Family Day at Hefel's Farm

The day before Halloween, we enjoyed a fun family day at Hefel's farm. Many of John & Brielle's cousins and several other families were invited to come for a hay ride and pumpkin carving.  The kids also explored the farm to see the various animals... and enjoyed some apple cider and snacks.

Brielle spent most of her time in the machine shed with the new kittens :)

John hung out there for a little while.

Photos from the hay ride..... Josie & Brielle

Grant, Lincoln, & Dorothy Jo

Karley, Emma, & Wilson

John & Tim

Brielle was very independent when it came to carving her pumpkin this year.  She drew the face herself and wanted to scoop out all the insides by herself :).  She tried cutting, but soon realized it was tough and that was OK to turn over to Mom & Dad.

John with his finished pumpkin

One of John's favorite parts of the day was feeding the goats...

Step 1.  Go stand by the guy shelling the corn and hold your hands out until he fills them up.

Step 2.  Walk over to the goats without dropping too much, and get your hands close to the fence

                                                    

Step 3. Try to hold your hands there even though it tickles and you are giggling!

4. Keep laughing :).... then repeat again from step 1

John did this over & over & over... and it was so funny to hear him giggle & squeal EVERY time :)

Family Halloween Party 2011

"The Circus": Bob & Becky with Grant, Carter, Wilson, Pierce, Truman, Dorothy Jo & Lincoln

"Grease": Donny & Stacy with Elly, Max & Sam

"The Angry Birds": Jolene & Terry with Josie, Karley, Tessa, Emma & Connor

"The Artist & Canvas": Grandpa & Grandma B

"A Fairy Tale Story": Matt & Natalie with Aloysius & Willa

"Princess Kate & Prince William", "Rapunzel" and "Batman"

Grandma Carol provided quite the surprise in her scary costume.  John kept backing away as he first saw this creature approach him... he didn't know what to think.  Brielle said, "That's Grandma... I see her shoes!"  John was relieved to know it was Grandma. :)  The next day when we were asking John what everyone dressed up like, when we got to Grandma Carol, John answered after a long pause ....... "A bad guy."

John and Brielle

Grandpa & Grandma B with their grandkids (minus Dorothy Jo)

and Happy 1st Birthday to Aloysius!!! 

Our canoe days are numbered...

The air & water are getting a lot cooler, but we squeezed in another weekend that included a canoe ride! :)

John & Connor played at the water's edge, looking to nab fish in their nets.  

Karley, Emma & Josie showing their new monkeys that Terry brought home from San Francisco :)

Recognize this hat, Alexia?   It's John's new favorite :)

Leaving the dock...

and returning home :)

Homecoming Pep Rally

We visited Tim & attended the Homecoming Pep Rally at his school.  That day I bought John & Brielle their own official school apparel... new sweatshirts.  They were very excited to show their dad!

Brielle enjoyed watching the cheerleaders dance & perform.  She kept asking... "When are they going to tell who the Queen is?"   That morning I had given her the choice of going to preschool or coming to the pep rally... where we'd see Dad, some funny skits, some of his 'track girls', and they would name one of the girls the (homecoming) "Queen."  She chose the pep rally, probably because how could you pass up seeing a queen? :)  

John enjoyed the pep rally too... and playing with his cousins Willa & Lincoln in the bleachers.  Later that night, we got bundled up for the football game.  

Just a couple great photos :)

Brielle brought her puppy, Pebbles, back into "circulation" of favorite toys as she found some big batteries at home that would allow Pebbles to start breathing again :)

"Fishing" on a gorgeous fall day

In early October, we took the kids to an area where we planned to go bike riding and fishing.  Once they saw the pond, they didn't want to ride bikes; but we did manage to get about 10 minutes of bike riding in :).  

Brielle learned how to ride without her training wheels about one week before this!!  I didn't get a picture of her on this day since her bike chain was falling off.  I thought I knew how to get her training wheels back off on my own, but I didn't tighten everything up correctly!   So Tim took her bike back to the car to fix it. 

 Then it was time to fish.  Brielle is not timid about picking up these earthworms!  And John follows her lead :)

So we didn't catch anything... no bites at all, but they still enjoyed picking out their worms and casting their lines.  Tim told Brielle sometimes the fish don't bite when there are no clouds in the sky :)