p.u.m.k.i.n. p.a.t.c.h. 10.26.2011

 Yes, I know, it's been a long time since I've made a post. Truth to be told, I've been super busy. With what? Well, let me fill you in with the next couple posts-
* We went to Sauvie Island again today. Except this time we went with my cousins and Grandmother. It was really cold, but I think we all had fun anyways. *smile* Enjoy the photos!
(above) Anthony, being....well.....Anthony.

 Papa dared Anthony to eat this...pepper of some sort. ( I don't know what it is) I ended up eating the other half, which was twice as hot, I'll have you know!

 What a country boy!

 *grin* He gave me this weird look after he tried the pepper. :)

 J.Q. is adorable!!

 Everyone is eating peppers!

 And this is all the pumpkins! (since we already got big ones a couple weeks ago, we all just got small ones this time.) Mine is the one on the very bottom, and that big, huge one is Trinh's.

Nickolas had a bast too. :)

Fish from the fishermen

 Papa and Marcus went fishing with Mr.Bradley and Dylan last week, and this is what they brought home for us! (If you're wondering who caught the big daddy one...well, I should think you a simpleton. My Papa always catches the best fish, because he is....the best fisher. )

 Marcus is learning quickly from his Papa.

This and that of recent life

 I am more than super excited to announce that I have roofed my very first roof this last week! *cheer* I actually really liked doing it. I had a difficult time keeping the lines strait, but my wise father helped me by giving me some of his roofing tips. In the end, I was pretty satisfied with the lines.

 I did both. The short AND tall one. Yes. Yes, I did. I got over some of my fear of heights for a moment, and accomplished the job. That was definitely one of my "highlights" of the month.

 Cassandra helped us Koch gals peel, core, and slice our orchard apples last week, too. We canned a couple big batches of home-made apple sauce, then froze 8 pies worth of filling for the winter.

 Like I've said before....Music helps tremendously!

 Apple sauce!

Though the dishes from the day were more than just mounding, I thought that the cider, pie filling, and apple sauce were definitely worth it!

That's just a few snippets of what we've been up to lately.

Organizing for winter (for girls)

 Girls have Lots of clothes. (at least most of them do) So they need winter clothes, and summer clothes separate. (so they can actually fit everything into the closet) That's what I did tonight, while my parents where going out to dinner. All of those summer clothes are packed away and I got to go through two whole bins of winter clothes! *cheer* It's like getting a whole bunch of new clothes that you forgot about! That also means getting rid of clothes. Yes. That's the sad part. I got rid of lots of clothes that I simply didn't like anymore, and because I have way too many of them. Can any of you girls relate?

 (pardon my lame handwriting.)

 There my summer bucket is. All those bright spring-y colors are being packed away!

 ....I think I have way to many tops.....what say you?

(and by the way, don't count the hangers. It's embarrassing.)

 SHOES! -my one weakness. This box is all of my "warmer days" shoes.

 And this box is all of my "colder days" shoes. (well...except for the yellow ones.)

 I put all of my shorts for winter in this shoe hanger. It was super handy, and easy to pick out some shorts without totally destroying my organized drawers. Now, I've replaced the shorts with scarves and hats, etc. You should try it, it's really nice. You can use it for everything but....*smile* shoes.

 

All of my tanks are now in the drawers, rolled up so that I don't have to rummage. 

Well, I hope this wasn't boring. To me, organizing is never boring. Especially if you're listening to fun music while you're working. :) Now....who to give my 'get rid of' clothes to......

Koch family photo

A few edited-

 I didn't get really creative with my photos on this trip. I think it was mostly my fault, because I was simply lazy.  I do, however, like this photo. I just think it's calming.

 This one was too dark, and not very clear, but I still think it's nice.

 Remember that shot of the views when we went on our little adventure through the woods? Well, off in the distance you could see this light house, and I was pretty happy with my camera for capturing it from that far away.

 I loved these weeds! (or, whatever they are) I think that they are very artistic.

 I like the out and in of the focusing here.

And, the last photo, which I really like. It's just so bright, and sunny looking.


I'm sorry for the lack of creativity here. I promise to try harder, next year. :-)

Us Koch Kids

Papa took this photo of us kiddos while we were tromping through the woods. I love my siblings!

My family at Mo's

This was my favorite restaurant I was talking about. The clam chowder was heavenly. Absolutely delicious.

Cannon Beach 2011

 Well, this is about the 5th or 6th time going to Cannon Beach this year, and even though that's a lot, I'll never get tired of it. This was our Christmas gift from Aunt Cindy, and Grandma Koch from last year. It was a two night stay at the Tolovana Inn, and certificates to eat out at our favorite restaurant, "Mo's." We haven't exactly had time to go, until now. I love the beach. The sand, how it squishes in-between your toes, and gets really warm... The ocean, how it helps you see how small and insignificant you are, and it's amazing boogie boarding. The sun, (when it comes out)  makes you feel all nice and jolly. Yep. The beach is an amazing thing. Thank the LORD for it!

 Nick is trying to put Papa's hat on....backwards?

 Papa had a whole lot of fun with the little guy. This is actually a tradition for Papa to do this to all of his babies. He takes your shirt half off and then lets you "try" to get the rest of it off yourself. It is quite the hilarious show. *smiles*

 He's getting  a little frustrated with it right now...

 There....Papa will help you....

 Peak-a-boo!

 Monday was also our JQ's 4th birthday! Happy birthday JQ!! He got a super cool John Deere sweatshirt. (as you all are aware of by this point, our boys are ALL about John Deere.)

 He is such the poser!

 Four Dollars is a whole lot in a little kiddos mind.

 Look at that priceless smile!

 Every time Jacob opens a gift he tears off a tinny, ant sized, little piece of paper at a time. (notice it by the package)

 A new coat!

 Notice all of the little siblings want in on all the attention too. Yep. There's Alainna.

 Levi is also anxious to see what Jacob gets, so that he can play with it too. :)

 I love this picture that was hanging in the kitchen. So colorful.

 And then Marcus joins in...*chuckle* Children are so funny.

 A new bike helmet! He also got a super nice light saber from Mama and Papa. It lights up and....makes noise. Yes. Noise. Well, that's what he'd like the most...and it is his birthday after all, so I guess that it's fine. After all, I've already used it to light my way in the attic when I couldn't find a flashlight. *blush*

 Nickolas really enjoyed the balcony. He is such an outdoors kind of guy.

 -I liked this picture. Some times I wish I could just take whatever I want from the Hotel rooms. Or, at least this one. It would look so nice in my room.

 There he is. On the Balcony again.

 Caitlin- getting ready to go to the swimming pool, hot tub, and sauna. Ahhhhh, they were so very nice!!

 This table is only supposed to fit four people. Right. We ended up fitting 12 people at it anyways! That was one of the most squished dinners I ever remember.

 Kitchen. ( I know...Kind of messy)

 I really enjoyed my tea the whole time we were there. Tea just warms the heart! My favorite kind is the plain old Lipton, with just a sprinkle of sugar. Yummm.

 Walking on Indian Beach...

 Ewww. Little kids just don't know what is disgusting. But, feathers won't harm them, and it makes them feel like savage Indians, so we might as well let them have their fun.

 The little "walk on the beach" turned into a wild adventure through all the bushes, branches, trees, ferns, mud, spiders, and woods. It was fun, even though I was half scared to death at the thought that I might slip in the mud and fall on my camera, or run face first into a spider web. *shudder*  Other than that...I was really happy for the adventure.

 It had been quite a long time since we had all gone tromping in the woods together, exploring things. I love it, and it brought back a whole lot of good childhood memories.

 Finally! Some civilized stairs!!

 This was a really big, weird mushroom Papa found growing on a root. It was super soft. Kind of like rabbits fur.

 The amazing view!

 We all ate lunch then headed home.

 Levi.

 Marcus and Papa went fishing for half an hour on our way home and they caught two pretty good sized fish. Papa caught the biggest one, (of course) and Marcus caught the other one.

 14 inches long!

I know that this is not the ideal photo to end my post on, but it was the last photo from the trip.
Thank the LORD for another wonderful vacation!!!