Lots Going On

 With the falling temps, Ginger graduates to "house dog" in the evenings. The boys love it, and I'm pretty sure she does too. :)

These past 2 weeks have been busy. Of course there was the big wedding in Colorado. That same week we grieved with some friends at her father's funeral. Making a meal for them was the least we could do. Deer season began for Derek, and that means extra people at our house. Not to mention all the activity. Thanksgiving preparations came next, and Kaleb's birthday celebration is this weekend. His actual birthday and party with his friends arrives on Tuesday. And of course...Christmas is coming. I'm already looking forward to January. :)

Braylen's wish came true, and he tagged along on one of Derek's deer hunts. During this particular hunt, Grandpa got his deer. Can you tell by the way Braylen's dressed that our mild fall weather is long gone?

 The guys save money by doing their own processing in our garage, but they sure do a lot of work. Kaleb joined in one evening as their "meat tenderizer." He learned what sinew is and had fun saying that word over and over. Silly Kaleb! This was Braylen's first year to do some cutting--under strict supervision of course! He did a good job and no band-aids were needed.

 Aaron's favorite thing was helping Derek put the jerky meat in the dehydrator. I love how Derek involves all three of our boys in his hobby. Today I gave Aaron the job of removing all the jerky from the dehydrator to place in plastic bags. It kept him busy for a long time and he did plenty of snacking along the way. :)

 While Aaron stayed busy with the jerky, Braylen and Kaleb pulled out Monopoly. It kept them busy for hours, and I'm amazed at how well they got along. Raking leaves and cleaning up after Ginger in the yard gave them some outside time, and that's always a good thing. Sometimes when there's a day off from school everyone fights and nobody really enjoys the day. Today, thankfully, was not one of those days. I want to remember that. They even practiced their piano without being told, and at one point Braylen's playing actually sounded soothing and peaceful. It feels like one of those commercials: digital piano, $1100/26 months of piano lessons, $1200/finally hearing your son play something soothing on the piano, PRICELESS!!!

 So now, on the eve of Thanksgiving, I realize I have much to be thankful for. Including how well my pies turned out! :)

Family Wedding

Derek's sister made a beautiful bride this past Saturday. Since words can't describe how lovely this wedding was, I'll try telling this story with pictures.

There's this chapel tucked in the mountains, creating the ideal setting for Sarena's 11am wedding.

The ceremony displayed God the Father's perfect love for His bride, the church. Sarena's eyes were for Dave, but God was honored above all. I wish you could see what I saw during the ceremony. Too bad a camera wasn't tucked in my bouquet. :)

The bride and her groom dancing to "Come Away With Me."

I may not have pictures of the ceremony, but I did manage to take a few at the reception! Sarena's three handsome nephews participated in her wedding. Braylen was a groomsman, while Kaleb and Aaron were ring bearers.

Braylen escorted his cousin Analise down the aisle.

Kaleb quickly adapted to his 4 year old cousin Maisie's need to walk down the aisle a little early. He even reminded her to drop her petals. :) What an adorable pair they make. This picture doesn't show it, but Kaleb and Maisie, both middle children, have the same white blond hair.

Aaron and his cousin Sadie, the youngest in their families, came down the aisle right before the bride and her dad. How blessed we are to have three girl cousins bring some beauty to these three boys of ours. :)

Derek and I walked down the aisle together, honored to serve as a groomsman and bridesmaid to Dave and Sarena. It really was icing on the cake for my husband to escort me. Derek even had a little fun at the reception by twirling me around during the bridal party introductions. I felt a bit like a princess with my hair done up and my dress swirling around and around. Because we were so involved with the wedding, I don't have a picture together with Derek. I'm counting on the photographer for that. We did manage to pose for a family shot, although my fancy hair-do doesn't show.

Before we knew it, the time had come to send the bride and groom away with a shower of bubbles.

Like every wedding, this one has a few stories surrounding it. A faulty hotel room lock, failing the morning of the wedding. Derek's brother and his family (the 3 flower girls!) locked out of their room after eating breakfast. How do they get to their tuxedo and dresses? Call a maintenance man to drill the door open. (I was at the salon, totally oblivious to it all!) A bridesmaid turns white during the ceremony and sits down before she faints. My youngest niece just about tumbles head-first down the steps while we wait for the bride to walk down the aisle. Her mom and I make a quick catch. :)

How fun to enjoy this wedding get-away. Our boys swam in the pool every night. They played at Whit's End at Focus on the Family, while I joined the bridesmaids for a mani-pedi. We ate at yummy restaurants like chick-fil-a and California Pizza Kitchen. We even ordered a pizza which was delivered to our room--the boys thought that was pretty cool. We were blessed with good health, time with a large extended loving family, and lots of laughter. Sarena and Dave, thank you for including us in your wedding celebration! What a celebration it was!!!

Costumes for Candy

Some people might stress over their kids' costumes. Some people might even sew their costumes! I am definitely not one of those people. My philosophy is, "If we can't buy it (cheaply) or borrow it, then football players and hunters make good costumes!" God chose to bless my kids in spite of their mother's laid-back approach to Halloween. Through my husband's conversations with friends at Awana, he found a friend who just happened to have two of our three desired costumes on hand! In the right sizes. And nobody else was borrowing them. This friend made these costumes...she rocks!

Braylen wanted to be a scarecrow, and Aaron wanted to be a bat. Not batman, just a bat. Both of those costumes came from our friend. Thank you!!! Kaleb wanted to be a dog. I came up with this costume myself. Face paint really helps. :)

Braylen the Scarecrow

Our Black K-lab :)

Aaron the Bat!

Derek made Aaron's mask! Isn't he awesome?!!

I have to admit, we used scraps from the hemming of my bridesmaid dress for the mask. Yes, we're going to a wedding soon, and we're all in it. How convenient that my dress is black, right?

We had lots of fun with our friends Scott & Brenda, who came over for supper with their two kids: a football player and a barbie doll. :) Our nieces joined us for trick-or-treating too. They were a cow, an elephant, and a giraffe. We were quite a group! :)

Brothers

I'm not sure if this is true in all families with 3 kids, but in ours it's commonplace. Two of our boys are a lot alike, while one is his own man. Many times I get the feeling I'm seeing 6 year old Braylen when I look at Aaron. They look alike, act alike, and have the same strengths. While God created them as individuals, they are definitely brothers. In many ways they could be twins separated by 4.5 years.

When Braylen was 6 years old, in the fall of his kindergarten year, he came down with pneumonia. He's needed asthma medicine and breathing treatments ever since. Of course Aaron had to follow in his footsteps. Same age, same time of year, minus the pneumonia diagnosis. Two boys, two masks, one nebulizer.

And here's their picture taken together at school. Two boys, same award.

Then there's Kaleb, our unique son placed right in the middle. I'm so thankful for him. God knew Derek and I could not raise three of a kind. We love Kaleb's quiet, insightful ways. His wit and sense of humor. His tender heart. When his brothers received their awards last week, Kaleb never complained. In his words, "I'm happy for them to get awards." And he means it. God, could you please send an award his way sometime this school year?