As of Late

I've been a bit absent in blog world because the past weeks have not been normal.  Jeyson and Elijah have both been sick and I've been nurse Stephanie.  It's been a tricky sickness too, because as soon as it looked like they were getting better, the colds came back on again (a few times!).  

Sick babies get to watch a little extra Sesame Street

Jeyson missed a day or two of work, but other than that has been working hard on this airplane that is headed to Honduras.  It's had a complete make over that has transformed it from being a comfortable plane to a flying truck of sorts.  I'll blog more on this later.  Jeyson is continuing to learn a lot and really enjoy his time at MMS.

Before the guys got sick (and in some moments in between where it looked like they were better!) we've had a lot of small town fun.  I am especially enjoying the change of seasons, something we don't get where we live in Brazil.  In Anapolis the weather is pretty much the same year round, so you don't get the change in clothes, colors, food, and activities like here.  We've been soaking it in.  

Labor day we went to the last day the local aquatic center/splash pad was open and had a ton of fun.

And another day we went to an Amish/Mennonite auction where they raise money for missions work in Haiti.  (We're in Amish country here).  It was a huge event with Amish and non-Amish people.  The food was great and they auctioned off everything from quilts to horse and buggies!

Confession:  I snuck a picture :)

 We also bought a baby bike seat from a garage sale for $5 and it was the best $5 spent ever!  Jeyson's always been a great biker and I originally thought we should get the seat so I could sent the boys out and I could have the house to myself!  Although that happens a lot, we were lent 2 bikes and Jeyson convinced me to come along.  And I'm shocked to say it's a ton of fun!  I grew up in a hilly area, but here's it's very flat and easy to go far with little effort.  So we regularly bike to the park with a picnic or just bike around a few miles.

Here's a typical before picture

And knocked out after!

 Another weekend we met some friends at a county fair about an hour away.  We enjoyed the fair, but the highlight (at least for the guys!) was the modified tractor pull.  These tractors are crazy creations, some even had jet engines built in.  It was SO loud we had to cover Elijah's ears (he wasn't bothered, but we were worried about his safety!).

Huge pumpkin at the fair

Record size watermelon...I think it was 119 pounds if I remember correctly!

And I just had to have a funnel cake.  It just represents everything about US summer/fall fun to me that I've missed so much!  Food is SO connected to memories and I wanted to soak it all in!

 Another random thing we did was we went on a tour of a mom and pop cheese factory with a group of local young events.  This group isn't affiliated with a church or anything, but just  group that gets together once a month to do interesting activities.  I think next they're going to go wild mushroom picking and tour a museum exhibit.  It was fun to get out and meet new people.

 And of course see how cheese is made (it's all inside those tubes and you could see bit so colby jack oozing out from the sides...yum!

Lastly, this guy has been growing and changing nonstop!  Here's 10 months old now and all about eating finger food on his own (he is an AWESOME eater!)

And exploring everything...

And everywhere!

Yesterday I celebrated my 28th birth.  28!  I seriously can not believe it!  Where did the time go?  The day before, I got spoiled with a date out to the "big town" ....with a babysitter watching Elijah!!  Then, on the actual day, it was a bike ride, cake, and the day with my boys.