Visit with Aunt Pat

My mom's sister Pat came for a visit at the beginning of the week. We were all so excited to see her! We took her to Dauset Trails and it turned out to be a beautiful day and perfect weather. The leaves were all still so pretty and we all had a great time. We started out with a picnic lunch by the lake.

Emma enjoyed it, even though she only had a bottle!

Ben on the long bridge over the lake.

Checking out the turtles and fish.

Anna and Ellie. Poor Ellie had a terrible ear infection, but hardly complained. She's a trooper.

An owl, Ben's favorite.

Paul got very close to this huge buffalo for a picture.

Aunt Pat and Ben checking out the chickens.

What is it about little boys and rocks? They both wanted to load their pockets up and take them home.

He also wanted to throw them at his brother!

A nice pic, except for uncooperative Ben who was missing his nap at this point.

Sisters

Father and Daughters

After Dauset Trails we headed to Indian Springs State Park.

The kids couldn't wait to get walk in this cold, cold water.

Of course you know what happened. It took Sam less than a minute to slip in and it took Ben even less time than that before he was soaked.

But they had such a great time.

And it was such a beautiful day.

Thankfully we found a pair of pants for Sam in the car, but none for Ben, so he rode home wrapped in a towel. We stopped at Dairy Queen, so he ate his ice cream in a towel, but he didn't care one bit!

It was a great day.

N N Nest

Sam's letter of the week was N, so we made chocolate nests.

They were delicious! (And so easy)

And so messy!

And did not last long at all!

An Autumn Walk

Last week, the leaves were so beautiful around where we live so I decided to take my camera on my daily afternoon walk. Of course, this little girl was the best view on the entire walk.

Beautiful colors this year.

But none compare to the blueness of her eyes!

Lake Wildwood

So cute and so tired by the time we got home.

The next day, Ben and I decided to walk down to the lake for some more Autumn beauty. The lake was so still, it was almost like a mirror, reflecting the colorful trees.

Another beautiful view! Although this one is quite dirty from eating chocolate cookies.

My walking buddy!

I Wish...

I was in the drive through lane at Sonic this morning, waiting for my large cup of ice water. (For some reason, ice water tastes the best from Sonic!). My mind was wandering and I found myself thinking about what I wished for. I would love to tell you it was something profound, like world peace or the defeat of evil, but, alas, it wasn't. It was something very trivial.

"I wish I had alot of money" my mind informed me and before I could even wrap myself around that thought, another one came along. "I wish I was skinny". Subconsciously, I was looking at a lady, sitting at a table with her daughter and they were eating lunch. I wanted to run home, grab my kids and take them out to lunch without having to be concerned about how I was going to pay for it and without having to be concerned about what I was eating and how that was going to affect me.

Thoughts are powerful things and when we pay too much attention or give too much weight to them, they can affect our mood and our outlook. I could feel this starting to happen, even though I was only slightly aware of what was happening.

Then another thought entered my mind.

"There are mothers who wish their children were healthy".

Wow. I know that thought didn't come from me.

"There are wives who wish their husbands didn't beat them."

"There are children who wish their parents were still married and kind to each other."

"There are parents who wish their children had enough to eat."

"There are husbands who wish their wives hadn't passed on before them."

"There are husbands and wives who wish they could conceive."

I get it God.

I have everything I need and most of what I want. In this season of gratefulness, I want to realize how blessed I am, and how amazing He is.

And wishing for things that really don't matter is not the way to go about that.

Ooops!

I left these pictures out of the post 2 posts below. They were too cute to not put up!