Apple Picking Again

Oh how I love apple picking each year.  I look forward to it all year long.  Especially when we will be picking honey crisp apples.  It just doesn't get any better.  Just thinking about all the yumminess that will come from these apples (including just eating them as is), makes my mouth water.

After picking the apples we went to another orchard just down the road where they make fabulous donuts and sell meats and cheeses and cider.  They have a big area with a few picnic tables and some hay bales for the kids to play on, as well as some goats you can feed.  Since this is an orchard and they also have apples you can pick, someone asked me yesterday why we don't just go there to pick the apples in the first place instead of going to another orchard and then coming to this one just for the donuts etc.  I think it's because our first time apple picking a couple years ago was such a wonderful day (it still ranks as my favorite day I've had here), and that this other orchard is the one that helped provide that day, I am now loyal to them.  Maybe it's a little weird, but oh well.

It seemed like half our ward was there apple picking that day and then everyone was eating donuts. Emma had fun playing with all the kids and enjoying the glorious weather.  I love this time of year!

Emma's Baptism

Last Saturday, the 14th of September, Emma was baptized.  I can't believe she's old enough.  I can't believe she's finally to this point in her life.  One of those amazing moments as a parent.  And the service was wonderful.  So many people came to support her and help us out.  She felt so loved.  I can't thank everyone enough who was there.  We pushed it back a couple weeks from her birthday so that her grandma and great-grandma could be there for it.  And it was great having some family there.  I knew that living so far away from family would make it difficult for anyone to come to something like this, especially at the start of the school year, but I am very grateful that they were able to be here for it.

It was amazing to see Emma during the service.  She felt the Spirit so strongly.  She has always been very tender hearted and very in tune with emotions, both hers and other peoples.  It's one of her best strengths.  After she had been baptized and before she was confirmed, her grandma asked her to come up and say the fourth article of faith, which she did, as she started to tear up a little.  And Emma doesn't get nervous in front of people.  These were not nervous tears.  She was very calm as she stood there, as the tears welled in her eyes.  At the end of the service, while we were singing the closing song, she was just sobbing.  The Spirit was overwhelming to her.  I just sat there holding her as she began her lifelong relationship with the Spirit.  It was so precious.  I am so amazed that I get to be her mom.  She is such a blessing to me.  This girl has so many precious gifts.  She is destined for wonderful things as she serves her Heavenly Father.  I am so happy I was able to witness this special day of hers.  The Spirit was very strong.  Several people came up to Eric and me afterwards and told us they had never cried at a baptism before, but they cried at this one.

We had some refreshments afterwards with everyone, and it was nice talking to them.  I appreciated so much their coming out on a Saturday morning to support Emma.  It meant so much to me.  After we finally left, we went to a nearby park to take a few four generations pictures of Emma with Eric, his mom, and his grandma.  It was an absolutely perfect day.

All ready to go!

I am so lucky these two are in my family!

I had these pictures out on the table with the programs.  Sort of a representation of Emma growing up along with a current photo of her.

Better view of the pictures I used.

The programs.  Emma drew this picture when she was 4 years old.  It's of her being baptized by Eric.  We've been saving it ever since to use at her baptism.  We did have a nice current photo of her on the back too, but just had to use this one for the front!

Four generations.

And finally, the girl of honor herself, in the lovely dress my mom got for her.

Family Visit

Eric's Mom and Grandma just came to visit us.  Their visit coincided with Emma's baptism.  It was so nice to have them here with us.  Eric's Mom has come before, but his Grandma has never been able to visit us here, so it was wonderful seeing her too.

Eric gave them the grand tour around town, we went out to Lake Geneva, enjoyed the shops there and ate at the Sprecher restaurant, enjoyed the beautiful weather while at a pumpkin farm, and of course had some ice cream too.  The best part was just getting to spend time together.  As usual, their visit was over way too soon.  We all hope they can come back to visit again soon!

Welcome sign from Emma in their room.

Eric and his Grandma

Eric showing off his twinkie sundae

Action shot of Emma and her Great-Grandma hitting a balloon around.  It was so fun to watch and hear both of them giggling!

Raspberries and Monsters

I love raspberries.  They are my favorite food.  Emma has apparently inherited this from me, and she loves to eat them as much as I do.  So it was a given that we'd go raspberry picking together.

Just getting started!

Does it get any better than this?

Just for fun, we put these stuffed animals inside Emma's closet recently.  It seemed their proper place.  Since most of them are from my mom, I wanted to share the picture so she could see them.

First Day of School

Emma started 3rd grade this year.  Yikes!  I just had to share these pictures with you.  She chose her first day of school outfit, and it looked very familiar.  Yup, she's worn this same outfit for the first day of school 3 different times!  I guess we've definitely gotten our money's worth our of these clothes!  She wore them on her first day of Kindergarten, 1st grade, and now 3rd grade.  I don't know what happened last year - guess she forgot or something.  I feel safe in saying that next year will be something different, because there's no way this will still fit her.  It still fits her well enough though, and if that's what she wanted, I wasn't going to argue.  It's just funny to me.  So here for your viewing pleasure, ordered oldest to most recent, are the first day of school pictures featuring this outfit.

Kindergarten.  The outfit was brand new at this point.

1st grade.

3rd grade.  The final first day of school for this outfit.