Every year Nathan and Mandie have a fall party for the family. We take a hay ride, carve pumpkins, and the kids dress up in costumes.
Ella and Kendra were both lady bugs.


Jonathan and Janna were around for the weekend so they came too. Everyone was in love with Anelise and her costume.


Mandie hid candy everywhere for the kids to find.




From left to right: Caleb as batman, Evan as a construction worker, Isaac as an astronaut, Ethan as Anakin Skywalker, Kendra as a lady bug, Jackson as a race car driver.


Carter is a part of this picture. He is a giraffe.

My grandma Bos and Aunt Andrea were in town too.


Isaac and Kendra helped carve pumpkins. Here is Isaac's. I forgot to take a picture of Kendra's, but it was a lady bug too.


My little ladybugs :)




If you're not sure, the box on his back to the oxygen tank.


He had to pose like an astronaut does :)

Ella Joy way baptized yesterday during the evening service at Evergreen.
We are blessed!

My mom made this dress for me when I was baptized. So far it has been worn by me, my sister Alyssa, Kendra and now Ella.




Proud brother and sister.


Once I crop this picture I think it will be a great family picture!


Isaac and Kendra were so intrigued by the baptism. Ella screamed but then was all smiles again once she calmed down.


We had dessert with family afterward at my parents house.








We feel so blessed by all of our family and friends who are a part of helping us to raise our children to know and love God. Chances are that if you are reading this you are a part of that group, so thank you!

Side note: Kendra just learned how to pump on the swings. She has now been swinging non-stop for 45 minutes in our back yard :)

What I should be doing right now is unpacking, but these pictures just crack me up so I had to share them with you. We just returned last night from a few days spent in Indianapolis with Jonathan and Janna and family. They graciously hired Jon to paint the gutters, fascia and soffet of their house. The rest of us came along to hang out together. We had a really nice time. The kids had so much fun playing together. Jon survived the heat while painting and we played lots of Tichu (Which I will not go into detail about other than to say that Janna and I proved ourselves to be very gracious losers.). The traveling to and from was really smooth. It was a very enjoyable trip.

The temps were in the 90s each day. It didn't stop the boys from playing outside - some days in full super hero costume (I'm sorry that I didn't capture that in photo - it was super cute.). I took the camera out one of the days and they stopped playing and just wanted to pose for the camera.








Ethan was so into his posing that I had to trick him into smiling :)


This one, however, isn't difficult to get a smile out of at all.


Kendra followed Anelise around a lot and tried to entertain her. She tried a bit to get in with the boys at first, but gave up. She and Caleb played really well together when he decided to take a break from the other boys.


She's a fast mover!


Love this girl so much!

My first full day at home alone with all three kids is going well. Ella is such a good baby. So far she has been extremely predictable. She doesn't cry unless she is hungry or tired (she could care less if she has a dirty diaper - which, by the way she is going through very quickly!!!). We are having small group at our house tonight and I was even able to sweep the dining room and kitchen and do a couple of loads of laundry. My body is starting to feel a little more like normal and I'm able to wear some of my (bigger) jeans, so that feels good.
Isaac and Kendra are doing so well with Ella. They are definitely big helpers and are constantly wanting to give her kisses - which at times is too much, but still cute.  Kendra sat next to Ella this morning and read her a book. Ella is pretty happy to be in either of their arms.
Currently Isaac and Kendra are playing in our backyard. They are pretending to be Michael and Kristy (GT characters). I thought the Ippel's would get a kick out of that :)
I'll leave you with a couple of pictures that I took yesterday. I want to edit them a bit and then maybe use some on the announcement.