Falls Lake

In mid September we strolled over to Falls Lake for a morning of fun.  We took Simon for his first hike and he loved it!!  Like so many things this hiking trip was different than all the others.  Eli had to walk, I got Emmett and the new backpack and Mama carried Simon.  Eli did great walking and we all enjoyed it.

After our hike we finally christened Eli's fishing pole by drowning a few worms.  We fished on the pier and actually caught a few small sunfish!  It was a very successful trip!!!

We love hiking!!!

We love to hike too!

Mama and Eli fishing.

What is down there I wonder....

One of our massive fish!!

Eli was a little excited!

3 of the 4 Gwinn boys.

I think it's lunch and nap time now :-)

Emmett & Baby Simon

Eli and Emmett love their baby brother very much!!  They both like to hug and kiss him and try to help out with his needs.  This is a fun video of Emmett and Simon.

I'm being gentle!

Hi, Baby Simon!

I'm a cutie too!!

Soccer!!!

This fall Eli got to play soccer with the YMCA and he seemed to enjoy it!!  These pics are from the first day of practice.  Eli was not the most athletic of the group but he was one of the most social :-)  Eli liked to hang out around the coach as much as he liked to chase the ball!  We enjoyed meeting the other families and hope to do more sports/activities soon!!

Team huddle.

Learning some skills.

I'm ready to do this!!!

WHAT?

Kicking for the goal.

Chaos... I mean drills...

Pics Around the House

These are some fun pictures from the first few days of September when we had visitors from both Indiana and Florida!!

Aunt Vicki meets Simon.

Grandma and two of the three!

Aunt Kathy meets Simon.

Andrea loves the butt-in-the-air baby stretch.

Auntie Jill meets Simon.

Oh.... sleeping is so much fun!

Dada and Simon.

Did I mention I love sleeping?

Awake time is fun too!!

Mutti Turns 60

Mutti joined Vati and turned the big 6-0!!!  We went to a yummy lunch and then had cake at their house.  The whole gang was there to celebrate.

Lots of little voices for singing!

Vati got her a very nice cake!

Doesn't look a day past 50 ;-)

Noah's Birthday

On August 27 we celebrated the birthday of Noah Dredla.  Most probably know, but Noah had a very short life on earth and his life had a huge impact on us and many others!  We were not sure what to do or say on this day but knew we wanted to do something.  We ended up making a video for Russ and Hilary and emailed it to them.  We were not even sure if they would like it but they said it was a wonderful gift.

We never met Noah when he was alive but we love him dearly!!!  We look forward to the day when we meet him in God's kingdom!!

4th Birthday Party - The pinata

One of the most fun parts of the party was the pinata!  Eli remembered the pinatas from Emmett's 1st party and requested one for his.  It is actually pretty fun making them too.  We just need to perfect the material so it breaks better and so it hangs better... they will get better and better as we go!