Back to work

Rollie went back to work yesterday, November 1st. Don't feel too sorry for him, though, he's taking a week off at Thanksgiving and that's only 3 weeks away!

We had a great last day of his sabbatical on Halloween. Monday morning I took Lydia to Phoenix Children's Hospital for her check-up on her hips. She was born with hip dysplasia and had 3 different types of braces her first year, ending in a cast for 3 months which finally set her hips into the sockets. We hadn't been in a year and her x-ray showed that her hips basically look normal now! We don't have to go again for 2 more years. She'll be 5 1/2 then and I just can't fathom it :) Praise God for the way He has cared for Lydia through her hip issues. We're so thankful she doesn't need surgery, as this was a very real possibility a year ago.

Rollie and Lydia carved pumpkins. Lydia drew the face she wanted on the pumpkin and Rollie carved it. It turned out really well, we think! Her's is the one on the left below. We went trick or treating that night.

So, we're back at it. Rollie is back at work and the kids and I are getting into our normal routine. What will the Leemans do now that we're not on sabbatical anymore? We're going to see my family in Indiana for a week at Thanksgiving. I'm (Megan) training for the Phoenix Rock N Roll Half-Marathon again this year. Lydia is loving gymnastics and Ben is communicating more each day. We'll welcome our niece Hannah into the family sometime soon, thanks to Andy and Emily :) I'm excited to celebrate Christmas at our house this year and start some family traditions that we've had in mind for a while. Rollie and I would love to do a ski trip this year, as I haven't gone with him since we got pregnant with Lydia. In March we're taking a family vacation to Tybee Island near Savannah, GA with my parents and Andy and Emily and baby Hannah. Rollie and I would love to have a third Dr. Seuss character in our family sometime in the future. And I think this is the end of our blog... thanks for joining us the past 8 weeks!

Happy Halloween

our favorite characters!

We are very into Dr. Seuss at our house. So this year we decided that Lydia would be the Cat in the Hat and her baby dolls would be the Cat's sidekicks, Thing 1 and Thing 2. Little brother Ben continued the theme as Sam I Am with green eggs and ham. I made the costumes out of felt, starting the week before, and finished them about 3 hours before trick and treating!

after we trick or treated on our street we sat in the front yard and

handed out candy to the neighborhood kids

2 extra costumes to make!

Rollie and Lydia carved the pumpkins while Ben and I ran an errand that morning.

The pumpkin on the left is entirely Lydia's design. Love it!

I love this picture of Lydia seeing her costome for the first time

Surprise!

Let me just say that I REALLY don't like mustaches. But I REALLY love my husband :)

Sunday afternoon Lydia and I went to Costco right before going to church that night. While we were gone Rollie showered and shaved off his beard of one week... minus this furry friend. We were so busy unloading car and hurrying to church that I didn't notice until we were in the car. Too late!

Camping

This past weekend was Rollie's last weekend of his sabbatical. We went camping with 26 adults and kids from our small group at church! Friday morning we drove up to a campground near Camp Verde, AZ. We found a some sites that worked for our large group and started setting up. The weather was perfect during the day, around 80 degrees. It was pretty cold that night, hitting 37 degrees, quite a bit colder than anticipated. The beauty of living in the desert is that you can go camping at the end of October.

I think there were 12 kids on this trip, the oldest being 7 and the youngest was 2 months. I'm highly impressed with our friend Megan for camping with her 2 month old Caleb! Very few of the kids took naps that first day, and quite a few of them woke up during the night as well :(  The next day was much better, though. We had a fantastic time. Kids were filthy, cooking was an adventure, and there was plenty of time for the adults to sit back and relax around the campfire. Some went off-roading Saturday morning, some went hiking, and some stayed at camp and just talked. We played bocce ball during nap time. Here are pictures from our hike:

Alice and James

I LOVE this picture of the dads and their little guys!

The kids loved roasting marshmellows after dinner. Here's a silly video of Lydia and her "mashmellows":

Rollie and I both grew up camping and love doing it (I admit that it is A LOT of work to prepare for and clean up after, though). We camp several times a year as a family and can't wait go again next spring. Here are some random pics from our camping trip:

beautiful Mena, who knew how to get out of her tent :)

Clara

 Valerie and Toby

Owen and Judah

Chloe, Rollie and Ben

Ben, Lydia and James