Halloween 2008

This was an eventful week at the Torkelson house! Monday night both Jack and Adam were sick all night. Tuesday morning the boys seemed better (after an essentially sleepless night) and we found out that we will be moving to England - RAF Mildenhall - this summer. Here's Catherine rejoicing over the England news (she really doesn't understand, but had fun listening to her brothers try to talk with British accents):

Friday night the kids dressed up along with Daddy to walk around the neighborhood trick-or-treating. Mommy stayed home to hand out candy to other trick-or-treaters. It turned out that Gumby was the hit of the night with Catherine as well as all of the other neighbors who were out that night:

Here's Catherine sporting her new necklace and glasses - fun Hallowen treats:

Pumpkin Carving

Sunday afternoon Daddy helped the boys carve the pumpkins they picked out at the pumpkin patch on Friday. It was another beautiful day here in Colorado! Adam & Jonah thought the goo inside the pumpkins was too slimy and gross, so they watched for a little while, then decided to jump and play on the basketball court while Mommy & Daddy scooped & carved their pumpkins. Jack scooped most of his and helped do most of the carving, which was a first for him. Here they are with their pumpkins:

Here are the jack-o-lanterns all lit up that night:
Catherine enjoys looking at the pumpkins and now says something close to pumpkin. She also enjoys taking off her clothes and unfastening her diaper which poses some problems at night when she does this and gets her crib all wet, like last night. Maybe we'll start safety pinning the zipper to the top of her pj's... Tom left this morning for a three day trip to Alaska - leftovers for dinner!

Bubble Bath

One of the kids' treats of sleeping over at Doc Sue's is taking a bubble bath. They love to play with bubbles in their hair and Jonah named the results "new improvements" to their hair. Here's Jonah's "new improvement":

Here's Adam's "new improvement":
Here's Catherine with Adam & Jonah in the bath having fun:

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we went with Doc Sue and a couple of families from our church to the Colorado Springs Pumpkin Patch. It wasn't a patch so much as it was many large crates of pumpkins for you to look through. However, it was a gorgeous fall day here in Colorado and the views and open space were very fun for all of the kids and the adults. There were several handmade slides, a hay maze, some goats to pet and hay rides. We all had a great time and each of the boys were able to pick out their own pumpkin.

Here's Tom and Catherine going down one of the slides:

Petting one of the goats - Catherine didn't want to take her hand off:
Several from our group crowded on the wagon for the hayride:
Gorgeous views and our group that went - our friends the Velarde's & the Geertsema's - because each or our families have 4 kids, we were able to get a group discount:
The beautiful view behind our family including Doc Sue!
Today, our families helped out at church wrapping Christmas boxes for Operation Christmas Child - check out this link to find out more and how you can find a location in your area to help. It is a wonderful ministry - we have filled boxes before, but this was fun for our church group to wrap so many to hand out to our congregation tomorrow for them to fill. Also, all of the boys had their last soccer game of the season - it was another beautiful day here for that. Tonight the kids are all going to Doc Sue's for a sleepover - woohoo! Thanks Doc Sue!

More of Grammie & Grampa's Visit

One morning Grammie, Grampa, Catherine & I went to the AFA while the boys were in school and Tom was at work. We visited the gift shop and walked to see the chapel where Tom & I were married 15 1/2 years ago. Here are a couple of pictures of Catherine posing with her grandparents:

Catherine took many walks with Grammie & Grampa. Here are some of her famous camera poses while going on walks with ten thousand things in her hands:

We had a wonderful visit and were sorry to see them leave. The night before Grammie & Grampa left, we all went out to eat at Gunther Toodys - here's a group shot:

AFA vs. Navy Game

Saturday, 4 Oct, we went to the USAFA vs. USNA football game. Tom was at our church men's retreat so he wasn't there, but Grammie, Grampa, Doc Sue & I and all of the kids were able to go. The AFA games are really fun - lots of excitement, entertainment & fun food for the kids. Unfortunately, Air Force lost to Navy, but we had a great time anyway.

All of the cadets march out onto the football field in formation:

When they are dismissed, they all run up into a section of the bleachers reserved for them:
We had several planes flyover - a C-17, some WWII planes, 2 F-22s, and a B-2 pictured below:
Catherine fell asleep for about 15-20 minutes at the beginning of the game, then she was awake for the rest of the time. Here's Catherine sleeping:
Catherine enjoyed going on "walks" with Grammie around the stadium when she became too restless for sitting. Here's a group shot that Doc Sue took of the rest of us - our seats were fantastic and we all had a fun time!

Grammie & Grampa's Visit to CO

The 1st of October, 2008, Grammie and Grampa Parlin came to visit. All of the kids were so excited for their arrival. They flew to CO from Maine where they had been all summer. They will return to Florida after this visit. It was nice that my sister lives here now so that they could visit with both of us on this trip. Jonah could hardly wait to read Green Eggs & Ham to them - here they are on the first day listening to Jonah.