A Halloween Decision

Thank you to those who gave us differing opinions, thoughts, and concerns. Thank you also for praying for us as Joel and I made a decision.

We have decided to take it a year at a time, knowing that we are always learning to hear God clearly and also to be open to His will.

We have decided to keep Joshua home from school on Friday to avoid the Halloween class party. On Saturday night (Halloween) we are getting together with friends to worship Jesus, share testimonies and have a potluck dinner.

Autumnal Photos for the Eyes and Heart

cute kids

Yvonne, Rachel, Joshua

us

silly cute kids


most of us

madelynn

babysitting. Can you find our own kids?

going on a walk

Making grape juice from a friend's homegrown grapes

Emily's gravesite

Renee

kids and calves

First Bites

Here is Madelynn's first bite of ...dum dum duh...Ice Cream!




Here is Madelynn's first bite of ....Squash! (With the third kid you realize you don't Have to start with rice cereal)

Canadian Thanksgiving in Alberta (long)

On Thursday we flew to Alberta, Canada for Thanksgiving. On the way to the airport we stopped for a view and some jumping jacks:

At the Airport

When we arrived in Calgary, Alberta there was Nana and Grampa waiting for us. Much to everyone's surprise, Rachel, squealing with delight, ran straight into Nana's outstretched arms.
We stuck around for Joel's Mom's parents, Gramma Ann and Grampa Henry to arrive. Then we all traveled to Nana and Grampa's house. On Friday Joel's brother (Jeff and his wife Mandy) and Joel's sister (JoAnne and her husband Shane, with their three boys) arrived. Below are some snapshots of our time with them.

Shane and JoAnne with Kaleb, Caius and Lucas

Caius (on left) and Lucas
(let me know if I'm wrong JoAnne)

Jeff and Mandy

Rachel holding Caius

Caius, Madelynn and Lucas
(Madelynn is one month older than the twins)

Cousins :)

Reading with Gramma Ann

Jeff with Kaleb and Joshua

Grampa Henry snoozing with Madelynn

Kaleb turned two at the beginning of October but we all celebrated his birthday anyway. Check out his way cool b-day cake: Ker-chow!

On Sunday Grampa Wentworth and Gramma Doloris (Joel's paternal grandparents) joined us. They enjoyed seeing their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.


Here is the whole family together on Thanksgiving Sunday:




Most everybody left on Sunday afternoon. So on Monday morning Nana and Grampa gave the thumbs up for Joel and I to take a date day and night along with our lovely nursing daughter Madelynn. The following pictures and video is of our time together enjoying the mountains and each other's company.

To the Mountains!


The happy parents

Ahh, beautiful!

Rocky Mountain Sheep came to lick salt off the road


Ready to go on a hike Madelynn? Let's go!


Hiking in the mountains, near Kananaskis Village.

Clouds started to roll in during our hike.

After our hike, we headed into Calgary. (yes we played the alphabet game, only we played together, which was way more fun.) I've wanted to go to a certain Mongolian restaurant, so that is where we ate our dinner. Madelynn was not happy, I think she wanted some ginger beef.

After dinner we headed to Cheesecake Cafe (can I hear a "yum"?) The next morning we headed back to Nana and Grampa's house. Our two kids were ecstatic to see us, which is of course always special.

The next day Joel was able to help out with the ongoing Autumnal task of gathering firewood.

Grampa

Those are mountains in the background. The view was just awesome, but cameras cannot capture the majesty of open space.

We had a great holiday and lots of fun. The trip home was another adventure, but that will have to be another story. We are glad to be home but wish we were closer to all our family, somehow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween

I (Renee) am asking you to pray for Joel and I as we make a decision on what to do with All Hallows Eve. Josh is in Preschool now and this "holiday" cannot be avoided anymore. If you have advice please share it, but please pray for us as we seek our Lord for wisdom and direction.