Gloria Colleen Schoettmer, Nov 9, 2011

 Just a few hours after she was born, I was able to go see her in the hospital  Due to my cough though, I couldn't get too close.

 Heather, Gary and Gloria came home on Sat.  This is Gloria sleeping peacefully in Leah's arms.

 Aunt Leah wasn't sick:)

 One week old and out for her first trip, aside from the doctor's office.  They came to mom and dad's for dinner.  Brent, Elli and I met them there.

 Sweet girl getting all bundled up:)

 Elli's first chance to hold her newest cousin.  Such a sweet picture of both of them.

I was finally able to hold her and spend some time with her.  What a precious baby girl.

Annual Leaf Raking at The Ferguson's

 Brent forgot to pack Elli's suitcase, so while I went shopping, she made do with Jenna's old clothes:)

 The boys stripped the siding off the house in preparation for new siding.

 Hard at work.

 The highlight of our trips to Michigan now include visiting the horses at the Snyder's.

 Three of the four grandkids.  Aria, Seth, Elli.

 We all got in on the fun of playing in the leaves.

 She had a blast:)

 The "leaf boat."  Seth was quite unsure about this ride, so Elli was holding him up.

 Love her sneaky looking grin in this one:)

 Nana and the kids.

 Jenna got in on playing with Elli.

Feeding the horses apples and carrots.
It was a fun trip home.  We got a lot done, or I should say, they got a lot done:)  I went shopping and played with Elli and Seth!  We missed Devin, Lance, Lana, and Liam.  Hopefully we will all together at Christmas time!

Kids Praise Nov 6

 The kids taught us sign language for the songs they were singing.

I love that our church family has such wonderful children's leaders.  Elli has learned to love singing, signing, and praising through these two methods.

A little Leaf Fun

 She could not wait to jump in the leaves from our lone maple tree in the back yard!

 Run and jump!

 Elli wanted to get a picture of me taking my turn.  She pretending to take video and was saying, "Here goes mommy on her first jump into the leaves."  I love her!

 Crash:)

Pure joyful fun.  So love days like this:)

Trick or Treat

 My little Jasmine with her pumpkins:)

 Of course there is a pose.

 She couldn't wait to hand out candy.

 We ran to my parents house.  She walked right in and then the little trick-or-treaters tried to follow her:)  She just wanted to hand out candy.

 We met up with Tigger for a few houses as well. (what a cutie!) Elli was cold and then just started handing out candy from her bucket to kids she passed along the way:)

 The crew came for the last half an hour.  The Raymonds and Masters joined us for a bit.

 Look at the line up!

Cody, Madilynn, Caroline, Emma Grace, Elli, Lily, Caleb, Andrew, Lucia:)

Trunk or Treat at Leah's

 We made cookies to take to Matt and Leah's to celebrate Matt's birthday.

 We then went to her church's fall festival.  Elli loves bouncy things:)

 Heather got to go through the corn maze.  She barely fit through a couple parts!!!!

 The robots were not so excited about being robots:)

 Elli went to gather candy.  There were a ton of cars but Elli only wanted to to do a few rows so she could go back and help Leah hand out candy.

When Leah's candy was all gone, Elli grabbed her bag of candy and proceeded to give it to the kids coming by saying, "Mom, I don't need this candy.  I already have some and I will get another pile tomorrow.  So, I will give t to these kids."  I love her kind heart.

School Party and Pumpkin Carving

 Elli won bingo, twice!

 Her little table of friends.

 Went to Kyle and Meg's to celebrate Meg's birthday and carve pumpkins.  Hard at work:)

 Elli getting in on the action.

 Seth getting in on the action.  He replied, "Nummy!"

Kyle carved the house, I carved the owl.  Quite proud of our work:)

A visit and the sky that made me cry

 Dinner at Colonial Pizza with Jenna, Justin, Aria, Devin, and cousin Brittany.  We went from there to Elli's parent-teacher conference.  Elli is doing very well, is a great helper to her teacher and her classmates, and is at the head of the class.  We are proud of her:)

 Brittany did NOT want her picture taken, so this is the only proof of her visit during her 6 week long trip across the states.  It was good to see her.

On the way to school, Elli and I thought the sky was so pretty, I took a picture.  It actually made me tear up, especially when Elli said, "Mommy, he is writing letters in the clouds!"  I asked who.  She replied, "God is.  Isn't it fun that He is making the sky so pretty for us?"  Love her thoughts and how they point to God!

Trunk or Treat, Wednesday Oct 26

 The Yellow Team of Sparks, sweet kids.

 Sven, aka Paula, with Rapunzel and Dora:)

 Two adorable Jasmines!

Just a sampling of the crazy crew of kids that participated in Trunk or Treat.  It was a lot of fun.  So many kids, so well organized:)