Homecoming Parade

Cole and I rode our bikes up to the homecoming parade this evening. Hope was already in bed, and Marc stayed back with her. It was so fun to ride there with him. I felt like I was living the dream. 

Here we are waiting at the courthouse for the parade to begin. 

It didn't take long for Cole to find our neighbor girl, Maddie, across the street and want to go greet her. We ended up watching the 15 minute parade with them and filled up our candy sack. 

Here we are on our way back home with our loot. 

Small town fun...

BBQ Ribs

Hope enjoyed eating a BBQ rib the other day at the Voths' house. :)

Taking after her Grandpa Ellis?

Volleyball

Yesterday the kids and I met Kristy and Grayson Zeller at the volleyball games in Sublette. Kristy's niece was playing. It was fun to watch, and Hope did great sitting on my lap chewing on my car keys for the entire time. Grayson is used to going to lots of his cousins' sporting events and seems to just sit well and watch but Cole lost interest after a while and talked Grayson into exploring the bleachers. Luckily, they weren't very full, and I don't think their roaming bothered anyone. 

In between games, a team was warming up and I noticed two Sublette grade schoolers shagging the balls. To keep Cole busy, I suggested Cole go join them, and he did! The boys were good about being aware of him. They thought it was funny. He never got a ball, but I love to see his boldness. 

If you couldn't make it to the Sept. family birthdays....

Brad and I had an announcement......We're pregnant!!!!

Our due date is April 19th! 

I am 11 weeks along right now and the baby is the size of a lime :)  We are planning on finding out the gender in the end of November. As I am getting closer to the second trimester I am starting to feel a lot better. During weeks 4-9,  I was pretty exhausted! Getting out of bed was really difficult and then around 5:00pm I was ready to go to bed for the night. Needless to say, we ate out a lot during that time because I was often too tired to cook anything for dinner! I've been feeling a lot better lately too. I had a few weeks where I had an upset stomach in the morning right when I'd wake up and then throughout the day if I didn't snack often.

Brad and I are so incredibly excited to be parents!! It is still daunting to think about, but I just can't wait! Getting to see the baby when we got the ultrasound was such an amazing experience. We also got to hear the heartbeat which made it so real for me. Up until then, I had times when I honestly kind of doubted if I was pregnant haha. Just because I wasn't showing and couldn't feel any movement, but when I heard the heartbeat, it was the most amazing thing!! So unbelievable that there is a living thing growing inside of me! I love it. I just get so giddy thinking about it!

Please be keeping us in your prayers. I've been nervous towards the end of the first trimester, just praying that I and the baby would stay healthy and move into the second trimester with no complications.

Baby Ellis coming soon!

KAICC Logo

Marc is the president of his crop consultant association. He's done a lot in the way of leadership for the organization over the past few years. This year is their thirtieth anniversary so he planned a skeet shooting event to celebrate in October. He's also orchestrated the redesign and update of their logo. One of our pastor friends in town does graphic design on the side to help make ends meet. We were happy to give him some work and liked what he came up with. 

Here is the new logo on the sleeve of Columbia jackets that Marc got made for all the guys at the shoot. 

He's also getting hats made. I think it turned out great!!! Proud of Marc and all the work he's put into this. 

Breaking Ground

Mark it down, Monday, September 19 we broke ground on our new house!

Here was the hole for the basement to start

And here's the final product

I was so impressed with the precision and finesse of the digger (the track hoe, I learned). He was so precise and made the bottom very level and the sides straight too. It was fun to watch. 

I had shared the excitement with my friends and a lot of them showed up to check it out. Here's Tiffany and her kids. 

Marc was over at the site all day! He never even took a break for lunch. He enjoyed watching but was also doing a lot of coordinating between the digger man and the guys coming to haul the dirt away. There was a LOT of dirt! It was a draining day for him, but he did a great job. I'm glad he's 'on my side'.

And so it begins!

Spaghetti

Classic "Baby Eating Spaghetti" photos. 

Cole saw me taking pictures and came over with tongue wagging saying he could get Hope to laugh. He did, but I didn't catch it on camera. 

Hope enjoyed the saucy meat the best. The pasta was an afterthought. 

Exersaucer

Cousin James is letting us borrow his exersaucer, now that he's grown out of it. I think Hope likes it! And I'm grateful for a safe, stationary place to put her!

Entertainment

Just sitting on the tailgate watching the resurfacing of the roads by grandma's house. Small town entertainment!

New

Just a boy proudly walking out of Target with his new undies...

He talked me into changing into them before our next stop - the zoo!

Attack!

Cole and Grandpa Voth waiting to attack Daddy when he gets out of the pick up. (And Hope)

Attack!!

Cole had it all planned out and executed it perfectly!

Mowing

My friend Tiffany's son Ashton asked if he could mow our lawn. He is 9 years old and would like to start a mowing business next year. His family has someone mow their lawn and doesn't have a working mower, so he thought of us. 

Marc's summer job all through jr high and high school (and even earlier) was his own mowing business, so naturally he wanted to be around to teach Ashton the trade. Today was their first day. 

Ashton took it really seriously and listened well, Marc said. 

Cole had to get in on the action. Can you see him following behind with his little play mower?

Marc was a thorough teacher, and it was good for Cole to see a young boy taking some initiative and working hard - and i didn't have to mow!! It was a good experience all around!

Basement Prep

The guy who will dig and pour the basement for our new house was here this week. Marc, Michael and he met and painted lines on the ground to indicate where the house would be and where he would dig. It was neat to go over afterwards and see it all laid out. It seems bigger and smaller than i thought all at the same time. He hopes to start digging this Friday or Monday. Won't be long!

Here are Marc and Cole talking to one of our new neighbors. This guy recently finished building a house across the street, so he's been a good resource. 

This picture is taken from the front of the house. Marc's truck is parked in the alley.

Here Cole and I are standing in the kitchen - taken looking at the street from the back of the house. 

Watson is up and crawling...

Watson is crawling .....so we have put baby gates up. Charlotte even talked about moving plants higher.

He is really just staying in one room and a 15 foot square. He plays so well with toys on the floor.

He loves books too. Elsy is at the babysitter today, so he gets all my attention. I am a lucky great aunt.

Voths Around Town

Marc's schedule is allowing for a lot more flexibility these days - though he's not ready to say he's done. He still has some work to do, and it will pick back up a bit when harvest begins in a week or two, but for now, we are enjoying the extra time with him. 

After taking some good afternoon naps, the highlight from today was a few hours 'painting the town red' as a family which included a trip to the grocery store, the park, the restaurant for hamburgers and cinnamon dessert pizza, and a movie night at home - complete with popcorn. It was a lot of fun to be together. 

Apple Hutch

One morning this week we hopped in the car and drove the 30 minutes it takes to get south of Plains, KS to pick some fruit at the Apple Hutch orchard. They had apples, pears, and grapes ready. Jonae and her girls joined us along with Shirley, Chelsea and James. It was a fun, muggy outing. 

Grandpa goes to Deanna Rose farmstead

One Friday I was taking Elsy to the farmstead, Elsy thought we should invite grandpa and grandma. So we called on our way. Grandma Ellis was busy but grandpa said he would go.

We had a great time. He said he hadn't been there in over 20 years. It dawned on me that I had taken his children all those years too. He loved it and so did Elsy!

We ended the day with the best ice cream!  Dana put it on your visit next time!

Smoothie

Today while I was working on supper and Hope was napping, Cole saw this Baby Bullet and asked to make a smoothie. At first I said no - too loud, too close to supper, too messy, I was busy, etc. But then I reconsidered. I decided to give him a butter knife and direct him to the fruit and see what he could do. He managed to get peaches and bananas cut up in small pieces. We added some orange juice together and blended it downstairs away from Hope. 

It kept him occupied for a while, gave him a challenge to conquer and also gave him a snack, which he shared with me. Besides for the extra dishes, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I want to say "yes" as much as I can so it's easier (in theory) for him to take it when I say "no". 

Good job, buddy!

Back to School Bash

This week a few churches in town put on a Back to School Bash in the city park. They had supper and bounce houses, a rock climbing wall, live music, cotton candy, sno cones, and face painting. A LOT of people came out. And it definitely wasn't your church crowd. Actually, for a while, I kind of wondered who all these people were! I was impressed with the whole thing. It had its glitches and snafus but overall, it was an awesome event in the community. I guess I was struck with the sheer extravagance of it all - all those things and all free, just because, no strings attached, on neutral turf. It just made me feel so special. I hope others felt so too. 

The other thing I was struck by was how grown up Cole is getting. He's not such a loose cannon anymore, a flight risk. He stays close or goes away and always returns, in situations like this. 

I was really impressed with how he waited patiently in line for the bounce houses - and loved doing them!

I was surprised to see him kind of a little ways off, in line, interacting with the kids around him. Here he is laughing at the girls as they make funny noises. 

After getting our supper I followed him with the stroller. He found this place for us to sit and eat - with people we didn't know! Good going, Cole buddy!

It just seemed like a night of seeing him become more and more independent and interested in his peers. 

Hope enjoyed watching the people and eating her snack supper. I was grateful she is easy to manage. With all those people, I was on high alert watching Cole. 

Mark it down - one more reason to love the small town of Sublette!