Family time!

It was so much fun to have John, Nicole, Annabelle and Madison come visit for the extended weekend, Wednesday-Sunday. Grandpa and Nana made an appearance on Friday afternoon and stayed 'til Sunday as well!. We got out for a few walks to the park, played some bocce ball, had a date night just the 4 of us without the kids-thanks to Nana and Grandpa, played many computer games, ate out-thanks again to Grandpa and Nana for treating us, chatted and just enjoyed each others company.

Thanks for guys for taking the time to come and hang out with us!

Annabelle and Traeger watching a morning show.

The kiddos had fun playing at the park.

Mikaela and Madison (6 weeks old)

It's a.....

GIRL! We had our ultrasound today and found out we get to think pink!
It appeared that she was developing and growing well. Her face is on the right. I know it's difficult to make heads or tails of these pictures sometimes. You can see her eyes and get the idea of where her nose, mouth and chin would fit.

And then there is me,

for those of you who have asked for a belly picture. I feel so blessed to be able to experience the joys and challenges of being pregnant. God is so good and we continue to pray that both this little one and I will come through healthy and strong 'til the end! I am starting to feel her poke me every once in a while. The movement stage is always fun because there is a constant reminder, besides the ever growing belly, that God is knitting together a wonderful creation inside of me. I am honored I get to participate in this miracle!

Thankful!

Thanks P family for sending me a special package in the mail for Halloween! I love my new pumpkin plate, Halloween spoon and fork! Oh and the candy was a great addition too :O)

Sucker!

You may or may not find this as funny/cute as I do but I'll share it anyway. On Friday morning, Luke and Traeger ran our crushed cans to the recycling center to collect a few pennies-$2.60 to be exact. Upon their return I noticed Traeger had something in his mouth. Apparently they give suckers away at the recycling center and Luke thought Traeger "needed" a sucker right before lunch. For some reason I couldn't wipe the smile off my face because it seemed like only something a Daddy would do. You can tell in the picture how proud Traeger was of his sucker that Daddy got for him.

Helene's Apple Orchard

I really enjoy being able to experience new events with my family and possibly creating traditions. On Saturday we drove to Helene's Apple Orchard in Merrill and took in all they had to offer. We enjoyed the bumpy hay ride, playing in the activity area, sipping fresh apple cider, nippling on a delicous apple turnover, petting the animals, and soaking in the gorgeous fall day! I'm thankful for such experiences!

Traeger checking out what these orange "balls" are all about.

Traeger thought feeding grass to the goats was pretty neat. He came out with a new vocabulary word too-goat (sounds like go)

Traeger and Mommy waiting to get on the hay ride.

Traeger enjoyed petting the orchard's friendly dog.

Daddy pushing Traeger on the tractor

Ending the afternoon with special apple treats was delightful. Traeger managed to get a molasses/oatmeal cookie out of the deal!

Braving the elements!

On Wednesdays Luke doesn't go into work until 12. So I typically get a work out in and Luke takes Traeger golfing or they just hang out together. Luke hasn't been golfing in a while because of our crazy schedules so he was itchin' to go today. After I exercised, we all went out to brave the elements and enjoy some family time. It was 43 degrees with a stiff wind and around the 7th hole a steady mist fell from the sky. Despite the fact that it was insanely cold, we had fun together and laughed a lot about how crazy we were! Apparently the owner of the golf course thought we were so crazy he gave us the golf cart free of charge and told Luke he would be surprised if we made it past the 4th hole. We proved him wrong and made it a full round!Traeger and Mommy at Hole 1
Traeger giving Daddy some advice on his putting

Traeger "driving" the cart!

The course is 5 minutes from our house but Traeger had enough and couldn't make it home before he fell asleep.

Giggling with Daddy!

Luke is the best at making Traeger giggle. Traeger's giggling so hard that the vein in his neck is popping out. Fun times!

Outnumbered :O)!

Today we went to the Hoffman household to celebrate Hannah's 2nd birthday! Traeger was way outnumbered 5:1. Of course the girls were all playing with their dolls and Traeger was playing with the balls!

Sr. High Lock-In!

Last night we had a Sr. High Lock In! The girls were at our house, with me, doing girl stuff. The guys raided the Youth Center to play video games all night!

I got to hang out with 17 girls for the night. This picture was taken after we went to the Youth Center to prank the guys. The girls bought $18.00 worth of post-it-notes and saran wrap to "decorate" Luke and Kyle's cars. I was dreading the night not sure why I had agreed to have the girls over. I wasn't sure how I thought I could pull off this all nighter, not to mention the fact that I am pregnant which adds a whole new dimension of tiredness. But with lots of prayer and a bunch of fun girls I had a blast and even stayed up until 3:30. The girls followed me and went to sleep around 4. The guys came by around 5:30 to scare us but since we were all sleeping it didn't work.

After we "decorated" the cars we called Luke and asked him if he could bring more candy for us since we ran out and we thought it would be a good excuse for him to go out and see our work of art before the rain destroyed it. The picture is Luke and the girls. The back end of the Saturn!

Slam Dunk!

Traeger loves hanging out at the Youth Center with Daddy and the kids! They lowered the basketball hoop so the kids and Traeger could slam the ball!

Christmas in September!

Traeger loves his "new" lawnmower that the Auntie Cori shared with us! In the last month, Cori has given us 6 "new" age appropriate toys for Traeger that her boys have used and now have out grown. I kept telling her she should wait and give them to Traeger for Christmas but what Aunt can wait to share such fun?! Thanks P family for blessing our socks off! We appreciate you sharing your stuff!

Car Wash!

Last weekend, Luke and some of our awesome youth rallied thier forces together for a service project. There were over 25 kids who helped out and served the people of our community. They were able to wash 15 vehicles in 3 hours. Great job y'all!

Out for a walk!

Traeger out enjoying the beautiful fall weather! Traeger is checking his back to see who's following him in the alley. No worries though, it was just his shadow:O)

Starting Young

Here are my boys cleaning up for me. Luke is teaching Traeger how to load the dishwasher...silverware only! Luke put the silverware on the end of the door (you can see the fork) and then Traeger would pick it up and put it in the silverware holder. It was a quick training session because before we knew it Traeger was running off with the spoons. None the less it was fun to see Luke showing Traeger the ropes :O)!