Fun in Fall!

(this title is for my sister Ashlee:)
Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone and we had lots of fun memories made with each! We went over to the Woodwards house for trick or treating with Chandler's Dgroup. She was a cowgirl and the boys were both characters from Duck Dynasty.

I have always LOVED dressing up but have spared my children for the last few years by restraining that love....until this year. I just HAD to go as one of my heroes! (and yes I am totally serious- I really do LOVE Michelle Duggar from 19 Kids and Counting- and want to be like her when I grow up!:)

 Quickly after Halloween we started getting ready to have 29 people to our house for Thanksgiving! It was SO much fun and I think everyone had a great time! Thankfully the weather was gorgeous and we could all spread out outside:)

 Patton "built" a "treehouse"  (I use these terms very loosely) and most of the kids decided to check it out

 Jeff, MaryKay and Karen gettin that bird ready!

 This is where the 5 youngest ate...(Angie and Jason giving a pep talk:)

 Let the buffet begin- all the food was delicious as usual! Everyone brought several things so not just one person was slaving away all day- it was very easy and relaxed!

 My mom came too- and she was over every day for a week before helping me get ready!

 The older kids had to eat outside:) (again- so thankful for the weather) but when you have 29 people it's just what you gotta do! -of course Patton would grab the giant turkey leg:)

 The adult table(s)  This is pretty much a terrible picture of everyone (not sure why Jeff has his little pinky up:)?) but you get the idea-- tight but fun!

 Then the older kids played dress up with the youngest

 And stunted for quite a while

 Then it was time for the game of the century-- Outlaws VS. Truebloods    (the original Polk kids against us in-law types:) and we split the kids    Flag football at its finest!

 Papa giving advice to his kids- they're gonna need it

 It was close the whole time- and we ended in a tie! So thankful for this family!!

Well I am off to Africa TOMORROW!!! (So obviously I'm gonna catch up the blog instead of finishing packing:) I hope to post on here and facebook as often as possible! Jeff and I are going with Bread for a Hungry World (with Bobby Moore, Ali Maddox, and Lori Spicer) and leaving the kids here with my mom for TWO weeks!! She is the best! Can't wait for several aspects of this trip- but mostly hugging on my boy! Lots of pics to come I'm sure!!

Catching up....

Wow- 2 months of nothing on here:/  Well time to catch up and try to start back at being a good little blogger:) As always, we have been crazy busy but are enjoying this season in life- crazy and all! The kids are growing way too fast- we are really just becoming such an older-kid family- it's fun to watch but also makes you realize how fast life goes! I've missed documenting 2 of their birthdays so we'll start with that shall we?

 Chandler turned FOURTEEN at the end of August! We had her party in the school gym- invited all the girls in the 8th grade class, laid out the cheer mats and let them run wild for 3 hours. It was easy and a GREAT party!

Parker turned EIGHT! He ans Sie had their 7th annual joint birthday party! So sweet! We had it at an indoor trampoline park- they had a blast!

Friday night lights have been in full swing- and so have the pep rallies! I love this group of girls I'm coaching!

Patton played tackle football for the first time. They didn't have the best record:) but he LOVED it!! I see much more of this in our future! They had the best fans! Bev and Laura were so sweet to come to a COLD game! (they saw 4 games in 3 days!)

 And these precious girls drove a long way to cheer on their friends- such a sweet group of girls!

 (he's #12)

We got to go for a weekend to the Owen Ranch- LOVE that home and LOVE the memories we always make there! The kids got to fish and Chandler got some driving lessons!!! Scary! Actually she is a really good driver!

 (not sure she actually caught this...;)

We turned the living room into a giant volleyball court (why wouldn't we??) and the adults played the 8th grade girls! Only catch was- we had to play on our knees! Still beat them pretty bad:)

We decided to start a "14 year old" tradition and take the said 14 year old to an away Ranger game! Chandler just really wanted to go to one and we had miles and hotel points about to expire so we thought it was a great new tradition to start! We flew to Cali to watch the Rangers vs. the Angels. We had a wonderful time!! Even got to do a half a day at disneyland and go to the beach for about 10 minutes!:)

Ok I know I'm leaving out about a million things but this will have to do for a while! In other news, we are SO excited to be going back to Africa in just 2 weeks!! Well just Jeff and I:) the kids are so jealous- love that they love that place as much as we do! I'll definitely  be posting from there! And say a prayer for my mom who will have the kids for the entire 2 weeks!:) love her!!
We'll finish this post off with a pic of the cutest little dogs and cats you'll ever see! This was the 2nd grade play at school-