Sweet Ethan

Nearly six weeks ago on October 14th, sweet Ethan Fulton Richardson made his way into this world. My dearest friend, Carrie, became a mom for the first time and I am an auntie once again. He is just the tiniest, most precious little guy and we love him to pieces. Care and Alex are amazing parents and have taken to the whole parenting gig with ease. It's been so wonderful to witness. We can't wait to see where this little charmer will go...

Still a little bruised from a rough delivery, but so beautiful. He has a ton of dark hair and looks a lot like Alex - he's a doll!

Kennedy and I meeting Baby Ethan for the first time

Kennedy was remarkably calm around the baby and didn't seem to mind me holding him. I was pleasantly surprised.

A natural. Carrie is one of the most amazing people in my life and it has been such a treat to watch her fall so in love with this sweet baby boy. She is calm and relaxed and seems to know exactly what she's doing. She's remarkable!

Halloween Happenings

A month late, but I'm determined! Here is some evidence of the fun that we had in the days leading up to Halloween. It seemed like it was a week long celebration this year with school parties, local events and then trick-or-treating on Halloween night. The kids loved every minute of it.

Carter and Kennedy downtown Camas getting ready to trick-or-treat during the Boo Bash. It's a rather insane amount of people jamming down one street, but the weather was good and the kids had fun, so it was worth it. It's a great tradition here in our little town.

We experienced the Boo Bash with the Pikes again this year. Here's our attempt at a group shot, pretty adorable kids, I'd say.

As much as I'd love Kennedy to smile for the camera, I also kind of love capturing her trademark scowl. You'd think we were torturing her with the lens :)

Such a sweet face...making our last stop at DQ before heading home from the Boo Bash. It's crazy, but the kids really love it.

Smiles! I actually captured them both smiling - Happy Halloween!

Kennedy kept up with the big kids and really got into trick-or-treating this year.

So excited to be out trick-or-treating. The kids lasted well over an hour and came home with more candy then they'll ever need. Four weeks later and we're still not rid of it!

10 years...

A lot has changed in the ten years since we graduated from Linfield, but thankfully our wonderful friendships have remained. I was fortunate enough to spend a fun weekend with some of my college girlfriends, celebrating our 10 year reunion. We enjoyed great food, fantastic Willamette Valley wine and priceless friends. Already looking forward to our next get together.

Outside our fabulous hotel, Inn at Red Hills, home to the oh-so-delicious Farm to Fork.

(Ali, Sarah, me, Gina, Carrie and Lins. Andrea is missing from this one, as she headed out early)

Lindsey and I, represting Whites #13

Eyrie Winery in McMinnville. I found myself wondering, why didn't we do this more when we lived here?

First winery of the weekend - getting things off to a good start!

Wine tasting in Dundee - Hobbs Winery

My dear friend, Ali. We got the ball rolling for this wonderful weekend and are so glad we did. What fun!

Oh how we love our wine

Sunshine and patches

I consider it a charitable act of God when we have sunny weather in the fall. It just doesn't get much better than that. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, and it's made all the better when the air is crisp and the sun is shining. We lucked out and had TWO beautiful days to visit the pumpkin patch this year. The first was a quick trip to Joe's Place with Nana and the kids and then the second was with Carter and his classmates for a field trip.

Carter getting our wheel barrow.
Muscle man!

Pumpkins just her size

Cater and Nana on the tractor ride

Making her way through the hay maze

On top of the world...well the hay pyramid anyways

Carter and his good buddy Kannon

The Lollipops with Miss Michell

I was so thankful to be able to go with Carter's class to the pumpkin patch. It was a wonderful day!

A Super Soccer Season

This past Saturday wrapped up an eight week soccer season for Carter. With this being his first foray into team sports, I think it's safe to say that the season was a success. The kids had so much fun and pretty much dominated each game. There were definitely a couple of stand outs on the team, but most of the players improved and everyone scored a few goals. Carter had his best two games at the end of the season, scoring 5 and 4 goals respectively. We encouraged him to be a little more aggressive and actually go TO the ball. His MO throughout most of the season was to run up ahead of his teammates, once they had gotten the ball, and cherry pick the ball and score. It was kind of funny, really, as there was usually more defense among our own team then from our opponents. Overall it was a great season, and Carter is already asking when next year's season will begin.

First game...GO Blue Streaks!

Enjoying snack after the game - certainly one of the highlights!

Team huddle

Carter and Andrew - these two were great and really loved playing on the same team. Andrew is a fantastic little athlete and single handily beat most of our opponents!

Off he goes, look at that determination

Goal kick

SCORE! It was so fun to watch Carter score a goal. He literally beamed from ear to ear and loved to hear the cheers.

buddies

Can't you just tell he's having fun?

And the trophy - brought it for share at school and has not been without it for most of the past four days. It was a big deal, for sure.

The Blue Streaks with Coach Lori

(Caden, Eva, Evan, Andrew, Carter and Mason)

Cheers to Judes

This year's Alzheimer's Walk happened to correspond with Judy's 60th birthday, so Carrie put together a team and we all walked to support finding an end to this horrific illness. Unfortunately the weather wasn't especially nice, but I think everyone had a good time and I know my family felt honored to be walking with Carrie in honor of her mom.

A few team members kicking off the start of the walk

Having fun and getting wet!

a big *thank you* to everyone who donated to help this effort

Kyle and Carter after the walk. Carter did great and walked nearly the entire 5K route. He had fun...although one of the most tender moments came when he asked how sick Auntie Carrie's mom was. Here's how our conversation went:

C: "Does she have a really bad cold, mom?"

Me: "No honey, she's much sicker than that, as sick as a person can possibly get"

C: "oh, she must be throwing up all day then."

It was so touching to realize that all the sickness that my son has ever known is a cold or a stomach bug. In his four year old innocence, I felt so blessed that throwing up was as sick as he could imagine being. I hope it stays that way for a very long time.

GO Bears!

My dear husband is a devoted Chicago Bears fan. Even through the rough years (and there have been many), his loyalty has never wavered. I think his obsession began back in the day when Walter Payton was playing and he's stayed true ever since. So, when I happened upon these vintage NFL shirts at Old Navy, I was pumped. It was the first time in 10+ years when Kyle was actually happy about me shopping. I orginally just bought shirts for Carter and Kyle, but Kyle thought Kennedy and I should be sporting blue and orange, as well. So here we are.

Our little (slightly dorky) family all decked out in our matching Bears shirts.

The kids on game day - Go Bears!