Fall catch up

I thought I would do one giant post all about fall to catch up on things.  Fall is such a great time of year.  It is probably the most pleasant of all the seasons in Iowa.  It is a great time to be outside and spend time with the family.

We got to work in the yard one day in beautiful weather.  The kids know how to make work fun.

 

 

 

 

 

The girls have been dressing up and taking pictures of each other lately.  Anna took this one of Lizzy.
 

I got to cash in on a birthday present and Greg and I went to see "Ballet Folklorico" at Iowa State.  We had great seats.  It was fun to do something different.
 

 

Here is Ben and Lizzy enjoying the rain together.  I love that our kids are friends with each other.
 

What would fall be without a trip to a corn maze in the freezing cold?  We love corn mazes and we found a good one this year.  Come visit us in the fall and we will take you with us.
 

 

Greg got to travel to a new place for work.  He went to Sau Paulo, Brazil.  His passport is looking pretty full and varied these days.  He loved Brazil's people and their food.  Here are a few pics from his trip.  Think BIG city.

 

 

 

While he was away our wonderful youth from church held a carnival for the primary kids.  I took this picture for Greg because he and the Young Men he works with at church made it.  His name is Goliath and the kids had to try to knock him down.

This year we carved pumpkins without Greg, too.  I can't believe how well the kids can do these days.  I had to help Jacob a lot, but the others I helped very little.  Here is their handy work.

Lizzy's pumpkin

 

 

Adam's pumpkin
 

Ben's Pumpkin

Jacob's pumpkin

Anna's pumpkin

Halloween was fun this year.  Lizzy was a bag of Jelly Beans.  Isn't she cute?

The back of Lizzy's Jelly Bean bag.

Anna,  I see marvelous things in your future.

Ben the Ninja.

One of Anna's friends came trick or treating with us.  Jacob didn't want to participate in pictures but he was a knight.

The Jelly Beans just looked too good.  They had to be eaten.

Last year Adam didn't go trick or treating and regretted it.  This year he decided to go.  Yes, I let my eighth grader go trick or treating.  Adam said, "Mom, I think I am short enough I can get away with it."  He went with some friends and they got a haul!

I am not sure why this is sideways, but here is Adam and friends checking out their loot.  Adam weighed his candy and had over 7 pounds.  One of the other boys had over 10 pounds.  That is what a 13 year old calls a successful night!

 Anna had to blend two animals to make a new animal for science class.  Here is her drawing of her Toukey.

Lizzy having fun on her date with Greg

I loved this picture from the library.  This fall the kids have all enjoyed reading Brandon Mull's latest book, "The Arcade Catastrophe".  You should check it out, especially if you love "The Candy Shop War".

I am sure I have more pictures I haven't found yet, but hopefully you got a glimpse into our fall.  Now it is Christmas time!  Yeah!

Adam's Super Date

Tammy and I like to take each of the kids out on "dates" a couple of times each year.  It allows for some fun one-on-one time and we all really enjoy them.  Every few years we try to do something extra special that we call a "super date".  Last month, I got to take Adam on a "super date" to Utah.

The first day we spent in Provo at BYU.  It was fun for me to show Adam around all the places I used to hang around during college.  It was also fun for me to see everything new about campus ... a lot has changed in the 14 years since I was there.  Being a sports nut, Adam was especially interested in the sports facilities.  Here he is at the soccer field.

Here's Adam in front of the Maeser building (the first building on campus where the original Brigham Young Academy was started).

Since I was a computer science major, I had to take him to the Talmage building computer labs where I had spent much of my college life.  I was surprised to find a giant Kung Fu Panda in the lobby.  BYU has one of the leading computer animation centers in the world and I guess the guy that created Kung Fu Panda was a BYU grad, so he donated this statue.

After a fun day on campus, we met up with Tammy's grandparents and aunt and headed to the BYU versus Utah State game.  It turned out to be a defensive game with not a lot of points, but in the end BYU won so we came away happy.

Saturday and Sunday was our church's general conference. Tammy's grandpa managed to get us tickets to two different sessions - the Saturday evening Priesthood session and the Sunday morning general session.  Here is Adam with his great-grandpa outside of the conference center Saturday evening.

Adam and I enjoying the evening together.

When we arrived Sunday morning, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was practicing and warming up for "Music and the Spoken Word".  One of the best parts of being there in person is to hear the choir (especially for Adam because of his great love of music).  It was fantastic (and the speakers were great too of course!).

 Heading out of the conference center, we got this great shot of the Salt Lake temple.

Here's Adam practicing for the future!

Sunday afternoon, all of Tammy's extended family gathered for a meal and game night.  We had a fantastic time and it was fun to see everyone again.

On Monday, we had planned to head up to go hiking in the mountains, but Adam decided he'd rather spend
the day with Grandma and Grandpa, so we stayed at their house and played a rousing game of ethnic rummy (during which I had a amazing come-from-behind victory).  Grandma & Grandpa were great hosts for us all weekend.

The whole weekend was a fun and memorable time.  I appreciated the time I could spend with my boy whose growing up much too quickly (can you believe he'll be 14 in February!).  I'm proud of who he is and the way that he lives his life.  He's a great example for his little sisters and brothers and really helps shape our family for the better.

Ben's Baptism

One of the special things about turning 8 in our church is that you get to be baptized.  We do not baptize children until they are eight because we do not believe they are accountable until that time.  We believe the atonement saves all children who die before they are 8 years old.  That is a beautiful thing to me.  Our wonderful Ben chose to be baptized and make a commitment to keep the commandments and try to be like our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He also received the gift of the Holy Ghost which will help guide him throughout his life.  He was also welcomed as a member into our church.  It is an occasion to be celebrated.  
Ben was born on the same day as his cousin, Lawson so it was only natural that we celebrate the day with my brother's family.  

We asked Ben and Lawson if they wanted to get baptized together on the same day or have their own separate services.  They both wanted to do it together.  We traveled to Wisconsin so we could all be together for their special day.  Ben was baptized by Greg and Lawson was baptized by his father (my brother) Todd.  We were thankful that my grandparents could be there and also, my sister-in-law's parents, the Fromms.  We have seen them enough they seem like family, too.

The service was great.  Todd, Deanna and I sang.  They are pros so it was really fun for me to sing with them.  Then Lawson's Grandpa Fromm talked about baptism.  The boys were baptized by their dads.  Then I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost.  Then the boys were each given a special blessing and the gift of the Holy Ghost.  We enjoyed a great lunch prepared by Deanna afterwards.  The Ebberts had many friends who traveled to be there as well as many friends from church.  It was fun to sit around visiting with family and celebrate these two wonderful boys.  It's funny because Lawson and Ben are about as different as two boys can be, but they still get along well.  We are so grateful for Ben and we are so grateful for the Ebberts.  We have loved having them in Iowa for the last several years and now Wisconsin.   

My awesome sister-in-law, Deanna, made this great announcement for us to send out

We arrived at the church before anyone else so we had some time to take some pictures

The fabulous five

It is rare for Greg and I to get our picture alone together.  this is pretty close (note Jacob and penguin in the background)

Adam bribed Jacob to stay out of the picture.  We are so proud of you Ben!

Lizzy

I love this picture.  I could have cropped it, but I like that I am in the background with my kissy face too.

Having a little fun

The most wonderful family in the world

Greg and Ben dressed in their whites

Todd, Greg, Lawson, and Ben

Cousins

Ben with his Great Grandparents.  They have made it to all of children's baptisms and baby blessings.  How we love and appreciate their love and support of our family!

What a great day!

Finches and Ebberts Sunday after church

It just wouldn't be an Ebbert event if we didn't have a picture like this.  I especially love Todd's crazy face.