trick-or-treating

Tonight was trick-or-treating night in Harris-
burg. Yes, it's a day before Halloween, but you might remember that our area does it the Thursday before Halloween...however it might fall (last year it was six days early). It's such a fun community event and we're likely to get at least 150 kids coming to the house forcandy (other communities and neighborhoods seem to trickle into our streets, as well.) This year, Joost chose to go as a soldier and Grace was a ladybug. They made out pretty well and enjoyed perusing their loot at the end of the evening.

A busy weekend...

This past weekend was, apparently, the weekend to plan all events important. We had so many invitations to so many major happenings that we had to turn some down. Here's a brief overview of those which won out....

Friday night, Jeff and the kids and I decided we needed to hunt down some pumpkins before trick-or-treating came and we had no glowing faces to greet the candy seekers. So we went to Ashcombe Farms to find some autumn fun and some pretty pumpkins. We had a lot of fun in their corn maze. Fortunately, the maze was kid friendly, so even when we thought we might have lost one or both of the kids, their hysterical laughing guided us easily to them.Once all the fun in the hay and corn was had, we decided to head over to the store to check out the pumpkins. We were distracted by all the other fun things in the store (including decisions about snacks from the candy shelf for the ride home) and actually ended up leaving without a pumpkin! Luckily, our grocery store carries pumpkins, too...

Saturday started early as we headed to Doyles-
town for a triple birthday party of 3 of our nephews. This party was held on a steam engine and the kids had a blast with their cousins.



After the party, we skeedadled to Jeff's sister's house to get ready for a wedding that was an hour and a half away in northern New Jersey. We left the kids there with Jeff's mom and headed to the happy event of my dear friend's wedding. Esther and I met 10 years ago during our summer in Saskatchewan, Canada doing missions on Native American reserves and she has been such a good friend over time and distance since then. She was in our wedding and I was thrilled to be able to celebrate with her at her and Jimmy's wedding. It was also a lot of fun to see Jannie, another friend made way up in the prairies of Canada. It was a late night until we arrived home with children in toe, but worth every minute traveled.

"This is the year...."

All season, I've been saying that. For those of you who do not know, I coach high school field hockey. This is my second year as an assistant coach for Harrisburg Christian School's varsity field hockey team. (The same school I graduated from, the same team I played on.) It's great fun. I love field hockey and it's so wonderful to work with such amazing girls. Their athletic abilities vary, but they all love and serve Christ, and that makes such a difference in building a team.

And this year, they were an outstand
-ing team. It looked bleak coming into the season. We lost five seniors last year. We only had one senior this year. We had a new goalie and a bunch of brand new players (some who had never played field hockey before). But the girls dug deep and pulled out an amazing season with some amazing feats--they had the season with the most wins ever in the school's field hockey history, they won a district game (first time for any female sport at HCS), and today, they became CCAC league champions! What an exciting game it was against Lancaster Christian. This was the year for it to happen. The girls honored God with their hard work and attitudes and it has been wonderful to see that rewarded. On Tuesday we play in our next district game. The excitement continues, and I am glad to be a part of it.

And the number grows...

Since my last post, I have found out that there are 2 more near and dear women who are expecting a child between now and May. We're up to 17.

It must be something in the water

I have a ton of girlfriends/family members that are pregnant right now. Every sphere of life has at least 3 or 4 women who are expecting a baby sometime between now and May. Everyone always has a laugh about the "epidemic" and asks how many pregnancies I know of. I decided to sit down and figure it out yesterday.

The grand total comes out at 15 women who are pregnant (not including myself)...and I'm not counting my friend's friend's sister or anyone like that. Everyone is close enough to me that I could have Thanksgiving dinner with them and it wouldn't be odd. That's a lot of babies!

The annual Bosworth hiking trip

For many years during my schooling and after, my family and I would go hiking during the autumn. We would try out new trails within several hours of Harrisburg. After Joost was born, this annual tradition was overlooked. But this year, Andrew and I decided that the annual event needed to be reinstated.

So, yesterday, we went hiking at French Creek State Park which is con-
veniently located between Harrisburg and Andrew and Rachel's home in the suburbs of Philadelphia. We hiked for many hours. I was especially proud of Joost who walked the 3 miles without one complaint (minus the wet clothing he had from slipping into the lake near the end of the hike).

After a much needed pizza break, we continued on to Hopewell Furnace which is a preserved colonial iron plantation. We just happened to time it perfectly and were able to visit on a day with actors demonstrating life on the plantation during its years of operation in the 17 and 1800's. To top it off, the kids were able to pick apples at the orchard. What a fun day we had! It was a perfect way to spend a fall day.

The vote has been counted.

So, I'm getting bored with my voting spot and have decided to get rid of it. I already know what the gender of the baby is, and most other people know as well, so the polls might as well be closed. The final vote came out as 66% for a girl and 33% for a boy. Amazingly, the majority was correct (I will admit that I am suspicious and suspect that some no-do-gooders voted AFTER finding out the final verdict from the ultrasound, but I will allow their conscience to deal with them appropriately on that matter). God permitting, we are having a girl in January.


Now, I know the next question out of your mouth will be, "Have you chosen a name yet?"


Of course we have. The name was chosen long before we knew we were having a girl...or even before we knew we were having a third baby at all. But, you cannot know the name until after she has arrived--all pink and squishy and not looking as cute as she will be. Then the pink cigars and chocolate bars will be brought out and her name will be heralded before all the world. And not until then.

(In case there is any confusion--and there seems to be with some--we are not naming our daughter Amanda Elizabeth Jones. Her last name will continue to be van Bastelaar. That's the only hint I'll give you at this time.)