pumpkin carving

Here are our pumpkins this year. First Ryan's and then mine.
Lizzie asked specifically for a smiley face, and this is what Ryan carved for her.

In unrelated news, I have never seen such a large egg. I was wondering what the chickens were carrying on about on this day - now I know!!

Pumpkins

We have been fighting sickness here (ok, well I have been sick and so far Lizzie and Ryan are trying not to get my cold). In spite of that, we have been getting ready for Halloween. Ryan's Dad (Timber to Lizzie) has been staying with us while he works in our area and he was here to watch the pumpkin carving this year. I think he has his phone out in this picture so Lizzie can talk to Mimi while she is cleaning out a (ok my) pumpkin.

Earlier in the week, we went to the farm for the day and were able to help Ryan get one of his greenhouses moved. Lizzie was a big help (as you can tell).

We are looking forward to a nice weekend - I don't think Lizzie remembers much of Halloween last year, but she has been practicing her "trick or treat" all week!

Last CSA share

Happy Friday! Today represents Ryan's last CSA share of the season. It was a race to the finish and we are all exhausted and looking forward to more family time together as winter comes closer. Here are Ryan and Brittany cleaning today's harvest in the rain.
In anticipation of more family time, we spent all of Tuesday together. Here are a few pictures from our quick day trip.

Lizzie was in rare form on this day (which is why we only did a few of the things we hoped to do on this day). The below picture is a good example - this was in response to us saying "smile!" (we think Uncle Dan would especially appreciate this picture).

As many know, we have been working towards adoption #2. We had been matched for awhile now with a birthmom in another state. We got the news on Monday that she has decided to parent her baby. While disappointing news, we understand the enormity of the decision she had to make and are relieved that she made her decision before the baby was born. So, the door is open again and we are looking forward to whatever adoption situation presents itself next (kind of exciting to think about!). Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Common ground

Last weekend was the common ground fair. We had such a nice time! It was a mini heatwave here and we have since had a cool down (at least a 30 degree swing). That weekend may have been the last of the t-shirts for awhile. Here is Lizzie petting a calf (or about to) - they had all kinds of animals to look at and some to pet. She enjoyed the cows, rabbits, chickens, sheep, etc.

We have been away from phone and email this weekend as a squirrel apparently chewed through the wire and it broke away from our house. Luckily we are up and running again as of last night. Lizzie is helping me write this post and is really enjoying the bunny picture. We are getting anxious for mid October and have our fingers crossed about our next adoption - nothing new to report here!