The Howe Family

Here are all of the “leaves” from our gratitude tree. Contributors include family, friends, piano students, extended family, and neighbors. I am typing the entries as the boys hand them to me off the tree. I thought about saving them in a baggie and then unearthing them a year later in storage. But then the “blog fairy” whispered that I could just make a GREAT post to share. Here’s to a wonderful tradition:

• Phin is grateful for “ooooo-ooooo Bananas!”
• Mama is grateful for how Eli says, “EEEEEE-ow” for “Meow”
• Experience and Progression
• Libraries
• The Book of Mormon
• Hearing Eli Pray
• The Hallelujah Chorus
• I am Grateful for Phin and Eli – Taylor
• Phin “Leaves!”
• Eli: “Trash Truck!”
• Family that shares
• Croutons
• Adele’s Smile
• Eli: “Cookies!”
• Phin says, “I’m grateful for strawberries on my cake. That makes me happy.”
• Eli: “Tubby Time”
• Adele is grateful for kisses from her brothers.
• Papa is thankful for the end of the musical!
• Warm Socks
• Hearing Phin Laugh
• I am very thankful for celebrating Eli’s birthday today and for all my precious great-grand kids. -Grandma S
• “Unicorns!” Says Phin
• Family, Friends, the Gospel
• Phin: “I’m grateful for Heavenly Father & this food!”
• Blueberries
• Eli says, “aw-wer-ries!” (strawberries)
• I am grateful for my artistic ability
• I am thankful for the world
• I am thankful for my shelter
• Adele: “Midnight Feedings”
• Alli: “I am grateful for adventurous eaters!”
• Wonderful Grandchildren
• “I am thankful for music.” -Lillian
• I am grateful for Abinadi and his teachings
• Great-Grands -Poppa Great
• Eli: “For Apples!
• I am grateful for a kind, loving family that feeds me and does other things
• I am grateful for truth and direction in my life & for eternal families
• When Eli sings “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” he says, “won-a won-a what you are.” SO CUTE!
• Thankful for my family, cats, toys, friends, flowers, and trees
• Phin: “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”
• Wonderful Grandchildren
• I’m thankful for Jesus and Church
• Working Car
• Nate: “Weekends!”
• Eli: “Colors! Pink, White, Purple, Black.”
• Our Family -Grammy Jo
• Health & Strength & Food & Shelter & Lots of Hugs
• Peanut butter Apple Dip
• Phin: “Sparkling Snow”
• The Internet (amen!)
• Alli: “Getting one-on-one time with Adele at night when the boys are asleep”
• I am thankful for my church, family, and friends – Morgan
• I am grateful for God’s gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ
• Loving Family
• Glasses & Contacts
• Fresh Garden Tomatoes
• I am grateful for a wonderful family and great friends. -Chris
• Listening to Phin tell stories
• Nate: “I am grateful for a hot wife.”
• Eli: “Sprinkles” (the dust specks you can see floating in light coming through a window)
• Nate: Wrestling with Phin and inventing a new game called “Ghost Fight”
• I’m grateful for the love of my wife & family- all the grands and great-grands.
• I’m thankful for my family, food, clothes, and friends. -Emma

Here is one of my favorite pics from Autumn so far:

Our neighbors are REALLY good at staying on top of their yard. It was mowed weekly, fertilized on a schedule, etc. Our lawn was usually green. Enough said. Anyway, a few weeks ago we had a gentle reminder from our neighbors that it was time to rake. I laughed outloud when I took this picture.

We surprised Nate by raking the leaves while he was at work. It was a perfect afternoon with LOTS of giggling, running, and diving. I love having toddlers. We finished the day with making a Gratitude Tree. Every morning at breakfast I ask the boys, “What are you grateful for? What makes you happy?” Some of the entries so far:

Phin: “I’m grateful for Unicorns!”

Eli: “Straw-re-ries”

Alli: “Midnight Feedings with Adele”

Here’s to a wonderful season! What are you grateful for?

I recently dumped the pictures from my phone and thought I’d share a few of my favorites-Starring my favorite little people!

Here are the boys riding their tricycles on the ‘famous’ Rainbow Bridge. It is one of my favorite spots in Fort Morgan because it is NEVER crowded. When I say “never” I mean, I have never been on it at the same time as anyone else, ever. It feels like our own private spot with a nice view of the Platte River. It’s not a tropical paradise… but it is the best view in Fort Morgan. It hasn’t been used for actual traffic since the 80s so I can attempt some kind of exercise while the boys frolic.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall! We will have some great Fall shots in the next post.

Adele Stats:

• Age: 4 months
• Length: 24″
• Weight: 11 lbs 3 oz
•  Favorite activities: listening to my brothers sing to me, tummy time, holding mama’s fingers, jewelry, and hair.
• Favorite tickle spots: Armpits & neck

We love staying at Grammy and Poppa Great’s home in Greeley. Their home just feels so good and it’s because of the AMAZING people who live there. They are incredibly talented at making people feel welcome and good about themselves. Here are a few photos from our last visit of the kids with Poppa Great:

Grammy was so busy cooking for us that she didn’t make it in our candid shots… watch out Grammy, we’ll get you next time!

This post is titled ‘water’ because I have some great shots of the boys from Glenmere Pond in Greeley and Jackson State Reservoir that needed to go somewhere… Here they are as a testament to our FABULOUS summer.

You will notice there are only a few Adele shots in here. She enjoyed the park and the reservoir by sleeping and nursing. In fact- I was nursing while enjoying the beach and chatting with the boys when a woman came over and asked if I wanted a chair. I didn’t even realize that it was weird to nurse while standing up. She declared, “You are talented!”

The photo of the toad is important because Phin caught him and named him “Hopper.” The boys all went to work on building a sand castle for Hopper. Eventually, we told Phin that Hopper needed to go on a vacation and we set him free in the trees. We also catch toads at our favorite local park. It’s really great to find toads because then Phin gets his “pet fix” and then we go home to our clean, stink-free, pet-free home. Ahhh. I love Fort Morgan.

Leading up to Nate’s brother returning from his missionary service for our church, the boys would play the following game at breakfast, lunch, and dinner:

Phin: (chanting in a regular tone) Uncle Chris! Uncle Chris! Uncle Chris!

Eli: (gradually getting louder) Uncle Chris! Uncle Chris…. UNCLE CHRIIIIIIIS!

Phin: (super loud) UNCLE CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!

They loved going back and forth saying his name and seeing how long they could yell before I would crack up laughing and try quieting them down. (“We don’t yell at the table you guys…”)

Anyway, we are happy that Chris served a wonderful mission in Los Angeles. Welcome Home you bilingual power house! We love you! Here are a few pics for posterity-sake:

We had a “heaven on earth” kind of a day on Sunday. Adele was blessed at church. If you haven’t been to a baby blessing at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you should. It is beautiful and empowering. I loved watching Adele being held up by her father and other dear family and friends who have the priesthood. The men stand in a circle with the sweet baby and (typically) the father will give a blessing for their life. Nate blessed her to be a light in the world and other wonderful things.

This is a picture taken after we liberated her from the antique christening gown. She is being held by her Grandpa Howe and oh-so-happy to be with family (and out of that dress!). I’ll hopefully get photos of her in the blessing dress before she outgrows it. Love you all!

A great thing about living in agriculture country: people grow food, even if they don’t like it.

Case in point: a man outside Fort Morgan offered some free apples on the Swap Shop radio show. When we arrived he said, “I don’t even like apples!”

Last week we had a family date in a local orchard. It was quite heavenly- the air smelled sweet and the sun was just about to set. I need those kind of days to remember how absolutely fabulous it is to be alive. The boys frolicked around and ate loads of fresh apples (including wormy ones I’m sure. Eli wasn’t very discriminatory about which ones ended up in his mouth…). I even daydreamed about having an orchard one day… Ahhh. Here’s to harvest season!

If you’re wondering about the canning picture- we canned about 30 pints of applesauce. Yum!

This is just a promo post for my photographer phriend, Chelsea Ellingson. If you are in Northern Colorado and need exceptional pictures – she’s your girl. Click here to see her work.

These are the rest of the “meeting Adele” shots from July.