"The Autumn leaves drift by my window, the Autumn leaves of red and gold..."

Yesterday was the first official day of Autumn! This is by far my favorite season of the year...I love the changing colors and the cool weather, cooking soups and chilies, the smell of apple cider and hot chocolate. I have never experienced this glorious season for more than a few weeks before, having lived in Texas. However, I can see that here in Colorado, we're going to get the real deal! I have never lived in a place where the leaves on the trees turned any other color than brown, and right outside my front window (which is tree-branch hight since this is a split level house with half of the down stairs underground) my tree has miraculously turned from green to yellow right before my eyes in a matter of only 3 days or so!
We went to the Denver Zoo yesterday, I purchased a membership last week when I was in Denver with Charlie while he was doing some training for FOCUS. We had originally planed on going for a hike in the mountains, but once we started heading west, we could see the rain in the mountain range and detoured to Denver to go to the Zoo again. All the animals were out and about, very active, and we had a wonderful time pondering God's amazing creation.
Today is a gloriously cold and rainy day, so I'm going to spend the morning baking peanut butter cookies with the girls and then get ready for our weekly Team Dinner.
I also need to spend some time creating a schedule for myself for my daily life. I had one back at home in Houston, but with all the changes, it no longer applies. I'd been putting it off, but something I read in the book I am currently reading, The Way, has encouraged me to GET IT TOGETHER. lol So, I will leave you with these wise quotes from St. Josemaria Escriva:
"76 If you don't have a plan of life, you'll never have order.
77 You told me that to tie yourself to a plan of life, to a schedule, would be so monotonous! And I answered, "It is monotonous because you lack Love."
78 If you don't get up at a set hour, you'll never fulfill your plan of life.
79 Virtue without order? Strange virtue!
80 With order, your time will be multiplied, and you will be able to give more glory to God by doing more work in His service."
(That last one sounds like what my Dad has told me all my life!)

Beginning of Fall

I keep hoping that Charlie will get a chance to get on here to share what's been going on on campus with FOCUS lately. However, he has been so busy that he hadn't had much of an opportunity to get on and give the details! I don't know many details, but they had their first large group event last Wednesday night, in conjunction with campus ministry. I got to go to that and it was exciting to see the team in action! Their small groups/bible study groups are starting this week I think, so my dear friends, I ask your prayers that it will be a successful start to the school year for them! On Monday nights, we have been hosting the weekly Team Dinners at our house. This has proven to be quite a bit of work for me, preparing dinner and desert, getting the house company ready, and keeping it there with the children that live here destroying things along the way...But it has given me so much joy to serve them in this small way, after all they are doing such amazing work for Our Lord!
The girls and I are making new friends! Last week I attended the Greeley women's Opus Dei circle, which was perfect for me as the talk was about Charity, and I needed to hear it that day. I will also be starting the Women of Grace study with some of the same ladies starting in October. That is exciting for me, since I left behind a great FAMILA group in Houston.
Colette is growing so fast! A couple of weeks ago we discovered that she has infant eczema, but it is finally under control so we are going to have pictures taken of her tomorrow. She is starting to smile and coo, she's so sweet. I can't get a picture of her smiling though because she can't see me around the camera! haha
We have been enjoying the nice Autumn weather here! I've been ebay shopping for Felicity's Fall/Winter clothes. It's pretty fun to actually get things for real seasons! I've discovered that I *love* Gymboree clothes, and one of the outfits I got her recently is a little floral dress with knee socks! She's so cute in them (pic below!) and they are good quality and wash well. Funny story though: I got Felicity several outfits on ebay, but when the mail man came with the package she was there, so she thought that the mail man bought her dresses! She keeps telling me how nice Richard the mail man is for getting her clothes! (I love "knowing" my mail man since he comes to the door everyday! He's very helpful!)
(ETA: I was trying to put a couple of pics, but its not working so I'll try again later!)

Little Ladies

My mom (who has 5 daughters!) always liked this poem, which I immediately thought of this morning after I went downstairs for clothes and came back up to find Felicity and Gabrielle with faces full of makeup (all in the right places by the way...). I wanted to scold them, but I found it so endearing that I couldn't keep my composure and not giggle. I know that their motive was not to ruin my makeup, or to make me mad, or do to something they shouldn't. They follow me. That is a huge charge...

A careful woman I ought to be
a little lady follows me.
I do not dare to go astray
for fear she'll go the self same way.
Not once can I escape her eyes:
Whate'er she sees me do she tries.
Like me she says she's going to be,
that little lady who follows me.
I must remember as I go
through summer sun and winter snow.
I'm molding for years to be
that little lady who follows me.

A New Creation!

Today was the baptism day of our sweet Colette! Her godparents (my parents) couldn't be here (for obvious reasons!), so Charlie's whole team joined us and 2 of them stood in as "witnesses." She was such a good girl and never cried, mostly slept, and woke up for for the important parts! I love the way the babies smell after their baptisms, and I am always so sad to take them out of that little dress. When I took it off of her this afternoon, I wondered if there will ever be a 4th little girl to wear the dress.
This is our first baby to be baptized by a priest - and a good and holy one at that! The other two were baptized by deacons. Here are some pictures of our joyful day!