Happy 4th Thomas!

Thomas is 4! Oh, the anticipation & joy of a birthday! (this picture was drawn recently by Thomas as he was thinking of next year's cake...note the number of candles!) There is nothing much Thomas loves more than a playdate with a friend, so sharing a birthday with his good buddy Noah is just about the best thing ever for this guy:) Thomas is kind. He is thoughtful. He is helpful. He is FULL of joy. He adores his big sisters. Loves the playmate in his brother. Looks up to his daddy. And is my #1 helper EVERY afternoon. He even helps with laundry and sometimes reminds me to do it! What a little man God has given us. You are a treasure to us, Thomas. We love you!

lewis ladies

What a treat it was to have Katie & sweet Mary-Brenna over last week. They are a beautiful team, & I look forward to the story they will write together! Thanks you two...:)

freeze this!

I took these photos just before the first snowfall of the season. It was one of those perfect Sunday afternoons that I wish I could just freeze and replay over and over again. Everyone was content. There was hope & wonder for the season ahead along with a very real feeling that we better soak this up as winter was just moments away. Tom split wood & I made my first pretty wood pile. The kids played outside. We all checked out the new ice, ate it:) and warmed up by the fire. Love Sundays like this! Nothing incredibly amazing. Just the six of us...living life, together.

gabi & abi

Gabi & Abi have been close buds with the girls since they moved into our neighborhood 4 years ago. A year ago, the Gilroys felt called by God to sell everything and move to Costa Rica as missionaries. What a treat it was to have them here for a few nights this past week! The girls miss eachother like crazy and they didn't miss a beat re-connecting. The size of their smiles tell it all...



They always request to get "egged" when they come over....an old low-budget spa trick I've done for years!
And crazy hair....ever put an empty water bottle (or two?) on the top of your head to make your hair stand straight up? If not, you really should try it:) They talked me into going to Fred Meyer like this so they could wander around in public. Crazy pre-teens!!!


And science, thanks to a good friend, we did experiments with dry ice one evening! Cool stuff!

nothing like the first snow!

Is there anything better than the first snow of the season? We don't think so:) These guys...like most Alaskans....have been WAITING and WAITING and WAITING for this white stuff. Claire walked up the stairs from school and said, "This is the best day of my life!" At supper, each one of them insisted on praying to thank God for the snow. Thomas' was my favorite..."Dear Jesus, thank you for the snow. Please send 16 feet." Ah....made his daddy smile pretty big. Dad is just as excited as the kids I think! Welcome winter! The Smiths are glad you're here:)

photo swap

We are blessed to have a good friend who is a professional photographer. A few years back, Molly & I decided that as our children grow and look back at photos, they may not see their mothers in photos unless we stepped in to help eachother! So began our yearly photo shoot...Here are a few of my favorites from our recent photo shoot. Thanks Molly! Check out Molly's business at www.theblinkofaneye.com

toasty memories

Claire amazed the socks off me this fall by climbing to the top of the buoy swing rope! Hailey & Ella both tried, but couldn't get more than a feet off the buoy. Wow is about all I could say. I went inside after snapping a few pics to cook supper. Recently, I downloaded my camera to find these other pics that Ella took that day...Love how she captured the sun in these shots. Toasty memories on today's much cooler fall day...

salsa decor

This summer, Tom began a quest to grow tomatoes. He built a very simple "redneck greenhouse" and diligently cared for 15 tomato plants all summer. As you all well know, however, this was NOT a good summer to grow tomatoes in Alaska! We had almost no heat and TONS of rain. Our tomatoes got a fungus and just weren't very happy or productive in their surroundings. We ended up with 4 small red tomatoes and tons of tiny green ones. Despite this, we perfected a fresh salsa recipe and were determined to can it and savor it all winter long....After doing some searching ( & price checking!), I did find a dear sweet lady, Mrs. Dearbourne, who sold me 15 lbs of tomatoes. We made two huge batches of salsa and proudly canned for the very first time. Last week, we finally cracked a jar.......YUCK! All this effort, and we can't even eat it!!!! For now, the jars of salsa sit on top of my cabinets as....decorations? You win some, you lose some...:)

camp YL

Camping in Seward has become an annual Young Life Labor Day event...or at least, we've done it the past two years & plan on continuing for years to come....Because it's so much FUN! Our kids look forward to this campout all year:) This year was no exception! The weather was horrible...LOTS of rain & wind, but when you're with your buddies, fun trumps all...These first few photos were taken by Molly or Kristian...Thanks guys!