Papa's Hat

When the kids and I went up to my mom's a couple weekends ago, Mom gave me a few of my dad's hats for the kids to use for dress-up. They weren't ones that I wanted to keep as keepsakes, but ones that reminded me of Dad just enough that I couldn't bear to part with them. I was delighted to see Drew a few days later:

And I know that Dad was up there in Heaven, chuckling over his cute grandson. I can hear him now. :)

Hoops

After Drew's soccer class through our Parks and Rec finished, I signed him up for a multi-sport class. The first day of class, the kids played basketball! Drew loved it!

He shoots...

I was taking pictures of Drew attempting to dribble the ball and got this one...

I thought it was pretty funny!!

Stud

Drew has not been blessed with height, so I am not sure that he will end up being a basketball star. But hey, the NBA could always use another Gary Payton, huh? ;)

Lakeview Farms

There are many pumpkin patches very close to where we live, including several HUGE ones and even a famous one! Lakeview Farms isn't huge or famous, but we just love to go there, and so the tradition has stuck!

Lakeview Farms is on a lake (go figure), so you take a paddle boat out over the lake to the pumpkin patch itself.

There are some interesting characters in the water to look at!

After picking out pumpkins, hop on the train to get back to the farm.

We even lucked out on a gorgeous sunny day! Can't wait for next year!

Spectacles

I hate to admit this, but until until last month I had never taken my kids to the eye doctor. They get their eyes checked at the doctor and at school and I just kind of figured if they had a problem we would know. My friend Caryn's husband is an optometrist and while talking about eyes one day, she told me that it is a good idea to have the kids' eyes checked, at least for a baseline. So I went ahead and made appointments for the kids and myself, since I hadn't had my eyes checked in over 12 years.

Zack, Drew and I all checked out just fine. Sadie was mostly fine, except she tested a bit far-sighted and seemed to read better with added help. Dr. Lawson felt that she would greatly benefit from some reading glasses! Sadie was a tad bit excited. :)

So here she is with her new glasses. She says that they are helping a lot with reading, so YAY!

Ain't she CUTE??

The View From Up Here

My place of work, OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University), sits atop a hill that overlooks parts of Portland, including the Willamette River. The views from the break room in the NICU are particularly amazing, especially at sunrise and sunset. I caught this on my iPhone recently one morning bright and early, as the sun rose over Portland. Do we not have an amazing God?

Sunny Pumpkins

Last weekend, our friend Jillian had her birthday party at a local farm/pumpkin patch. The day was gorgeous, so I took advantage and got some fun shots of the kids. Someday I will have a nice camera that really takes nice pictures...

Yum

Jillian opening the present from us

HAYRIDE!!

I love this pic!

Drew found his within seconds

Sadie and our friend Zoe

Pumpkin bowling!

My little farm animals :)

Drewby the Soccer Man!

Poor little Drew. Being the third child, he has been dragged to his brother and sister's sports events his whole life without having any of his own! So I finally signed him up for a soccer class through our Parks and Rec department. Let me tell you, he LOVES this class, and he is GOOD! Lots of sport playing is definitely in this kid's future!