Fun in Franklin

We had a really great time visiting Franklin, Indiana and our friends there! We had a break between appointments and went for a walk in the park, what GREAT fun.

a brook running through the park

it's getting colder - Amy's in her peacoat already...

Gavin...

We love our nephews. As we have the opportunity to spend time with them here in Indianapolis... ... we spend all kinds of time with them. Here are some featured photos of Gavin (our two year old nephew).

His awesome grin at the park

Gavin is ALWAYS in action, so catching a good shot is really tough!

Jumping in leaves is really fun!

WOW! Aunt Amy can pile leaves with the best of the them!!

Hugs are the best!

Uncle Jeff reads pretty well!

Climbing to the top of the slide.

Laying tiles with mom, dad, and aunt mamy. (that's NOT a typo)

Happy Feet!

One of our supporters in Ann Arbor is a very talented knitter.... and our feet are the VERY happy recipients:

Yard Work

Our pal Melissa had surgery on her thumb... she offered us a place to stay and we were only thrilled to help her out with some fall yardwork!

mowing the lawn!

trimming up the bushes! (Melissa)

This leaf blower is AWESOME, it's a vacuum too!

A Visit to Franklin & Brown County

We've had a lot of great times in Franklin, IN. We visited Franklin Community Church and after an amazing lunch of Chinese, headed to Brown County Park

Brown County Park in Indiana

Amy in Brown County

another great view of the lake in Brown County

Birch trees! Feels like home in Russia

Enjoying our time in the park!

With friends and Colleagues, Kate and Sherry!

Thanksgiving in October?

Here are the photo highlights of the Brake Family Thanksgiving (in October!) With our crazy around the country plans to visit more than 10 churches and nearly a hundred individual supporters, we're all over. My family decided to have Thanksgiving in October!

Apple Cider

Uncle John's Cider Mill: turns out to be a convenient rest area between Indianapolis and Bellaire. Amy and I stopped only for a brief moment, gave in to the required fresh donut and cider stop... neither of us have ever actually seen cider made before. It's really cool!

Here are the apples coming in on the conveyorThen they go through this crazy contraptionHere's the UNUSED portionAnd it goes through this thing too.

Nephews! Noah and Levi

Man, it sure is good to be with little kids. They are so awesome just to watch. Noah is literally (in a good way) obsessed with animals and making sure that they're safe and happy. He loves the tv show Diego (guess he's learning some Spanish, at least passively). Levi is the cutest and has moved from just rolling around to an army crawl already. Look at that face!

Levi crawling

Noah's fourth birthdayNoah opening his presentsLevi thinking he's going to help open presents!

Levi in 'army crawl' position

Gavin's Birthday Party

Gavin is really into the cartoon, "Cars." So he had a Cars-themed party. We also had a good time. Here are the photo highlights:The day started off right with a "Go Light" (Lightning McQueen) balloon.

Cousin Noah enjoying the animal alphabet cards

Playing with cars is his favorite past-time.

What an amazing birthday cake!

Fingerpainting with 'magic paint'