Joe's Day

Grammy & Lily

Joe hunting partridge (you can sort of see his blaze orange hat and coat)

Since my parents were only here for 5 days this time my mom decided that each person would get one day to make their day and choose the activities for the family. It actually turned out to be pretty fun! So, our first full day was Joe's day. And as a result the 5 of us went partridge hunting! We drove around some back roads in Clifton "hunting" partridge. Unfortunately, this was Columbus Day (a holiday) and apparently many other people had the same idea- thus we saw many more people than birds. We did see two on the road and Joe jumped out of the car with his gun- but no luck this time. So, we didn't get any dinner- but we did have quite the little adventure driving through some pretty sketchy dirt "roads" in my parents rental car. We saw some beautiful trees with amazing colors and we finally (after being quite lost) found a bluff that Joe was trying to scout out for rock climbing. The day also included a tasty lunch at Gov's (one of our favorite local resteraunts), indoor rock climbing at the YMCA (which my parents just watched), and pizza and football for dinner. Not a bad day!

Cousins!

Trying to give cousin Brenna a hug!

Cousin Lacey

We spent last Saturday with Joe's family (his parents and his brother's family). Lily got to meet her 6 week old cousin Lacey for the first time! She was very curious about Lacey when she first arrived (asleep in the carseat), but as soon as Lacey was awake and being held Lily sort of lost interest (which is better than the screaming and crying she's done every other time I've held a baby around her)! But, after dinner Lily and her cousin Brenna (just 3 weeks older than her) had an absolute blast together! They must have spent close to half an hour running and chasing each other in between the spare room and the living room. It started out with Lily chasing Brenna trying to give her a hug- and Brenna running away from her. It quickly turned into a game where they would take turns chasing each other (with an occassional hug or tackle from Lily)- and they were just laughing, screaming, and cracking up the whole time! I had some cute video of it, but after many attempts to publish it here I've given up for now (don't know why it won't work this time)- maybe I'll try again when I have more time. Ahhhh... aren't cousins great!

The Bog Boardwalk!

A week ago Monday (our day off) we took Lily on her first trip to the Bog Boardwalk! It's a beautiful boardwalk system going through a bog in Orono/Bangor and since it was finished a few years ago Joe and I have really enjoyed visiting there from time to time. It's especially fun to visit throughout the seasons and watch things change. As you can see fall is a gorgeous time of year to visit. And, I might add, it is actually really great for toddlers. Since the whole trail is raised boardwalk Lily couldn't wander off- she just happily followed the trail. And this time of year she was loving all of the leaves on the boardwalk- and probably could have spent hours throwing them off the side and dropping them through the cracks (as you can see in the picture). It was just a beautiful afternoon. And then my wonderful husband treated me to lunch at Olive Garden- perfect! And as I type this we are officially on fall break!! We look forward to this well earned rest each fall (4 whole days off)! And this break we are looking forward to a visit from my parents (who fly in on Sunday). We leave tomorrow morning to spend a little time with Joe's family in Southern Maine- and then we'll meet my parents on Sunday!

Prayer for U-Maine

Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer for Campus Crusade. Literally thousands of Campus Crusade staff and volunteers were praying all over the country- I always just find that so encouraging! Joe spent hours in the morning and afternoon in prayer with our staff team- and we were able to host a prayer time at our house last night for our Lifelines leaders. We are really praying that the Lord would soften the hearts of the students here as only He can do- and that He might bring spiritual renewal to this campus (and this state). Please pray with us to this end!

AB&J

Lily had her first AB& J (Almond Butter and Jelly) sandwich the other day! And as you can see she seemed to enjoy it (in addition to creating a huge mess)! She's really more interested in eating the almond butter and jelly off the bread than she is in eating an actual sandwich!

The skunk update is that our house seems to be mostly smelling back to normal. We scrubbed it down (literally) for two days- washing just about everything that could be washed on the first floor of our house. Indy's head is still a little smelly (but Joe just gave him another good spray down with the vegetable enzymes- so hopefully that will take care of it). The giant foam sack, however, still seems to be the general souce of the slight lingering sent. We washed the cover- and the foam sack itself has been airing outside for over two days now- so hopefully that will do the trick! I never, ever would have guessed that getting rid of this smell would be so hard! But, the house needed a good cleaning before my parents get here (on Sunday) anyway- and my mom can't smell skunk (wish we could say the same for us)!:)

Skunk!

Uggghhh- Our dog, Indy, was sprayed by a skunk last night at 10:30p.m.! Needless to say it was the last thing we wanted to deal with right before bed. And the worst is that Joe let him in the house before he realized that he had been sprayed- and before Joe could get a hold of him he managed to roll on the carpet, our huge suede foam bean bag chair, and Lily's parachute toy! Joe spent over half an hour bathing him with dish soap and a mixture of baking soda and peroxide. It seems to have mostly worked- now it's just the rest of our house that stinks! We put the suede cover to the chair and the parachute outside for now- and now I'm just trying to deal with the carpet and the general stink (it seems to have penetrated everything)! It's not nearly as bad as last night, so I am greatful- and thanks to my dad (who makes candles) I have many candles burning throughout the house. This morning I also got some vegetable enzyme spray that worked wonders when Indy rolled in rotten fish a few years back- so hopefully it will do as well with skunk! Joe is on a big hiking trip with a group of freshmen today (they left around 4a.m.)- so hopefully by the time he gets back tonight the house will be smelling somewhat better! Good thing for Indy that we love him!:)

New Fall Colors!

Maybe I was inspired by the beautiful changing colors of the leaves (it is gorgeous here now), but I thought I was due for a little color change too! So as you can see I'm a bit blonder than normal! My friend Tessa gave me blond highlights last night- and although it's not quite the right color for me- it is fun! So, I'll probably keep them until I get my hair cut in November and then have it changed back to something more natural, but it's fun for now! And one thing I never noticed until I was really looking at these pictures (especially the first one) is that Lily has my exact eye color! I new she had my eyes in general (since Joe's are hazel), but I always thought Lily's were a little darker (more steely blue/gray) than mine- but apparently this was one part of her coloring she got all from me!:)

Hope you are enjoying the beautiful colors wherever you are!