Fall Fun :)

Amidst the crazy we did manage to have some fun, too!

I enjoyed another country concert with my friends!

We went apple picking as a family! Seems like we always pick an unseasonably warm day for this.

I spent a fun day off school at Bengston's Farm with the girls!

Jemma attended some fun events at school including the Halloween Dance and Glow in the Dark Kickball!

We attended Fall Fest at our church and last minute decided to host a trunk for the Trunk or Treat! Good thing we have plenty of Squishmallows laying around! :)

Nate and the girls carved pumpkins!

We got our last ice cream from our local DQ before they closed for the season!

Jade and Jemma both had their fall band concert!

Both girls went Trick-Or-Treating with friends! Nate and I enjoyed a quiet evening at the house with only a couple kids ringing our bell.

Our little cheerleader was back at it! This time, cheering for her school's 7th and 8th grade basketball teams!

We were finally able see the Northern Lights, and from our yard!

Although we had a wonderful fall, we unfortunately lost Nate's dad on November 14th after battling several health challenges throughout the last few months. In the midst of loss there were reconnections between family members that I'm sure would have made Bob very happy! His calm demeanor, kind heart and silly humor will be forever missed. 

Thanksgiving shortly followed, and while it was hard to celebrate the first holiday without Bob, it was nice to be with Nate's mom and extended family.

Rounding out November was a belated birthday date with Nate's Aunt Nancy for Jemma. Painting with a sloth was a total hit!

Fall Sports

 This fall was very busy for the girls and their respective sports. I was dealing with an awful shingles outbreak during this time, so while I was at every game, I don't have a lot of photo evidence of such! :)

Jade played on her school's 8th Grade Volleyball team this year! She worked hard on her skills this summer and was super excited to make the top team as a Defensive Specialist, meaning she only played the back row. I was able to snag a little video clip from the school's Instagram page.

Jade was also very busy with soccer this fall. She is still with the same club as last year, Eclipse, but she moved up to their regional level team! The level of play has definitely been a lot more competitive and was a bit of a tough season for the girls.

Jemma kept busy with her weekly tumbling classes perfecting her round off back handspring on the tumble track. She's now trying to get it on the floor without a spotter. She also LOVED her season cheering for the Naperville Saint's football team and honestly I loved it too! An added bonus was having her best friend doing it too!

Jemma is ELEVEN!

The birthday girl started her day off strong with cinnamon rolls for breakfast!

 

When your birthday falls on a Saturday you don't have to wait until after school to open presents! :)

We had a fun birthday celebration that evening complete with lots of claw machines at Round 1 Arcade, dinner at Portillo's and cookie cake and ice cream for dessert!

Jemma was so excited to open her gifts from the Baum Fam and chat via Facetime!

Jemma had a birthday party with her friends from school at Board & Brush! All of the girls' projects turned out so good!

Due to some scheduling conflicts we were finally able to have Jemma's family birthday party at the end of the September. She chose a super cute cherry theme!