Stunning...

We had the best outing with the Buhler family heading out Highway 20 into the Cascades. The fall colors were absolutely breathtaking! Everywhere you looked you could see such incredible beauty! There are more pictures here, it was hard to stop!

Simone doing her favorite thing... hiking with her family! Isabelle and I did not make it all the way to the top of the trail head. However we found you can drive to nearly the same view. Not quite as fun but for Isabelle still satisfying. 

Her first love... (ee not me :)

We stopped at the ranger / information center, very impressive. 

Diablo Dam

Notice the wet pants...hhhmmm. We seem to not go anywhere without my husband ending up in the water. :) 

Fish On!

Well we did it, we successfully had eight boys with fishing poles going at the same time! To my relief everyone got to catch a few fish and I think we all had a great time!

Lots of cute pictures of lots of cute boys: click here

Lots of fascination and curiosity! 

My Hero, making the whole take a gaggle of boys fishing outing work!  I think he 'hooked' more worms than I could even count! One of the many reasons I married him... :)

Nolan was so sweet, he was the last one to catch a fish but after he caught one, he was on a roll! 

A little spaghetti under the moon light. 

Okay... Try and find swedish fish under a sheet of whipped cream and this is what you get...

And then bobbing for apples to wash off the mess... :) 

Okay... Caden Mee is the best apple bobber I have ever seen. If I had it on video I would be rich. So if you even have an apple bobbing contest count this kid in! 

Thanks for the fun party guys, you were each a pleasure to have at our home!

Notice there are no pics of the sleepover it self, by this time I was searching for my bed not the camera!

Happy Birthday Son...

Is it going to be a shock every year our children grow another year? Nine, I can't believe it. I remember just bringing him home from the hospital but at the same time it seems that was a whole different life ago. We started the day with tradition... a treat, candle and mom's lame singing happy birthday all by ourselves. I love that quiet moment alone we have shared on the morning of September 22nd for the last nine years. 

Hummmm... what do you think it could be? 

A fishing pole of coarse! What else!? A really nice one by the way. You know when your son's dream is to join the pro bass tour he is into it! 

Thanks be to my Husband for wanting to take on this!!! A sleep over on this Saturday night with nine or so boys, I'm scared... 

Finishing up the 'real' day with a Birthday dinner out, totally fun. Even under the circumstances that our restaurant choice had to include a T.V. for the Chargers debut on Monday night football. And they won, yea! 

Happy with a minnow bucket, I love it! 

Happy Birthday EE! 

"Look mom, I match my jammies"

"In deed you do!"

In conclusion...

Well to end the story from the previous entry here it is... Ethan caught the biggest fish of his fishing career on the day Joe lost his ring. We rented a metal detector from Hardware Sales and searched for hours and it is no where to be found. So good bye new shiny engraved wedding band, we will miss you! I'm sure to Joe helping Ethan catch this fish was an exciting enough experience to dull the loss. :) 

Does anyone have a METAL DETECTOR?

Can anyone help us? Joe lost his wedding ring while fishing with Ethan. He put some sort of magic fish-catching oil on the bait... ahh duhhh. His fingers were slippery and the ring fell off. We know the area it fell, we are just looking for a metal detector to go over the tall grass. Talk about a needle in a hay stack!  If any of you fine people have one or know someone who does we would love to borrow it...  Thanks Friends! 

Hallelujah, Hallelujah... Can you hear me singing?

And they are off! I would like to contain my excitement but why?! You can probably hear my sigh of relief from your house! I am so happy that my little brood have someone other than me to care for, nurture and teach them for part of the day that is NOT me! I will miss you my loves but you better believe I will not miss the 'i'm bored', 'i'm hungrey' or the fighting or the t.v. blasting. Even if I am off to work (Tuesday thru Friday) I am still excited for all of us to have a little routine! 

Cheers to School! 

Oooooh, third grade... 

Who's kid is this anyway? He is a 'dude', I can assure you he is going back much taller and more grown up then when he left in June. I seriously can't believe how much he is growing! 

"Is this where I am supposed to be?"

EE and his teachers Mrs. Ritchie and Miss. Carter