Halloween

Tory wanted to wear her caterpillar outfit from last year again... and they both still fit! :) So, I just made some new antennae again, and they were set.  So easy! :)  First, we headed to the mall the Saturday before Halloween....

They stuffed a plastic glove with popcorn and gave one to each Trick or Treater....

That night, we went to the Harvest Festival given by Bethel for the Veterans and their families.  We manned the basketball toss, but forgot to take a picture of it . . . the girls got to go through all the stations with Grandma and Grandpa while we manned our station.

Monday before Halloween, we were able to carve the pumpkins we picked from Grandpa and Grandma's garden.... :)

I tried to get a picture of the two of them and I said, "Tory, can't you be a little more excited?"

So, here is her excited face.... :)

Natalia wanted to help, so I told her to pull out the pieces after I cut them....  

Finished and loving it!

Edwin made his a pirate's face, and I thought we had a pirate hat . . . so I suggested he bring it in and try it on the pirate pumpkin.  But my memory was not good... it was only the pirate bandana, hair, sword, and hook we had... but no hat... No matter! Tory and Natalia loved them and played and played... then Tory decided she no longer wanted to be a caterpillar, now she wanted to be a PIRATE!

Wednesday night finally arrived, and the Nymans invited us to go trick or treating with them . . . after some yummy pizza and lasagna at their place! :) The girls had fun walking around together! Too bad it was a school night...but after an hour of walking, they were tired anyway...

Too bad I did not get a picture, but after we were done, we headed over to Nana and Papa's house so they could get a treat from them... which ended up being popcorn!! Yum!! So we stayed for a little while to enjoy the bag of popcorn and lots of love from Nana and Papa. :)

Natalia Turns Three!

This whole birthday planning was back and forth, back and forth... what day would be best? How many to invite? How to make the cake? The weather forecast kept me on the edge of my seat. First it was cloudy but nice, then it was rainy, and back again to partly sunny.... argh!!  Ended up being so windy we had to move the whole location from in front of the river and under the fall trees, to the garage.  I was disappointed, but it still came out very cute.  With the possibility of having to move to the  garage, I knew I had to keep it small, or we would not all fit... and because of schedule conflicts, only the Nymans were able to make it, besides our family, of course.  It ended up being small, yet cozy. :)  

At first, we were just going to make a flat cake and try to get a front view of Thomas decorated on it, but then, we decided to go for a 3-D look... it was so fun doing this together with Mom! :)

It was a WINDY day!! Natalia was so excited before the party, while we were setting up, she just kept twirling and singing to herself! So cute!

First, the girls got to decorate some gourds with cotton balls, feathers, googly eyes, and lots and lots of glue!! :)

We then headed out to the pumpkin patch!

Just about to enjoy some chili and cornbread! :)

Let's blow out some candles!

And open some presents....

Sporting their engineer hats...

No problem hitting that piñata!!

Three bags of candy divided by four excited girls.... hmmm....

Left-over goodie bags went to some kids at heart... :)

The morning after felt like Christmas, wanting to get the present open so they could play... and they were entertained all day . . . and then some!

Happy birthday, my sweet Natalia!! Growing up so fast! We love you!

Control

I try to control to protect myself.  Making sure I give my tithe so that I am not robbing God, ensures that God will continue to bless me.  If I don't tithe, I am robbing God, and He is not obliged to continue blessing me.  So, I tithe to control God, to make Him be obliged to bless me and take care of me.  In truth, God loves me so much, He wants to bless and take care of me, and in fact, has promised to do so, no matter what I do.  Even when I try to force Him to bless me, no matter what.  When has He ever abandoned me?  When has He ever quit loving me?  He cares more for me than He cares for Himself, even.

Forgive my selfish preservation of myself at any cost! Thank you for loving me so!