OCC Packing Party

What an uplifting weekend we had! Friday the kiddos got to partake in a fun party at school complete with a sock hop and root beer floats to celebrate "50 days of school" (1950's theme). Saturday, I was thrilled to spend the ENTIRE day with my family which was such a treat. We hung out in our PJ's in the morning and watched cartoons, went to watch Dylan play basketball then headed outdoors to go sledding. BRRRRR! It was brisk but SO much fun to hear all the belly laughs and sip on hot cocoa afterwards.

Today, was especially joyful. Not only did we partake in our church's Operation Christmas Child packing party, but we got the chance to share the entire experience with several of LTD's school classmates and their parents. LTD got the idea that they wanted to include ALL their classmates in this annual tradition AND have a birthday celebration at the same time. So we extended the invitation not knowing what to expect and were so pleasantly surprised.

Let's just say that had an absolute BLAST! It truly is so incredibly moving to watch the joy and excitement of children packing shoeboxes for other less fortunate children from around the world. Their blessed little hearts are so full of love and compassion it brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. In all, the children packed up 467 boxes!!!

We were especially touched when the entire hall full of families and children sang Happy Birthday to LTD along with their classmates. Below are some photos from our day. As we were tucking in bed tonight, LTD each thanked Dave and me for a super fun day. In fact, Taylor said, "mom, today was the best day EVER! I pray all our shoeboxes make the poor children happy." Indeed they will; in more ways than we can ever even imagine. God bless ALL the children of this world!

Family Photo Shoot 2010

As we mentioned in a previous post, we had a glorious fall in MN. Our family took full advantage of the colorful outdoors one Sunday at the U of MN Arboretum. We were joined by a professional photographer, Annie Torrini, who was so incredibly sweet to the children and a very gifted photographer. Here are a few shots she captured that day. To see many more, please click on our Kodak Gallery link on the right hand side of this blog, and then click on Family Photo Shoot - Arboretum. Dave took a few photos that day as well which are found in the last half of the Kodak Gallery photo album. If you would like to learn more about Annie, her website is:

www.annietorriniphotography.com

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Kindergarten Photos

Lindsey

Taylor
Dylan

Halloween Night Memories

Wow, we had absolutely gorgeous weather for Halloween this year! LTD were super excited and literally RAN from house to house gathering goodies and checking out all the fun displays. They even tackled the "haunted yard" with just a hint of hesitancy. They stopped about halfway up the long walk but eventually made it all the way to the front door. They made a haul and their buckets were plump full when we got home. Now what??? Nothing like having loads of Tootsie Rolls and Snicker bars laying around with easy access for Mama Bear to gobble up when nobody's looking. Oh, what's 10+ little treats/day gonna do anyway :)