I am going to try and break it down month by month….

 September - Andy and I went on a cruise for our 10 year anniversary!  It was wonderful to be able to get away for a few days and really focus on being together and being a couple! 

 October-  Found out we were expecting a 4th child, due June 12th!  Started to adjust slowly to the idea of what God was planning for our family!  Obviously something BIGGER than we had had in mind! 

Some random pics from October….

Told the kids we couldn’t spend anything on Halloween costumes this year and this is what they came up with!  Almost all on their own!  Even Cara!  We trick or treated at Grandmama’s and Poppy’s and then went to a church in town to a fabulous carnival!  The kids had a GREAT time!

November-  Another trip to Father- Daughter camp at Hume!  I highly recommend that all Daddys take their daughters as soon as they can!  (The girls must be at least 8 years old!)  My dad and I always hve such a GREAT time!  Roger and Jennifer and Diane and Carl both went again this year too.  Here are some pics from our weekend.

Cara discovered my Powdered sugar shaker on Nov. 17, 2008!!  What a mess!!  At least I am sure it tasted better than the baby powder I got into when I was a little younger than her!!  Right, Mom?  But she sure looked CUTE!

We also got a chance to see for the first time the baby who is “Being Built by God” as we tell the kids.

And finally Thanksgiving- 

Chris peeling potatoes

Playing Wii -

Grammy reading to Cara and my cousin Kristin’s daughter Emma

Okay that is it for now….. I need a break! 

Now I know you may be thinking. “Thursday!  That’s August 7!”  Yep, they start quite early in Exeter, at least a week earlier than most schools, and two earlier than others.  There are some good things about it, though.  The kids get a week off in October, which make taking a vacation in off-peak times rather easy (We went to Disneyland the last two years), and they get the two weeks surrounding Easter, which make it much easier to travel during that time as well.

So this week is a time of transition in the Haley household.  We will be gearing up into the school routine (pick out your clothes the night before, get the kids up dressed, out the door by 7:25, 15 min. drive into town, drop ‘em off, go back home, back to the school to pick up Chris at 11:30 (Half-day kindergarten) then meet Becca’s bus out at the road at 2:30, repeat daily.  Of course, Martha will be doing most of this running.  The hardest part is the nearly 40 miles of driving each day (gas: ouch!).

So here I am, contemplating the new school year in my first blog post in quite some time.  I’d like to say that these are going to be more frequent, but I can’t.  I’d like to say we’ll keep on top of getting photos and updates posted all the time, but I can’t.  Life happens, and somethings go to the back burner, so I CAN say that we’ll TRY to post updates and photos more often, and that’s all I can do.

To all the families that are staring up school again, good luck, and I hope you children enjoy learning as much as mine seem to do :-).

Slideshow coming soon!