{ Trip to the Farm }

We enjoyed a family outing to the local U-Pick apple orchard and pumpkin patch this past weekend. It really was a wonderful time together and the weather was beautiful!

{ Hello 5 Months }

 Wret

Today you are five months old. It was only a little over a year ago that we found out that you would be joining our family, and now here you are, a busy, growing, happy baby.

This has been a busy month with learning to roll over, both ways.  You discovered your toes and you love to play with toys! You're also not very happy when your brother or sister steal them. You're already learning to stick up for yourself :)

You will still go to anyone and you have a HUGE smile ready for anyone who smiles at you or talks to you. Your whole body smiles. It's pretty cute.

You've also gone on two camping trips this summer as well as been swimming (dipping your toes counts).
At your 4 months check up you weighed 16 pounds, so you must be about 16 1/2 by now. I am putting away almost all of your 3 months clothes for 6 months ones. It makes me a little sad that you're already so grown up. We love your chunky little thighs and how you bounce whenever you're held. Before too long you'll be big enough for the Jonny Jump-Up and I know you're going to love it. You were playing very happily in your bouncy chair until you decided you want to sit up, but since you're not quite ready for that yet, we've traded the chair for the exer-saucer and you LOVE it!

You enjoy being outside and I am enjoying being able to spend these little months out there with you, after two winter babies.

Big sister and brother love you! Oliver calls you our "Happy Baby Wret" and always says "Morning Wret" when you get up. Katy misses you if you've been sleeping for a while. She'll ask where you are. When you're playing she will come running by and wave at you and say, "Hi Wret". We can tell you get frustrated when you see them doing something fun and you want to do it too. Before long you will be!

You're taking 3 naps still, but I think you'll be going to 2 soon. You go to bed at 8 pm every night and sleep until around 2:30 am. After I feed you I move you to the guest room in your pack n play because you often want to be awake for an hour or two. You're happy just talking to yourself and playing with your feet. I'm so thankful you don't expect me to stay up with you!

Lately you've been going to the nursery at church on Sunday mornings. You've been taking a good nap in there, which is such a blessing since I have been teaching Oliver's class the past 3 weeks. I have one more week to go and then, I must admit, I'm looking forward to holding you through church again. We'll see if you're happy with that.

This coming Sunday we are dedicating you. What a special day! We count it such a privilege to raise you to know Jesus and we pray you come to Him at an early age.

This next month it looks like we'll be getting ready for your first tooth to come in. That would explain all of the slobber. We are also getting close to starting solid foods.

I love you, Little Man. Happy 5 months old!

{ Unexpected Blessing }

Yesterday we returned from two days of visiting new friends. I should say new to me. Tim and Andrew met during their National Guard days and have kept in contact occasionally over the years. Also, Andrew's wife Anna is our friend Kevin's sister. We had such a good time with them. What we planned to be an overnight trip turned into two nights, thanks to their kind invitation to stay another day. We felt so at home with them. They too have three kids, three boys mostly grown. Anna, our hostess, took to having three tiny kids around again like a duck to water. Our kids just loved her and Andrew.

They have a lovely home out in the country. We met their dog and kitties and their 4H pigs. The kids played on the swing set, slide and trampoline. Oliver ran around to his hearts content and we didn't have to tell him "No, stay away from the street" and "Don't go off the sidewalk." The perfect place for busy toddlers! We walked around their property at dusk and came back for a bonfire and s'mores. And did I mention they cooked for us the whole time we were there? It was amazing! We brought food to contribute, but they seriously took such good care of us and spoiled up rotten.

We had planned to camp out in tents, but when they offered their entire basement up to us we decided to "camp" in there. That is exactly the way that camping should be done with three little kids!

Next day Tim and Andrew loaded our trailer full of wood. This was the reason we had gone up there. They graciously offered to give us a load of seasoned tamarack. Not only seasoned, but split! What a blessing. The guys were done by 10:30 in the morning so we had the rest of the day to play.

Andrew took Tim and I up into the mountains above their house on a 4 wheeler, while Anna stayed back and watched the kids. It was so much fun to get to do something like this on our own! It was Tim's first time to be on a 4 wheeler and he got to drive so he was one happy man. I'd been on one before, but didn't remember it very much. I just knew how much fun I'd had and was ready for another try. We sure got dusty, but it was worth it. From the top we saw 5 or 6 lakes, including one little piece of Lake Coeur d'Alene.

When we got back, lunch was made, the kids were happy and then they took really good long naps! I did a little reading and Tim and Andrew when out for some guy time. When the kids woke up we all met down at the lake and went swimming. The kids had a great time. There is no doubt our children are water bugs!

Anna watched the kids again at the beach while Andrew took Tim and I (along with a sleeping Wret) to his friend's private dock where the water was crystal clear and we could jump off. Was that ever a treat! Wret slept happily in his car seat there on the dock, rocked to sleep with the water lapping against the sides and we enjoyed a good swim before heading home for a bbq and another campfire.

This little trip was such an unexpected break and really felt like a vacation. We came back refreshed and rested and so thankful for the blessings God showered on us. So often they come in the most unexpected ways!

{ Camping }

Last weekend we went camping. We really needed to get away and take a break after working long and hard on cleaning up since the trees came down at the beginning of July. Our plans changed several times, but we made it and over all we had a good time. It is always a challenge to camp with little kids, but they loved it and once they went to sleep, they slept well :) The first night my parents joined us and we enjoyed the lake.

The second day they went home and we headed into the Idaho mountains for some exploration. Tim had found couple of mountain lakes that we intended to hike in about 1/2 mile to find. After driving for a couple of hours and only making it about half as far as we needed to go, with a vehicle not really meant for the kind of road we were on, we decided to head back toward home. We found a nice creek that was very clean and shallow and we all had a great time getting wet and relaxing before heading home. We had thought we'd maybe spend another night, but by then we were just wanting showers! Not sure how much camping we will continue to do while our kids are this little, but I'm glad we did it, all things considered. In fact, this coming Monday we're planning to camp again, only this time on someone's property. We are going up there to pick up a load of firewood they are giving us. Looking forward to camping, but also having access to a house with amenities!