The Place Where I Live

 

I am pretty darn lucky.

When You Don't Have Cable

Here are a couple of videos of things you do for fun when you don't have television or cable.  Of course you can have fun doing them even if you do have cable.

Apple Picking Part 1+2

Apple picking is our favorite time of year.  We like it so much we go to two different orchards.  The first orchard is 20 minutes from our house and we pick Honeycrisps.  They are sweet and crispy and store really well.

The next orchard is close to 2 hours from our house, but is close to my parents so we justify the trip with a visit to them.  There we pick Macoun, Macintosh and Empire apples.  We also get a years supply of the BEST apple cider in the world.  Thick, tangy and unpasteurized...sooo worth the drive.

Worcester Part 2

As mentioned before, we forget the camera when we went to Worcester so we don't have many pictures, but we were able to visit with my missionary companion, Caitlin and her sweet family.  We didn't plan enough time to visit with them and as a result I think we are planning on spending a full week in Worcester next summer so that we have time to visit with them, go into Boston, and visit areas where my family and I used to live.

On the way home we needed a potty break around Quechee.  I have never seen the Quechee Gorge so we made an un-planned stop there.   What started as a potty break turned into hiking/walking to the bottom of the gorge.  

Remember this pose?

This poor frog went through a lot with Ben

Most people admire nature, Aaron contemplates the monetary value of a gorgeous old tree

Partway back up the hill Ben decides he is done.

As does Jacob.  For some reason he felt it was easier to walk on his knees than his feet.

 

A Game that Causes Depression

September 16th through the 19th we took our annual trip to Worcester Massachusetts.  
Unfortunately we forgot our camera.  
Fortunately  half-way through the trip we decided to buy a nice but cheap camera to keep in the car so we don't ever forget the camera again.  
Unfortunately it doesn't the amazing pictures that my other camera takes.
Fortunately it is helping me remember to bring my other camera more often.
Unfortunately this makes the money we spent on the new camera nearly a complete waste.
Fortunately we didn't spend much on the camera.
Unfortunately...
My sister in law Becky taught me that game and it seriously causes me anxiety.  As the game goes on and on I get a knot in my stomach because no matter how hard I try to fix the problems with a nice positive "fortunately" statement, I know it will be undone with an "unfortunately" statement.  Anyway...I totally got off subject.

How many of you know that Aaron LOVES having his head scratched?

We went to the Higgins Armory Museum.  It is a lot of fun.  Sophie's favorite part was the children's room where they had all kinds of dress up.

I don't know if you can see it here, but Ben is lining up his sights and pulling the trigger on this children's rifle.

Aaron is an eager teacher and Ben is an engaged learner when it comes to weapons.

We happened to go on the 18th, International Speak Like a Pirate Day(Sept 19th every year.) They had all kinds of pirates activities, and all of the staff were dressed like pirates.  Sophie enjoyed a riveting games of dominoes with a beautiful red headed female pirate.

They actually had a whole exhibit about female pirates.  They were women to be respected and feared.

We let the kids take some pictures with the new camera.  None of them came out, they were all blurry except this one by Ben.  I think it is pretty cool

The Three Other Kids

Just in case you all think I have forgotten my three other kids, here is a post dedicated to them.  

However you will notice that there are more pictures of Ben than the other two.  Sometimes it feels as though no matter how hard I try I am still showing favoritism to one child or the other.  

But rest assured I love each and every one of my children VERY MUCH, in equal amounts.

Jacob taking a romp in the dryer.  We have since ceased this activity due to an accidental lock in.  Don't worry I was right there and it only lasted 1.2 seconds.

Ben does everything in life with gusto.  Even picking and eating carrots.

This is a new pose of Ben's. He frequently asks me to take a picture of him doing this.  You will see it in an other post soon.

Man! My girl can multi-task already!

A Bunch of Noah

This program is being ridiculous so this photo is not on chronological order.  Noah at Grandma and Grampa Kinney's in Massachusetts. 9/17/10

Noah loves to sleep in the bean bag. 9/6/10

Jacob is a very sweet older brother and Noah adores watching him. 9/8/10

Noah fell asleep all by himself in his bouncy chair.  I always feel a little hurt when my babies decide they don't need me to go to sleep. 9/15/10

 

                                 

Add caption

 

These three are from Jacob's birthday.  Noah was having a bad hair day, but he was full of smiles.  And for some reason I couldn't add a caption on the photo of him clutching his pants. 9/29/10

The neighbor gave Noah this sweater and I think he looks absolutely adorable in it. 10/7/10

10/12/10

Parents

While it feels odd to post pictures of myself, I figure it has to happen sometime...

And here is Aaron with all three of his boys.  Sophie and I will have to stage a girls photo soon.