Happy Halloween!

Today was Taylor's first Halloween! I know that we had him dress up last year, but this year was his first year that he could go trick or treating! I totally picked out his costume since I figured that by next year he would have an opinion as to what he wanted to be and I couldn't resist dressing him up in something absolutely adorable! We went over to Heather and Donald's because they live in a nice quiet neighborhood on a dead end and we didn't have to worry about traffic. Most of my family and extended family were there too because Deron is leaving to move to Washington state and it was the last time that we would be able to get together as a family so we kind of did everything at one time. Mike made the cutest video for YouTube so I've posted the link for everyone to be able to view it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl7VSRLX8Bo
Happy Halloween everyone!

Fall Day!

We visited the apple farm today since it was such a beautiful day! I had the feeling that if we didn't do it today it wouldn't ever happen or that there wouldn't be another nice day to do it...

We went to this little apple orchard out in Wyoming and it was perfect! They had donkeys that Taylor could feed, a horse to ride, wagons to drive, a little gift store and of course the hotdog stand which Mike definitely took advantage of. It was great to get all those pictures. On the way back from the apple orchard, we found a pumpkin patch just a few miles down the road and we were able to get pumpkins for our yard. It turned out to be the perfect day!

I'm totally going to sound like my mom and say that I love making memories like these!

So Happy!

I cannot say how much I love my husband because I can't ever quite put it into words.

There is no one else in this world who knows me like he already knows me and still tries to know me better. There's no one else who loves me like he so unconditionally loves me beyond what I feel I deserve. There's no one else who looks beyond my little (and huge) idiosyncrasies and ocd's and still wants to be with me as much as he does.

All of that is wrapped up in one big lovely life and I'm so completely thankful for it!

When the normal happy moments are captured, I want to memorialize them forever!

Baby Brother!

We had our ultra sound today! Mike and I were so excited to find out what we were having and we couldn't wait for this day to come!!! Mike was so sweet and planned a date for us after the ultra sound which was just the most special treat! Our technician was knowledgable and friendly! She showed us so much more than the ultra sound we had with Taylor and it was amazing.....we are so blessed and God is incredible in His design. To be able to see that makes me realize every day how much He cares for us and desires to know us. I always think of that verse in Psalms where it states "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb." When I knew that I was going to be going in with Taylor for induction, the beginning of that chapter has a verse that stayed with me all night and through that day, "Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways." It was such a comfort to me that God understood every point and my fear and my anxiety and my excitment - He knows all of me! I'm so humbled to understand that in my small human frame and from my very narrow view point but He is so wonderful to me.
God showed us very clearly that this little one is a boy! He is so much more active than Taylor was and that makes me very excited to see what he's going to be like and how different they will be but how good of buddies they will be. We have decided to name him Cole Allen - the dr immediately said that he will probably be a banker with that name. :) But he's healthy and whole and doing very good. I still haven't gained any weight but I believe the Lord is just making it easier for me to lose the weight that I've needed to lose for a long time after Cole is born. So needless to say, I'm thankful! We are so blessed and so excited to share this wonderful news!

Family Party 2009!

I can't believe that I didn't take any pictures of our annual family party but Jess did and I'm going to have to get them from her!
Anyways, we always have a party around this time of year to just have the family over. Most of the time I go way out of the necessary with the food and try to do the whole "Bobby Flay" grilling thing, but being pregnant this year, I decided to do the "norm". The family doesn't have to bring anything because Mike and I love treating everyone to a day of no preparation.
I decided to have a burger bar, potato salad and baked beans. The burgers turned out really great! Why am I just talking about the food? Okay, then.....
Most of the time, the weather is great so we can hang out outside which tends to work really good since our house is so teeny but this year, it was soooooo cold! And I'm not over-exaggerating!!! Heather refused to stay outside and my dad showed up in full hunting gear! We did end up keeping all the kids inside because there really wasn't a way to have them outside and keep them warm. It was amazingly breathtakingly cold!!!
We finally ate and then I brought out the dessert bar which was a lot of fun....talking about food again. You would think that my addiction to food would cause me to gaine some weight with this baby but God has been gracious to me and has kept me from gaining any so far. We'll see what the doctor says this next appointment.....
The night was really uneventful and relaxing. We played the new Scrabble game, the card game and the commercial for it had made it look very exciting but it definitely was not. It was still fun but probably not something that we will play on a regular basis.....
All in all, it was a great time! Relaxing, the kids got along, the guys enjoyed all the football, and everyone left happy and full. I love my family!

Men's Retreat

So Mike left for the men's retreat yesterday after working a half day. Dad and he went up there in the truck - you should have seen that thing packed to the gills. Who knew that two men would need so much for such a short time period!!! They finally got rolling about 2 hours after they had planned to leave and by the time they got up it was raining which isn't the best weather to go camping in when it's your first time.
Speaking of that, I had such a good time getting Mike ready to do this because my whole life, we've always gone camping and my dad trained us so well (to the point of being able to camp in the Boundary Waters for a week! Never will forget that!!!) that to be married to someone who has NEVER been camping is kind of foreign to me. But it was so much to go and get the stuff that he needed and start to build our own family stockpile of camping gear. So now we have a camping tote that holds all our stuff - like we have alot at this point! :)
So getting back to the Men's Retreat, they got packed, got up there, set up their tents, endured the rainy night, woke up the next morning and promptly packed up and came home. They didn't even have breakfast there! Taylor and I had barely gotten up when he walked through the door!!! Wow! I felt so bad that his first camping trip had begun and ended like this. I'm already praying that next year is night and day different!
I would have to say that this Men's Retreat failed to meet the high expectations that Mike had. Oh well. At least I got an extra day off with my Baby!