A day of raking

Jessie working hard to make her piles of leaves.


Kat "helping" daddy by putting leaves in the bin the riding mower catches them in.


Both girls helping to clear the leaves out from under the bushes.

Such a pretty girl helping out with those leaves.

Kat showing off her handful of leaves. Again about to "help" daddy by carrying them to the bin.

Jessie throwing handfuls of leaves in the air. Before long they were throwing leaves on top of each other. These were not dry leaves either. Leaves were showing up in the bath (in Jessie's hair) and in the washer because they stuck to them.

Kat throwing her leaves up in the air. She had taken her coat off by this point because she was too hot.

Pumpkin fun and Halloween

Kat ready to be pulled around at Gene's to pick out our pumpkins. It was a VERY cold and windy day and she refused to walk.


Jessie loved pulling the wagon. She felt like such a big girl being able to pull her around.



We got Kat out of the wagon for this picture. They look like they are smiling, but they are really wincing in the wind.



Posing with our choice of pumpkins.

Posing again in front of Gene's barn.

All carved and ready to be put outside. Kat picked the happy smile on the left. Jessie chose the scary smile in the middle, and I took my first crack at carving with etching tools for Goofy on the right.

Jessie doing a scary pose.

Susan or Ginormica from Monsters vs. Aliens and Cinderella on the ant at Zoo Boo.

Cinderella by some pumpkins. Maybe one will turn into a coach for her.

Getting ready to go out Halloween night for some trick or treating.

Sorting out "the haul" after a busy night of trick or treating. We went to trunk or treating at Hope and Westwood Reformed churches. We also went trick or treating through Parchment. Kat was collecting her own stash on her lap here.

Jessie's 6th Birthday and others

My "little" girl is 6 years old now. The time is just flying by.


She was VERY excited at her party this year. A lot more than normal. She had a lot of fun.




She got to take her friend Madelyn to McDonald's and to paint pottery for her friend party. The girls had lots of fun painting.



Showing off their works of art when they were done. They couldn't hold them because they were still wet and needed to be fired in the kiln.

Jessie made Kat a "car seat" out of the Mega Blocks. Kat sat here happily for quite awhile.

The girls watching a movie on Jessie's iPod (her big birthday gift) after bath time.