Emily's birthday

     Most of these photos have to do with Emily's birthday in one way or another so we'll just go with that for a title (always the hardest part of the blogpost!). She turned 7 on the 6th of November and reminded us daily for at least a month before. Our children always look forward to their birthday date with Eldon. Emily took it up a notch and even chose what clothes Eldon should wear 😂.

She chose Applebee's, because she wanted wings.

     The campground has 6-7 full-timers here right now but other then that it's fairly empty until Friday night hits. We were delighted to have the Tressel family (we met at the Balloon Fiesta 2018 and spent a lot of time together earlier this year) spend nearly a month here while working out the technicalities of a new job and move to PA. The children have ridden miles and miles on their bikes around our loop! It's been such a blessing to have them here.

Playing circus.

Emily's birthday party

She wanted a fruit platter so......

Presents are so exciting!

In addition to this, she got money from both grandma's and a Bible case from us. Also, a beautiful angel figurine and toys for our cat from friends in Montana.

Putting that cupcake maker to good use!

She did such a good job!

Sunday afternoon walk.

Time for a break.

Ethan has suddenly started playing doll again - so cute!

Birthday flowers from daddy-after the pink roses died.

Mrs. Tressel spent 30 minutes curling her hair one day, just for fun. It was so cute but only lasted a little while.

A swinging bridge in town. Slightly scary!

We were fascinated by these Hedge Apples.

Imagine that falling on your head!

The Wichita Falls of Wichita Falls, TX.

A common scene these days. We're working hard to finish 3rd and 5th grade by New Year's so we can swap out Teacher's Guides from our storage shed before we move to the next place.

We're on a coloring kick these days. I love it!

     We recently learned about dental colleges and their wonderful rates if you are willing to let a student work on you. Makayla and I went for a cleaning and it was so worth it! $40 for both of us and they did a fabulous job. They took their time but not once did I want to punch them in the face for jabbing me with a metal tool. Makayla was more excited than I expected her to be when we met up in the waiting room afterwards. The dentist had asked her what book she was reading then proceeded to take it and find the name Richard Cox. "That's my tenth great-grandpa that was the tutor of Elizabeth I." She was pretty happy about that encounter!

The book!

     Our weather has been gorgeous - most days in the 60's. But there was that one week that it dipped below freezing for 5 nights and stayed that low for 24 hours. All y'all from Montana are laughing right now but I don't care :). All that to say, we love the library here (except that they limit us to 15 books only) and can spend hours there. I even broke my no computer rule one day.

Emily was fascinated with paintshop.

     A huge advantage of neighbors is the ability to swap childcare. Eldon and I have LOVED the chance to go out once a week with no guilt at all that we are infringing on the babysitter. I'm more than happy to take my turn because our children really do entertain themselves (mostly). Most of the time we run all over town getting groceries and other necessary errands. We've had time to go on long walks and even go to a coffee house. It's so fun again!

Hook & Ladder Coffee is in a fire station that was established in 1887.

Last but not least, Eldon's birthday cake!