A weekend in Indy

I spent last weekend in Indy with Matt's sister and her family, to help them out with their new baby boy! Needless to say, I got my baby fix! And there are few things that make me happier than hanging out with the older kids... what can I say? I love them! I only wish our other nephews and niece were closer than Utah...

Their oldest, Kaelobbe, is 7, the age of nothing but awkward smiles! :)

Brieanna, 5, was hoping for a baby sister, but is happy to play mommy's helper for her new baby brother.
Jonathan, 2, was not feeling well when I was taking these, can you tell? This was the closest thing to a smile I could get! He felt good enough to swipe cookies from the counter though! If you look close, there's cookie crumbs on his bowtie!

I had to put up one more pic of our newest cutie, Cristian! He was wide awake, enjoying cuddle time with his favorite aunt! :) Okay, his other aunts are great too!

More babies!

Our newest nephew, Cristian, born Dec 10th!! I spent last weekend with my sis-in-law, her 3 other kids, and this cutie pie. Let's just say there was LOTS of baby cuddling for this proud auntie!

My Birthday Present

Birthdays tend to be less exciting the older we get...

This year, however, I had a nice surprise! This cutie now shares my birthday!

Happy Belated Birthday, Clayton!!

Fun with Clarissa

Clarissa came to visit me and the "kitties" while her mom was at the doctor. We had a good time chasing the "kitties!" (much to their dismay)

For some reason, Clarissa has always loved our kitty condo. From the time she started walking, she has been trying to climb on it. She sat up there and enjoyed some Diego cartoons.

Look at that face! I'm happy for this sweetie to visit me anytime!

Just a post-election thought...

I found this great quote following a link on a friend's blog. I think that it is something that can comfort those, especially some Christians, who are very upset by the results of the the election. I think that it reminds us how to put things in perspective. Enjoy!

"Confirm it in your heart and soul that the day after the election, God is still on His throne, and Jesus is still at His right hand. Certain things are not on the ballot, and the sovereignty of God is not.
When Christians react to elections with despair and panic, they are demonstrating that their faith is in the wrong place. If the election goes badly, do not soak your hair with lighter fluid, set it off, and then run in tight, little circles. Be a Christian. If the election goes well, do not act like you have just been saved. Salvation is not something that Caesar holds in his hand, whether to give or withhold."
- Douglas Wilson (ht: inWorship/JoshuaBlankenship)

Wedding Congrats... a bit late

Our friends Alex and Leah were married about two weeks ago, and we are so happy for them! Their little daughter, Dayaneira, is my buddy, and I love to get my baby fix when I visit them.


Leah and I have been friends since we moved here, I met her during the short time that I was working at the mall.

So, congrats to the happy family! We love you guys!

Our girls

It has been two years now since we rescued our girls from the Humane Society shelter, and we couldn't be happier to share our home with them.


Patches is our calico cuddler. Her favorite place to be is in one of our laps, even when there's a laptop there.
Lucy was just a little kitten when we brought her home, but as you can see she is huge now! She is quite independent and very verbal, but is still a bit of a "momma's girl."

Autumn in the "Woods"

Last weekend, we decided to take a Sunday afternoon dirve out to Lake of the Woods park in Mahomet. It was a beautiful fall day, so we took the camera along to capture a bit of it.

There is a lovely covered bridge along the way through the park.

The trees were showing all of their fall glory and the colors were wonderful!

There is a beautiful Japanese garden with a lovely pond filled with Koi goldfish, and is traversed by this great bridge.

This time of year always makes me feel like a kid again, there are not many things I like better than tromping through the crunchy fallen leaves! (and maybe even lying a pile of them!)

Corvette Funfest 2008

Two weekends-ago, we went down to Effingham for the annual Corvette Funfest, put on by Midamerica Motorworks. Heidi's dad has a Corvette, and has been attending since the festival started in 1994. This was the first time Heidi had ever been, and Matt had sooooo much fun ogling the HOT cars! Part of the sea of Corvettes...there were well over 1,000 Corvettes on display, whose owners had brought them from all over the country! There were old ones... New ones...

Red ones...

and blue ones!

Sorry, I had a Dr. Seuss moment! There were Corvettes of all ages and colors, not to mention in all sorts of condition. There were several with custom paint jobs...this one was our favorite. All of the flames were done by hand with an airbrush. Even the interior and the engine were covered with this amazing artwork.

Needless to say, we have Corvette fever! We had a blast walking through our "field of dreams-" a section of the area where there were lots of used Corvettes for sale...oh, if only! :)

Hurricane Ike hits the Midwest?!

Rain pounded down on us on Sept 14th...this is a pic from the viaduct a few blocks from our house. The water was originally 4 feet deep earlier in the day, and was down to 3 feet deep when we took this picture. Yes, that's a car stuck in the water...notice the sign- "impassible during high water!"