Halloween

Halloween this year was celebrated on the actual day. That hasn't happened in several years due to work schedules. Instead of driving to certain peoples houses who were supposed to play the game of pretending it was Halloween, we got to go actual trick-or-treating. That was fun for the girls since we joined the Allen family and so Abbie and Norah stayed close together with Malia right behind. Rylee walked up to each door with Jeremy but loved it since she quickly figured out each house meant more candy.

My Sleeping Beauty and Little Ladybug

Oma and Abbie

Sleeping Beauty, a Mermaid, and two little ladybugs

Pumpkin Carving

After a day of hunting we came home to carve pumpkins...an annual Virts tradition. This year Abbie drew her face entirely on her own. She did such a great job!! I tried to help with the teeth and I didn't do it quite like she wanted so she drew them herself!

This year we looked up how to make pumpkin seeds on the internet and found that last year we had the oven set much too high. This year we added melted butter to our seeds and cooked them at a lower heat and they turned out delicious.


No Rylee, you can't eat the pumpkin!

1st Hunting of 2010

The end of October still brought balmy summer weather so we headed out to Cascade to check on Grandpa Gary. Jeremy brought a rifle, of course. After all "it is hunting season." He saw a deer bedded down in some brush and so he got his rifle and said he thought it was a nice little buck but hard to hit. Jeremy watched the deer through the scope for awhile and even changed positions but after quite awhile I figured it was not something worth shooting at. "Bang"! So much for hard to hit! We spent the rest of the day getting the deer out of the ravine and to town to the chop shop.

The girls liked the whole deer experience. When Jeremy was gutting the deer Abbie was enamored with it and was right over his shoulder pretending like she thought it was gross but asking a whole bunch of questions at the same time. As an anatomy teacher I seized the opportunity to teach some basics about some vital organs that were able to be identified. Rylee was equally as intrigued and kept saying "Wow" over and over as she was taking in the whole thing.

While we were just enjoying the mountains and the gorgeous day Abbie got to steer the truck. Rylee wasn't going to be left in the backseat solo so both girls crowded up with dad.

Abbie's Playing BB

Since soccer came to a close Abbie has started playing basketball. I am certain that one of the girls is going to gifted athletically like their dad so I keep trying different sports for them to find their niche. Basketball is Jeremy's so I signed Abbie up to see if this was her sport. Let's just say that Abbie is a great defensive player...she guards everybody, even her team. The coaches are working hard on trying to help the kids understand the difference between offense and defense so we will see how the season continues.

Which basket is yours?

Fall Soccer

The good news for those of you who follow my blog is that I have decided to not have 6 different posts for 6 different fall soccer games. I decided to sum up the season in just 1 post. The real truth why I only have one post is because it is hard to take pictures with Rylee. She has decided she likes to play soccer and understands that she is supposed to kick the ball in the net, so if you aren't watching she will end up running out on the field during the game. This is hard to monitor when I am attempting to take pictures so there were just a few fall soccer pictures.

I really liked Abbie's soccer this season. The weather was beautiful the entire time and we were out in short sleeves often rather than rain/winter gear as we have in the past. No one was tremendously better than any of the rest of the team so it was fun to watch everyone score goals and everyone get better over the course of the season. Norah was back on the same team as Abbie which made Abbie extremely happy and I enjoy visiting with Melissa and Burke during games and practices.

Chloe, Ashlin, Abbie, Norah, and Alexis

The girls with Coach Stacy

Fall pictures---AGAIN!

The morning of Oct. 9th was beautiful. Melissa and Stan were showing me their family pictures they had taken recently and I thought the location was beautiful. The girls and I didn't have anything planned for the rest of the day so I loaded them up and out when went again for more pictures!

I think there might be a time my kids decide they have had enough of pictures, but right now they still let me so I am going to take advantage of that! Rylee didn't want to be posed today, but I thought Abbie's pictures went especially well today.

Peek-a-boo

I tried to pose Rylee sitting next to Abbie but instead it turned into one of my favorite pictures as they started to play together.

Abbie and Rylee had several lovable moments this morning where they played together and were full of affection. This was a whole series that I took where the girls would hold their arms out and Rylee would run toward Abbie.....

and finish with a huge hug.....

and from a hug to a little less love again.

Family Pictures

The weather this fall was beautiful. Can you believe that Abbie is in a sleeveless dress in October? It has been 2 years since we took family photos so we took advantage of the summer weather but fall backgrounds.