Fall!

So fall has finally arrived. (Yes, that's one of our trees in the picture). It is my favorite time of year! I love the warm days and cool nights, snuggling up with someone you love! Things have been busy, but I think I'm keeping it under control. We've been lucky to see Katie several times this month. She was just back for a four day weekend. She worked several days, which is great. I think she was a little disappointed because most of us had stuff to do Thursday night when she got home and couldn't hang with her. She was hoping that after the girls all got off to school Friday that she and I could get breakfast and watch some movies. Sounds like heaven - there's just that little thing called work getting in the way. It was a slap of reality that as she says, "Life goes on without me here". Friday night was the fall festival at the elementary school. Diana, as usual, did a great job organizing and running the whole thing. She makes it look effortless! Emily and Tyler (Diana's son) walked around together all night. Diana is starting to think about planning the wedding. How fun would family gatherings be??? Party! Oh, hope David doesn't read this. He doesn't find these topics very funny! Which somehow makes it that much funnier to me!

Costume Party

Emily and some friends had a costume party last night. They went to Brown County to Elisa's grandparents place and did the whole fire pit, roasted hot dogs and smores thing. How fun! Costume was optional - but everybody dressed up! Today I'm being domestic. I've just pulled four loaves of beer bread out of the oven and the whole house smells wonderful. Two loaves are going with us to Ariane and Alex's when we go over to watch the game. I've got the laundry going and have the house relatively under control - of course that can change at ANY second! David has all three girls at the movies right now. I'm glad they have been able to do things on fall break. Normally we try and go to TN or to Windfall, but it just wasn't an option this year. So we've had a lovely, relaxing staycation.

Fall Break

The schools in Columbus are on fall break yesterday and today. David took Em & Sarah to the Children's Museum yesterday. I had to stay home because Doug, the guy that built our house, was back to fix a few things that had never been finished. Yes, we've only been in there three years! But at least he is still willing to fix things with a smile on his face and not fight about it! I'll take that! Today I took the girls and Zane over to Bloomington to visit Katie. It was a beautiful day for a drive! We stopped by her dorm room to get her then took her off campus for lunch - a nice change from campus food. We did a ton of walking around both on and off campus. It was great to have all my girls back together for some fun. Katie was really glad to have all of us there. Poor David could only take one day off since we've been moving the office this week. We only moved across the parking lot but still there was

an unbelievable amount of stuff to move. Everybody pitched in and it is finally all moved. Still having a few issues with phones - but hopefully we'll get that all taken care of on Monday.

I'll be back over to Bloomington on Thursday to pick Katie up for a LONG weekend at home. She'll be working at least two of those days - but I'm thrilled to even have her under the same roof at night. I'm not greedy - I'll take what I can get and be thankful for it! Our thanks to Zane for hanging in there with us today! We can be a bit of a handful in large doses!

Another year....

Picking up on the theme of my last post....another year passing.....Emily is 11 today! Of all the girls Emily has always been the most curious about the things around her. By two years old she could pick the locks on the bedroom doors. Yes, I'm talking about the adorable blonde in these pictures! She just saw an obstacle to getting to what she wanted and reasoned out how to get it. You know how people talk about seeing life in a new way through the eyes of a child? This beautiful girl has asked me questions or even explained things to me that have stopped me in my tracks and made me look at something in a whole new way. No, don't get me wrong and think that I'm saying she's perfect! We've known since an early age that she has 666 on the back of her head! It's there somewhere. As with all our daughters, she has been so much fun to watch growing up. I love her tenacity and spunk. We've always said that although she is the third of four children, she would never get "lost" in a crowd of a million! So look out world! Happy birthday, EC! We love you!

Happy Anniversary!

I can't believe it's been a year already for Lauran and Cory! The years really do seem to accelerate as we get older - but man, that was quick! Last Friday Dad & Gabi celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary. They went out for dinner with the minister that did their original ceremony - and renewed their vows. How sweet! I'm just glad that Gabi decided to say yes again!

Friday night Suzanne and I were subs in Diana's Bunco group. I've never played before - but was ready for a night out. It ended up being a fun night! Bunco, for those of you like me that don't know, is a dice game. It's sort of like Yahtzee but different. It doesn't take much concentration so it was great for socialization and libation! Of course, Diana cornered me into "volunteering" for the fall festival at the elementary school later this month. She sure can be pushy....lol! Sorry the posts have been hit and miss lately. I'll try and keep up a little better!

Awww

Happy Birthday David!

Still a cutie after all these years!

A big happy 18th birthday to Lisa Bennett, too!

Still in Love!

27 years ago today I married my best friend. Yes, that guy with the HAIR and glasses is David. For those of you trying to figure it out David's parents are beside me and my parents are beside David.
I'm so grateful to have these pictures. Our photographer didn't show up at my house that morning as he was supposed to. He actually showed up at the church a few minutes before the ceremony was about to start. He was totally wasted! Most of the pictures we have are from friends and family. One friend, Ray, was a photography buff and took many candid shots for us. Even that little snafu couldn't ruin our day. So 27 years later I still consider him my best friend and the love of my life. That doesn't mean things have always been rosy - but we have always been determined to keep communicating (sometimes better than others or louder than others....). But I'd say we truly beat the odds. Most people that marry as young as we did (he was 20 and I was 18) - anybody need extra fingers and toes to figure out how old we are???? - - most people that young end up growing apart from each other. We are very lucky because we grew together. I think that fact that we lived in different towns for the three years we dated was a big key to our communicating. Seeing each other mostly on weekends was tough - but the hours on the phone talking was a blessing. It really helped us to truly know each other and be best friends. So 27 years later for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health have new meanings - but I would still promise it all over again! David, thank you for all your love and patience over the years! All my love forever..... :)