Harvest time before there were 4.

"I will enter His gates with Thanksgiving!"

October set a new record for us. Traditionally the longest month it passed by with a flurry of travel and fun. We visited Busch Gardens for the last time of the year on the 16th. A wonderful time was had by all. We did find out that the park had been sold a second time, no longer belonging to the Belgian company that purchased Busch last year. Meaning? The Clydesdales will no longer be at the park.

We went to Pittsburgh on the 23rd for Trunk or Treat with the Jeromes. The Shullenbarger crew picked a Star Wars theme. Except for Yoda's ears (that belonged to a pet costume) no purchases were made for the kids costumes. It was a learning experience for Jessica. She did not see Rebekah from the time they entered the bug kid section until the time we went for candy. She is becoming her own person able to hang and entertain herself with her friends. Bittersweetness.

It was very hard not to walk around the games Caleb and Elijah were playing and not whisper "use the force".

We went to the pumpkin patch on the 15th. It was a particularly special trip because Chris took off during his planning to join us. This was our third year at this particular patch. It reminded us of how much Elijah has grown! Pumpkins were picked. Elijah grabbed the first one he saw. It ended up being the biggest. Rebekah and Caleb hunted a long time but found theirs too. We captured a growing moment with Elijah. The play structures are always a hit--pirate ship and train. On our first trip the Jeromes were with us and Alec and Elijah were cruisers. Seeing EA fill up the train was quite funny.

We harvested pumpkin out of our 100+ lb pumpkin from the Dustins. We made 20 pounds of pumpkin to use and share. Elijah's sitting on what was a pie pumkpin.

Jessica suffered a set back on the 16th. Preparing to go to the zoo with new friends she slipped on the stairs and knocked a glass container down. It hit her temple with a lot of force and she fell backward on the stairs scraping her back. Caleb was with her. Not knowing what was going on or what had happened Jessica told Caleb that her shirt was wet. He came to look and said "You have a lot of blood on your shirt, Mama." He was sent for the

phone and called up to the school. He had trouble asking for Chris and Rebekah helped him. Chris was able to leave immediately and take Jess to the ER. 3 stitches later, 2 hours of observation in L & D for Hadassah and no trip to the zoo we came home after picking up ICE CREAM for I week.

Chris goes over school work each thursday with the kids. hey hang on every moment of the private attention they receive.

Sometimes you capture the kids and see visions of their younger years.

MORE FUNNIES!

RE: We were getting ready for breakfast with biscuits and condiments. Shullenbargers put honey on their biscuits. Jessica does not. Anway, we were establishing the fact that in our house honey is a condiment like ketsup. Rebekah thinks a little while and then proclaims, "Yeah, like John in the Bible the one who baptized Jesus, he ate locusts and honey so he must have dipped the locusts in honey!"

CG: We grilled randomly one day making Jessica's secret recipe hamburgers. THey were particularly good and compliments were heard heartily from Chris. So Caleb decides to get in on the action and announces, "Tthis is the best meal I've ever had" sealing the statement with a hug. All it was was hamburgers, tots, beans. Well the beans were sticky too something we don't always achieve.