Pumpkin Patchin' it...

Oh, October is all about the Pumpkin Patch for me! It's on the calendar as soon as I can schedule it. This year we went twice. Once with Joy School and then a couple days later with Maggie and Cory to another pumpkin patch. Just gotta do it!

I seriously think we live near one of the best pumpkin patches ever! There's a hay ride and corn mazes and a hundred animals and pick-your-own-pumpkin fields and tractors turned into slides and hay stacks to climb... etc, etc! It's just awesome!

The kid's all got to pick their own sugar baby pumpkin.

Lame picture of the kids, I know. The sun was in their eyes. But I can't resist a picture full of beautiful pumpkins!

Before we left, we thought we do a quick run thru the corn maze... yeah, an hour later we finally found the haystack and the way out!

Grant cracks me up! He was in a posing mode for some reason at this pumpkin patch.

My little pumpkin babies!

We like the petting zoo at this particular pumpkin patch. Grant liked the miniature goats.

Zoey couldn't reach the furry chicken...

So Cory helped her!

Kid's Adventure Garden

I got to teach Joy of the Earth again for Joy School and so for our field trip I chose to go back to the Kid's Adventure Garden at our local botanical gardens. The docents who run the "KAG" were so kind to accommodate our little Joy School group, they're usually just open on Sundays. I genuinely think that the kids had a fabulous time, which is great for a nature themed activity, right!? Well, the KAG is awesome!

Grant is checking out all the unusual flora they grow at the KAG. My favorite is the Lamb's Ears... so soft!

I don't remember seeing this last time, but how adorable is this... a flower bed!! The bed is empty right now cause it's October, so I'll have to come back and check it out next spring/summer...

Watch out for the crocodile, Zoey! He'll snap that finger right off!

These are the coolest plants. I forget what they called them, but they're like Venus Fly Traps.

On our nature walk, the docent showed us that woodpeckers are responsible for pecking this tree with holes and then the squirrels come along and hide their acorns in the holes. Oh, nature can be so fascinating!

I shoulda stepped back a step to get a full shot of this cool pirate cave, but I was just too excited that Grant got to explore it!

And how absolutely darling is this garden tea party!? A total hit for the girls!

I love their tree house!

So did Grant!

I had to get a picture of this adorable butterfly bench!

I hope we get to go back to the KAG for Zoey's Joy School...?

In Loving Memory: Louis Neve

On Saturday October 9th, our dear friend and surrogate grandfather Louis Wyland Neve passed away. He was 93 years old. For the past 9 years, Louis had been serving full time as a temple worker at the Los Angeles Temple. As often as we could, we would make arrangements to have him spend holidays and birthdays with Cory's family since he had no other family other than a great nephew nearby. The thing I really appreciated about Louis is that he never forgot our birthdays. He enjoyed writing and so every birthday and anniversary, we could count on a card from him with genuine thoughts and expressions. My favorite phrase of his was "May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live". We will definitely feel his absence, but we are better having known him...

Here is what I want to remember about the life of Louis:

Louis was born on September 27, 1917 in Underwood, IA near Council Bluff. His father Nicolaus was a railroad man and married to Emma for 25 years. They had 10 girls and 5 boys together. Louis was number 10. Louis finished high school with honors and was given a scholarship to college but could not go because his family was in poverty and they needed him to work at home. He lived in Iowa for 22 years. The day after Pearl Harbor and the US declared war on Japan, Louis was drafted in the army at 24 years old. He served in the intelligence unit of the army in the Office of Strategic Services, including 8 months in China, 4 months in Australia and 6 months in India. He was released with honor after the armistice as age 28. Louis moved to Los Angeles in 1948. Shortly after, he married a girl named Laurie. They had a son named William. Sadly, only 2 1/2 years after they were married when William was about 1 1/2 years old, Laurie and William were killed in a car crash. Louis remained a widower for many years until he met a divorced woman, without children, named Grace. They were married and lived in LA until she died in 1989. Louis was a diligent worker. After his service in the army, he worked as a court clerk for 3 years then he worked as a food buyer for 2 companies for 40 years. In July 1991, Louis was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Santa Monica. He started his great temple work 2 years later by going to the temple every Thursday through Friday by staying at the temple apartments overnight, at his expense. He continued this for 7 years regularly and faithfully. In 2001, he began his full time temple service at the LA Temple, serving 5 days a week, from early morning to 1230pm. In early September, Louis broke his hip and spent about a month at the VA Hospital. I last saw him at the VA hospital on his birthday. He was worried and concerned that he had missed sending a birthday card to someone in our family. A few days later he was transferred to a hospice care center and died about a week later.

Healthy Eaters

As part of the Joy of the Body unit for Joy School, we took a Healthy Eaters tour at Albertson's Grocery Store. Did you know you could do that? How cute is this!

Our tour guide was Lis, she took us all over the grocery store and behind the scenes.

The kids in the giant refrigerator where they keep all the produce... brrrr!

The kid's favorite was seeing the live lobster up close...

They all got to touch it since his claws were banded...

Even Zoey wanted to touch... no fear!

Here they are in the bakery...

Oh wait! Maybe getting a cookie was their favorite part?

Where will we go next?

It's a peculiar thing...

Zoey does this thing that makes us all laugh... it's her thing, no one gave her the idea. She just does it and it's kind of cute and funny to us. Preface: when we took her off the bottle, she picked up a bad habit that we thought we wouldn't have to deal with with her... the pacifier! As a baby without her palate, she couldn't suck therefore no pacifier. But when we took the bottle away a few months after her palate was repaired, she found a pacifier amongst her toys and started to suck it. So, when she has a pacifier in her mouth, she finds something soft and fuzzy to rub under her nose. I've been taking pictures for a couple of weeks now to show her various soft and fuzzy things of choice:

Number 1: the corner of her blanket...

Number 2: her preference... the tail of a stuffed animal, her favorite being this dog.

Number 3: probably my favorite... one day I was standing at the computer reading an email when it occurred to me that Zoey had been standing next to me quietly (which would be odd for her not to be screaming for my attention). I looked down to find this, Zoey rubbing the fuzzy end of my shirt string under her nose.

Number 4: If all else fails... Zoey will often pick up a piece of fuzz or lint off the ground.

Number 5: Lately she's been trying to top them all by putting more than one item under her nose.

Number 6: This was a first and probably the one that got the biggest laugh from all of us... the tip of Grant's rubber snake!

What will it be next, Zoey!?

Four.

I honestly can't believe that Grant is only 4. Physically, he seems much older than 4. I think most people are surprised when they learn he's just turned 4. But, the truth is he just had a birthday and I did the math and yes... he is just 4!

While Cory and I have been going through and cleaning out some things, he came across a kit he had from a college make-up class. Have I ever mentioned that Grant is obsessed with mustaches? Well, Cory thought it would be a hoot to give Grant a mustache.

Four... going on 18.

Grant requested another pirate themed birthday. The boy is obsessed with pirates, arrrrgh!

So, I made skeleton cupcakes this year...

They were tasty!

Here's a funny thing about Grant... he LOVES watching Pirates of the Caribbean... only while he is playing with his playmobil pirates though. But, we only had Pirates 2&3, so we got him the original Pirates of the Caribbean to complete the set. He was thrilled!

He also got a slew of new playmobil Pirates.

Big cuz Seth checking out his new stash...

The big gift was a gigantic pirate ship. He was so excited and opening it so fast, the picture turned out blurry!

And it was so cute, every present he opened, he ran to show his dad what he had just gotten!

Happy Birthday, Grant! Now that you really are four, do you think you could cut back on those 3 year-old temper tantrums? We love you, Grant... just the way you are! You're a good boy!

Green Port Fest

So, if you know me... then you know that I love to tour things. And since my sister in law Julianna knows me so well... she brought the Green Port Fest at the Port of Long Beach to my attention. Too tempting to pass up! So basically, the Port of Long Beach is the 2nd largest port in the country. (Don't ask me which is the largest cause we never did get the answer to that...) Anyway, they put on this big festival of sorts where the general public could come and check out how this busy port works and functions via harbor cruise. It was pretty fun actually. I think we all had a good time. And they were giving out a whole bunch of free things and food, so you can't go wrong with that!

Grant just chillin' with the Coast Guard before our harbor cruise...

Waiting for everyone to take their potty breaks before the harbor cruise... are we ever gonna get on that harbor cruise?

Harbor cruise! Just departing...

Okay, so it's not that interesting, but just wait till we get close up...

Not the most flattering pic of me, but whoa! Look at those cranes!

See, I'm just fascinated by this kind of stuff! How interesting is this? This is how our goods are transported to us. Each of those containers is what you see day to day as the body of a semi truck... and they're all stacked up on top of each other! This is a massive undertaking, people! Did you even know this goes on?

Zoey is such a big girl! Here she is all proud to be sitting by herself on the shuttle!