Family Update: Fire. Sun. Water.

A Whitfield family update...

Fire: Sophie

At the beginning of the summer, Sophie and I wrote a master list of everything that she wanted to do this summer. The list was as awesome as Sophie herself...and it provided much entertainment and silliness throughout the summer. But, there was one item that we did not complete: "Touch an ambulance."  A few times when we were driving or running, an ambulance drove past us.  On each occasion, Sophie would reach her fingers out as if to touch the passing ambulance.  Last week, the fire station held an open house, so we knew Sophie had to go!  Most of the kids who visited wanted to sit behind the wheel of the firetruck.  But not Sophie.  She only wanted to touch an ambulance.

Summer list finally completed at the fire station!

Sun: D and E

Thanks to a Christmas 2011 gift from my parents, D and I spent 1 night away this week at Suncadia Resort.  It was a beautiful, vibrant fall day, and although we were only gone for 24 hours, we felt like we had been on a full-fledged vacation.  We went wine tasting, had a relaxing dinner, watched a movie, went for a morning run, ate lunch at one of our favorite pubs ever (in Rosalyn), and just enjoyed one another's company.  A major thank you to my parents for that gift and to my momma for taking such great care of my babies.  The kiddos even got a visit from Papa who was fulfilling Reservist duties at Joint Base Fort Lewis-McChord.

Such dorks...

Such cute dorks.....

The Brick: love this bar

Beer Me!

Water: Cameron

The most significant family update is that Cameron was baptized this Sunday.  He only yawned once while our minister was baptizing him which caused some laughter in the congregation.  Sophie has never attended the church service with us since she always attends her own Sunday School.  She sat patiently and attentively during the whole service; this afternoon at home, she spent nearly 1 hour pretending to be a minister who constantly repeated "Welcome to Church.  Please stand up" or "Welcome to church.  Please sit down now."  Then she would bang on the piano and ask us to sing along.  So sweet.  Cam's baptism was special because he is a sweet, joyful boy who has filled our lives to the brim and for that, we are thankful.  He was meant to be our son. At nearly 5 months old, his laughter and giggles fill our house on a daily basis.  Consequently, we chose Philippians 4:4-7 as his life verse:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The kiddos were preoccupied with the water...!!

Loved having Grandma here for the special occasion

The Whitfield 4 (the best photo we could get...kiddos were D.O.N.E.)

That's our update!

Halloween sneak peak...

Pumpkins!!

Look what we bought this weekend....

The biggest pumpkin EVER!! We returned to our favorite farm which Sophie has visited when she was an almost 1-year old (see post here) and as an almost 2-year old (see post here).  Now, as an almost 3-year old, she introduced the farm fun to her baby bro.

Once our front stoop was fully decorated with pumpkins, tombstones, and skeletons, we enjoyed the amazing sunshine.  Check out this heartbreaker...

Rolling, Fishing, and Reuniting

1.  ROLLING

Cameron is a rolling machine.  The kid will not stay on his back anymore; he just rolls over.  Just to compare my children, I'll note that Sophie rarely rolled over.  She reached the milestone--rolling from tummy to back and then rolling back to tummy--but then she only rolled a handful of times again in her whole life.  Cameron no longer sees the point of staying put.  He is a roller (even though all of these photos show him as a stationary sitter).  

I tell him on a daily basis: "I want to eat your cheeks for lunch." He is seriously edible. 

2.  FISHING

At the end of a work conference in Alaska last week, Doug united with a group of wounded vets associated with Camp Hope for a fishing trip.  While I should let Doug write about his own experience, he is far too busy, and I'm overdue for a blog post, so I'll attempt to do this experience justice.  Doug has been leading the organizing, fundraising, and planning of this trip for over 6 months.  This was a life-changing event for Doug...one of those special, amazing memories that he will remember for the rest of his life.  Doug and some colleagues collaborated to provide this halibut fishing trip for a group of heroes who have been severely wounded in war.  Doug said that these are men whom he will remain friends with for life.  They are the best of the best who sacrificed everything for our country.  Doug believes that he benefitted much more from this fishing trip than those men, and he was profoundly affected by this experience.  Doug did a truly amazing thing by leading this, and we are all very proud of him.

3. REUNITING

This past weekend was my Whitman College 10-year reunion!  After ditching my two children in Spokane, I was a free woman for the weekend!  Doug flew down from Alaska and met me in Walla Walla.  We had two full days of fun with old friends in our favorite little town.  It felt like the greatest vacation to stay in a hotel, sleep through the night, laugh and laugh with friends, and center our days around food and drink.  By Sunday morning, we were ready and excited to be reunited with the kiddos.  Thanks to my parents and to great-Grandma Jean for showering my babies with love while we were reliving our glory days :)

This is our busiest fall to date.  Days are full.  But, the month of October is one of our favorites. Sophie was so excited to change the calendar yesterday, because it's now her birthday month!!