Brooke - Oct 31

Brooke dressed up as a little lamb (thanks for the costume, Julie!) and went around the neighborhood with her three big sisters on Oct 31. She seemed to enjoy it almost as much as they did!

Cowgirl Ellie

Ellie was the cutest cowgirl in California on Oct 31!

myFaves

I don't have T-Mobile, but these are my Favorite Five taking a moment out from our Pumpkin Patch excursion last week for a quick photo. Pictured left to right are Chloe, Janelle, Brooke, Grace (making a break for it!), and Ellie. An October trip to the Pumpkin Patch at PCH & Hawthorne is growing into a bit of a tradition for us, and one we'll miss when we move (yet again) out of the area. The girls really enjoyed feeding the sheep & goats and going on a pony ride. We thought Grace would be afraid of the ponies, but seeing her 2 big sisters ready to ride them, she refused to be left out. We had to laugh when she, the smallest kid in the line-up, ended up on the biggest pony. She loved every moment of it!

Pumpkin Time!

All the girls seemed to enjoy our fall activities last week. Grace dug digging into our pumpkin as we prepared to carve it for Oct 31. With the girls' help, I went with an oceanic theme for these year's pumpkin, hastily carving a dolphin jumping in the waves. Sounds exotic, huh?! After seeing my work of art completed, I feared no one would have a clue what it was! Maybe it's just that we live close to the beach so people were able to imagine it a bit better, but several folks actually complimented us on the carving. Amazing!

The Fabulous Four

Do we have our hands full with four girls ages 5 and under? You bet! Janelle is Super Mom, to be sure, just for keeping up with these four little balls of energy! But as challenging as it can be sometimes, it is also a LOT of fun, as the above photo shows. We feel very blessed by these four precious ones that God has entrusted to us!

Brooke - Our Happy 4-Month-Old

Brooke turned 4 months old on November 1 and continues to be a very delightful addition to our family! Two things always seem to surprise folks when they see her -- first, that she's so happy, and secondly, that she's only 4 months old (everyone guesses she's much older). We love having her out with us because of the joy she brings to others with her beaming smiles and cute giggles. Happy 4-month birthday, Brooke!

Ellie - Student of the Month!

Ellie was chosen as one of Fern Elementary School's Students of the Month a couple weeks ago and honored with the other recipients at the school's weekly assembly last week. She was quite proud of herself, as you can imagine (and as the above photo shows!), and this was a wonderful encouragement to her. We continue to be amazed by her academic progress. She's reading at nearly a 2nd grade level now, as a kindergartner, which shouldn't surprise us considering the bookworm that she's been since a baby! I guess those times when she would get up at 2:30am to "read" when she was 3 years old are beginning to pay off! We're very proud of Ellie Bear!!