All Dressed Up

Emily was Queen Elizabeth.













Alyssa was a cheerleader.







Anna was a princess.

And Eli was a sock monkey.

Our neighbors had this little fall arrangement in their yard. We borrowed it for their pictures.

Trick-or-Treat

We had a great time trick-or-treating this year. I think this was our first time since Emily was 1 year old. We've always gone to Fall Festivals. Anyway, the girls really enjoyed it. Emily was a speed trick-or-treater. Alyssa just tried hard to keep up with Emily and Anna moved slowly checking every thing, person, and candy out.

Here is Eli's one and only trick-or-treat. He was real fascinated with this sweet woman. And he was content to ride in the front of the stroller for the rest of our journey. He's a sweetheart.

Candy!

Emily and her loot.

Alyssa, a.k.a. the candy queen!

Anna is all smiles!

Eli just got his one piece and he we still so happy!

The girls were so excited to hand out candy after we got home...unfortunately, we didn't have but maybe 4 little trick-or-treaters before we had to call in a night.

Carving Pumpkins!

The Rader Pumpkins

Emily giving Casey instructions....eating a cookie. :-)

Emily dug out all the guts by herself.

All done - with some of that cookie still on her chin.

Miss Sally helped Alyssa, who also has a cookie shoved in her mouth.

playing with the seeds

Alyssa with her perfect pumpkin

PaPa helped Anna carve her pumpkin.

Want a bite?

All finished!

Eli liked the pumkin guts.

Mom helped Eli and here's the finished product.

All the Rader pumpkins!

Pumpkin Patch

We headed to the Pumpkin Patch on Wednesday. It was pretty picked over but we still found some great pumpkins.

Anna helped Eli pick his.

Everyone is happy with their pumpkins...We'll carve them tomorrow.

My cousin's Wedding

All ready for the wedding to begin. Eli looks excited. :-)
G and S and I think it's Uncle Shane's head. :-)

The girls found the chocolate!

Emily really wanted to catch the flowers. She tried hard but didn't catch them. Alyssa and Anna didn't really care. And Eli slept on Grandad's lap. He's a trooper.

We traveled home the next day. It was quite a whirlwind of a weekend but I'm glad we went. Thanks, dad, for all the help. Love you!

OU / Texas

Well, we were down in Austin for the big game. So we watched it with one of my Texas fan cousins-the one I've rivaled with for some...15 years? Wow, I'm (we're) getting old. Anyway, we all know the outcome. Thankfully I didn't make a bet with him this year. :-) Here is the Texas JD holding OU Eli just after we lost the game.

Back to Texas

Well, we headed to Texas once again. Another cousin of mine was tying his knot. :-) I'll post pictures from that in a day or two. Casey wasn't able to go but my dad bravely took the journey with us. I have no idea how many stops we made. I think the first one was about 35 minutes into the trip. Anyhow... the girls are trained to stop at the border and they wanted a picture with Grandad.

The hotel is always lots of fun. One of the fun parts is riding on the luggage cart. Does it have an official name?

















Eli didn't sleep well on the trip. As a result, neither did I. And neither did Emily. And even Alyssa found herself awake at 3 o'clock in the morning. Anna, however, slept like a rock. An upside down rock that is.

Field Trip to the Fire Department

We have been talking about communities, so we took a field trip to the Muskogee Fire Department.

The firemen were great to host...only us. They gave the girls the complete tour of the facilities and all the trucks. Anna didn't want to sit in the truck but Emily and Alyssa enjoyed it. One of the firemen even suited up in his complete gear to show the girls what they would look like if they cam to our house because of a fire. The finished the tour with a quiz of safety precautions, as well as, crayons, coloring books and fire badge stickers.

Good Friends

Some good friends from Texas stopped by a few weeks back. They were some of our first friends when we moved down there a few years ago. Their kids and ours have a blast playing together. They were off playing so well, that I almost forgot to take any pictures! ( I was enjoying time with adults!) Anyway, here are the two pics I did get. T and K, you are welcome anytime! We enjoyed the visit.

Eli's new car seat

Here is Eli - his first time facing the front!

Tulsa Fair

We took the girls to the fair this year. It was pretty fun. I had forgotten just how crowded it is. But all the fair food smelled just the same.

Of course the rides where the highlight for the kids. They didn't care for walking through any buildings. :-) I never did as a kid either.

Emily...she's just growing up.

And Cathy, this corn dog is for you!

Family Picture

Emily drew this family picture. Can you guess who is who?

Finally Back On

Well, I can't believe it's been so long....I'm slacking again, I guess. Life for us has been...non stop. And I haven't been functioning so well. (By the way, Thanks, Jamie, for all the encouragement. You are a great friend.) My den appears as though it threw up clothes! We have been doing the 'ole switch from summer to winter with three girls (and their help) and it has been quite a task. For those of you that actually saw the chaos, you'll be happy to know that I've finally got a handle on it and yes, we do have couches! Anyway, I hope to get some pictures and updates of what we've been doing on here soon. Love you all! Here's a snapshot of Anna and Eli. All the girls love taking turns holding him.