what delights my heart.

First of all, I have to say that there are a lot of things that delight my heart.  Jesus.  A coworker curious about Jesus.  My most amazing husband.  how the leaves are changing.  How blessed my life is. 

and this.

This post is gonna have a LOT of kidlets in it.  Because I haven't posted about them in a while...and they're just so darn cute! 

Ender playing in a truck at the playplace at the mall

Karlina is quite the social butterfly. 

"Auntie!  I'm making friends!"  She's so cute. 

The next series of pictures just...i can't even caption them.  He was pouting and I was trying not to laugh, but he was SO CUTE!  His big round eyes, his lower lip sticking out...oh my. 

Isn't it just adorable!?  he brightened up pretty quick after that, so don't worry.

Fun day at the lake with the kids and Sierra. 

Newest piece of furniture.  We had been looking for something for this spot for a while and this worked perfect!  

And you can see my newly painted gray walls in the background.  Mmm so nice. 

Such a stud. 

Walking Sierra.  She picks up random sticks along the way.  And this day she was alertly watching ducks with the menacing stick.  I can only imagine what she would do if not leashed. 

I realize this is not a kidlet.  But it is pretty exciting.  OUR NEW GRILL!  I know, I know, its late in the season, but better late than never, right?  Mmm so fabulous to now have other options for cooking meat and vegetables besides the oven and stove-top! 

Back to the kiddos.  Karlina giving Ender a post-bath hair brush.  He just sits there and soaks it up while she plays hair dresser.  

Last year my friend Tanya invited us to her parent's farm called White Pine Berry Farm for a Family Fun day!  The kids loved it, so this year we were excited to go again, this time with Daddy and Uncle Ben too!  

Lil' Kangaroo at the petting zoo.

Petting super soft rabbits.  They were for sale and I almost convinced Ben to buy one. 

almost. 

This little girl looked so cute and grown up compared to last year! 

(2013 on the left, 2012 on the right!)

And this guy kept wanting to get in the cage since he couldn't reach down there very well. 

Uncle Ben came up with a better solution though...

Miss K enjoying a pony ride.  She was so cute, every time she passed by us, she would try to act all grown up, and barely show any excitement.  Like she was trying to act like it was no big deal.

But it was.  She couldn't help smile in the end  =)

Buddies.

This is the marvelous corn maze!  it was such a gorgeous picture-perfect day.  Seriously, doesn't that look fake?  There isn't any filter or alteration to that picture at all either!  

Crystal joined us for the maze.  It was a lot of fun. 

Karlina assumed responsibility of the map.  She would decide which turns to take, and then mark on the (upside down) map with a little pencil.  At one point, she got to a three-way fork and I asked her which way to go.  She held her map, studied it carefully and then said, "Well we can't go that way because the map says it will be a dead end."  (we had just gone down a dead end and she didn't want to do that again.) 

So she picked the other path confidently stating, "This is the right way!"  Finally after going around and around for a while she said (confidently, I might add-as if she were doing me a favor), "Auntie, you can help me lead and hold the map and find the end." 

It was so cute.  She's such a cutie!

Up above the corn. 

Ender picked up a piece of corn along the way and was munching on the rather hard kernals.  Kept him busy. 

Karlina loved picking out the perfect size pumpkin.  

Chillin' with his snack.

Then he got distracted when he realized that if he kicked the pumpkin, it would roll like a ball. 

My love and I.

the perfect, glorious, God-created sky.

Painting pumpkins!  

He didn't have paint, just water.  but he definitely took it seriously. 

Hanging out with Daddy! 

Jim is such a good dad...seriously.

(oh and if you're wondering where Krissa was, she was studying hard for a pharmacy exam! we missed her a lot)

On the hay ride.  At this point, Ender wasn't feeling 100% and had a really runny nose.  But Crystal and I sure enjoyed it!

Ben and I on the hay ride. 

View over the farm. 

Karlina and Jim waiting for her turn to hit the pinata! 

Standing in line patiently waiting.  She's such a doll with her cute little vest and ponytail!

Look at that stance!  the girl is gonna be athletic just like both of her parents! 

It was such a fun day to spend all together!  I cannot tell you how delightful it is to be a steady part of these kids' lives.  (And Jim and Krissa's).  I love having family close, being an Auntie and building relationships!  Looking forward to later this month when my parents, Joe, John and Amy come out to visit for K's bday.  It'll be splendid to have my family all together!  

This is Battle Creek Dog Park.  I think I've written about it before.  Last summer when I was totally falling for Ben, and he seemed to be clueless, I came here several times a week with Sierra to just walk, enjoy the outdoors and just be with God.  It is one of my absolute favorite places in MN.  Look how serene this pond is!  *sigh* 

Then again, maybe not so serene!  Sierra and her dog-friend Rossi were having SO much fun romping around and playing. (Like always, Sierra is in the water...)

Found a stick. 

Sierra loves it when other dogs give her good competition. 

Rossi is great for that. 

Oh! and she gets pretty good air.  She can jump pretty high vertically as well as long horizontally.  

Well there are some dear sweet moments from the beginning of fall!  It is still beautiful weather.  Dipping down pretty cool in the evenings but still in the 70s during the days.  I'll take it =) 

Just read a quote in our book by Charles Spurgeon: "Grace grows best in the winter."  Now he may have been talking about spiritual winter.  But I know that grace grows best for me in the literal winter.  But it doesn't hurt if you want to send up a prayer for me as I must loosen my grasp on the warm days of summer and gracefully accept the chilly days and super freezing nights...

At least I have a honey to keep me warm! =)

au revoir.

p.s. after a lengthy background check and positive driving report, I got a second interview for my potential job on Friday.  will keep you posted on further updates!