October Madness

October was a very busy month for us.  It was a blur....but we did manage to capture a few memories!

A trip to the pumpkin patch was required.  The kids couldn't wait to find their own pumpkins.   We love the farm we go to in Frederick, Bloomfield Farm.  The day included a hay ride, tractors, animals, and loads of pumpkins and squash.

 We spent two weeks out in Washington State visiting Josh's family.  It had been four years since we had been able to venture west.  So this trip was so special.  Nathan and Kate loved the time with their cousins.  I just loved being with family.  I think we ended up with just shy of 300 pictures from this trip.    Here are some favorites:

Nathan and Alex horsing around  

Kate loved the time with her girl cousins (as she is usually surrounded by boy cousins out East.  She wasn't feeling well in this photo (hence the odd expression on her face) but Bri and Hannah were such a big part of her experience that I wanted to share this photo.  We miss them all so much!

And of course, we spent a lot of time with Papa Dan and Grandma Ann.  My kids ask daily if we can go on an airplane to see Papa Dan and Grandma - as if it were as easy as that.  We loved the time we had with the family.

 On our last day, we ventured out to Snowqualamie Falls.  It was a crisp fall day, and the views were amazing.

 

A special addition to our trip was a visit with good friends Paul and Peggy Wilkinson.  They happened to be in Oregon at the same time we were in Washington.  So considering they usually live in L.A. and we live 5000 miles east of them, we couldn't pass up a chance to drive 2.5 hours to spend a precious 24 hours with friends that really are more like family!   It was great to catch up, but it was even more precious to watch the kids jump right back into each others worlds.