Happy Birthday Katie!

Yesterday we celebrated Katie's third birthday with a purple party!  We had about 20 people in our house (10 kids) all dressed in purple to celebrate our sweet, purple-loving girl.  We played downstairs, Andrew read "Harold and the Purple Crayon" and then the kids decorated some cupcakes.  My family came from PA and my sister Lauren flew all the way from Portland, Oregon so we had lots of help with the decorating and food.  We loved having her here and especially appreciated her craftiness; she made all the little girls beautiful crowns!  It was a great time and, most importantly, Katie felt loved.  She received many fantastic gifts and has been enjoying them all!

Here are a few pictures (courtesy of my wonderful sister Leanne who loves to take lots of pictures of Katie and Ben :) ) of our visit with my family and of the party.  Thanks to everyone who made her day so special!

 

                                    

Grandpa and Grandma's Visit

Last week Grandpa and Grandma Witmer made the long trip from Maine to Harrisonburg.  It was so good to see them!  They hadn't been to our new house and Grandpa was able to get around to most of the rooms.  We enjoyed some beautiful fall days; the temperature was in the high 70s and the leaves were gorgeous!  We had a picnic lunch on JMU's Quad and they got to listen in on one of Andrew's lectures.  Then on Thursday night Uncle Joel and Aunt Darlene had us all over for a delicious dinner. On Friday morning Grandpa and Grandma took us out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  We loved having them here and look forward to our next visit! 

Here are also a few more Halloween pictures of the kids and our sweet friends the Colemans.

Trick or Treating on Greek Row

Tonight we went trick or treating on JMU's Greek Row with a bunch of friends.  Katie was a cupcake and Ben was a monkey.  Halfway through, we turned our backs for a second and the monkey snagged a cookie!  They were both super cute and attracted a lot of attention!  We'll post more on Halloween, unless the hurricane keeps us inside!

Ben's First Words

Ben has been saying "hi" since he was about 10 months old.  He said it to every car, person, and animal that he saw.  Here he is at about 16 months with some new words.  I think he may be quite a talker!

 

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to a pumpkin patch about 3 miles east of town.  It was the kids' (and Andrew's!) first time and we had fun!  Here are some pictures from our time.  We love Fall in the Shenandoah Valley!

 

After Dinner Fun

Potty Trained!

For the past few months we've been talking to Katie about using the potty.  We're learning that she needs to think and talk about something for a while before she works up the courage to try it.  Finally, the day before we came home from our trip, she made up her mind and said, "Mommy, I don't want to wear diapies anymore."  And the next day she was going on the potty!  She was really ready (and seeing all her older cousins doing it probably helped too).  Within 2 days she was wearing big girl panties and has had maybe 2 accidents total.  Here she is proudly standing in front of her potty with her favorite doll, Baby Allie, who is wearing a new dress from my parents (a great incentive!) complete with panties of her own.  We're so proud of our big girl! 

Our Trip Up North

We returned last week from our big summer trip.  We were away for 19 days, slept 7 different places and drove almost 2,400 miles!  The kids did amazingly well and we all had a great time.  First, we went to Point Pleasant, NJ to the beach with my family.  Then we made our way to Maine by first stopping in to see Andrew's brother, Stephen, and his family for a night in Massachusetts and then to Monson for about 10 days.  We also made a weekend trip to see Andrew's other brother, Tim, in Houlton, Maine, right on the Canadian border.  We made our way to PA for a family reunion in Lancaster, and then back to Harrisonburg.  Whew! Some highlights were watching the kids play in the sand at the beach (they had never been before but were naturals!), kayaking on Lake Hebron, playing in Grandma's "Witmer Grocery Store", four-wheeling in Houlton, relaxing and reading in Monson, and the many wonderful conversations we had with so many family members who warmly opened their homes to us.  I sure do love a professor's schedule :)  Thanks to everyone who made our trip so enjoyable! 

Katie seeing the ocean for the first time!

Beautiful Aunt Lee

Welcome to Maine

Grandma reading to Katie with a special treat- maple sugar!

We went to a bison farm and got some real Maine maple syrup.  Yum!

Lobsters!

Swimming in Lake Hebron, the lake in Monson, where Andrew's parents live

A fun candy store in Houlton

 

Cousin Malachi taking Katie out for a ride.  Too cute!

Cousins

Grandpa Witmer reading "Heidi"

Great-Grandpa