and it will all be coming...

I have been so busy at the end of 2008 that nothing has been documented. (lament, lament). But never fear, the big update will be coming shortly. So stayed tune for...fishing with the Deppongs, Halloween with the Kneses, The Ward Fall Festival (my calling as Ward Activities Director) the Ward Christmas Party, Katie's Class parties (Halloween and Christmas...though you can't call them that), Cats the musical, Thanksgiving with the inlaws and friends, visiting with Shelby and Jim, fun pics around the house, our annual Christmas devotional with the Goodmans and Keetches, and then our fabulous trip to Florida for Christmas...Thanks for allowing me this major backlog of pics, Love to all, Heather

At Katie's class party this year I came dressed as a witch. We hunted up all the ingredients to make a witches brew that the children then ate. It was so much fun and the kids really liked it. here were all the ingredients that went into the brew...

For Halloween this year, Andy went to AAMFT conf in Tennessee. So we were on our own. Left we despair, the Knese's stepped in to be our official Grandparents of the evening. They came, carved our pumpkins, walked the stroller with Griff inside and allowed me to trick or treat with my children. Thank goodness for extra grandmas and grandpas when the real ones are so far away and miss out on so much... Griff was a tiger this year because it was the warmest thing we owned. Although Halloween was such a hot day he really didn't need the extra warmth.
Here Linda carves our pumpkins and hands out candy.... She even came prepared with her own knife in her purse. Is that dedication or what. She then took the seeds home and cooked them for us. Could I get any luckier???
Katie making witches brew from her class party.
Bro. Knese walking Griff in the stroller during trick or treat time. and below are all the neighborhood children who joined in the fun... note that this year Baker wanted to be a moth. He pronounced it mop all evening much to the amusement of anyone who asked what he was.

Katie caught the biggest fish, the smallest fish and a crayfish (or crawfish?). This is her largest catch for the day. It is sad that her poppy lives so far away since I always imagined this to be his job. But luckily there are several grandpas in our church family who are willing to step in. Here Ollie Deppong steps in to teach Katie how to fish. He was very patient with both her and Baker. Especially since Baker really only wanted to throw rocks in the pond.
Not only was her our worm baiter, he was the official fish remover. Ollie and his lovely wife Debbie took us out when Andy was out of town. What a great way to spend a weekend alone with the kids. Inviting others to help entertain them.
Here we are trying to get a fish. I was determined and actually caught quite a few little ones.
And speaking of little, here is the smallest fish we caught. Looks like it could be in a fish bowl.

Griffith after scavenging on the floor for any food at all... Katie's unique way of traveling with Griffith when no one is watching....
Griffith eating the food he dropped previously from his high chair...
Fishing with Debbie...what a treat this was for us

Ollie showing us how to put worms on the hook (and even after all his showing, he was the only one who did it. I couldn't bring myself to inflict pain on the worm and Katie only liked to get them...so he continued to be our official worm hooker.