The rest of November

November 18 
The first snow of the season was very exciting!  The boys were outside making snowmen before they went off to school!

Snow and hot chocolate go hand in hand!

We watched some of Ashley's State Volleyball games online!

If there is a picture of Molly on my phone, it's likely because Mason was taking pictures!  He spends so much time playing with her!

Saturday of Stuffing and Sledding
We love Grandma Van Soest's stuffing recipe!  It's our family tradition for everyone to pitch in and help make it each year!

The boys like to sled at their school sledding hill!  We love the sunshine!

Reading
One of my favorite sights!

Thanksgiving
We enjoyed a relaxing day going to church and then to Mom and Dad's house.  Thanksgiving dinner was delicious!  We talked, played games, and enjoyed being with family.

Black Friday
I love shopping with my mom and sisters.  This year Ashley, Emma, Claire and Aniah also joined us!

Nathan took Dad and our boys to Palisades State Park.

We ate supper with Lyle and Barb's family.

Then we went to the light parade!

Christmas Decorations
It's so fun to take out the boxes of Christmas decorations! 

I couldn't wait to pick out a live Christmas tree from T & S Tree Farm this year!  It would have been pretty if everything was snow covered, but I was loving the bright sunshine and 50 degree weather. 

All of the trees looked so small outside, but the 7 foot tree that we picked looks perfect in our house!

Everyone took turns cutting it down.

The boys put up most of the ornaments and it looks beautiful!

Kindermusik Celebration Class
Nathan and I both went to Mason's Kindermusik celebration class.  He had so much fun singing, dancing and playing with us.

SCCS Program
Dorian and Levi both sang some wonderful songs at their Fall Music Program!
Dorian was very brave and volunteered to play the conga drums.  I was so proud of him!  And he found out the day before that Aniah was playing the shakers for the same song!

Another month full of blessing and memories to cherish. 

Unseasonably Warm! (November 1-12)

What a fun couple of weeks we've had!  I will take this warm weather in November any year!!!

It was my crazy idea to have the boys rake up leaves and put them on the trampoline.  I didn't realize that they would then rake the neighbors lawns as well!  The fun they had for the following couple of days was well worth all the work it was to clean up the messes.  :)

 Mason went on a Fall treasure hunt at preschool and came home with these fun things!

It was fun to have a pumpkin patch in our garden this year!  And it's also fun to have the yard and garden cleaned up and ready for winter.  Love my pumpkin décor.  :)

Amazing.  The weather was so beautiful, it called for a picnic lunch with Mason!  Not every lunch is a fruit smoothie and a salad from the local Farmer's Market...but it's worth noting when it is!  Yummy and healthy!

Last Saturday, the 5th, was predicted to be sunny, a high of 74 degrees and not windy.  And that's actually what happened!  So thankfully we were able to take advantage of it and head over to the Lakes.  It was fun to take my parents along too and have a hand with putting the fishing boat in the water for the first time!

 It was also a good day to throw rocks in the water!

My heart was happy!  I really didn't think I wanted anything to do with the old, junky boat that Nathan purchased, but when we went on it for the first time, I was pretty excited.  :) 

 Levi claimed his seat!

 From the looks of it, Nathan was pretty happy too!  Love new adventures with my boys.

Dad, Nathan and the boys went out to see if they could catch any fish.  Some relatives that we ran into gave us some minnows they were finished with.  It provided some good entertainment and Dorian caught a fish with one of them!!!

 Mom and I soaked in as much sun and warmth as we could while the boys were fishing.

 Wow, nice catch Dorian!

 Mason told me that he caught 9 fish when they returned and then showed me how!  :)

 Some beautiful views from our cabin! 

We went out for supper with Dad and Mom and ate outside at the Okoboji Store overlooking the lake.  It felt like it could have been summer.  Such a fun day!

Dorian took home this project that he worked on at school.  Check out all of these great Statistics.  :)

Oh boy...this time change has been rough for Mason.  Plus he's had a cough for a long time now that he just can't get over.  :(

Nathan and Dorian went on the fishing trip he was promised on his birthday.  They stayed at the cabin last night and went fishing today.  He came home full of stories and excited about all of their adventures.  So thankful they could spend some quality time together!