Here is Hannah and some of the apples we picked a couple of weekends ago. Yes, it has been awhile since I've posted :) Jeanne, Nancy, Hannah and I went to the orchard near us and picked apples. It was a cold morning, but thankfully it doesn't take long to pick apples. Hannah and I got over 100 pounds in less than an hour. You read that right, one hundred pounds. And yes, it is a lot of apples, but they are nearly all gone now. I have a freezer full of sauce, some cut for pies and frozen, some was made into apple crisp and we even ate a few as they are (and with caramel dip... yum.)

It has been a busy few weeks here. School always keeps us busy, but there has also been a lot of extra stuff going on. Nothing earth-shattering, but just stuff of life. I had a dentist appointment, Tim had a men's retreat, there were a couple of Ladies Book studies, a visit from the Swansens.... just stuff that keeps me going.

It has definately cooled off here. We have had a couple episodes of flurries, but nothing has stuck yet. It is a wonderful time of year in my opinion. I love wearing my bulky sweaters and my boots. I love the smell of Joe and Joanne's wood stove (across the street neighbors). The leaves are always pretty too. We had a lot of wind over the weekend, so nearly all the leaves are down at this point, but they were nice while they lasted.

Hannah enjoyed her first Junior High event with the Philadelphia youth group last Saturday. They went to a camp in New Jersey for a really cool event. She saw kids that she hasn't seen since we moved, so of course that was a joy for her (and them). We prayed about ways of getting her involved with some kids her own age since the church here just doesn't have much for youth. While looking at Philly's website I came across the dates for the Junior High winter retreat. We thought sending her on that for her birthday might be a fun surprise (it is the weekend after her birthday in February). After emailing Gil (the youth pastor) he also suggested the monthly Bible Study group and the occasional activity (like Saturday). So we are giving it a try. The retreat will be a surprise, but just going to the studies and these events has been a thrill for her I think. She has kept in touch writing letters and talking ont he phone, but actually hanging out with friends will be even better. I spent the time scrapping with Dorothy, so it was fun for me too.

And finally, we have Mr. Quin. He is up and rocking, but as of yet, not going forward. He managed to get himself under just about everything, but still goes backwards. He is quite frustrated by it and for some reason seems to think he needs to put his head down and his arms up in the air. He may do a flip-flop before really crawling.