Gone Fishin'

Shockingly, we had a day with Tim home and nothing scheduled to do, so we loaded up in the truck and headed out for some fishing.  We drove until we could drive no farther, and then walked in the rest of the way.  The weather was perfect, and the fish were biting!  It was the most fun I've had fishing in a long time!  Brooklyn caught the biggest fish, with my fish coming in an close second...  This fishing hole is definitely a keeper!

 

 

Visiting GA

Watch out, there are a ton of pictures on this post... but what a trip!

A few days after the funeral, I had tickets to go visit everyone in Georgia.  The luckiest thing about all of this was that my mom was able to drive back home with us, and fly with the girls and I back to Georgia.  Because let me tell you-- there is nothing more nerve-racking than thinking about, and actually going through the whole airport/flying process with two little kids.  Talk about stress-inducer.

The weather was great while we were there and we got to do tons of fun things!  We went to the aquarium one day, which the girls loved.  Well, Lydia loved the most, again.  She squealed every time we saw a new display.  It took Brooklyn a while to realize she wouldn't actually fall IN the water if she touched the glass.  But if you haven't been to the GA Aquarium and you get a chance to go, you definitely should.  It's amazing.

 

 

 And of course, we spent lots of time at parks...  including Grandma's own water table "park."

Making crafty pinecones with Grandma

Fun at the bounce-a-rama!

 
Dress-up in Grandma's basement!  Because it doesn't get better than being a princess, and looking like one, all day!

 

 Going to the game-ranch for the first time!  LOVED it!

 

 This trip was extra awesome because we also got to go up to the mountains with cousins, aunts and uncles, and great-grandparents for the weekend of the Apple Festival.  We shot apple-canons, saw lots of animals at the petting zoo, and got to pick our own delicious apples.  YUM

 

 

It was my favorite trip with the girls so far.  We missed Daddy, but we had a blast!

Eternal Families

At the beginning of October my Grandpa Heaton passed away.  While a death is always sad, we were so happy to know that he was finally able to join my Grandmother.  It's so reassuring to know that families can be together for eternity. 
Most of his posterity, as well as many other friends, were able to attend his funeral, and it was quite a sight.  Not many 96 year olds can claim such a posterity.  He was such an amazing man.
Other than the funeral, it also gave us a chance to show my kids where their great-grandpa and grandpa grew up.  Alton is such a little town, but is like a piece of paradise.  In fact, I remember writing a "paper" in elementary school.  The prompt was: "Where is the happiest place on earth?" and I remember writing about Alton.  For my cousins that lived there, it was just "normal" life-- full of the daily hard work it takes to ranch and farm.  But to me, a city girl, there was nothing more exciting than riding horses and herding cows, building fence, and feeding the animals.
So though we haven't had many opportunities, we have taken the girls back to visit once or twice.  This time, some of my cousins were nice enough to let us see their animals... and though they were probably all traumatized past a point of no return, Brooklyn and Lydia LOVED it.  Well, Lydia loved it the most.

Yup, those chickens probably didn't lay eggs for at least a week after we visited...

 

  

 

We also had some time to play at the park, even though it was FREEZING.

 

And one of the greatest things about funerals, I think, is that you get to see family!  It's too bad it takes having a death and funeral for us to visit sometimes, but it's still fun to see everyone.  Brooklyn and Lydia got to meet their newest cousin, Caleb.  And Lydia is infatuated with babies these days, so she especially loved it.

Halloween

I know I am WAY behind on Halloween, but here we are. 

Each year at the beginning of October we make squished witches.  Making them is uber important because making and eating them guarantees that nothing will be able to scare you during the entire month.  I don't have the exact recipe sitting in front of me, but basically they include powdered ghost, frog eyes, ghosts blood, etc.  While stirring the ingredients you have to stand on one foot and either say your name backwards, or just say "Happy Halloween." 
They must have worked, because every time Brooklyn saw someone wearing a scary costume or a mask she would tell me, "It's ok. I'm not scared because I ate squished witches."

 

We also made some homemade rootbeer/witches brew to liven things up. 

And of course, the pumpkin.  This was a home-grown pumpkin that Grandma and Grandpa Shurtliff gave us!  We grew a handful here, but they were just that-- about handful sized.
Neither of the girls were interested in the gooeyness, but Brooklyn picked the design for the pumpkin, and both of them helped poke lots of holes for us to follow.

And here I am, being crafty, AGAIN!  We took those fist-sized pumpkins from our own garden and decorated them.  Beautiful!

Finally, the big night arrived.  Brooklyn was pretty sure Halloween was already over because we had already gone to the community carnival, made squished witches, and carved a pumpkin, but she was happily surprised to find that there was more candy coming!  In honor of our new cat Silly,  both girls were cats (I hope you could tell... )

The spoils.  Muwhaha.  These piles were considerably smaller by the time Tim and I went to bed.