New Christmas gift

For Christmas this year, my parents and my sister gave me a gift card to a local craft store. Today they were having 50% off almost everything in the store, so we went shopping :)! I have been wanting to buy some things to jazz up my house. We bought this today to go above our buffet. The wall has been empty since we moved into the house, and it needed something. It holds 9 votive candles. Jeff put it up tonight, and I lit the candles. I love how it looks!

Long time no blog

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas! I haven't had a whole lot of time to blog because of Christmas. We had a wonderful time with family. Jeff is off for 2 whole weeks, and I am loving having him home! The weather here is SO weird right now. The week of Christmas was bitterly cold. It was only 3 degrees on the Sunday before Christmas. Brrrr! Today it is rainy and 62 degrees! Evie went outside in flip flops to play. How crazy is that?? The snow we had is very quickly melting. We have enjoyed the snow. We have gone a few times over to Jeff's parents, and Jeff hooked a sled to the tractor to pull us around :). Evie loved it. She could do it for hours. Yesterday we went over to Jeff's parents (it was still cold yesterday!), and we took Sierra with us. Sierra ran after us on the sled the whole time, so she ran for 1 1/2 hours straight! She was so wiped out that she has been sleeping all day today. It sure was fun. Super bumpy, but fun!

I'm a copycat today in my blog. Several of my online long haired friends have posted this updo in their blogs. I wanted to try it and see how it looked. So sorry for being a copycat :). I braided a scarf into my braid, and was amazed at how heavy it was. I put it in a bun, and at first it was comfortable. I wore it to church last Sunday. When I got home from church, I had to take it down because it was giving me a big headache. I put it up later, and tried to reposition it, hoping it would be less heavy. It didn't help. It lasted a few hours, and then I had to take it down. My hair is past tailbone now, and is starting to tangle wildly. Part of me is really want to cut it to waist length, but I am holding off for now. Here is a picture of the bun...

Last night of horseback riding

Last night was Evie's last night of therapeutic horseback riding for the year. We had a really fun time watching her. She was sad to find out that they switch teachers each semester, so she won't have her favorite teacher Mr. Tim in her next semester. She will have a new teacher when the classes start up again in January. I'm sure the new teacher will be great, but we have really loved Mr. Tim. He has done such a great job with her. Evie adores horseback riding. Everyone there, including all the volunteers, are so great. At the end of the class, she gave Mr. Tim and the volunteers a plate of Christmas cookies and gave them all hugs. Here is a video of Evie trotting on her pony Spike. We had a better video, but for some reason Blogger wouldn't upload it. Oh well. The person running next to the horse is Mr. Rick. He has been Evie's volunteer this semester. The person giving commands is Mr. Tim.

More goodies and fun

We made Christmas cookies today, and decorated them with frosting and sprinkles. With the three of us, we got them done quickly. Then we packaged up the cookies, dipped pretzels, fudge and caramels and took packages to our neighbors. We used to do this when we lived in our previous neighborhood, and it is always fun!

Evie really wanted to eat all the cookies. I used the frosting with the beet juice coloring for her cookies. I am also going to buy some gluten free pretzels, and dip them so she and I can have them. I'm going to make some gluten free chex party mix too. We should have plenty of snacky junk foods to eat during Christmas :)!

Sierra was also getting ready for the Christmas season. Jeff was trying on her reindeer antlers to make sure they fit. She looks really excited doesn't she?

Making goodies

I haven't had a lot of time to blog lately. I have been trying to get lots of goodies made. Yesterday Evie and I made dipped pretzels. I should have taken a picture. Her hands were covered in confectionary coating, and she was loving it :). I made homemade caramels today, and fudge. My house smells really good. Tomorrow or Saturday I am hoping to make cut-out cookies with Evie. Maybe I'll try and get Jeff to help too :). I am trying to get everything done early enough so that I won't be rushing around at Christmas. I can't believe Christmas is only 2 more weeks away!!!!!

Happy Birthday Evie!

We just got done with the party about 45 minutes ago. It went well, but boy am I tired! We were quite busy the whole time, and it was a wild house with 8 girls :). The first thing we did when the girls all got here was do a craft. We made princess wands, and they loved it. They got to decorate them with glitter and shiny sequins.






Next, we went downstairs to play games. The first game was the princess and the pea, but most of the girls didn't know the story, so I read the book. I love this picture because they are all leaned it to listen.
Then we played the game. I hid a green "pea" (it was actually a golf ball painted green) under one of the girls pillows. Whoever had it under their pillow got a prize, and got a certificate with their name on it saying they were a real princess. We did the game until all the girls got prizes. They had a lot of fun.

We also played a game called Pass the Teapot, where we passed a teapot around until the music stopped, and whoever was holding the teapot won. They got to pick a treat out of the teapot. We did that until everyone got a treat. We also played a princess walk (sortof like musical chairs, but you walk), pin the tail on the donkey, and limbo. The girls won funny kazoo lips after the limbo game. Here is a pic of them with their "lips". After we had cake and ice cream, I put glitter on the girls faces and painted their nails.

Here is the cake I made. The girls gobbled it up, which I was amazed because many of the girls that came are very picky when it comes to food. I made both the cake and the frosting homemade because Evie is really sensitive to food coloring and preservatives. You wouldn't believe what I colored the frosting with...beet juice! I read about it online. You couldn't taste it at all, and it made it a really pretty pink! I think the party went well. Everyone seemed to have a good time. We were busy almost the entire time, which helped. It feels good to sit down though! My parents and in-laws are coming over in about an hour to give Evie her presents and have some cake and ice cream. We are giving Evie her gifts then too. I think Evie is having a great 7th birthday :). Happy Birthday Evie!

Getting ready for party

Tomorrow is Evie's birthday, and I am getting ready for her party today. She is having a princess themed party, and there will be 6 girls here (7 counting Evie). They are all coming dressed as princesses, so it should be so cute seeing all those "princesses" at our house. They are going to be here for almost 3 hours, and I am going to do lots and lots of games and a craft. I'm making the cake today, and frosting it tomorrow. I'm making a Barbie princess cake. I sure hope it turns out! Jeff's dad made a big dollhouse for Evie for her birthday, and I have to finish decorating it and filling it up before we give it to her tomorrow night. So much to do!!

Ponderings

I am a deep thinker. I always have been, and in some ways it is good. Other times it drives my husband crazy :). I come up with some wild ideas during my thinking times. Evie is turning 7 in another 3 days. I am in shock about that! SEVEN! Where did the time go? Whenever her birthday rolls around, I always think about that day, and the day we saw her for the first time. We didn't see her until she was 2 days old. Here we are at the hospital. Jeff and I were dazed and thrilled to be parents, all at the same time.














And here we are when we brought her home that same night. She was the most beautiful baby. She had hair that was unlike any color I had ever seen on a newborn.

Anyways, what does all that have to do with deep thinking? Well, I was thinking about the journey of adoption, and what a wonderful thing it is. I was thinking about how much I would love to do it again, but also thinking of the massive costs. When we adopted Evie, it was pricey, but doable. The costs have gone up dramatically since then. Why, I have no idea. So here I am, thinking of wild ways to make almost $20,000. When we started the adoption process 8 years ago, our church suggested we do a fundraiser. We did, and it actually helped us raise almost all the money. It is amazing how God provides! Now, we are in a new area and going to a new church, so that isn't really an option. So I'm just brainstorming. I'm thinking thoughts like: if I have just 20,000 friends who gave $1, I would have enough! Lol! Okay, that one is a little nuts. I know that if God wants us to take the adoption journey, He will provide. It just seems like a HUGE amount of money! So I'm off now to go do somemore deep thinking :).

Homemade Christmas ornaments

Evie helped me make homemade Christmas ornaments today. I have never made them before, but I thought they would be fun. Here were the ingredients...

4 oz. cinnamon
1 T. nutmeg
1 T. ground cloves
2 T. Elmers glue
3/4 c. applesauce

That is a crazy combination isn't it? Obviously they aren't edible, unless you are okay with your kids eating Elmers glue! They sure do smell good though. We mixed them up by hand, and then kneaded the mixture for about 4 minutes. Then we rolled them out, and cut them out with cookie cutters. We used a coffee stirrer to make a small hole for the ornament hanger. Evie loved getting her hands dirty. I think that was her favorite part of all! They are now in the oven at 200 degrees, and I will keep them in there for a few hours until they are dried.

Finding the perfect Christmas tree

Today was such a beautiful day. Lots of sunshine, but it was very cold. We decided that today would be a good day to go get a Christmas tree. We all hopped in the truck and went to a local tree farm.

Here is Jeff and Evie starting the search for the perfect tree...

Here it is right after Jeff cut it!

Here is Sierra waiting patiently in the truck. Last year when we got our tree, there wasn't very many people out at all, so she just stayed out with us as we walked to find our tree. This year the place was really busy, so she had to stay in the truck.















Here is Jeff getting ready to put the tree in the back of the pickup truck. We got a 7 foot tree, and it is really full.














I figured I should take a picture of me, just to show that I was really there too :). It was a fun day! Now we have to decorate the tree!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The turkey is stuffed and in the oven, so I thought I would sit down for a few minutes and blog :). I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I am so thankful that I have a nice warm house to be in, with lots of good food, and that I have my family with me. I am thankful to live in this wonderful country. Most of all I am so thankful that I have Christ as my Savior. I am so thankful for what Jesus did for me on the cross. He died so that I might have eternal life. There is no greater gift than that! I just wanted to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day is a great one, and that you all have a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. I am very thankful to have you all as friends!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving! I have been trying to get ready for it so that I am not scrambling around on Thanksgiving morning. This will be the first time I have had Thanksgiving in my house, so I am excited about that. My parents are coming. It will be a small group of us, but the food should be wonderful. I made a bunch of homemade bread and cut it up into cubes and toasted it for the homemade stuffing. I am going to stuff the bird with that, and then I am going to make a gluten-free crock pot stuffing recipe I found online for Evie and I. That way we both can enjoy stuffing :). I made a bunch of gluten-free bread, and cut it up and toasted it. So that part is all done. Jeff is going to hopefully have the day off tomorrow, so it will be nice to have him home for the next 5 days! I am going to be busy tomorrow with cleaning, cutting up veggies for the stuffing, making a gluten-free pumpkin pie for Evie and I, and getting all ready for Thanksgiving. Jeff bought a 25 pound turkey, so we will have lots of yummy leftovers!

Technology

I really am thankful for technology, but do you ever get technology overload?? The other day I was at my in-laws house. Evie and I were on the couch watching the movie "Alice In Wonderland" on the Disney channel. The commercials were a bit shocking to me. Literally every commercial had the kids hooked up to something. Hand held games, ipods, computer games. You name it, they were connected to it. Even the bicycles the kids had were doing something. One commercial kept showing a family all playing Wii together. Okay, I'm not against technology by any means, but all I could think of was this...don't kids ever just play anymore? Like with real toys that don't make noise, don't have moving pictures, and don't require plugging in? Do any of them even step foot outside anymore? When I saw the family playing the Wii together, all I could think of was what ever happened to playing a board game together?? You know, where you actually have to communicate with each other without some kind of mechanical device. Am I just really old?? I wanted to disconnect from technology after watching tv with Evie. Evie recently started getting into Webkinz stuffed animals. For those of you who don't have kids, Webkinz are adorable, fluffy stuffed animals that have little tags on them with codes. You go online and register them, name them and then take care of them on the Webkinz website. Evie started waking up every morning asking me if she could play on the computer, and then asking me all day if she could play on Webkinz. This is a new thing for me. I'm not used to her being such a computer addict, and I have really started to put my foot down. My parents used to limit both me and my sister to 2 hours of tv a day. This was before computers, hand held games, ipods, etc. Now I am starting to see that I need to limit Evie in the same way. Not only Evie, but myself too! I find that I get sucked into the computer, and waste hours just surfing. I know that God wants me to be productive with my time. Part of me just wants to unplug all the devices and go back to life without all these things. Life almost seemed simpler without all this technology.

One of those days

I had one of those days today, so I was in serious need of a laugh tonight. I found these online tonight. I hope they give you a good laugh too.


Sometimes the spelling, grammar, arrangement or typing of words in church bulletins produces some unintended yet humorous readings. The following are authentic announcements gleaned from actual church bulletins. These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins:

Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

Announcement in a church bulletin for a national PRAYER & FASTING Conference: "The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals."

The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."

Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.

"Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands."

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

Remember in prayer the many that are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again", giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.

During the absence of our Pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when J.F. Stubbs supplied our pulpit.

The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing "Break Forth into Joy."

Thursday at 5:00PM there will be a meeting of the Little Mothers Club. All wishing to become Little Mothers, please see the minister in his study.

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

The Lutheran men's group will meet at 6 pm. Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert will be served for a nominal feel.

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.

The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 pm - prayer and medication to follow.

The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

This evening at 7 pm there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.

The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use back door.

The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

Mrs. Johnson will be entering the hospital this week for testes.

When parking on the north side of the church, please remember to park on an angel.

This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Jones to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.

It's Drug Awareness Week: Get involved in drugs before your children do.

The lady at the Bible Study was tearful and crying constantly. She also appeared to be depressed.

This afternoon there will be a meeting in the South and North ends of the Church. Children will be Baptized at both ends.

Illiterate? Write to the church office for help.

At the Ladies Liturgy Society this Thursday, Mrs. Smith will sing “Put Me In My Little Bed” accompanied by the pastor.

Janet Smith has volunteered to strip and refinish the communion table in the sanctuary.

The concert held in Fellowship Hall was a great success. Special thanks are due to the minister's daughter, who labored the whole evening at the piano, which as usual fell upon her.

The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday "I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours."

Our next song is "Angels We Have Heard Get High."

The sermon this morning: WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
The closing song: RISE UP, O MEN OF GOD

The sermon this morning: GOSSIP ... THE SPEAKING OF EVIL
The closing song: I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY

The sermon this morning: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES #3 ... EUTHANASIA
The closing song: TAKE MY LIFE

Snowy wonderland!

We woke up this morning to quite a bit of snow! This much snow in November is a bit unusual, as it normally doesn't come this early. My hubby had to travel this morning, which was not fun for him in all the snow. Thankfully he was able to drive out of it. Right now Evie is outside playing. When she woke up and saw all the snow, she almost ran outside in her jammies to play! It sure is beautiful. If you click on the first picture to enlarge it, you can see steam coming off the channel.

This picture is taken of our backyard. You can really see how

deep the snow is.

Hunting update: Jeff shot an 8 point buck yesterday morning, and his dad shot a doe on Sunday afternoon right after church. We butchered both deer last night. We will probably get one more deer, and then we will have enough meat to last for the entire year. I am always so thankful for how God provides a freezer full of meat for us each year!

Hunting season

I couldn't resist posting this picture :). This must be how my husband felt this morning! Today is opening day of hunting season. Jeff sat in a tree stand all morning in the freezing cold and didn't see anything. Last year both he and his dad got deer on opening evening. I'm praying that happens again this year!


We have been busy the past few days. Yesterday we blew insulation into our attic. Jeff bought 24 of these huge cubes of insulation that are environmentally friendly and don't make you cough or itch. Then we rented this blower with a long hose. I stayed in the garage and filled the blower with the cubes while Jeff was in the attic with the hose blowing it all in. It went quick! 24 cubes in 1 hour. How I wish I would have taken a picture of us afterwards though! We were covered from head to toe with gray insulation powder. Both of us had completely gray hair, and we looked hilarious!



I decided to try something different with my hair this morning...I highlighted it. At first I totally hated it and thought that it looked way too drastic, but Jeff loves it! I only did about 10 small strands, but for some reason it looks like way more. Now the top matches my length more. My hair gets really light in the summer because of the sun, and then in the winter gets dark near the top, so this does help it to blend better. Jeff said it is subtle, unless you are under the glaring lights of my bathroom. It is way more highlights than I wanted, but it is a change. Jeff thinks I look more hip, which I guess is a good thing.

Family pics--vote!

We had our family pictures taken for our Christmas pictures. They turned out really well, but now we can't decide which one we like the best! So I need you all to vote and tell me what you think! We had several that turned out great, but two were our favorites. Here are the two that we are trying to choose from.

I thought this one of just Evie and Sierra was so good. We are going to have copies made of that for family and for us.














This last one I threw in because it was so funny! Normally it is the people who have their eyes shut in pictures, not the animals! This picture just cracked me up :). You can click on the picture to make it larger, and you will see what I mean.

So it begins!

Jeff and I got up early today so we could go vote. We voted in our small town library, and the parking lot was completely full. On our way home, we went to a nearby city to go to the bank. We went past one of the voting places, and it was completely packed out, so voter turnout seems to be pretty good. It is all in God's hands now. All we can do is pray.

Yesterday, Evie decided that she didn't need training wheels on her bike anymore. She didn't tell us this! She has training wheels on her bike that flip up, so she went out to play yesterday, and flipped up her training wheels and taught herself to ride her bike without them! She did this within about 1/2 hours time, while I was inside making dinner. I didn't even know until she told us at dinner, and Jeff and I both thought she was just making up a story. This morning, after we got home from voting, she had us come outside and she showed us. She wasn't kidding! I was completely amazed that she taught herself that, and in such a short time. Here is a video of it from this morning. I took 4 videos total because I was so proud of what she had accomplished :).

It's that time of year

I just wanted to thank all of you for the get well wishes! I am feeling much better now, which I am so thankful for! I really hate throwing up.

It is the time of year when my hubby starts thinking about hunting. So far he hasn't grown a beard, which he usually does every year. I'm not usually a huge fan of the beard (it is so scratchy for kissing!), but it keeps him warm :). Bow hunting season actually started already, but Jeff doesn't bow hunt. This afternoon, he got his gear out, and Evie was playing with his hunter hat and deer call. Every time she blew into the deer call, Sierra cocked her head and her ears shot up. It was pretty funny. I am always so thankful that Jeff hunts. We always have a full freezer of meat through the year because God provides through hunting, and it is such a blessing to us.

It was a beautiful day today. A warmer fall day. The colors right now are gorgeous. I should take more pictures of the trees.

A lot happens while I am not online!

I haven't been online for a few days because I ended up getting Evie's stomach flu on Tuesday night. I hadn't checked my blog since I last posted the snow pictures, and wow! A lot of chatting (or should I call it bantering) has been going on with the political post! It has been some interesting conversations. I am still not feeling 100%, so I'm not too chatty at the moment. I just wanted you all to know that I wasn't ignoring what you all wrote. I'm just not very energetic at the moment to post any replies.

First snow!

Last night we took Evie to therapeutic horseback riding, and she did really well. The only problem is that she is so tiny! Her little legs barely get past the saddle, so the horse won't move because she isn't able to squeeze the horses sides hard enough for the horse to feel it! Last night she was on a horse named Josie, and the instructor Tim wanted Evie to have the reins, with the volunteers just walking beside Evie (instead of them holding onto the lead rope). This was Evie's first time of doing this, and unfortunately Josie wouldn't budge half the time so the volunteers had to grab the lead rope and pull her along. Tim told Evie that all she needed to do was grow her legs about another 6-7 inches :). She was able to trot on Josie, which Evie loves to do. Next week they are going to try putting her on a smaller horse. I never notice much that Evie is a tiny little thing until she gets on a horse!


I had to laugh that while we were in the arena watching Evie, a black cat that lives at the stables came and visited us in the stands. She is the sweetest cat, and I love when she cuddles on my lap. I patted my lap so she could come up, and instead she jumped up on Jeff's lap! The thing is that he isn't super fond of cats. He doesn't hate them, he just isn't a big cat lover. That cat would not get off his lap, and loved on him the whole time. It was hilarious! Jeff finally had to throw her off, and she came and laid next to me.


When we got done with horseback riding, we walked out into the parking lot and it was snowing! It is the first snow of the season. When we got home, Evie wanted to go out into the snow to catch some on her tongue, so Jeff went out with her (and I went out with my camera).

More family

Julie and Steve went back to Nevada yesterday. We had a great time with them. On Saturday, they came over to our house for a little bit with my parents, and then we met them at one of our favorite Amish restaurants for dinner. The food was wonderful. Steve had never been in Amish country before, so he was really fascinated. His eyes were like saucers when he saw all the wonderful Amish food :). We really enjoyed getting to know Steve better. It looks like he is probably going to be a member of our family in the not so distant future!

P.S. Evie enjoyed the food too :).

My sister

My sister Julie is visiting from Nevada, and she brought her boyfriend Steve with her so we could meet him. They are staying with my parents. We got to see them last night, and we had a great time. I haven't seen my sister since April, and I have really missed her! We had a wonderful dinner of rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn bread and salad. We just sat around and talked. Evie keeps calling Steve "Uncle Steve", which is really cute. We sat down later and watched some Bugs Bunny. Our family loves Bugs Bunny cartoons. We stayed until around 10:00, and then headed for home. We are going to see them tonight too, so we are looking forward to it. They leave tomorrow :(. Time goes by so fast. Steve is really, really nice, and he is so good to my sister. I'm not used to seeing Julie look adoringly at anyone :). I look forward to getting to know Steve more!

The future of this country

This is a long article, but for those who are unsure about this election and who they are going to vote for, this article is a must read. Believers in Jesus who are on the fence over this election really need to read this article. It is scary, but I can honestly see this happening. This letter was from citizenlink.org, which is a Focus On The Family website.

http://focusfamaction.edgeboss.net/download/focusfamaction/pdfs/10-22-08_2012letter.pdf

Tired

I have been tired for the past few days. Evie had the stomach flu yesterday in the very early morning hours, so I slept on her floor. Well, I shouldn't say slept. She was up every 1/2 hour from 12:00 to 5:00 a.m. throwing up :(. The poor thing. I prayed for her, and she stopped throwing up at 5:00. Praise the Lord for that! She spent all yesterday on the couch watching tv, and I just laid around because I was so tired from lack of sleep! She is still on the couch this morning. Her tummy has been hurting, but she hasn't been throwing up. I am hoping to get more done today. I got a good night's rest last night, so that helped.

My sister Julie is coming in from Nevada today. She won't get in until really late, and she is staying with my parents. We get to see her Friday, and I can't wait! She is bringing her boyfriend Steve with her from Nevada, so we will get to meet him for the first time. We are all looking forward to it. They are really serious, so this is a huge thing that we get to meet him :). I'm believing for us all to be healthy, so we can have a wonderful visit!

Leaves

It is that time of year where all the leaves are changing color and falling. I love fall. I love the smell of burning leaves too. Jeff bought a leaf blower last year, so we don't have to do much raking. We have a big yard, and raking almost an acre of yard with a hand rake got to be way too big of a job last year. Evie loves it when Jeff uses the leaf blower. She will sit in a pile with her hands over her eyes and ask him to blow leaves on top of her. Then he will make a huge pile so she could jump in!

Here they are showing off their leaf raking muscles :).

Trip to Wisconsin

This past Saturday, Jeff, Evie and I left and went to Wisconsin Dells. Jeff was there for business, so the company paid for our way there, and paid for our motel. We stayed at a very nice resort called the Chula Vista. The resort had a huge indoor and outdoor water park. The huge building in the picture below (the picture was taken from our room) was where the indoor water park was. It had some of the craziest water slides I have ever been on! Evie absolutely loved it. She could have lived there. We went to the water park 3 days out of the 4 that we were there.













The colors were beautiful in Wisconsin. Our motel had a walkway that went along the river, and the colors were amazing. We hiked down to an overlook, and we watched some boats go by.



























Jeff took a few long hair pictures. My hair was a mess that day, so the pictures aren't that great. The view was pretty though.













The resort had a golf course, and Jeff played golf with the guys from work once. There was also a miniature golf course on the property, and we played that twice.

The maids were so nice at the resort. They cleaned our room one day after Evie had been playing Barbies on the bed. When we came back to the room, we saw that they had lined up her Barbies in a nice row on the bed. I thought that was really sweet that they did it so carefully!














We came back from Wisconsin on Wednesday night. It has been a busy week trying to get back into the swing of things!