One Week.

Lots of pictures in this post! I'll try to keep the rambling to a minimum.  ;)
I must say THANK YOU, though, to those of you who have either emailed, left sweet comments, or prayed for us when I shared my struggles the other day.

Time is so fleeting, and downright unforgiving. I don't want life to slip by unnoticed- I want to savor it all.

We met Daddy at the beach because Ethan's away game was so close by it was impossible to resist one last frolic in the waves.

We were so excited to see two horses trotting along the shore! Isabelle was crazy-happy-giddy, but I didn't have my camera with me at that point.  =(

Such a beautiful afternoon.

Jonah is getting so tall all of a sudden! Definitely not my little Jonah Boy anymore.

We ate dinner in the stands at the game. And Cheesecake-Topped Brownies. I'll have to share the recipe- they were diviiiiine!

Crushed 'em. Both teams played hard and played well, but our guys were on fire.

Goofin' around.

More goofin'.

Lazy, happy boy.

This lonely little berry missed the memo that summer is over. Isabelle popped it in her mouth afterwards and squealed about how "juicy and yummy and sweet" it was.

Weekend
Midday view of our backyard.

Red, green, orange and yellow all on one tree!

These rolls and this hearty crock-pot Beef Stew. THE perfect autumn meal.

I'm not sure why, but I just love this photo from our front yard.

Saturday morning soccer games, lazy lunches, and more dinners with friends. We brought dessert:  these and these. =)

Weekend walk along the river. Someone can totally shimmy up a tree...so cute!!!

Translucent overhang.

Rushing river.

It is unbelievable how excited we get and how LOUDLY we cheer when Ryder takes a dip. He was so fearful of the water before, and he's really starting to like it now- watching him swim and look all happy about it makes my heart smile so big. Seriously, The.Cutest.Thing.Ever.

Brothers. Sword fights. Adventures. Imaginations. Love it all.

=)

I found the best surprise while looking up a pie crust recipe (me, a PIE?????) - a tucked-away note from a dear friend for my bridal shower.

Told you.
It worked! I made a pie, I made a pie!!! And it was really good, too.

These colors take my breath away. It had just begun to rain, which then made thousands of leaves drop to the ground, and I felt my heart sink just a little bit. I'm not ready for this yet. It's just all moving along so quickly. I may have even pleaded with the leaves to hold on. Maybe. Well, they didn't listen.

Do you see all the leaves swirling around? The wind picked up substantially and it looked like it was snowing leaves...so neat!

Later on, the sky turned dark grey and thunder rumbled in the distance, and that wind was cuh-razy! And then it was over, the sun peeked out for a little while before setting, and it's been gorgeous ever since. Oh New England.

One last random tidbit.
So I think I am officially The last person on the planet to "get" the whole hashtag thing, and it's like a brand new world has opened up before my very eyes. So much fun on Instagram! I'm bethanyliv if you want to look me up, and let me know if you follow so I can follow you back - I adore glimpses into people's everyday lives on IG. Is that the nice way of admitting that I'm extremely nosy?

The hour is getting late and I'm an early riser, so...Goodnight!