Fun times in October!

October was full of fun and good times.  We had unbelievable, sunny and warm weather during October.

Playing with Liam Ashby at Oregon Heritage Farms.  Super delicious yummy caramel apples:)

Beautiful, sunny day!

Took my boys to Lakeview Farms to pick out pumpkins...another gorgeous weather day

We met up with our friends, the Holwege's, at Lakeview Farms.  

Julian picking out the perfect pumpkin:)

Julian won a "limo ride" to Pizza Schmizza for lunch from his school.  He was super excited!

October Book Club..."Rebecca" written by Daphne Du Maurier

Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.  We couldn't resist this nice weather and took a family walk one Sunday afternoon.  There is so much complaining when we tell the boys we would like to go for a walk but I hope they have good memories of this family time.

I took a super quick trip to the coast, Newport Oregon,  with some book club friends.  We stayed in a very quaint bed and breakfast right on the ocean.

Super delicious dinner right on the water.  There were seals outside the window which made for fun viewing during dinner:)

I loved spending a few days with my book lady friends...such a fun group.  Spent the whole time laughing and having fun.

Halloween!

My cute little Harry Potter went trick-or-treating with mom.  Emerson had a friend over and watched a movie.  Townsend played games online with some friends.  My boys are growing up!

The Think House

Hyrum had a great idea on a way to spend time with his boys while building something.  He decided to build a little "think house" in our back yard.  His goal was to work on this together with his boys but the twins didn't really help at all and Julian was eager to help but sort of young to be much help.  Hyrum designed and built this entire project on his own.  The only thing he got help with was the cement truck that came to pour the foundation!  This is such a cozy little addition to our home and I'm so proud of Hyrum for working so hard!

Prep work, June 2015:

Foundation was poured:

Walls going up:

Exterior Complete:

Time for doors and windows:

Cedar shingles:

Exterior Complete:

Starting work on the interior:

Interior Complete:

Final finishing touch.  The Swiss window went in on October 10th, 2018:

Yes, it took over 3 years to complete!  Hyrum worked on it during weekends when the weather was good and just took his time.  Like I said, he did it all himself.  The building, painting, electrical wiring, shingling.  Every step took time and patience but the whole thing turned out great.  Thank you Hyrum for this little labor of love:)

Two weeks with the Deshetler Twins!

My little sister Paige had twins back in June and since that time I have been patiently waiting my turn to go to California and snuggle those two little angels.  With our busy summer schedule and then Cycle Oregon I had to wait until the middle of September to get down to see them.  I knew I should say I was going there to "help" Paige but in my heart all I wanted was to hold those precious babies.  I have to warn you, there is a bunch of photos in this post!  I could not get over how much I loved those little guys!  I loved their smiles, and their smells and their little heads resting on my shoulder!  I cried so much when it was time for me to come home.  I love and miss those boys so much!

Holding baby Graham when I first arrived.  He wasn't so sure who I was but by the end of the week I had both these boys smiling and talking with me:)

Graham on the left, Cecil on the right

I also got to spend some time playing with "big brother" Remy.  He is so good with his baby brothers and loves on them all the time.

Family trip to the LA zoo

Hanging out waiting for the wild bird show at the zoo.

Paige and Zach and their super cute family!

I'm a professional twin baby holder:) I couldn't let one baby cry while the other one was being rocked...I just had to pick them both up to snuggle:)

Seriously the cutest babies ever!

I took the boys out for a walk in the "desert" behind Paige's house.  Remy is learning to spell his name!

My parents flew in for the babies blessing.  We went to the beach and enjoyed the sun and sand for a few hours.  Dad got a bit cold in the shade...I thought the weather was perfect!

Me and baby Graham at the beach:)

Holding Graham at church before the babies were blessed.

Paige had Cecil all snuggled and calm before the blessing

My sister Tanya also flew out for the babies blessing.  It was wonderful to see so much family

love, love, love this naked Cecil baby bum!!!

I'm so in love with the way Graham is looking at his Mamma in this photo!

Three sisters holding three brothers:)

Little Cecil's smile.  Graham was super easy to make smile, he loved to smile at every little silly noise or tickle.  Baby Cecil was much more reserved with his smiles but both boys just melted my heart when they smiled!

I gave Paige and Zach a little break while I was there.  They took off and got to spend the night in a hotel and get a massage the following day.  That meant I got to take care of these gorgeous boys (my mom helped a bit)  Remy loved feeding the ducks at the park, it was the twins first time at the duck pond:)


I have to post a "shout out" here for Oma.  She took care of my boys while I helped take care of Paige's boys.  I'm super lucky that she is willing and able to come and help out so much!

My heart grew to loved these babies while I was there.  It was only 2 weeks but I really felt like I bonded with them and they recognized me and my love for them.  I really cried when I had to leave but I realize I have 3 boys of my own that need a mom.  It's just so much more rewarding snuggling and loving on a 3 month old baby then trying to snuggle my 14 year old twins!  I can't wait to see these babies again, Auntie Chelle loves you boys!