Marriage Retreat

Over the weekend, as a family, we attended a marriage retreat sponsored by the military. A lot of people have their gripes about military life, but there are so many opportunities out there that aren't taken advantage of. This COMPLETELY FREE event included bus transportation (6 hr ride one way!!!), 2 nights stay at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort (fancy, fancy!), breakfast and dinner each day, AND childcare..........all free!!!! Our only out-of-pocket expense was lunch (and the couples massage Leevi surprised me with at the spa!!!) We arrived on Friday afternoon and had the evening to ourselves as a family (we went swimming) and then on Saturday the girls went to school (the CDC) for the day while Leevi and I attended the conference and then we had Sunday morning to ourselves until the bus left at 11am for the long ride home. Childcare was also offered (FOR FREE) Friday night and Saturday night, but we opted to stay together as a family...especially when the girls we gone all day on Saturday. It was a great weekend and we will definitely be back and hopefully stay a little longer to tour around the area...they offer guided tours throughout Germany and into Switzerland, Austria and Italy. It's an American Military resort and is one of five throughout the world (we've been to two others...the Hale Koa in Hawaii and Dragon Hill in Korea. The other two are in Virginia and Florida)
We will be back to snowboard on those mountains!!!!

Hailey drives me crazy when she doesn't look at the camera!

They had these cute little kid rockers in the lobby

Checking out the mural

One might not think a ground floor room would be ideal, but it was awesome that the girls could walk out the back door to run around in this grassy area!

A horse-drawn carriage is definitely on the to-do list for our next trip down here!

Playing at the (expensive) arcade before dinner

Cheese!!!!!!!!!!

The girls did great on the ride to and from...because of traffic it took us 6.5 hrs each way!!!! Hailey said later that night that her ears hurt from her headphones!

Little Bear to the rescue!!! Leevi and I wouldn't have survived without it!!!!

The scenery was gorgeous!!! Wish we had the car so we could stop and take pictures! We also passed (from afar) Neuschwanstein Castle...it's the castle that Disney is modeled after...we will definitely be back!

We stopped briefly at a rest stop on the way back and this field of cows was right there. Kailee was asleep so Hailey and I ran over to take a look. We didn't stay too long in front of this cow because she started staring at us and the only thing blocking her from charging was that tiny yellow rope!

Moooo....I mean, Cheese!!!!

Apple Pickin

Leevi and the girls were walking Leila around our neighborhood one evening and found this apple tree. A little further down is also a pear tree! The pears are delicious and I haven't looked for a pear recipe yet, but we made Apple Butter and Apple Pies with the apples!The girls with our neighbors...

Kailee helping herself to an apple

Round two with the pears!

Hailey and I baked 4 apple pies for the friends around us

Random Pics/Video

Often times at a park in our neighborhood, older elementary girls will set up "make-up" or in this instance "face paint"...sometimes for .25 cents...the girl that painted Hailey had fun because Hailey let her paint everywhere!I couldn't remember if I've already posted this picture, but Hailey has recently become Crafty Cathy and is big into the arts and crafts!Earlier this week Hailey saw on Facebook friends of mine posting crazy hair pictures. She wanted to join in on the contest...this picture reminds me of the Orange Flamed-Hair bad guy in the Incredibles movie.We are l-o-v-i-n Fall!!!

Kailee's papparazzi picture...she said, "no cheese, mama!"

She is almost to the point where we have to do her hair in the mornings

Pictures from Leevi's trip to Israel

His $300 a night Sheraton room...I didn't expect it to be quite this plain for that amount of money!

Soccer practice is in full swing until mid-November

Soccer practice ends past her bedtime!

Still proving that she's the Dress-up Queen!

Kailee's new favorite song..."Skip to My Lou"

First Fall

This is only the 2nd Fall we've experienced in 8 years and it's the 1st one for the girls!! We had a two day stretch last week where is was 70's and sunny so we were outside as much as possible soaking up those last rays of sunshine! I think Leila is going to miss the sun the most!

No more babies in this house!

Kailee has officially deemed herself a "big girl" and doesn't want to wear a diaper to bed like a baby. I was still only putting them on her because I had an opened package I was trying to finish up...she has woken up dry for more than a month now. I'll save the rest to carry one with us if we are out and can't find a bathroom. So to be nostalgic about being out of one the most prominent baby stages, I've attached some of my favorite newborn pics of the girls....