Gloria's 5th Birthday, Disco Party!!!!

 She is ready to go.

 I loved catching this smile as she walked in the room.  Fun to see the excitement on her face and on the faces of all the kids who followed her in.

 Micah is cracking me up in this one.  They were immediately drawn to dancing and moving in a circle.  It was seriously like being in a skating rink.

 YMCA song along with many other disco favorites.

 Even Grandma got into it a bit.  She still has some disco moves.

 Heather lead the kids in a circle during the Gloria song and Gloria stayed in the center soaking it all up.  It was really cute how excited all the kids got when this song came on.

 I love this picture of Gloria showing her presents to the curious guests.  She was so ready to open presents that we did this before lunch. No kid protested!!!!  They all love this part.

 Adorable picture of Gloria and Wesley.

 I happened to look behind me though and found Micah sneaking a disco-cupcake-in-a-cone-microphone when he thought no one was looking.

 Blowing out her candle.

Quite a crew of kids for this party.  She had cousins, friends from church, and friends from the neighborhood over.  They were well behaved and seemed to have a lot of fun.  They made disco ball necklaces and Micah has his hanging in the car so he can see the pretty lights reflected onto the car ceiling.  Lots of fun.

Annual Leaf Raking, Nov. 4-6

 Kyle and Meg and kids well as Jenna and kids were there this year.  The kids had a blast playing together and camping out in the basement.

 How fun to be a kid again.

 Running in the leaf pile.

 These cuties were loving playing together and jumping in the leaves.

 Even Bellah got in on the fun.

 Leaf Boat!!!!!

 The pile kept getting bigger and bigger which was pure excitement for the kids.

 Everyone look here:)  Cheese!

 They literally ha leaves and pieces of leaves all over their little bodies.

 Here's how the dump goes.  They would all run to pile and wait to get dumped on.

 Like this...

 Close up of my sweet girl.

She is a cute dog.  She would take off running like a wild dog and looked slightly like a rabbit jumping over the leaves.

Trick or Treat Fun, Monday October 31

 Spider man and an eskimo.  Both still excited, one for the candy, one for the whole process of it.

 Emilee came to visit us and go trick-or-treating with us too.  It was good to see her and I love that she still enjoys it.

 This was quite the crew this year.  With our two and Emilee, we also added 3 Masters groups of kids, and the Raymond clan.  22 kids running around, candy wrappers flying, all kinds of fun.

Some traditions are really worth keeping.

Pumpkin Carving, October 30

 We waited until the last minute, but the weather was perfect.  Not Elli's favorite part.

 Not Micah's favorite part either:)

 So Elli changed her mind from carving her name in the pumpkin to carving an elephant.  It was a difficult pattern but we worked together to get it done.

 It was very intricate but doable.

 Micah wanted a scary face so Brent got started on that right away too.

The final products were great.  I love that Micah's face is a scary one like the pumpkin.  He is always making things fun with those facial expressions.

Rett turns 3!!!!!

 Though it was after his birthday when we celebrated, we got to celebrate when Megan's parents and sister Heather were here.  That was pretty special.  Look at this adorable boy's cheeks.

 Perfect personality shot if this baby boy.

 Excited to open his presents.

 I sure do love the excitement of little ones.

They were all ready to dig in and play with these legos.

Upward Flag Football and Cheerleading

 Lucia Raymond as a cheerleader.

 Both Cody Masters and Elijah Raymond playing football.

 Little Emma Grace Raymond

 Madilynn Masters

 Caroline Raymond

Lillian Raymond
We also saw Caleb and Andrew play football.  It was not the last night but they got to play under the lights with a special guest appearance by the Wright State University Cheerleaders.  Emily (Tulloch) Kraus sang the national anthem.  It was a fun night for sure and I am glad we got to see our friends do their thing:)

Bellah and Cousins

 Bellah does this one cute thing.  I mean, maybe she does more, but for sure this is cute.  If she has her ring and her ball is nearby, she will get the ring on her nose and then pick up her ball.  She will growl and play by herself doing this as well.  Crazy!

We got to have a cousin sleep over.  We had wanted to go camping but the weather turned chilly and rainy, so we decided to "camp in."  Jenna and Justin spent the night and the kids slept in sleeping bags in the basement.  They did a great job going to sleep and staying asleep.  I love making these kinds of memories with them.

Science Fair Project Time

 Elli wanted to experiment with bottle rockets.  She asked the question, "Does a bottle fly further with a cone tip or without?"

 She did much of the work but Kyle provided the launcher and some other supplies, plus man power.

She did a great job though and was excited to show her results at the actual Science fair.