two lil punkins

i know... 2 posts in just a few hours! well i figured i'd better share these pumpkin patch pictures before thanksgiving, huh? we had such a fun evening at the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago. unfortunately, in our town, we don't get to drive out to the country to an actual pumpkin PATCH... we drive through 4 stop lights to a small patch of grass in between a restaurant and a bank on the main road where a church has brought in a bunch of pumpkins that they probably bought from sam's club. and this year, there weren't even an abundance of pumpkins... so please ignore the used car lot in the background and also ignore the lack of pumpkins. i tried to gather about 25 pumpkins to make a good little photo area, but i failed to consider the necessity of filling up the background as well. but boy have i learned my lesson for next year. :) maybe i'll scope out a place in the country for next year...

jeff & kristie met us out there with karina, and heather brought avery & savannah, too. nana also came to help make the kids smile. ethan and avery had so much fun running around the "patch", which was very easy to do since there weren't very many pumpkins in the way! we failed to get very many pictures of ethan because he was just enjoying himself waaaay too much to settle down, but we did manage to capture a few group shots. and we even got one with all 3 cousins actually sitting and looking at the camera. i think that is a first since caroline's newborn days. and i'm not exaggerating.

enjoy the pictures of our little punkins. we have so much to be thankful for during this thanksgiving season. boy do we ever.







"cheese!"

"if we smile, do you promise to stop singing?"

"yay! they stopped!"

heather and me and our 4 punkins

"please don't make us sit still one more minute!
there's a field to run in!!!!!!"



"this is one heavy pumpkin!"

oh how i love this picture...
i can just imagine these girls talking
to each other like this in a couple of years.
they look like they are in one serious conversation!

stairsteps: karina- 14 1/2 mos.,
caroline- 11 1/2 mos, savannah- 8 mos.



this one is a momma's heart-melter...
he is getting way too big.

it did not take ethan long to find his
"eee-beeee" (itty-bitty) pumpkin.



since this was caroline's pumpkin patch debut (and really since she was sitting surprisingly still during the photo shoot), we have the most pictures of her... it was hard to just choose a few favorites, so just humor me.



this picture is ONLY adorable if you have seen caroline make this funny face...
she scrunches up her whole face and grunts to imitate dogs, cars,
and pretty much anything. i'm so glad brian caught it on camera...

this is precious to me because of this picture of ethan last year. caroline signs "please" with more precision than ethan did... i guess she is slightly dainty after all! :)







i love this last picture of our family... not exactly a portrait-perfect pose, but it's pretty indicative of our family in motion... my mouth is open, ethan is 2 seconds from escaping, caroline is trying to fling herself backwards, and brian is... sitting still. :) haha.


i hope you are enjoying the fall as much as we are these days! i can't believe that caroline's birthday is this week, and then thanksgiving is right around the corner! have a great week!