Quick Update

It has been over 2 months since I last posted anything on my blog. It has not been for lack of things happening. I just lacked the desire to write about it. So since there is a lot of ground to cover, I will post in list form.

1. Christmas came! The big gift for Bella was a Ukelele, which she'd been begging us for ever since her babysitter brought hers over for the kids to play with. 
The big gift for Elias was one of those remote controlled helicopters from the mall - the ones that they zip around your head while you are trying to get to Chick-fil-a without your kids seeing - the ones that they sell for $120-150. Well, they can be had on Amazon for around $30 bucks. The. exact. same. toy! And we learned 2 things. First, there is a reason that those guys get them started for you before they hand you the controls, because they are not as easy to control as they make them out to be. Second, unless you live in a place with ceilings as high as the mall, they are really not able to be flown in the house without causing serious damage to the plane or other fixtures or people who may be nearby.
Josh and I got each other a few small things, but our main gift to each other was a new bedroom furniture set. The set we have been using since we got married was a set that my parents bought me from a neighbor's yard sale when I was 11 and through the years we have brought in other mismatched pieces to replace or supplement the original set. We bought a set of custom built Amish furniture that has tons of storage, and is as durable as it is beautiful. We paid a little more for it than your average set of manufactured furniture, but I really feel like it is well worth it.

2. Did I mention that Josh got into an accident 2 days before Christmas and totaled his car? Yeah, that happened. But we didn't find out that it was totaled until 2 days after Christmas. He ended up getting a car that is almost the exact same car he had before, just two years newer. In the end, it all worked out well and we were so thankful no one in either car was hurt, but it definitely made the holidays a little more stressful!

3. We attended a wedding on New Year's Eve. It was a fun way to spend the holiday.

4. Bella turned 8 on January 4th. We had a small party here at the house for her. She wanted to have a makeover party. Everyone had a good time and it was pretty easy to pull off on my part. Her birthday being right after Christmas and at the height of winter weather makes birthday planning a little dicey. But this year, the weather decided not to get bad until after her birthday. But once it started, it decided to stick around for a while.

5. Snow and COLD. For those of you who live near, you understand what I mean. That has been the definition of January and February here. The kids went to school for a total of 7 1/2 days for the entire month of January! And February was only slightly better, with lots of 2 hour delays. Our kids played in the snow so much that they actually got tired of doing it and there was snow on the ground for longer than I ever remember since living in Fairmont.
We went to Mountain Creative one day to paint pottery. We went to The Starving Artist another for the kids to paint a picture of Olaf from Frozen. We went to see the movie Frozen. We went sled riding at 5th street park a few times, since we have no real sled riding hill here. But we mostly just stayed at the house.
My friend Crystal gave us snow tires because they bought a new van and their old snow tires didn't fit on their new van. I have been able to get out on bad days much more than I have ever before. I am so thankful that she gave them to us, because they were definitely needed for this winter and I never wanted to spend the money for snow tires before because I just wasn't sure if they would make enough difference to warrant the cost. But now I will never go another winter without them!

6. With our new furniture, Elias inherited Josh's dresser to replace his old changing table that he has been using as a dresser since. It somehow made me feel how much he is growing older, even though he has not used the stand as a changing table for years and year. We gave it to a young couple who just has a baby and when they picked it up, I felt like a bit of our past was going with it. It was one of the first things we bought to outfit the nursery when we found out I was pregnant and Elias spent a lot of time on it when he was a baby.

7. I did a major clean out of our closets on one of our many snow day weeks. I got rid of a bunch of stuff. As we are getting rid of stuff, I realize how much stuff I have had since we got married or even from way before that I still use on a daily basis. Like towels and washcloths. I have bought new towels and washcloths, but for some reason, I prefer the threadbare softness of the old ones. And I also realize just how far Josh and I have come from our meager financial beginnings, but I am always thankful that we started out that way.

8. We live about 2 minutes from a grocery store. Because of that, I had gotten into the bad habit of not really planning ahead too much for meals. I get the basics and plan for a few meals at a time, but I often make the same things because it is what I remember to pick up while I am at the store and then if I want to make a specific thing, I run out and get the missing ingredients.
With the weather being cold and uncertain, I began meal planning more in early January and have been meal planning like it is my job ever since (which, technically, it is sort of my job). We have eaten so well this winter and have had so many recipes we love. Every time I sit down to plan, I think that we can't have anything else for me to make because I have made so much already. But then I look through my recipes and discover that there are all sorts of recipes I haven't made recently. It also takes the stress off of me day-by-day, since I don't have to think of what I will make.

9. Along with that, last fall I moved my crock pot from where I used to store it on my pantry shelves in the basement to the closet in my dining room.  I have used it about 3 times more than I used to when it was downstairs. I really am not sure why I didn't do that before.

10. It is sometimes the littlest things that makes life more enjoyable. Josh bought wireless light switches for several of our lamps in our house, so now we can just walk into the room and push a switch instead of going around to each lamp to turn them on. It is amazing how something so small and really inexpensive can make a difference in your daily life.

11. Both kids loved the movie Frozen. Bella especially has became obsessed with the Frozen soundtrack and has learned almost every word to all the songs on the soundtrack.

12. Elias has been working on his first song on his drums, which is "Learning to be the Light" by Newworldson. It is really neat getting to hear an actual song forming and I love hearing him walk around singing the words to a song that has really great meaning. I am so thankful for his drum teacher and that he is helping to build Elias spiritually and not just with his drum skills.

13. I am so excited that one of the translators who spent the week with our team in Peru and is a formerly sponsored child through Compassion (but now lives in the States) will be coming to our church this year for Compassion Sunday! It is something I have hoped for since returning from Peru.

I was going to include pictures, but we cleaned out my drop box on my laptop and put them on the external hard drive, so they aren't easily accessible. Hopefully, I will find the motivation, time and post-worthy material before May!  If anyone is left out there to read this, thanks for reading!

Elizabeth - What was she thinking?

On the radio the other day, the announcer mentioned Elizabeth was almost forgotten today in our talk of the Christmas story. The point that was being made was that Elizabeth played a big role by confirming that Mary was indeed carrying Jesus.

But all of a sudden, a thought hit me. I wondered what Elizabeth thought and felt. Did she ever feel jealous of Mary being chosen? I wonder if she struggled with thoughts of why God would not have chosen her. After all, her pregnancy with John was miraculous, so why couldn't he have chosen her.

I know, I know, you are thinking, "Because of the whole virgin birth thing!" and "It was prophesied for 100s of years to happen at that appointed time."

But do you ever have unreasonable jealousies about why God does miraculous things for others and not for you or have you felt the envy of others toward blessings that you have been bestowed, but others feel that they have been deprived? I know I have!

Elizabeth didn't know that her part in the Christmas story would be retold throughout 100s of years and countless generations. And her son definitely was not treated with accolades and comfort in his life. I know that I can get pretty upset when I feel my kids are being treated unfairly or have the potential to be harmed. We don't hear anything about how Elizabeth and John related or even how long Zechariah and Elizabeth lived after he was born. Did she ever wonder why God made things so rough for him? Did she ever wish for him to have an easier life - get married and have a couple kids.

She was obviously a very dedicated, holy woman, but she was still human. I wonder what it was like for her to be the mother of John and aunt to the mother of Jesus. What a responsibility!

2013 Christmas Letter

I usually work on our Christmas letter on and off for a week or so, thinking of what to include, what not to, how to word everything, and always how to shorten it! I can be a bit long-winded. I am sure that is a surprise to anyone who knows me!

This year, I wrote it in about 15-20 minutes. Josh edited it quickly. I closed it down that day and came back to it two days later. I briefly reviewed it, made some minor changes, and printed them out. I had them in the mail by late afternoon. I think that it was the quickest I have ever completed them.

Since Facebook keeps us in contact with those far and near on a regular basis and the friends who are around us obviously know what is going on with us, it is difficult to decide who to send the letters to and who not to anymore. I will be the first to admit that there is little rhyme or reason to it! The only certainty is that my aunts and uncles get one!

With all that being said, I decided to share our letter here again, as I do every year, just in case you'd like a "year end review".

Dear friends and family,

As we read through last year’s letter, most things are much the same. I feel like I could copy & paste the information and resend it! But I will update things as much as possible.

Elias is 9 and will be 10 in March. He is having a great 4^th grade year. He really likes his teacher and has been improving academically because of her positive prodding. He will go to middle school next year. Yikes! We are trying not to let our negative feelings regarding middle school show, but we aren’t looking forward to it. He played soccer in both the Spring & Fall seasons & really improved his skill and leadership abilities on the team. He was excited this Fall to begin playing on the school basketball team. Before this year, he played on a community recreational team, but he had looked forward to playing on the school team. They have played 4 games so far & have lots games ahead. In late Spring, Elias began taking drum lessons from a young man who is a former member of a youth group we helped lead. He has been an excellent teacher & mentor & Elias has learned a lot so far. Over a year before, we had agreed that if he would save half of the cost of a drum set, we would pay for the other half. When we made him that deal, we had no idea that he would so diligently save! Every time he was given money for anything, he handed it to Josh to keep in his bank & barely ever decided to spend a cent on anything else. He was able to buy his drums in October.  In August, Elias decided that he wanted to be baptized & he was one of the first few people to be baptized in our new church building shortly after we had moved into it.

Bella will be 8 in less than a month. The part of her birthday she is looking forward to the most is being allowed to ride in the car without a booster seat. This past September, after missing her front teeth for an entire year, we finally saw her adult teeth make an appearance. Both times one of them popped through, Josh & I were away from home. She was so glad that they finally came in after such a long wait. She took dance in the Spring & again this Fall. We find her dancing throughout the house almost all the time. She really enjoys it & still runs to get ready for dance class as soon as she walks through the door from school. She is currently in ballet & tap & her next recital is the weekend before Christmas. She is currently in the 2^nd grade & is still a natural student. She has the same teacher as Elias did in 2^nd grade. This Summer Bella learned to swim in the deep without any assistance. The kids had lessons again at the beginning of the summer, but didn’t have nearly as much time in the water, since we had a pretty rainy season. She has decided that she would like to return to gymnastics in the Spring, but I suspect she will be back in dance in the fall.

Not much has changed for Josh  or I either. Josh coached Elias’ soccer team both the Spring & Fall season. He also continued to play on the recreational team. As an early birthday present, we traveled to Ohio to attend a Major League Soccer match. His favorite team, Seattle Sounders, won against the Columbus Crew, 1-0. It was a great night. I am still substitute teaching, but have decided that this will be my last year. My certificate will run out at the end of this school year. I’m unsure of what I’ll do next, but I just feel my time of subbing is ending.  

The first weekend of November ended up being pretty eventful. My sisters & I threw a 50^th anniversary party for my parents. It went better than we expected & we were really glad we decided to have the party for them. The next evening, Josh ended up being admitted into the hospital and had emergency surgery first thing Monday morning to have his appendix removed. It was definitely an unexpected turn of events, but we were thankful that it could be removed without complication and our church family was a great help.

We hope that you and those you love feel God’s presence near this holiday season. We hope to hear from many of you or see you this coming year.

Blessing and peace to you,

Josh, Jennifer, Elias, and Bella Wilson

The Giving and Receiving Manual

Sometimes I almost hesitate to tell people just how much our church family helped us while Josh was in the hospital. I think I hesitate more in the Christian community than I do everywhere else. The reason is that I don't want people to question why we got help and maybe they haven't. I have heard so many people say, "Well, when I have went through something, everyone said they wanted to help, but no one really did anything to help."

I think there are definitely people who offer help half-heartedly, but I think more often than not, people are willing to help if offered the right information and opportunity.

I think there are reasons that we felt so supported and helped.
1. We let our exact needs be known. This sounds like it would be easy, but it isn't. Often when people go through a difficult time, they think that people should instinctively know what would be helpful, but that is completely not true. For instance, our toilet broke right before Josh went into the hospital. We had the part, but Josh didn't have time to fix it. There was no way that someone would have offered to fix it because no one would have known it needed done. So I texted a friend and asked if he could come fix it. He came that evening and was glad that he could be of help to us.
2. We depended on many different people and we thought of who would be the most helpful to do which tasks. We had people from about every area of our life helping us - neighbors, soccer friends, small group members, book club friends. For instance, one of my friends from book club brought me a breakfast sandwich, stayed with me until Josh's surgery ended and then left. Another friend had offered to bring me food at the hospital, but I told her I didn't need anything then, but I would let her know when I did. When I got home and realized I had few groceries in the house, I texted her to ask if she could run to the store for me. She happily agreed and I emailed her my shopping list. Another friend teaches at the kids' school, so even though it was an inconvenience to her, it seemed like a natural fit to have her stay the night and get them ready for school the next day.
3. We purposely put ourselves in community and had built relationships with those who helped us before the event happened. We already knew people well and they knew us. We knew them, their responsibilities, their talents, and their personalities, and they knew ours. I am not saying we shouldn't help people we don't know well, but I am saying it is just easier when we do.
4. We had helped others when they were in need in the past. I don't mean to be egotistical, it is just the truth. When you help others, there is always a desire to help them back. And I am not saying that we help others with the thought that if we do it, we better get help back from them one day, but it just happens naturally.
5. We graciously accepted the help, thanked everyone who gave us help, and didn't make a huge deal over how they shouldn't have done it for us. We had more ambiguous offers than we could accept, which is usually the case. And I don't believe that they were ambiguous because they lacked sincere desire to help. I accepted help or requested specific help and decided not to play the martyr and try to do it all or act like I could handle it all without help. I have done this in the past and it normally leaves me feeling isolated and hurt, even though it was my choice.
I also set aside worry about who would be insulted if I accepted help from this person and not that person. It can get pretty tricky trying to navigate this, but you can't accept help from everyone! But it teaches me not to get insulted when others don't accept our help, but to keep offering.

I feel like we are taught that we should give and receive help from others, but not how to do it. And contrary to common thought, it does not come naturally!  I really think that there should be a cheat sheet developed that is posted somewhere, anywhere, to help us out with this!

Surprise!

I had started this blog post about 2 weeks ago and have not had the time to finish it until now. It is pretty long, but I feel like it is something I want to record in its entirety (or at least what I can remember!).

 
The day after my parents' party, we got up and went to church and then immediately after we went shopping to buy things for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. We had just dumped all of the stuff from the party in the kitchen and I decided I would go through it all the next day, since we were all off for Veteran's day. I had let the housework go in the days before the party to prepare. So the laundry baskets and the sink were overflowing and the house was already in disarray.

We came home from shopping and ate a quick dinner. We began to get the kids ready for bed, telling them if they showered quickly we would have time to watch a movie. While Bella was in the shower, Josh said that he was beginning to not feel well. She got out and Elias got in and Josh's condition was quickly deteriorating. By the time Elias got out of the shower, Josh could barely stand or walk and it was only about 30 minutes after he first said he didn't feel well. When I was able to talk him into going to the Urgent Care Treatment Center in less than 10 minutes, I knew it must be serious.

When we got to the Urgent Care, they almost immediately said it was appendicitis and told us to go immediately to the Emergency Room.

And so the craziness began! He ended up being admitted that night and given pain medication and antibiotics to lower his extremely high white blood count. The doctors decided that since it was after 10 p.m. that they were going to wait until the morning to take it out and hopefully get some of the inflammation down with the antibiotics. Unfortunately, they had to check him every hour through the night to make sure that it wasn't rupturing. I had to go home to turn off all the lights that we had left on during our hasty departure, pack some clothes and a few things we would need at the hospital, and make arrangements for the kids for the next day. Also, they didn't want to give Josh enough medicine that he was totally out of pain and not be able to tell if it was rupturing. So neither of us slept at all that night.

At 5 a.m., they came in to prep Josh for surgery and we met with the surgeon at 6. Thankfully, the surgeon had been preforming this surgery for decades, so we felt very confident that he would do a great job. He told us that he was going to try to do it completely laparoscopically. If the appendix was too enlarged, the second least invasive was incision at the belly button. If there was evidence of any rupturing, they would have to do a full incision. He also said that Josh's intestines were very inflamed as well and he suspected that he may have Chrohn's or colitis, in addition to the infected appendix. That was hard to hear. We have friends who struggle with Chrohn's and colitis and know it is a difficult cronic condition that requires a complete diet overhaul and long-term treatment. At that point that worried me as much as getting the appendix out. The surgeon said he would go ahead and scope the intestines while he was doing the appendectomy to check for these.

So he left to go get himself prepped and they started Josh on the morphine and we both caught a little more sleep. Then they came in to wheel him downstairs. We met with the anesthesiologist and they did more prep work. But shortly after the anesthesiologist left the room, a nurse ran in and said that the surgeon and anesthesiologist were going to have to do an emergency C-section before doing Josh's surgery. I heard the two men outside the room talking about how they didn't like this turn of events, but the surgeon popped his head in and said that we would have to wait another hour to hour and a half. But then the two men said as soon as he stepped back into the hallway that he didn't think that they should push Josh's surgery back anymore and that they were going to have to figure something else out with the C-Section. In the meantime, they wheeled the poor contracting, scared mother into the operating area. I didn't see her, but I could hear her and I felt for her. But then about 10 minutes later, the surgeon popped his head back in and said they had it figured out and that they would come get him immediately for his surgery. About 10 minutes after that they were wheeling him back. I had not cried the entire time, but when they began wheeling him back, tears pricked the back of my eyes. But I didn't have time to cry because I needed to get washed up and eat because they said the surgery would only last an hour. So I went to his room and a friend met me there with a breakfast sandwich just after I got cleaned up and dressed for the day.

When I met with the surgeon right after the surgery, he graciously told me first that the inflammation in Josh's intestines was caused by the appendix and there was no sign of any secondary condition. Josh ended up having to have the belly button incision, so the recovery would be longer than a completely laproscopic surgery and he had to be more careful to prevent hernia, but it went as expected with no complications.

So Josh had to be off work for a week until he got his staples out. The week he was off, he took his pain medication every time he was able and slept a lot. I knew he must be in pain because he doesn't like taking medicine for anything! The second day he was home, I was helping him dress and change his bandages after he showered. He thanked me for helping him and hugged me for the first time since before everything began. I instantly began to cry for the first time. It felt like the weight of everything that had happened was rolling off my shoulders. It didn't last long, but it made me realize just how much anxiety I had actually felt without realizing it.

He went to get his staples out a week later and they told him that he couldn't lift anything heavy or do any significant labor for 6 weeks or play soccer. I think that hearing that he couldn't play soccer was the hardest news for Josh to take!

He is getting better, but still has to be careful not to overdo and gets sore and still takes ibuprofen if he has been too active. He is getting frustrated that he can't just be better already, but I have to say he has been a very cooperative patient with this!

 After it was all said and done, I was so thankful the way things worked out. Even though it was not desired or anticipated, we were blessed by many things that made it easier.

1. The doctors diagnosed what was wrong right away and that it was a health risk that could quickly remedied and that doesn't leave much residual long-term effects to his body.
2. Josh realized right away that something was terribly wrong and didn't argue (like he normally would have) about going to the hospital. We know how dangerous it could have been if we would have waited. Also, we are glad that he didn't have to have the full incision. Even though they still had to make an incision at his belly button, it was smaller and less invasive than a full incision would have been.
3. Our friends from church was so helpful! We had so many people who helped us out and many others who offered. Here is just a short list of things that people did:
1. Watched our kids at a moment's notice. Our children had more fun when Josh was in the hospital than they would have ever had if he hadn't gone! They stayed the night with one friend the first night and then another friend picked them up and took them ice skating and for ice cream and then brought them up to visit Josh. Then yet another friend took them home, helped them with their homework and get showered and ready and took them to school the next morning.
2. Came to the ER to sit with us until we found out what exactly was wrong.
3. Brought me food at the hospital. Several other people offered to do this also.
4. A friend of Josh's sat with me and just talked to make the time go faster as I waited for Josh in recovery.
5. Went to the grocery store for me.
6. Came and brought us dinner when we got home or offered to do so.
7. Fixed our broken toilet.
8. Covered us for our church obligations.
9. Many people texted and sent messages to check on us and let us know they were thinking of us.
4. The kids didn't have school the day after the night he went into the hospital. This made arranging care and sleeping, etc. so much easier.
5. It happened the day after my parents' party and not before or the day of the party.
6. All of the hospital staff was extremely kind and efficient and personable. We had excellent care and felt that we were treated like people, not chart numbers. I would return to UHC again if we had to have any type of surgery.
7. We were told that the very experienced surgeon who preformed Josh's surgery is almost never on weekend call anymore. We were told by multiple staff members that we were very fortunate to have him as the surgeon.
8. We know that he definitely doesn't have any secondary intestinal conditions.
9. It wasn't closer to the holidays and we didn't have any major events that we would miss or that would have to be rescheduled.
10. The kids have been extremely helpful and willing to pick up the slack from Josh being down. I have realized that I should be having them do more on a regular basis!

I am probably forgetting a few things, but I am still thankful for them all! Mostly, I am thankful to God through whom all of these blessings flowed.

50th Anniversary Party

My sisters and I decided in September to have a 50th anniversary party for my parents. Their anniversary is on December 23rd. They eloped because my dad was being shipped out to Germany right after New Year's Day to spend 18 months guarding the Berlin Wall. My parents have no pictures of their ceremony, which occurred in a church near my mom's house on a Monday afternoon.  They didn't think about needing to have a witness when they knocked on the parsonage door to ask to get married. It just so happened that my mom's brother's fiance (who became my mom's sister-in-law just a year later) was cleaning the church. So with hair in curlers, she was the only one present to see my parents say "I do".

We decided to have the party in November to beat the holiday rush and the bad weather. We had decided to try to have it in mid to late November, but the place we had planned to have it was already completely booked through Christmas, except November 9th! So November 9th was when we had it. It ended up being a beautiful day and we were glad that we did it earlier than we had planned.

It also didn't give us a ton of time to go back and forth about our plans. My dad and mom know many people in my hometown and a lady that my sisters and I had never met before ended up helping with the decorations and even providing finger sandwiches.

My cousin who now bakes cakes professionally baked my parents a tiered cake that looked like a wedding cake and I broke out my silver servers from our wedding. So they got to have the traditional cake cutting like people have at their weddings.

I am so glad that we had the party for them. They had a wonderful time and it was great to see many of my relatives and family friends that I have not seen for years. It also brought my sisters and I closer to each other, which was an added bonus that I didn't expect. 

My sister took a lot of pictures because she has a really nice camera, but I don't have any of them back yet. Here is just a few that I took with my phone.

From left to right: My sister Kimmy who is next to the oldest and 8 years older. My mom, Nancy and dad, Ken. My oldest sister who is 10 years older, Christina, I am next and the youngest, and then my sister Tracey who is 6 years older than me.

Me and my mom

My cousin Larissa and I. She made the cake. We are the same age and always loved spending time together.

The beautiful cake. The top layer was white with raspberry filling, the middle was chocolate and peanut butter, and the bottom was traditional white wedding cake.

My mom and dad with mom's 2 brothers Stanley with his wife Karen on the left and Terry with his wife Nancy on the right. Nancy was the one who was at the church cleaning the day my parents eloped. My mom has a brother and a sister still living who could not attend and two brothers who have passed away.

This is my dad and mom with my dad's sisters. From left, Thelma, Geraldine (we always called her Deeny), and Caroline. He has one brother who was unable to attend and 3 brothers and a sister who have already passed away.

These are my sister Christina's girls. From left: Brittany, Ashley and Shannon. Brittany is my parents' oldest grandchild.

This is when the party first started. This picture shows the set-up and decorations, though.

Just general crowd pictures.

This is my niece Alycia and her boyfriend at the back of the table and my nephew at the end with the blue jacket. You can also see the picture collages in the background.

This is my sister's family with my sister's boyfriend and my great niece and nephew.

My parents gave me some pictures to make collages. Here are a few of my favorites.

This picture was taken a little over 2 years after my parents got married. My mom was pregnant for my oldest sister. I think this picture shows the resemblance between me and my mom the most.

This picture was taken shortly after my dad got to Germany. There are a bunch of copies of this and similar pictures. Many have sappy love messages written on them.

My mom said this is the only picture that was taken on the day they eloped. Dad snapped it while she was pinning up her hair at his house before they went to the church.

I think my mom looks like Sandra Dee from Grease in this picture. This was taken while she and my dad were dating.

From left to right: My dad holding Tracey and my mom in front of him and Kimmy and Christina in the matching dresses in front of her. Then my mom's parents, then my uncle Terry and Aunt Nancy with my cousin Jon in front of them. Last, my great-grandparents.

This picture was taken when I was about 9. I loved that dress and wore it a lot! I wore a mullet for at least 2 years, probably more!

This picture was taken when I was in the 9th grade. It didn't scan very well. My sister Christina and Tracey were already married.

This is the most recent portrait taken of my parents and the one we used in the announcement in the paper for the party.

October in pictures

Bella finally got to have her spa day that she has been wanting to have for months. in early October. She took her friend Lilly and they had a great time getting pedicures in the little girl's spa.

Elias saved money for about 2 years and took lessons for over 6 months and he finally was able to bring home his drums in mid-October.

He sounded great. I am so glad he can already keep a beat!

Bella did a better job than I thought she could, since she ended up slamming her finger in a fire door at school and broke the tip of her finger. I was amazed at how well she was able to cut with the splint on her finger.

Josh was the stencil maker, but the kids did the majority of their own carving themselves.

This is Bella's pumpkin. Besides a little bit too much cutting by the eye, it is really impressive that she was able to cut it herself so well.

This is Elias' pumpkin. This pumpkin was supposed to have little pumpkins sitting in the big pumpkins mouth getting eaten. But we didn't carve them until 2 days before Halloween, so I was not able to find little pumpkins to buy.

This is Josh's pumpkin. He drew the stencil for this himself. A lot of people enjoyed it during trick-or-treat.

Bella was an adorable bat girl. I got this costume at Gabe's for $5.99 and it was a really high quality costume.

We had trouble finding Elias a costume. He felt he was too old for super heroes, but I wasn't crazy about him being a ghoul or zombie. He loves the cartoon "Tron", but we couldn't find a Tron costume that actually lit up. So Josh decided to make one for him. It took Josh a lot of time and a lot of boxes from Amazon, but it looked really nice in the end. Josh wasn't pleased with his work, but Elias was.

This is the costume lit up. It really did look pretty awesome.

This is their loot. It is actually a little less than last year, but still way too much!  Of course, we had about 1/2 of the trick-or-treaters we normally do because it was raining, so we also had plenty of the candy that we were giving out left over too.