This month has been full of fun adventures. We found a turtle in the middle of the road, and when I finally convinced Colby to hold it, it stuck out its legs in an attempt to flee. It scared Colby to death who dropped the poor turtle and cried for a good while. We finally made it up to Dallas. It is hard to believe it had been over a year since I had been home. Colby and Brody got to go see their cousin Drew play soccer. Then we all got to hang out at my brother's house and have dinner. We even made a grand adventure to the Texas State Fair with my brother and his wife Angela. Besides the horrible crowd, and an unmentionable train ride to Fair Park, it was a lot of fun. We even got to visit mom's award winning pickles in the hall of fame. This year she won first prize for whole dill pickles, and canned tomatoes. She also won 3rd place for zucchini relish and sliced dill pickles. And what kind of yummy Texas State Fair food did we eat? We all sampled and shared, fresh squeezed lemonade, corn dogs, chicken fried bacon(to die for), fried butter, fried cookie dough, fried peanut butter and jelly, sausage on a stick, and ice cream. All of it was fat free! One of the highlights for me was visiting my Grandma. It was so good to see her, and be in her house. There are just so many memories still wrapped up in her house. It was fun for her to see the boys. The best part was when she picked Brody up and then played "this little piggy" with him. He loved it! When we got home we were all about the Halloween decorations and pumpkin patches. And just when we thought we could slow down... this weekend is Halloween. It's crazy to think that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. We are headed to AZ in a few weeks! If you are in town let me know, we would love to stop by and say hi.

Keep Austin Weird

Austin is a unique place. We have been couped up doing projects at home since we moved, so we thought we would finally have some fun for a Saturday.

One thing Matt and I love about Austin, is that everyone is always outdoors, and there are a million places to enjoy the fantastic Texas landscape. One of those place is smack dab in the middle of Austin. The Greenbelt. There are several places to enter it, but most are off a couple of the main highways through town.

You would never know you were in almost the heart of the city. People love to bring their mountain bikes down here to ride, and walk their dogs. It is shady and the trees are stunning.

The weather couldn't have been more beautiful.

I love these little unexpected beauties. It's little things like this that remind me of God's presence here on earth. These beautiful berries were so vibrant and there were just little patches of them scattered here and there.

They were fun for throwing too! I had told Colby a story about how his mom used to pick all the holly berries off her grandma's bushes and have holly berry wars with her cousins. It didn't take long for our own berry war to start.

Matt and I knew we were walking to the twin falls, but we had forgotten about this awesome little swimming hole. Darn, should have brought our swim suits!

Who needs swim suits? They are boys...right? We tried to keep them from getting too wet, but you know how that goes.

I had so much fun, and it was pretty awesome to share with them all the fun stories about how my mom and dad took me to do things like this all the time. We grew up in the woods, no I am serious, we really did grow up living 95% of our childhood outdoors. It was so much fun, and I am glad that they got to experience a little piece of that.

After naps, we continued the fun, and took them downtown. Austin prides itself on its "small town" feel, and love of all things unique. In fact right before we left 5 years ago, the city was trying to keep a new Super Walmart from being built and they succeeded. Aside from a few necessary chain stores (and I do love Walmart) there are lots of fun one-of-kind eating and shopping experiences here. Every where you go, you can buy shirts that say "Keep Austin Weird."

Matt and I had been wanting to try this little place called Home Slice Pizza...we will now be regulars. The wait for the actual restaurant was too long so we went right next door and ordered from the to-go window by the slice. It is seriously the best New York pizza I have had. Yep, ate right there on the dirty sidewalk. Totally awesome. The boys loved it.

This was our view across the street. All the fun shops on Congress. And...better still live music. Austin is all about live music, and across the street someone was singing at another restaurant so we got to hear that too.

After dinner, we walked just one street up to all the mobile food vendors (very popular here - and totally awesome) and had an amazing cupcake at Hey Cupcake! Once again there was a guy with his guitar playing and singing (he might have even been homeless). The food and music were fantastic and the boys got to experience what we love so much about this city!

I'm all about keeping Austin weird!

Knights of the Guild

This morning Colby's school had a special assembly called Knights of the Guild. It was the kick off to a special program they do at school to promote good character traits, especially service over self.

They bring in horses and knights and do a whole presentation about how the knights of old had exemplary character traits like respect, integrity, loyalty, honesty, compassion, and self-discipline. Throughout the year the kids have opportunities to earn medals and rewards that will be presented at an Assembly of Champions later in the year.

The knights had a sword fight, and jousted rings that were held by "squires" and then thrown in the air. There was music, and a knight that narrated everything. Look how close they were! It really was incredible.

Brody even got to watch. They invited parents and siblings and we got to sit right behind Colby's class.

Yep, there's the playground, right there! Pretty awesome, hugh?

This is going to be a great school for Colby. We have been working closely with the vice principal, his teacher, and the other staff, to make this be a really positive year, and so far, he is doing fantastic!

At the end of the assembly they brought out a little horse that they adopted last year who is being trained to take part in the ceremonies! All the kids loved him! They told a story about his adoption and how over time, he was accepted and loved by the other horses even though he was different.

We are so blessed!

Belated

I seem to be making a habit of forgetting to post...but we couldn't go without a Happy Birthday post to our amazing daddy! He really had a humble birthday, but the chocolate eclaire cake made up for it, right daddy? We love you!