October

I can't believe this beautiful month is almost past. We have been blessed with warm, sunny cloudless days for nearly the entire month. Today is a mixed bag of weather. Earlier today it rained and I was in the basement due to a tornado warning and a watch is on until 6PM. The wind is blowing the last of the leaves off the trees and the dark sky is lit by brief moments of sunshine. Last week we moved the patio furniture and cleaned out some of the annuals to prepare for winter. I want to hang on.... I feel a sense of sadness during these dwindling days of autumn.

Yet, this was a month of celebration! Starting with Conley's 4th birthday. She celebrated for a week with her family. These are pictures of her princess luncheon.



We also celebrated time together with new found cousins from Nova Scotia who came to visit our known cousins in Kalamazoo. In this picture, Dolly who is my mother's 1st cousin at 92, is enjoying the visit with her daughters, their husbands, great grandchildren and cousins from Holland, MI and Nova Scotia.


It was on one of those beautiful Saturday's when we went to the orchard to pick up some cider and donuts. Yum! Conley and Tom pose in front of the big pumpkin and they look a bit lonely. Last year Conley was here with her Aunt Angie and Uncle Dan and cousins, Hudson, Claire, Cooper and Tucker.

I couldn't wait to give my sister her Christmas Present! So to celebrate genealogy weekend I gave her the book, "The Road to Englishtown," that contains the genealogy of our mother's side of the family. We read our books together and scoured over old pictures. We also visited with our brother, Gordon to hear his stories of his visits with our grandparents, we never knew.

This past weekend we traveled to Wheaton, IL to watch Jack and Natalie while Kim and Chris celebrated 6 years of marriage. Conley came along to play with Jack and be a "big sister" to Jack and Natalie. She was a big help to grandma and grandpa! We sure did get a big smiling greeting from Jack! There is nothing like a grandchild to make one feel important.

Natalie is an easy going baby who loves to lay on a blanket and roll to her toys and watch her brother and cousin. She also spent some time sitting up in the saucer while they danced around her.

So this is October 2010, and a beautiful one it was, praise the Lord! This is a picture from our woods earlier today. I suspect after another day of high winds, the leaves will be a golden path in the woods.