Senior High Game Night!

We had a great time hanging out with several senior high students Friday night for Game Night at the Hatfield house!

The night got started with a friendly snow ball fight...

(yes, we had accumulated 3 inches by the end of the night on a mid October night)

Staying glued to the tube while competing on X-Box.

And then there is the fearless leader shining his true colors :O)

Having a You-Tube Karaoke

There is nothing like soda, pizza and Texas Hold 'Em!

Singing the night away.

Small towns...love 'em or hate 'em?

You gotta love small towns....

I was dropping off food for a family who had been sick with the H1N1 virus (trying to pay it forward). I was having a hard time finding their house off the mapquest directions (I didn't have their phone number). So as a last resort, I stopped at the only gas station in town to see if they had any idea where to find the street I was looking for. The attendant wasn't sure but she asked who I was looking for. I told her the last name and within minutes I was at their door step. How crazy, cool and small townish is that :O)

Traeger's first ever special music...

He started off a little shy with his hands in his pockets...playing it cool.

Loosening up.

Going for it.

Thursday night fun!

Thursday night the Hatfield family drove down to the Grove to hang out with family for a few days while Nanny and Buddy were on their trek back to FL. We had a great time hanging out with family and friends for a few days!

After a "quick" 3 hour and 15 minute drive south we arrived in the Grove. Just enough time to drop off our stuff, unload, and get situated. Then I was off for a night out with my dear friend Casey (who lives about 30 minutes south of Luke's parents) and leisurely strolls through Target and Michaels.

I'm so thankful to God for my oldest and very dear friend. Thanks for making the time to visit. And I loved seeing your classroom. Those students are blessed to have YOU as their teacher.

Friday family fun

Nanny taking time to read and listen to Traeger

We met up with Luke's friends over their lunch breaks at none other than Qdoba.

Then we drove over to visit Nana and Grandpa Tim at school. Nana was doing her famous archeological dig and the kids wasted no time in jumping right in to help out.

Our Nana is the best!

Grandpa's teachers assistant is pretty cute :O)

Traeger became the official dishwasher.

sweet sibling moment

Their first ipod bonding moment...thanks cousin Autumn for sharing.

Family fun--Brown family get together

"We can 'help' you Grandpa :O)"

Then it was time for the Brown family gathering

The Hatfield family represents

"hey Traeger I want some of your juice"

Ataly has had enough

our kids "loving on" Jack

The girls are wondering what is wrong with their cousins?

Lunch date

Traeger and Daddy went on a special lunch date to Happy Joes.

Traeger thinks his Daddy is a pretty neat guy

(and often will try to be just like "my daddy")

showing off his new guitar that he and Daddy won together

Sleeping beauty

I guess I tried a little too hard to hold off her nap...she won.

A sign of the times...

Sweet friends dropped off a basket full of yummy food and included these lovely masks.

We really enjoyed the spaghetti, fruit, veggies, and ice cream and laughed super hard when we discovered part of our meal basekt included 4 masks (just for our safety :O) or maybe yours)

Our local schools have been closed down for the rest of the week (Wed-Friday) because of the H1N1 bug...crazy times!

The time has come....

Today is Oct. 12 and it marks our first day of snowfall for the year.

I have to be honest and say that it was a little hard for my eyes to be seeing white so early. I'm trying really hard not to be too depressed about it. God is working on me and I'm going to try to have a better perspective from here on out. What I'm realizing is just how fickle and silly it is that I can loose a positive attitude just by the white flakes falling from the sky or the thermometer reading lower than I'd like. God is with me and unchanging despite the changing and sometimes depressing winter days. I'm praying hard God keeps on me this winter and helps me to keep a heavenly perspective. If you so desire....I would covet your prayers for me as I desire to have God be my sustainer instead of the weather, which all too often seems to determine my mood. I'm a work in progress.

Traeger, on the other hand, peers out the kitchen window with glee in his eyes at the mere sight of snow.

Hit by the bug...

For the last 7 days, we have been battling the flu bug. Luke got hit the hardest, he slept for 3 whole days, only waking up to go to the bathroom. He had a fever, chills, night sweats, cough, obviously exhaustion, and lost 10 lbs in the process--crazy. Traeger and I were sick on and off. Some days we felt "well" and the next would be a bad day with fever, chills, runny nose, stuffy nose, chest pains, sore throat. Ugh! Somehow Ataly escaped the whole bug with only getting a runny nose and a cough. Though I don't wish this upon our family again, I will say that God was gracious to us through it. He blessed us with people (you know who you are) who checked in often to make sure we were ok and others who brought over delicious soups, drinks or other goodies to help heal our bodies and our souls. I have to admit I'm not a cryer but I cried often when others would bring us something to make our day a bit brighter...it blessed my heart that others would sacrifice their time to help us out. We were blessed to see God's love generously displayed through others in our time of need. God is good and is sufficient to provide what we need, when we need it! God is answering our prayers and is healing our bodies...by God's continued grace we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and His goodness to us through the trial.

Staff Outing

Dinner and bowling were on the agenda for our staff outing...a great time was had by all. We are so thankful we get to work alongside these awesome people. They are all great examples to us of what it looks like to follow hard after Jesus and serve and love others in His name.

If you're not familiar with FBC's fantastic staff...we have a Pastor of Discipleship (Tim and his lovely wife Renee far left, who just joined us 2 months ago), the church secretary (Kari and her husband Jon, next in line), Pastor of Student Ministries (the Hatfields), Lead Pastor (Brian and his beautiful wife, Korby, pregnant with baby boy #4), and Worship Pastor (Kevin, on the floor).

Just like Traeger...

Ataly loves her brother so much and imitates just about every move he makes. She loves to put on Traeger's clothes so she can look just like him too.

Dance Party!

One of the favorite ways the kids like to pass time is to have dance parties in Traeger's room. They blast the same kid's praise song, "Knock, Knock on Heaven's door", it plays time and time again. The louder and the more times it plays the better in their world. I could use the volume down a bit and maybe mix up the song selection but they love it and therefore I love it. Really, it makes my heart happy to see them singing songs, playing their instruments and doing what kids do best...playing to their hearts content!

More celebrating!

We took Owen out to celebrate his special birthday. He is a sweet little guy with a gentle and loving heart. We enjoyed spending time with him and hearing all about what life is like in the day and the life of Mr. Owen.