Family Pictures

We just had our family pictures taken....they turned out so great.

And true to life.

We had a photographer friend take them, and if you're in the area

and looking for a good photographer, let me know.

 

I really, really like almost all the ones we have, but

I'll try to narrow it down a little so it's not too much.

 

Little Olive wouldn't even look at my friend for the first little while,

even though she sees her in Primary every week at church.

But eventually she did, and we are so glad.

 

This is my favorite of the whole family.

 

I can't tell which one of Sour Cream's pictures is my favorite.

Every expression is so true to life; I get them every day as he is trying to be big

but still struggles because he's small.

 He finally cheered up a little when I put his brother on his lap.

Cheddar loves to play with his tongue, so this is perfect. 

 Pretty Tomato.

 Just the boys.

 If only they got along this well every day.... 

 

And a couple more for good measure.

 

 



Preparing

Does anyone else feel like they need to do a better job being ready?

For years, we've worked on our emergency preparedness

a little at a time, and we have enough of some things,

a little of other,

and a long way to go in some areas.

 

Today I finished my last class for CERT training.

It's Community Emergency Response Team; basically after a

disaster (not terrorist), a CERT team gets together and helps rescue people

and do basic first aid until the professionals are able to step in.

It's been really interesting and a lot different from any

other emergency or first aid class I've had before.

It's because the scope is different.  With CERT, you are planning on being

in a situation where EMS and professional help is on the way, but it'll

be days before they can reach you.

So you have to change the way you help people and focus on

doing the most good for the greatest amount of people.

One thing that I really like about CERT is that

PERSONAL SAFETY is your TOP PRIORITY.

And this includes your family, so if you or your family are not okay with

the CERT team member leaving to help others, then you don't go.

 

 

I will be doing the physical simulation in two weeks so I can earn my diploma,

assuming that I passed the written test today.

Which I think I did.

If there's a class offered in your community, you should take it.

It's a bit of a time commitment to take the class,

but it's really valuable information, even if you never help out with an emergency.

And even if you are not okay with touching others, or blood, or are

physically limited in any way, you can still have a part to do.

Which I also love.

All you need is a desire and willingness to help.

You can learn more about it here.

Pumpkin Patch

As soon as I decide to do better writing on here, I let myself

take a break because we had family in town.

I'm not apologizing; it was super fun to have her here & I'm sure I will

make the choice to neglect the blog the next time we have company.

Lucky for you, it doesn't happen often.

 

My little sister came to visit for a week and we loved it.

It was so convenient that she chose to come during

a three-day school week when Tomato's teacher forgot the week was short

(which meant we didn't have to worry about doing any homework!).

It was great, and we definitely took advantage of nice weather

and no homework.

 

Wednesday right after school, we headed off for our annual visit to the pumpkin

patch.  I thought about changing the farm we have been going to, but the price is right.

All the extra activities at this farm are free, and everyone else charges.

And I really like that the free corn maze is just the right size for little kids.  There's really no way

they can get lost in there; which tells you how small it is.

 

The annual growth chart.

  My dwarves 

Inside the maze 

 At the toy pile 

 Cheddar was thrilled to be there

 Tractor time

 

 

 The following poses were all spontaneous...each one has

great things, so I couldn't choose just one

 

Since I don't really LOVE carving pumpkins,

we let the kids choose their own from the

tiny pile (also super cheap).