Pumpkin gunk and giggles...

Because of our trip to Hawaii, we just now got to the task of carving our pumpkins last night. I must say, it was fun to see Sophia so focused on cleaning out every single seed from her pumpkin! She has also become quite the little helper and when I began carving out mine, she said, "Mom, let me help you." So she held onto my hand that held the carving knife and we carved some of my pumpkin together. With her 3 year birthday coming up the beginning of February, there's nothing this little girl can't do! She even wanted to attempt the carving on her pumpkin, but we were a little afraid she might hurt herself, even with the safe carving tools. So I drew a quick, goofy design, and Jeff helped her cut it out. She wanted a Dora pumpkin (no surprise;), to which I was more than willing to attempt, but her pumpkin was too small, so I did a little goofy face instead. She was more than happy with it and still says it's her Dora pumpkin, lol. Peyton had already been down to bed for over a hour when we started carving pumpkins, but I guess she wanted to join in the fun, because she woke up and did not seem like she wanted to go back to bed. So I brought her down, put her in her high chair and from there she sat observing with a big grin on her face! I can't wait for next year, when we can take both our girls to go pick out a pumpkin! By next year Peyton will be walking and able to help clean out her pumpkin, just like Sophia! After all the carving was done, we did a quick clean up, put tea light candles inside of them, and put them on the porch to see the final result. If you can't tell, mine is a tribute to my jewelry business, Glass Cocoon, which is why it has a "GC" and a tree with a butterfly. Jeff's pumpkin's looks scared, with the hands on either side of the open mouth. And Sophia's is the cute little one with the buck-teeth (kind of a rabbit-looking pumpkin). It was supposed to be a pumpkin sticking out it's tongue, but when Jeff ended up carving it, it kind of morphed into it's own face and became two teeth instead of a tongue, lol. It's cute either way! Playing in the background while we carved out pumpkins was "Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin." This used to be Jeff's favorite when he was little, so last year and this year we watched it as we carved. It was really neat to see Sophia so involved this year and wanted to be so hands on! She becomes more and more self sufficient every year! It's cute to see her mind working and see her contemplating her next step. She loved feeling the pumpkin gunk squish between her fingers, lol. But I have to say all in all, she stayed pretty clean! What a fun evening with our little family! These moments of creating and spending time together is what life is all about!!!

Pickin' out a pumpkin with our two little punkins'

Before we knew it, it was already half way through October and we hadn't taken the girls to pick out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. Sunday was going to be a beautiful day, so we decided to make a family trip of it with my parents and brothers and sister. I woke up to a pumpkin spice latte on the counter (courtesy of my wonderful hubby) and the sun gleaming through the blinds. What a perfect Fall day to go to the pumpkin patch! After the girl's afternoon nap, we all packed into the car and off we went to go find that "perfect pumpkin" to carve. We met my family there, and hand in hand we all trudged into the dirt and vines chattering away as we went. Sophia had her eye on every other pumpkin and couldn't decide which one she wanted. The next pumpkin always looked better, lol. After she finally found a keeper, she proceeded to pick one out for me too! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two giant white horses pulling a trailer of people behind them and pointed and said to me, "Mommy, I want to go on that!" I had to agree with her. It looked pretty fun and the horses were magnificent! We hopped on and road the hay ride back to our cars. All that walking around the fields wore everyone out and Sophia and Peyton fell asleep on the way out to my parents. We enjoyed dinner and visiting with my family, before heading back home to climb into our warm, cozy beds and pass out from a busy but VERY fun day!

A Quick Trip...

Last weekend we made a quick trip up to Washington to see my uncle Todd (my dad's younger brother), because he has been very sick. We left Thursday around 6:00pm and ended up arriving around 11:30. We were all pretty tired and ready to get out and stretch our legs. Sophia fell asleep in the car, so I carried her in and put her straight to bed. After, we sat and talked for a while with my uncle who had been propped sitting up on the couch due to the fluid in his lungs. He had been having pain for around 6 weeks and had gone into the doctor and they had thought it was just a torn muscle. Well after many, many tests and visits back to the doctor, they discovered a large mass growing on his liver. Not knowing then, that the mass would be much larger than we had all anticipated! My uncle Todd is usually a very happy, talkative, and fiesty guy. But as I sat there next to him holding his hand, he was void of any of these traits. He coughed often and looked like he was in excruciating pain. The color was gone from his face and you could see that something inside of him was making him extremely sick! It made feel so helpless to see him in SO much pain and not be able to do anything to help him. But, then I remembered that I could pray! Never underestimate the power of prayer! I had also asked many of my friends to pray for my uncle. Receiving texts back telling me that everyone was praying for my uncle, even never having met him, they were lifting him up in prayer to God. It was the most incredible feeling knowing God was hearing their prayers and was watching over my uncle through every breath and gasp of pain. And even though I still worried (I am human), it helped to ease the sense of helplessness. Because I knew that he wasn't in my care, nor in the doctors care, but he was ultimately in his Heavenly Father's care, the best care of all!

Just yesterday he underwent a 7 hour surgery where they removed his gallbladder, part of his sternum and a football-sized tumor from his liver! He is now in critical condition and will be in a semi-induced coma for four days as his body begins to recover. The family has really pulled together and has been by my uncles side holding his hand, giving him hugs, and praying with him. The Lord revealed His presence to my Dad in many ways throughout this process showing him his brother was in His care and surrounded by angels. Seeing people so open and emotionally available is quite rare these days and stripping away the barriers has really made me see the strength and love of this family!

Though these past three weeks have been some of the most stressful and energy-stealing weeks, not only due to my uncles health, I have also learned so much in this particular season of my life:

~Love those around you with every ounce of energy! We take for granted that they will always be there and one day they won't.

~Negativity breeds negativity and positivity breeds positivity. If it isn't encouraging, loving, or caring, then it probably doesn't need to be said.

~Everyone is human and makes mistakes, but it is how one handles themselves through the struggles is what displays true character.

~You can never hug, kiss, or say "I love you" to your loved ones too much!

~Spend more time thinking about other's needs rather than your own and it truly doesn't take a huge display of affection to show someone you care. You would be surprised at how excited people get by a card in the mail or a phone call to ask them how they've been.

I'm not trying to sound like I'm preaching, but I guess bottom line is...slow down, enjoy the moments you have with those you love. This world is so busy and we are constantly rushing onto the next thing! Rest in the word, rest in God and He will give you rest.
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While I was up there, I had the pleasure of spending the day with my cousin, Kelsey, who showed me around Fair Haven and downtown Bellingham. I've decided this is one place I would love to retire to or have a vacation home. This town is so relaxed, quiet and family oriented. They had an amazing farmers market we happened to stumble across with local organic produce, cheeses, and bread. We had a blast walking around tasting all of the samples and browsing the handmade goods. Below are a few pictures of the market and some of the yummy food they had there!

The farmer's market building

This mom and her little girl were sitting enjoying the moment
together and I just had to capture it!

I couldn't get over the color of this cauliflower! I had never seen purple before!

I wish I could have bought all of this handmade bread and taken it home to enjoy!

We enjoyed one of the cheese sticks and one of the chocolate bread sticks
(they were amazing!!!)

Long Lost Friends...

Saturday my cousins came into town from Mt.Vernon, Washington. If any of you have ever been there it is about a 4 1/2 hour drive, which is why I maybe get to see them 2 or 3 times a year. Not enough time together in my opinion! I was thrilled when I got to spend the entire day with them Sunday! I drove out to my parents and dropped off the girls, had a yummy breakfast with everyone, then we headed to downtown. Me and my brother were on a mission to show them a little bit of Portland and a few of our favorite spots. We started at NW 23rd and took them to Urban Outfitters, Portland Bagel Company for lunch, then a few boutiques and finally to a tea house for some delicious Chai Tea! We then headed over to Hawthorne, where we shopped a vintage house and Red Light, then lastly a small jewelry boutique I just had to check out! After a fun day of shopping and catching up with my cousins, we headed back to Sandy, where my parents live, for some dinner and home made pumpkin pie! It was such an incredibly fun day and I'm so glad I was able to spend so much time with my two cousins! They are a blast and such awesome girls! Here's a few photos of our day:)

Our cousins: Kelsey and Kara

Shawn, Kara and Kelsey outside Urban Outfitters

The jewelry boutique I fell in love with on Hawthorne