Did I really just do that?

Uh.....I went to Africa. Holy Cow! I went with Joel and Chris (Josh's Parents) to visit Jared (Josh's brother).....It was amazing. This is me with Josh's parents, Jared and Jolly the Country Director of Invisble Children. Jared works for Invisible Children as their director of programs, wow. He lives in Gulu, in northern Uganda.
Here Jared and Chris eat some Ugandan "fast food" roasted corn and roasted banana that they sell on the side of the road. All you have to do is pull over and they run up to your car.....just like America....almost.

Yep, a Giraffe

A picture of me on a boat safari with Hippo's in the background. There are lots of Hippo's in Uganda.....like, more hippo's than I knew existed in the whole world....
Me by the Nile.....before going white water rafting.....for real....the Nile. (yeah, moses, pharoah - woah) I had a good time, but I missed Josh and the kids terribly. (Thanks mom and dad for coming to help Josh out). In some ways Africa was exactly like I thought it might be but I learned a few things for sure. In Northern Uganda people are gracious, trusting and hospitable - we felt so welcome. Thanks Josh....for making me go.

Out of touch

So much has happened since I last posted. Since school started our "small group" started up again. We have 6 high schoolers that we hang out with every Wednesday night. Here we are after an exciting round of "The Flour Game."
We had a visit in Mid September from Doug, Ali, Chase and Cameron. Thanks for making the trek!
With all of the new pencils and backpacks Fall officially arrived and in Idyllwild that means ripe apples and lots of yellow trees. Autumn is definitely my favorite season here. The air is cool and crisp, the garden is bountiful and the leaves change! Here Josh is peeling apples to make dried apples but we also made apple butter.
Joel played soccer again. This year he was a bobcat and wow - the bobcats are good. Joel thrives at playing goalie and all of the kids on his team are so fun and they have a great time. Josh was also a coach this time and Seth.....well he thinks he's on the team.....
And last but not least, miss Abigail....her hair is growing - and is a little hard to manage. She talks but only if she wants to, not if you ask her to. And she is walking - but still crawls and scoots sometimes. She only takes one nap....and loves all things "girly".

Fresno

Last weekend we were in Fresno with my parents and brothers. There was a Bob the Builder exhibit at a local museum. The kids thought it was awesome. But as you can see Seth was a little wary of the "real" Bob the builder.
But Seth who want's to be just like Dad (super handy) decided to fix the broken sink - and of course he needed his tool belt.

At my parents house with 6 boys (not including the adults) a lot of wrestling occurs.
So somehow we accomplished a family picture, not everyone is smiling - but at least no one is crying!

Yeah kids!!

Sorry Abbey

Summer is busy for us.....Family visiting, the inn has very high occupancy - yet all our staff takes vacations, we of course also want to take vacation, two of the kids have birthdays and I prefer spending my time outside on the hammock or in the garden rather than at the computer.....so poor Abbey did not get a blog post about her very important first birthday! She truly is our princess with two nights in shining armor that love on her - maybe a little too much. She is happy and healthy, with only two teeth, loves to sleep and eating melon gives her a rash (we think.) She talks a ton and is on her way to having as much hair as her mom. She loves her blankie and her pacifier and her new favorite toy is the glowworm she got for her birthday (thanks suzanne). She would rather "scoot" on her bottom than crawl and she will probably be walking soon. It all happened too fast Abbey - Happy Birthday (ps this picture is actually Abbey's passport photo - she has already applied for her first passport, a world traveler at a young age.)
Abbey riding her little horsey bike on our deck.
All three kids on the trampoline....only Joel was listening when I said look at the camera and smile.
This is what Abbey looks like after scooting on the trampoline for a minute or two.

Seth is 3....no way!

Well, these pictures ended up on here in reverse order.....I guess I'm out of blogging practice. We had a little carnival for Seth's 3rd birthday - it was so much fun - kids playing carnival style games, and we even borrowed a cotton candy machine - awesome!
Seth blowing out the candles - I'm not sure how it's possible but they say he is 3 years old.
Here is Seth racing Sami to squirt the candles out!
Of course we bobbed for apples and Sarah (what a good sport) had to demonstrate for the kids because they didn't really believe you were supposed to get the apple with your teeth.
Here's my three clowns!

Nani and Papa

After 6 great weeks we had a tearful send off for Nani and Papa! Thanks for many great memories including the zoo, Hume Lake, dancing at the concerts in the park and jumping on the trampoline. We love you and I guess.....we'll see you in April!
(All of us at Hume Lake......breakfast at inspiration point)
Another Hume lake photo.....Here's Josh and Dawn by the lake with "Jared" - since he couldn't be there in person he was there in "mini"

Oh Sarah

These are our totally awesome friends Josh and Sarah Tate - Sarah is currently 7 days past her due date with Baby #4 (collective sigh).......Let's all say a prayer for them!! Can't wait to meet the little man!