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Swimming lessons

Parker has completed the 6 week swimming lesson program at the Lampeter YMCA. This was the last night of lessons and the whole night was focused on safety. How to wear a life jacket and how to swim if you fall in the water with your clothes on.

Parker really loves the water, he always looked forward to his swimming lesson nights. They were working on his front & back floats and he is doing better with both.

He can hardly wait for the next 6-week session, he has officially graduated from "eels" to "rays"

Annual Cookie Baking Day

My freezer is officially stocked up with a very nice variety of delicious Christmas cookies. For quite a few years me & the boys have been baking cookies with Carlton's family.

I (with a little help from Parker) baked & decorated 2 big batches of "good cookies" (these have been my very favorite cookie ever since i was little and enjoyed them at my best friend, Josi's-they were kind enough to share the recipe) and brought Creme De Menthe brownies to share, Brady made chocolate chip cookies, Dana takes care of oh approx. 8 or 9 dozen peanut butter blossoms, his cousin-Kara makes "buckeyes" (peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate), his Aunt Sheryl spends hours rolling out sand tarts and brings along amazing Holiday Magic bars. And my mother in law provides a spacious kitchen, lunch, and hours of "babysitting".

It is always an exciting time to spend together and makes those long hours in the kitchen so much more fun!

Fall Funtimes

Fall is such a fun time of the year and usually we take advantage of all the pumpkins around here and each carve our own to display on Halloween, well we just didn't find a night to do pumpkin carving this year but we did make a scarecrow. Its always fun to try something new. The boys seemed to have a good time!

Brady did most of the stuffing and we let him draw the face also. We now have it standing outside the front of our house and everytime i pull in the driveway i have to look twice i think someone is standing in my flower bed!

Thanks to our friends, Steve & Kim for inviting us to your Scarecrow party.

Parker's Pre-K class celebrated Fall with a Harvest Party and allowed them to dress up as well. He went as a train conductor. He is standing beside Darth Vader, who he would really liked to have been this Halloween but i thought he was alittle young for such a scary character. I guess i just don't appreciate Star Wars!


Here we are just about ready to hit the town for Trick or Treat night. Brady is Mr. Incredible and Parker is a Koala Bear.

My cousin, Julie, with her new puppy, Kona, both dressed very well for the occassion!

Brady and Parker with their cousins, Josiah & Jada. Hunter we missed you hope you are feeling better!

I can't believe its November!! It will be Thanksgiving before you know it! Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful time of year!

Wow Already!

Parker lost his first tooth! We noticed it was loose two days ago and he has wanted it out ever since. I think he just wanted a visit by this tooth fairy his older brother told him about. He was incredibly brave through the whole thing. He was asking me to pull it out, i kept telling him it will fall out when its ready and tonight before bed he asked again. So i got a tissue and it didn't take long and it came out. So tonight is the big night for his first tooth fairy visit : )

You can't really see it tucked in the right corner of the baggie. Its so small so we couldn't just lay it under his pillow.

I wonder what the going rate is for a lost tooth?

Train Ride

Well this afternoon was a BEAUTIFUL afternoon for a train ride. Parker had earned a free ticket to ride on the Strasburg Railroad from a summer reading program so we chose today to cash it in.

He spent most of the 40 minute trip hanging out the window like this :)

He wanted to bring along a favorite book of his. Right now he is really enjoying Mercer Mayer books and this one is called "Just Me And My Mom" In the beginning the two take a train ride into a big busy city. So we kinda did the same thing except i wouldn't exactly describe Paradise as big and busy. It was a great afternoon and fun spending some one on one time!

We read our book several times throughout the ride and the book ends with....We had fun, just me and my mom.

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Carlton!

Thinking of you on your special day and wishing you a super birthday!

We headed to the Red Robin in Hershey last evening with my sister and her husband, Justin, for a birthday burger & sundae. Today his mom is treating him to one of his favorites...roast beef & mashed potatoes. Later tonight we may watch a few episodes of The Office season 5 which the boys and i got him.

Hope you have a great day!

We Love You!

Lisa, Brady & Parker

Field Trip to Cherry Hill

Parker and I joined his preschool class last week on a field trip to Cherry Hill Orchards. It was a jam-packed morning with a hayride out to the orchard to pick and eat thier own apple, apple cider tasting, pumpkin picking, movie time with Johnny Appleseed and more.

It took him forever to pick the pumpkin he wanted. Even though they all pretty much look the exact same. He was very happy with his choice.

We were able to go inside the apple sorting area and also the large walk-in fridge where they store all the apples. It was definitely a fun field trip!

Falltime in N.H.

He makes springs pour water into the

ravines; it flows between the mountains.

Psalm 104:10

Carlton and I spent a few days in New Hampshire enjoying God's creation during the beautiful fall foilage. I could have parked by house right along the bank of this cascading waterfalls, (and some people did...lucky!)

Jackson Falls-Jackson, N.H.Glen Ellis Falls-White Mountain National Forest

Outside the B & B during our stay in North Conway, N.H.

Silver Cascades-White Mountain National Forest

I loved all the old bridges, wasn't many we passed without getting a snapshot. We were definitely camera happy! 227 pictures we developed at Costco before we even left : )

The red ones are my favorite. We got a few good shots during a 1 hour train ride we took through the small town of North Conway.

We took the Cannon Mountain aerial tram ride up about 4000 feet to enjoy the view from a slightly higher level! They use the tram during the winter as a ski lift.

I spotted two moose as we were driving down a scenic road. I was tipped off by the "Moose Crossing" sign posted every couple miles : ) We also had a bear run across the road right in front of us but i wasn't quick enough with the camera!

I was worried about not getting any exercise...but we had to hike up (or down) 2 miles to see some of the falls and gorges. They were all worth the trip!

It was a great vacation! We saw amazing colors and beautiful falls. I was ready to come home though, we missed the boys and they missed us. They did however appreciate the N.H. gifts & Legos we found them at the mall in Boston.