sledding in a winter wonderland

We've been enjoying all the snow this winter fall. I can't remember the last time it snowed this much before Christmas!

The kids have thoroughly enjoyed it...even when they were freezing cold and had snow down their sleeves.

They have been determined to get the most out of it, even if it meant crawling (?) through it.

Devin stayed with us a few days and pulled the kids around in the sleds.

Then they managed to make it over to the big sledding hill a few times.

Evangeline has proven to be a trooper. She will get out there in all her gear and stay out until her little hands are frozen to the bone. She would rather play than come in any sooner.

I heard there were some crashes...enough to make me glad I was at home with a baby. But apparently not enough to stop the kids from going again.

and again...

and again.

Our sledding adventures haven't been alone. We love having friends so close!

Here is the bunch in all their sledding glory.

Dads and the kids...

naturally they had to partake in a friendly race to the bottom.

Ready, set, go!

Best of friends...

Snow ev"angel"ines...

Group sledding inside a baby pool, what fun!

Pokagon 2013

Every other year we take the nontraditional route of going out of town for Thanksgiving.

We don't cook our feast of Thanksgiving food, or clean a single dish.

We just focus on holding sleeping babies while enjoying the food. (Ari kept telling me, "Mom, I can rock her and hold her for you so you can eat." Sweetest kid ever.)

Being away from home also means enjoying the luxuries of a swimming pool, hot tub, and sauna. The kids were swimming any moment they weren't sleeping or eating. Evangeline didn't think twice about jumping in and immediately making her way back out so she could jump back in again. It was like she was on auto-pilot. Jump in. Tip-toe to the stairs. Climb out. Find a spot along the edge. Jump. Repeat.

A luxury in our book is just being away from civilization. We took full advantage of going for a few hikes in the peace and quiet of the woods. No cars, no people, no noise. Just us and God's creation.

There's just something about being in the middle of nature that is calming and relaxing.

We took a stop at the Nature Center and learned about salamanders, turtles, snakes, bobcats, and bees.

We also took a trip to Shipshewana just to eat at the Blue Gate Restaurant.

And AJ happened to run in to some people from our church...while we were at this restaurant, hours and hours away from either of our hometowns. Such a small world.

We've always eaten lunch in Shipshewana, but this year we got there for dinner. Our drive back to Pokagon was beautiful with all the Christmas lights.

This was an attempt to get our children all together for a picture. Evangeline just kept petting the sheep and talking sweet nothings to it. "Awww, pretty sheep. I love her. She's so cute."

The day finally arrived when we were able to go on the toboggan run. Ari had been talking about it since our trip last year and telling Evangeline how much fun she was going to have.

There was no hesitation on her part. She loved it. Going 34 MPH down a 1/4 mile iced track is her new love language.

The climax of our trip had been fulfilled.

This day warmed up significantly that we were able to hike with Selah.

This lake was just stunning. The kids enjoyed throwing rocks and pieces of ice on it to hear it echo. I was even surprised to hear such a strange sound it made.

Before we headed home I tried to catch a snapshot of them with their cousin. So much for that!

We made sandwiches for the car ride since it was past her naptime. She fell asleep with her food in her hand. Papa tried to take it away and she instantly awoke saying "No, that's mine!" then fell back asleep. I guess the girl wasn't ready to part with her food.

It was a fun, exhausting, mini-vacation away from the everyday norm.

9 months

Babies pick up so many new tricks at this age. Even as the third child, we still get excited when she starts to do new things...even when it means getting food spit at you because she has discovered blowing raspberries while eating.

The sippy cup has been fun for her. Now if she sees a cup on the ground, she will try her best to get to it. It took her no time to figure it out.

She thought it was hilarious when I pulled her arms up and grabbed her head. Kids are entertained by the silliest stuff. I guess I am too though :)

Pat-a-cake always makes her smile. 

Her babbling is so sweet. We now clearly hear da-da and ba-ba. When she is all done with something she will grunt. She doesn't cry unless something is wrong...so I should have figured something was wrong several weeks ago when she cried most of the night. Turned out to be a bad ear infection.

I seem to always mention her tongue...but can you see her twisting it around? She seriously has the most flexible tongue.

She is always looking for something to grab. She will lunge out of my arms if she sees something she wants.

The crawling is not official, but she gets up on her knees and manages to go backwards. (And again with the tongue...it's always twisting.)

I often have to pull her out of corners, couches, and tables because she doesn't know how to go forwards yet.

At 17 lbs. 10 oz, she is still our smallest child to date coming in at the 25%. She is 50% for height at 27 inches. She pretty much eats anything we put in front of her. Peas are the only thing she gags on so I mix those with a fruit. If toys aren't entertaining enough, she will go for her socks and pull them off. Most of the time she is waving hi to someone and will give a big smile in return if we wave back. She brings us so much joy. It's hard to believe we will be celebrating her 1st birthday in 3 short months!