Long Weekend Recap

We were so grateful to have a four-day weekend with lots of fun family time and some great times with good friends. Raking and blowing leaves were one of the big projects we tackled this weekend. We love our yard and love our trees, but this is the time of year when it's hard to remember why!

See if you can locate Brennan in this picture!

It was also time to appease the littles and set up the Christmas tree! There is a rather large fascination with Christmas lights, so getting the tree set up and decorated was one of the highlights for the weekend for the boys.

 

  

We capped off the weekend with a visit to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens for their Garden Fest of Lights with some dear friends. For little boys that love Christmas lights, this was a perfect outing for them! There were Christmas lights everywhere in the garden, including some pretty impressive light sculptures. Our favorite was a giant dragon over the path that you walked through! There was also an entire room of model trains that I wasn't quite sure we'd ever get Owen out of. It was a great way to cap off the Thanksgiving weekend and get us ready for the Christmas season.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

No, that's not our family, but I've been lazy with the camera lately, so this is the best I can do. Enjoy :)

Thanksgiving Feast

Yesterday was the Thanksgiving Feast at the boys' preschool. All the kids sang a song and then we had a big potluck lunch. It was a lot of fun to get to see Brennan and Owen up front in their first school performance!

That time of year

It's that time of year again when our trees begin shedding their leaves and needles, thus requiring large of amounts of raking and blowing on our part. We started getting the yard cleaned up last weekend and began making the "wall" in front of our house (the county will come by and vacuum up all the leaves and pine needles to make mulch; we just have to get everything to the curb), which we anticipate to grow even larger as the weeks pass. But...of course after all the hard work, there needed to be a little bit of fun!

 

 

Quick Wrap-Up

We had a great few days with my parents during their visit, despite a couple of pretty rainy and windy days that drove us inside. The boys loved getting lots of extra attention and Brennan was thrilled to get a special shopping outing with Grandma and Grandpa!

We took some time on their last full day with us to visit a Civil War battlefield near Petersburg. The adults learned a good bit about what took place there and the boys enjoyed all the outdoor time, complete with lots of running and checking out the cannons!

 

 

Apple Time

My parents are here visiting for the next few days (just in time to ride out a hurricane!), and the boys, Brennan especially, are incredibly excited for a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Prechel! It's the first time we've seen them since last Christmas, so we are very grateful for a long overdue gathering.

We spent yesterday afternoon out at Carter Mountain Orchard for our annual apple picking. This was the first year we've ever gone so late in the season, but were still able to get a lot of good cooking and eating apples. It was great fun to get to share this annual fall trip with the grandparents!

An attempt to reach some high up apples!

 

Hmmm...should I pick an apple or run down the rows? Such a tough decision...

 

WEAG Fall Festival

West End Assembly of God's (WEAG) annual Fall Festival has become a Downer family tradition, and this year was no exception.  Even last year's cold and rainy night didn't dissuade us.  Fortunately, last night was pretty mild and the rain held off until about 7:30, when we were leaving.

Owen enjoyed a few games (especially the ones that involved water or throwing things) and looking at the assembled fire and police trucks.  Later he got brave and did one of the big inflatable slides and then, confidence bolstered, he did a big-boy bounce house that also had a slide in it.  Go Owen!

Brennan was great at the games - especially the bowling one - and enjoyed sitting in the driver's seat of the police mobile command unit.  He also enjoyed a bounce house and several trips down the big inflatable slides.

A good time was had by all!

Owen the Triceratops and Brennan the Lion!

Look out world!  This lion can operate pedals.

The headgear didn't last long, but he couldn't do anything about that tail.

Even lions need a snuggle once in a while.

That's one happy dinosaur!

Just because...

...it's too fun to wear underwear as a hat!

Faces

Pumpkins picked a few days ago turned into jack-o'-lanterns!

Field Trip

Preschool has brought us all kinds of fun new things this fall, including a big boy who has begun to blossom socially and a little boy with an ever increasing vocabulary. Today brought us another fun new thing:  pumpkin patch field trip! Brennan's class headed out this morning (including parents and younger siblings) for some fun with a hayride, choosing a pumpkin to take home, and some play time. Brennan had a blast! I learned very quickly why Owen's two-year-old class opts not to do a field trip to the pumpkin patch:  it was exhausting just keeping track of him, let alone a whole class of active toddlers! Overall, it was a good morning and Brennan is super excited to carve his pumpkin this weekend!

 Getting ready for the hayride to start

Brennan picked out his pumpkin right away and immediately started asking to make it into a jack-o-lantern!

Owen's pumpkin is nearly as big as he is!

 Brennan enjoyed exploring the Hay Maze

 

 Our preschool brought two classes today. Brennan's class is in the front row.

Autumn in North Carolina

We just got back yesterday from a few wonderful days in Cashiers, North Carolina, visiting with dear friends from Orlando days. A couple other families joined us as well, so it brought the kid total to 10! Wild, crazy, and great fun. High up in the mountains, the autumn color was fantastic. We visited a couple waterfalls and spent loads of time outside, soaking up the fresh fall air and enjoying some very much desired cooler weather. It was such a precious time to visit with dear friends who have served Christ on the other side of the world for the past six years, as well as to make some new friends with the other families who came to join in the fun and catching up.

 A group shot of most of us. Somehow, no one managed to fall in the river!

 Daddy and the boys near Waterfall #1 (whose name I can't remember!)

 Brennan checking out the view from behind Dry Falls--yes, there is a wonderful path that allows visitors to walk behind the waterfall!

 Owen was a little overwhelmed by the sheer force of the waterfall. He much preferred to be carried when we walked behind the falls.

 A favorite activity for the kids was tying things to yarn and dangling them off the loft area in the house we stayed at. It kept them occupied for some pretty long stretches!

There was a fantastic green space a short walk away from the house. The kids loved playing in and near the creek and building a castle/fort there. On our last day, Brennan spent most of his time picking flowers for me.

Remembering

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

~Psalm 139:13-16

I face today with mixed emotions. Today was to have been THE day, the day we welcomed baby #3. Alas, God had other plans and called her home after she had only been part of our lives for a brief few weeks. Ella, our sweet angel baby who waits for us in heaven.

We think of her daily and miss her terribly. Today would be so easy to get caught up in what might have been, to allow grief and longing to swallow us. But today is a perfect time to focus thoughts on what lies ahead for us as believers.

The promise of heaven is so incredible. And it's one I didn't give more than a passing thought prior to Ella's death. Now, it's a promise I think of daily. I love to think about the people that Ella gets to meet. It brings me comfort to think that the very first Person she saw when she opened her eyes for the first time was Jesus. The very Voice that called her into being was the same Voice that welcomed her home just a short time after her creation. The Arms that made her are the same Arms that are holding her now. As much as I long for her and wish that she would have lived, I am fully aware of my imperfections as a parent. And now, she gets to be raised by the perfect Parent, the One who wrote the book on parenting! She is living in perfection, untainted by sin and this fallen world. When I think about heaven, I can't possibly wish her back from there. Heaven is her home, and it's our ultimate home as believers; we are "sojourner[s] on the earth" (Psalm 119:19). Days like this make me a bit homesick.

I'm so very, very grateful for the gift of Ella. Her life and death left us utterly changed. Part of me will always wish that God had chosen a different ending to this story. Losing a child, walking this road of miscarriage, is not one I ever would have chosen. But yet in the midst of the overwhelming grief and heartache, God met us in incredible ways. I continue to take comfort in knowing that God knows what it's like to lose a child. He proved Himself faithful over and over again in the days and weeks following Ella's death. I believe He'll meet us today as we remember our baby girl and remember all that lies ahead for us.

We expect a bright tomorrow; all will be well
Faith can sing through days of sorrow, all is well
On our Father's love relying
Jesus every need supplying
Yes in living or in dying
All must be well

~"All Must Be Well" 

Hog Heaven

Today was the Ride for Life, an event The Family Foundation set up to make a public show of support for the unborn.  We had pro-life bikers from around the Commonwealth come to Richmond to ride up to the Capitol and back to the staging area at a local church called The ROC.  I thought Brennan and Owen might enjoy seeing all the bikes.  Click on the link above to watch video of them arriving at the Capitol.  These photos were all taken at the ROC, before the ride up to the Capitol.

Lots of nice bikes.  Lots of Harleys and a few of the three wheel Cam-Ams.

 

One nice lady let the boys sit on her Cam-Am.  Owen looks so tiny on it.

Brennan brought his own bike so he could join the fun.  Sadly, the City of Richmond Police Department did not allow him to join the procession up to the Capitol, so he had to be content to ride circles around me during the pre-ride speeches.  He did get one of the blue flags to hold though, so he had his own little one-man Ride for Life in the ROC parking lot.

First Day, Part 2

Owen got to experience his first day at preschool yesterday. Due to a small mix-up in the schedule, he'll be going back tomorrow to get on his regular day of Friday mornings. Two mornings all to myself this week...what a treat! We are so glad that Owen gets to experience preschool one morning a week. Hard to believe that both boys have begun the journey of schooling!

First Day, Part 1

Brennan attended his first day of preschool this morning. He was pretty excited, especially since we've really been talking it up to him. But seeing his room a couple days ago really helped him feel pretty comfortable with this big new step. When I dropped him off, he went right in his room without looking back, intent on getting in on the fun right away! Picking him up, he told me that he had a great day and his favorite part was sitting on the carpet (circle time). He's definitely eager to go back again on Monday!

Night at the Races

Thanks to a well-placed friend in the Henrico Police Department, my friend Pete and I got to go to last weekend's NASCAR race at Richmond International Raceway (for the low, low price of ... nothing).  It was the final "regular season" race before the Chase for the Cup begins and my first time going to a NASCAR race of any kind. 

 We also got complimentary pit passes so we were able to walk along pit row.  

 

Victory lane.  Approximately 7 hours after this shot was taken Clint Bowyer was giving his post-victory interviews (but not with his car, which ran out of gas right after he sealed the victory).  

 About to start.  The pace car is just about to pull off the track.  Dale Jr. was on the pole, with Jeff Gordon next to him (he came back from a lap down to take 2nd place and secure a spot in the Chase).  Denny Hamlin (fourth car back on the left) led most of the race but a late tactical error late cost him a chance to win for the third straight time.

Just above the black and white checkered thing is the back of Mitt Romney. 

Getting Oriented

This morning was Preschool Orientation for both boys. Brennan will be attending three mornings a week and Owen will attend one morning a week. We are so excited for them to begin this preschool experience (and yes, I'm thrilled to have one morning a week sans kiddos!). At orientation, they got to meet their teachers and explore their rooms. I was hard pressed to get them to actually leave, but Brennan was a bit more appeased when I told him he would be coming back on Friday for his first actual day of preschool. What a big, exciting year ahead for these boys!

Posing outside his classroom by his coat hook

Birthday Weekend

Friday was my birthday, and John gave me the best gift ever:  a 25-hour kid-free date! He had arranged for a couple friends to take care of Brennan and Owen for us so that we could have our first overnight with the kids since before Brennan was born. We spent Friday night at a hotel in Fredricksburg and then spent Saturday exploring DC, trying to fit in as much as we could that would not really be interesting to the boys. We took in the National Archive Museum and the Library of Congress (which really made me want to watch the movie "National Treasure" again. We split up for a little while so John could take in the National Gallery of Art and I could wander around the National Museum of the American Indian. We capped off our trip with a quick visit to the National Portrait Gallery and made our traditional post-DC stop to IKEA for some Swedish Meatballs. It was a busy, full day but so wonderful to get away for a while, sans kiddos.

 The elaborate ceiling of the Library of Congress

 

The interior of the main gallery of the Library of Congress

 

 

The backside of the Capitol building

 

One of the brief moments of respite