Apple Picking

Honeycrisp apples are my favorite fruit ever. So at the end of September when the ward playgroup met at the local orchard and I found out we could pick our very own apples for cheaper than the grocery store I just about died!

Then naturally I had to take the big kids back a few days later to pick apples for their first time.

The weather was warm and it was the perfect after school activity.

Goll, I love them all. When they're all standing close together they don't look like nearly as many!

The best part is there are so many apples in our bags (for cheaper than the grocery store) that the kids all eat at least a couple while we're picking.

And then naturally we could not let David miss out on this experience before the season was over. So one of the last Saturdays before the frost hit we all went again. 

It was so helpful having him there to get us to the highest apples that hadn't been touched yet!

That was one of our first really cold days here in MN where it was windy and below freezing and boy did we feel the change!

Having a bowl of apples like this on my counter every week this fall was just heavenly! 

Rachel Turns 3

 Oh my goodness this girl has been a little ball of energy and sass since she started walking. She knows what she wants all the time and has no trouble bossing around people 5x her age to get what she wants. I love how articulate and self sufficient she is. On the morning of her birthday she woke up early and opened this doll from her grandparents.

 Then she and Scotty helped make her cake. 

 When all the siblings got home it was present time.

 I love pictures of all the kids gathered around watching siblings open presents. I know there are sparks of jealousy as they check out all the goods but these are the pictures I think they'll all look back on and like to see their interactions.

She has been "borrowing" Lucy's music box for months so she was thrilled to get her own.

 Is this picture a classic? Mallie has been Rachel's mini mom since Hattie was born. It solidified their bond and Mallie is probably the only one who could keep her from blowing out the candles without getting bitten.

 Even though she is crazy independent I adore that about her. I find her personality fascinating and love to just observe what she comes up with.

 Happy Birthday Rachel Grace!! Here's to 3 going on 13!!

First Day of School

 A new school for these kiddos! This will be Ashton's 3rd elementary school and only the 2nd for the girls. They handled the change like a champ and I'm so glad these 4 have each other.

 Lucy -1st Rothe

Mallie - 3rd Lopponow

Hannah - 4th Beekman

Ashton - 5th Brandwein

After a 4 month summer break they were ready to get back to the routine of school. We'll see how long it lasts!

This year they started riding a bus for the first time. I'll miss not having a school within walking distance but I wont complain about the bus stop just a few houses away. We're crossing our fingers for good teachers and another great year!

Lucy Turns 6

I love this little toothless girl! I feel like I say the same things about her every year. She is still my shadow and she still has the best giggle.

My attempt at a unicorn cake... it was falling over as we frosted!

Her shirt pretty much sums her up. Lucy is always smiley and has the remarkable ability to make everyone around her just love her. She always says she's "shy" but every time I take her anywhere everyone says "hi Lucy!" she doesn't even remember all their names which cracks me up. Happy 6th birthday Lu!!

Perch Lake

After our long vacation David going back to a rigorous school schedule was a pretty big adjustment for the kids and I. He was staying late a lot of days and when he was home he was doing a lot of studying. By mid-August we made sure we finally got to explore our new area and headed to Perch Lake just over the border in Wisconsin.

We rented a paddle boat, kayak and stand up paddle board.

 The scenery of green surrounding the entire lake was pretty majestic and the lake water was so clear.

 We used the paddle boat as our floating home base held our cooler bag with an obscene amount of snacks and the kids loved hopping on and off to the different toys.

 We found out Hattie much preferred to be lower to the water where she could feel it.

 All the big kids were so good about giving rides to the little kids on the paddle board.

 One of the hilarious parts of the day was when David and I were kayaking and then he jumped off to hop in the paddle boat with the kids... but they took off without him. They felt so powerful that for once they were in a vehicle where they could out run the parents.

It's so fun to live some place new and experiences things like this just 30-40 minutes from home.

A birthday and Baptism

Mallie turned 8 this year! It's funny, when she was 3 I predicted she would be exactly how she would be later on. Capable, independent, funny and talented. I'm glad she's given up her mischievous toddler ways in the meantime. 

This was her baptism picture!

She asked for baking stuff this year.

Then made her very own cake. I'm glad I have her documented in her little squatting position. She does this everywhere.

Baptism day with the whole family. I hope she always remembers how much all of these people love her.

Right before her baptism started.

So glad David has the authority to baptize her.

I never want to forget that when the Bishopric member excused everyone out of the Relief Society room Mallie bolted out the door and sprinted down the hallway to the baptism font. She was so excited I had to tell her we had to wait for everyone else to get into the room. Mallie is a joy and so fun to watch make her way through life. I've made the comment to others that she really doesn't need me (she can accomplish basically everything on her own) but I'm grateful she lets me still be apart of her life. All of her siblings fight over who gets her to play with them for whatever activity. She seems to be the perfect playmate for each of them and makes any little thing more fun. Since I'm writing this late and school has already started I can include that one of the funniest stunts she's pulled in third grade so far is that she has started initialing my name in her daily planner. She figured it out on her own and decided it was easier than asking me every night. Goll I love this girl!

The Big Move 2018

As soon David matched on January 29th to University of MN we knew our Texas time was winding down and coming to an end. We started to plan our road trip out west so we could see all sorts of family before we settled down in MN for two years with probably very little travel westward. Here's the map of what we pulled off this May/June.

We left TX at 5am on Saturday May 5th my birthday! We drove straight for 14 hours and got to Gilbert, AZ to visit my sister Mandy. Her kids ditched school and we spent our time swimming, cooking and playing. It was a blast!

 Then on our second to last day there I listened to Mandy be noncommittal about paint colors. So before she could say anything more I went to the paint store and brought home two gallons of the color we used on our TX house. David, Mandy and I painted all one afternoon while 13 kids ran around us and the room transformation was awesome and if Mandy doesn't like it she can always blame me.

Here is the Jacobson/Hafen crew minus Hattie. These kids love each other and we were so happy to give them 4 days of quality play time.

Next we headed up to St. George because I knew I wanted to be with my Mom for Mother's Day for the first time since high school (I think!)