Fun with FarFar and FarMor

It's been a fun and busy Fall for us, having lots of out-of-town company. The day after Halloween, Kurt's folks visited from Tennessee. We loved having them here, especially the kids, who adore their FarFar and FarMor. Here's Cassidy and FarMor doing a puzzle together.

FarFar is such a good reader! His lap was a favorite place for Travis.

And Cassidy too! I don't have a picture of it, but FarMor also read to the kids a lot. I think she read the new train book she got them at least two dozen times!

Saturday afternoon was beautiful and I was busy making cupcakes for the upcoming birthday party, so Kurt and Jim and Nona took the kids to the park.

 Swinging with FarMor

Cassidy going down the squiggly slide...head first. Uh oh! We'll have to have a talk about that. :)

Peekaboo, Trav!

 Opening birthday gifts. The kids love their soft balls and train book and Cassidy's ladybug purse is a huge hit! She puts all sorts of things in it and carries it everywhere! 

Halloween!

I have great memories of dressing up and going trick-or-treating on Halloween as a kid so I was excited that this year the kids were old enough to have a lot of fun with it too. I decided to make an executive decision about their costumes because while they're young and don't have strong opinions, I want to dress them alike! So I began my search for cute, affordable, matching costumes. I found Supergirl and Superman and the search was over! We had so much fun at the downtown stores' open house trick-or-treating, and then went to Bethany Manor, our local nursing home, which organizes a huge trick-or-treating event. All the residents were lined up outside their rooms with buckets of candy to hand out to the kids and they loved seeing all the little ones dressed in costume, smiling from ear to ear. Cassidy did a wonderful job of greeting everyone, saying "Trick or treat! Thank you! Happy Halloween!" to every single person she met. (Travis really didn't care about the whole thing and preferred for Daddy to carry him.) When their buckets were overflowing we came home and handed out candy at our house. Such a fun night!

 Most kids want to gobble up all their candy when they get home. Cassidy went straight for her microwave popcorn, her favorite treat!

 Superman did a lot of tackling Daddy. 

 Happy Halloween from our little superheroes!

Aaron's family visits

It was the visit we anticipated for months. We could barely contain our excitement in the days leading up to their arrival. And when we drove to the airport to pick up Aaron, Sheri, Kayla and Khloe, Cassidy exclaimed, "This is fun! I feel so happy!" We had a wonderful weekend together, showing our favorite foursome our "new" town, house, church, friends, favorite restaurant, etc. I guess you could say we were having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures. These three are the only ones I got the whole time they were here! Shameful! That's okay though, we'll always remember what really happened that weekend. Kayla and Cassidy lived in dress-up clothes, we celebrated birthdays, the kids played and played and played, we ate lots of good food, we laughed. And like all things that we spend so much time anticipating, it all went by way too quickly. Come back soon, Fausts! We love you!

 Here, Cassidy (as Cinderella) is opening a birthday present from Kayla.

 And here's Khloe, lounging with Jovi, probably her favorite person in Iowa. :) 

My babies

It's hard to get a good picture of one of them, and nearly impossible to get a good picture of both of them together. Why do two kids always seem to want to go in opposite directions?! Here's the best I could do before church last Sunday.

Center Grove Orchard

We've been looking forward to an orchard trip since the first sign of Fall, and we happened to pick the perfect day for it! It was sunny and beautiful outside and for most of our day there, we practically had the place to ourselves! Cassidy LOVED being there and especially loved having her picutre taken with her "head in the hole"!

She's very proud whenever she gets a sticker.

 

The Three Little Pigs' houses were another favorite!

 This is a huge bouncing pillow - kind of like a trampoline but much bigger. I think her laughter could be heard a mile away when she was jumping on this thing!

The walk up the hill is hard for little legs, but worth it when you get to ride the Super Slide all the way back down!

 

And last but not least the Corn Pool. A huge pole barn filled with corn for kids (and adults!) to jump in, bury themselves in, and never want to get out of! We're still finding corn kernels in the car, in our clothes, etc. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Grandpa and Grandma come from Michigan

We were so happy to have Grandpa and Grandma here while Kurt was away at a conference for the weekend. We had a blast enjoying some beautiful fall weather, and were treated to a special train ride with Thomas the Tank Engine in Boone. 

It was a gorgeous day so we took our lunch along and had a picnic before the train ride.

  

The conductor showed everyone a rare "jewel", which of course all the kids wanted to touch, but none were allowed. It must've been worth millions! Ha!

  

  Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma, for the special treat! We had so much fun on the rails!

The Thomas event also included live music, which the kids were invited to play along with...

 ...and a bouncy house! 

During the weekend, we had fun outside riding bikes too. Cassidy was SO excited to show Grandpa her new bike!

  Grandpa even got to be here for Cassidy's church-singing debut!