October Events

The year just continues to march right along. October brought us three grandchildren birthdays! We started out on October 9 with Bryce's fifth birthday. This year he started preschool at Mt. Nebo Church and loves it. He is the oldest of the younger group of grandkids that live nearby and he genuinely seems to really love his little cousins. Jake and him get along splendidly and recently he and Cassidy have begun to really play together when it is just the two of them. He adores Kyle and Seth and it is so cute to see him converse with them. He and I have a wonderful time together on Wednesdays and his cheerful smile always makes my day.

All smiles for the birthday boy!

Cassidy turned three on October 26. She has matured so much in the last couple of months and her vocabulary has grown in leaps and bounds. I love to listen to her tell me about something that happened to her as she uses big, grown up words to describe it. She often appears shy, but she has a smile that lights up the room. I love to see her bound into our apartment with BaaBaa (her stuffed sheep) tucked securely under her arm. We have all learned that if Cassidy is upset, we need to make sure she has BaaBaa and soon she will be all right. She still loves trains so Julissa put one on her birthday cake.

Such a sweetheart and she looks just like her mother! :)

Finally on October 29, Mark turned twelve! Mark just recently had a growth spurt and suddenly is beginning to look like a young man. He is very capable and knowledgeable with equipment  and he and Alexis did most of the combining of the sunflowers for Jay this year. He also seems to have a knack for electronics which is very handy in this computer crazed world. Every time we see him, he engages us in conversation, asking about our lives and telling us funny jokes. He is such a pleasure to be with and I always look forward to spending time with him.

Next year he will be a teenager!

October was also vacation month for Steve and me! One of the couples in our small group owns a timeshare in Hilton Head, SC, which was gifted to them by one of their parents. They invited our small group to go for a week  and we were more than happy to take them up on their offer. It was just a wonderful time of relaxation and rejuvenation and spending time with friends. It's hard to believe that we didn't even know these people four years ago and now they are such an integral part of our lives. God sure knew what we needed when we stepped into Victory Church.

Full moon on the beach

Outside of our condo

Beautiful fountain

It was a little windy!

We climbed to the top of the lighthouse

View from atop the lighthouse

Amazing sunset over the water

Palm trees

We were so excited to see an alligator!

Our wonderful, amazing, caring small group

One other thing I did in October was take Awstin to the Choo-Choo Barn. If you have followed my Blog you will remember that this is something I started with him when he was quite small. Although all kids like the Choo-Choo Barn, Awstin LOVES it and can never get enough of it, so I try to take him once a year. Even though he is older now, he is still just so excited and we had such a wonderful time.

His favorite place

Can't go to the Choo-Choo barn without taking a picture on this train

Selfie!

Well, that pretty much wraps up October. I'll be back at the end of December to close out the year.