I play sax in a Hobo Band

We have a ten piece band formed at work. I would describe the music as vaudevillian skiffle. The songs we play are mostly early American ragtime-jazz-blues (think roaring 20's), best described by the instruments involved: banjo, mandolin, resonator, washboard, snare drum, acoustic guitar, trombone, violin, tenor sax and alto sax (me). It's fun to play with a horn section again. Here's a countdown to our next show:

It's the End of November Already!

Wow, it has almost been a month since Halloween. Where has the time gone??? Now the countdown is on for Christmas and soon we'll be ringing in the New Year!

We are all doing great and this week especially full of "THANKS" for the goodness of the Lord in our lives and all of His many, many blessings. It was cute today to overhear the kids telling each other what they are thankful for -- unprompted and from the heart. Emerie is especially thankful "for her baby brother and her cousin Angel." Elias said, "I'm thankful for my pumpkin....and for my Papa." So sweet!

The kids had a blast playing in the leaves and getting Matt to blow on them with the leafblower!





My parents came for a visit a few weekends ago - what a great time we had together!





We loved seeing Michael and Candice - they live in Arizona now -- we miss them!!!



Family photos.....Finn is 7 months old and finally sitting up nice and sturdy!

Halloween

It's Matt entering the halloween post. This is the first year that our kids are aware of October 31st. I don't think Eli would really have noticed it by himself but he watches Emme's every move and therefore he at least acts like he knows it's halloween. Anyways, the occasion isn't celebrated in the same way in Austria, or Europe for that matter, so this was the first year Emme grasped it. She saw the stores that pop up in the mall to sell costumes and props and the decorations on houses around the valley. One of our favorite things to hear Elias say was, "scary skeleton" whenever he saw this one skeleton hanging on a neighbor's door. He doesn't pronounce the "s" so it comes out, "cary keleton". Really cute.
We had a great time carving pumpkins with grandma and grandpa the night before halloween. Then, we met with a bunch of friends on halloween to have a crazy group dinner at Red Robin (hence no pictures of the group because we were chasing 40 kids around the restaurant!). After dinner, we went to Table Rock Fellowship for the second year for a really great Harvest Festival put on by the church. Cotton candy, inflatable castle structure, bean bag toss, cake walk, etc. This year they had paint balling for older kids and mixed martial arts cages. The one thing I escaped last year and didn't escape this year was the goldfish in a bag. The game was really difficult to win a fish so I was bummed when the guy gave a fish to Emme just for trying even after she failed the game! I was telling the guy, "those are the rules, she doesn't get a fish. You gotta follow the rules." Nope. Anyways, Emme asked where we were going to keep the fish at home and I said, "oh, we have a bowl for him (her?). It's porcelain with plenty of water for him to swim around in." Nonetheless, it was a fun evening with friends and our little family. Emme was Cinderella, Elias was Ironman and Finn was a Bear. Here are some pictures.

Finn

Griffin Matthew Doell (AKA "Finn") is 6 months old now. He weighs 19 pounds! He is very tall (95th percentile) and looks like a mix of Emerie and Elias. We think his eyes are going to be hazel which is the color of Matt's eyes. (Emerie has brown and Elias has blue like Mama). He is REALLY easygoing and so sweet. He is so easy to make laugh or smile. All sorts of things crack him up like the kids jumping up and down or throwing things in the air. He loves jumping in the johnny jumper. He can jump for an hour! Finn has been taking his time as far as motor skills go. He is finally rolling over with ease in both directions and learning to sit up on his own. He almost never cries and rarely fusses. He's an absolute delight of a baby! To top it all off, he sleeps 11 hours straight at night and takes great naps! The joy and peace he brings to our home is amazing. We are so thankful for this little guy, our last baby. Tonight I was holding him and he leaned forward and reached his arms out to Matt. Boy, did that make Papa feel like a million bucks! (He doesn't even do that for Mama!)





Griffin and his buddy Preston who is 4 days older and crawling already!

Autumn Saturday

This week it REALLY feels like Fall. In fact, it FROZE for the first time last night! The leaves are sure to change color quickly now. It is strange to be having such cold weather already but maybe we'll have another warm spell before the cold sets in for many months ahead.

Today we took the kids to Seven Oaks Farm. They had a great time petting the goats, riding ponies, frosting cupcakes, picking out pumpkins and playing together outside. Finn took in all the sights from the comfort of the cozy stroller. (He turns 6 months next week!) The day was made complete with a cup of hot apple cider as we sat in the sunshine on a beautiful, sunny, cold & crisp October Saturday.

Here are some recent pictures of the kids. They both adore their baby brother and it is so much fun to watch them entertain him. Nothing makes Finn laugh like his big brother and sister! Emerie and Finn snuggle on the couch in the same spot every morning after they wake up. So precious!

Country Living

It has long been my desire to start a blog for our family. The big hang-up has been the unreliable internet access at our house. We have lived on our little one-acre place in the mountains for almost a year and we really truly LOVE living in the country. But, like anywhere, there are a few drawbacks. With a chuckle I can list that we have experienced things like having a bat fly around our bedroom twice in the middle of the night, deer devouring just about everything we plant, our dog daily bringing pieces of a deer skeleton home to our front porch, and poor Elias getting stung by yellowjackets twice this summer (see picture below)! The things I love about this place (see other photo of us camping in our front yard!) far outweigh these "country challenges" but the one thing that has greatly frustrated me is our internet access (or sometimes the lack thereof). I don't need to explain in today's world how the internet just seems to be a vital part of everyday existence. Some really important things like following my nephew's transplant progress are done on the internet. Anyways...all this to say that I really am super thankful that we even HAVE internet access and I've decided to try to start a blog even if it takes me a little longer and the process of posting is a little bit frustrating. The best things in life take a little bit of dedication, right?