My Auntie Jodie came to visit. What fun we have when she is here. Somehow she makes each of us (seriously) all feel spoiled!!

 We hadn't been to the zoo sense Brody was the only child! So it was long overdue! Spent a beautiful afternoon at the Tulsa Zoo.

 How crazy is that bear?! He about made us pee our pants or give us heart attacks (you choose who almost did what?!) This was definitely up close and personal!

 Then over Fall Break we went camping with about 5 other families! So much fun!

 The weather was perfect, the huge group campsite we had was awesome and everyone had a blast!

 We didn't see much of Brody all weekend. He was either too busy riding his bike around the campsite with his buddies or playing in the back of this truck. He re-surfaced during meal times.

 Parker even had a little buddy for the weekend! He really doesn't have too many of these, so it was so sweet to watch them "play" ;)

 Brought our leftover 4th of July fun ;)

 Nothing better then a chilly, family, campfire snuggle!! :)

 Not even 5 minutes out of the park heading home and B asks, "Can I please go to sleep?" Oh sweet kiddos, they were WIPED!!!

Pumpkin Spice is in the air!

We did things a bit backward this year. We bought the pumpkin first (the deal at Aldi was too good to pass up, $2.67!) We cut it open and were so super excited for the kids to dig in. Well, below Aubrie's face says everything she and Brody were thinking ;)

 Don't let Brody fool you, he has a spoon that he is digging with!

 Once we gave him the chore of pulling out the seeds, he warmed up a bit to the "goo".

 This next picture is one of my favs! Cute kids right? Well, Aubs girl DID NOT want to take it AT ALL! I really wanted the adorable picture. She truly was throwing a fit when I found these words spilling out of my mouth (kinda like I had no control), "I will give you candy if you smile!!" She turned off her screaming, plastered this "cute" face for just long enough for this smile! Oh my girl!

 And now is real life! :) Ha!

 We then headed to the pumpkin patch! We've never been to this one before and it was SO fun! Hay bales to walk on!

 A corn pit to jump around in!

 A sweet Parker to snuggle :)

 A huge slide to fly down!

 A real pumpkin patch. We actually picked pumpkins off the vine! Because we already had gotten our big pumpkins at Aldi's, we all picked out a small tiny one to represent out pumpkin family :)

 Love my sweet family!

Auntie Meghan even got to come! I love fall!

Some random pics to enjoy :)

 Just some random pictures I found on my phone. Mike and the kids went down to Oklahoma City. Did you see what I typed? MIKE AND THE KIDS. I was working and so couldn't go, I'm so glad he braved the drive and did it! I was a bit nervous about being home by my absolute self but it was SO fun! The house was SO quiet, I ate a big brownie sundae and didn't have to share :)

Anyways, Grandma K was in town and so they all had fun with the cousins and Grandma!

 Mike does such a great job at sending me pictures while I'm at work. Aren't my boys just the cutest!?

 Brody had his very first field trip! They went down the street to the fire station! He still talks about it :)

 His 3 year old preschool class! It's been so fun listening to him talk about his new friends and seeing how much he's learned. Even though he's only been in school 2 months, we've seen a HUGE change in him. His confidence has gone through through the roof for one thing. He is really beginning to look adults in the eye's and say little things like "hello". Kinda cool!

 With Brody at school and Parker napping, it's given Aubrie and I some super sweet time together. Just us! We painted a masterpiece the other day.

 My girl was breastfeeding Baby Lilly before bed. She is such our little momma :)

 

Loving the swings!! Can't get over how big Parks is! He can really swing! :)

Camping Fun!

We FINALLY got brave and went camping! I don't think I say this enough, I LOVE camping with my family! I love getting away from the hustle and bustle and stepping into the "backwoods" ;) I love not feeling like I have to match my clothes or even change my clothes for that matter. I love not caring if my daughters hair is combed or not (so what if she sported marshmallow in her hair for 3 days!).  I love being able to roast hot dogs ALL the time and I just LOVE the quietness, the simplicity and simply enjoying my family all to myself :)

 We went to Bennet Springs State Park in Missouri. It was a short 4 hour car trip that the kids did well on. Brody was beside himself with excitement to be able to help daddy set up camp :)

 Had to have S'Mores every night! :) My clean boy hated how sticky his fingers got, my messy girl was a disaster after every bite ;)

 This park was a trout hatchery. These pools of water contained thousands of little tiny trout growing to be released. It was apart of our morning routine to come down here, walk the lines and throw fish food in. The kids couldn't get enough of these fish!

 Parks Man is such a trooper! He did great and I think we can officially say that he likes camping!

Thankfully he hadn't started crawling yet, but he still figured out how to roll off his blanket to get leaves in his mouth ;)

 I've learned to simplify life when we camp. So, we get cereal for breakfast! Mike did the grocery shopping (!!!!) and let B pick out the cereal. We NEVER have sugary cereal in our home, but for this occasion they got generic Lucky Charms :)

 We also spent time just sitting and watching the fly fisherman. The kids were glued!

 Afternoons consisted of a short hike and ice cream BEFORE dinner! Yep, we are the cool parents for sure! The lodge had soft serve ice cream we couldn't pass up ;)

 Mr. Independent insisted on doing ALL of his own cooking!

 Such a happy camper!

Brody and Aubrie shared a bed. They had SO much fun doing it! It was fun to get up in the night to see their position. This was a 4am picture that was taken!

Auntie Meghan even joined us half way through! It was kinda really nice to have some extra hands! 

We had a blast! So glad we get to do this as a family!

Oh, when things don't go as planned

So, want to know something crazy? Here it is, we were to be moving our entire lives tomorrow to Oklahoma City! I haven't written about this yet because I've been too emotional about the whole situation. But here I write to add this "event" to the story of our lives.

The beginning of July Mike got a big bite on a job being a Campus Chaplin at a Christian college in OKC. After MULTIPLE interviews and even an overnight drive down there, we felt like this was exactly where the Lord was leading our family. There was not one hesitation about this move nor how quick this would all happen. Yes, of course it was crazy insane but our hands were open to where the Lord was leading and we TRULY believed this was where the next chapter was opening.

Mike accepted the job and we were preparing for a big move in a matter of 3 weeks! I've realized there is SO much more involved in a move than just simply packing up your lives. So much emotional energy goes into it that what I realized. We had to come to peace about uprooting our lives here in the 'Ville. That was HARD! We've really come to LOVE small town life, we've really made some dear sweet friends (that brought me to tears to imagine saying goodbye to), I love my job at the hospital and I was so sad to leave it, Brody was enrolled for preschool and we've gotten to listen to him the past year telling us where he was going to school every time we drove past it ;) I was so sad to put all that to rest and change the plan. BUT, with the Lord's help, Mike and I came to peace with it all and were so excited about this next step. We packed up over 1/2 our stuff to put it in a storage garage, cleaned every nook and cranny and a For Sale sign sat in our yard. We were ready. 

Then literally at a drop of a hat EVERYTHING changed. We were getting ready for a big moving garage sale when Mike got off the phone and told me the package the college had previously offered (and that he accepted) had changed and there was a huge miscommunication. What was now being offered would have made me need to work full time also. Having both of us working full time does not line up with our family goals. We had to put our family first. Yes, even though Mike would have thrived at this job (oh my! he would have done GREAT!) we just couldn't do it. It was a tough call Mike made to un-accpet the job.

What a blow! Yes, we may have been a bit dramatic about it all, but it kinda felt like a death. We had reached a goodbye point here in the 'Ville and all of a sudden we were needing to revert back. I had already given my 2 weeks notice at work so I needed to make sure I still had a job (thankfully I did!), got Brody re enrolled for school, called our realtor, and moved back into our home. It's been a roller coaster of a ride to say the least! 

I'm not upset with the Lord, really I'm not. Yes, I admit in being all human, there have been times where I just haven't cared to spend time with Him because well maybe I guess I am a bit upset. Yea, I was upset. I was upset with how much energy we put into this. How much we sought His guidance, and how we just blindly trusted Him. We really thought this was where He was leading and then this sudden roadblock. But here is where faith comes in and where I wont waiver! He does have a plan in all of this, I know that without a doubt! This goes back to our family word for the year, "Trust" from a verse in the book of Joshua "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your god will be with you wherever you go."

We've returned to the original plan. And are doing great with it! I'm working at the hospital and Mike continues to work on his doctorate while staying home with the kids. Yesterday he really told me seriously how he likes being home and I was able to seriously tell him how much I enjoy working. We are all happy :) The added extra family time has been awesome! In fact we have even planned a camping trip out to the Smokey Mountains this next month. We will soak up every bit of time we get together and are so thankful! Maybe the next time we think we are moving we wont mention it until we are pulling out of our driveway with the moving truck all loaded ;)

Our kids were SO happy to not leave their sweet friends!

This is how I found the kids the other day. They brought in all their blanket and pillows to Parker's crib. I added Parker to the chaos, can you find him? ;)

Nothing cuter then a little baby crack ;)

Parks is getting so big!!