My favorite time of year

 Last weekend we drove out to Clifton Gorge for a hike so that we could enjoy the beautiful weather and changing scenary.  This is one of the most scenic parks/preserves in Ohio. We hadn't been there since our college days, and there's no way I'm waiting another 10 years to go back! The Autumn colors were so beautiful.

Well, The girls weren't excited about hiking.  This didn't surprise us, so we really prepped them before we left.  We took the opportunity to encourage them and ourselves to prefer/love others and to do so without arguing and complaining.  That's hard for little kiddos.  That's hard for all of us. : )  That's why we had to also remind them of Christ, how he sacrificed himself for us, and how He can change our hearts and help us to love others (Philippians 2).  It also helped that we brought some mid-hike snacks and made up new lyrics to the Hi-Ho song from Snow White. : )   Actually, the girls were great!  Payton had an easy time because she relaxed in the pack after the first 500 yards.   Anna hiked 3 miles with us!!  We were so proud of her.  She was dragging by the end, but the promise of ice cream really motivated her (and eventually "cured" her of the tiredness). : )

As you can see, we took them to Youngs Jersey Dairy afterwards, and they had a lot of fun : )  We all did.

Family Photo

Weird photo of me, but I like the back drop.

mean face

funny face

smiles

I got a free extra scoop since I ordered a flavor of the month. I couldn't finish it all.  Payton wanted orange ice cream since orange is currently her favorite color.