Papa Tom and Grandma Betsey

Grandma Marie and Papa David

Rachel (Uncle Derek's girlfriend) playing with Drew and our neighbor, William

PRESENTS!

Something from American Girl is always a good thing

Derek and Rachel

Sadie finally got the Ducks jersey she has been wanting for years!

Thanks Aunt Jeanie!

Grandma Betsey made this super cute scarf

Dessert!

There's one of Uncle Tim!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sadie!

We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our family who are always willing to make the drive to celebrate special days with us. I can't tell you how thankful we are for our kids to have 3 amazing grandmas and grandpas, 4 uncles and 2 aunties, not to mention all those who will be joining our family in the next couple of years! We love you guys!