Starting Over

Wow it has been a long time since we've posted! I've (Carrie) decided to start over on this blog. So much has happened since June when Brian posted last.

July

In July, 15 of us headed to Disney World for a fun-filled family vacation. We had a blast! this year we did a few things we had never done before.

We got to watch the fireworks from a special spot with a delicious dessert buffet.

We also signed the kids up for a Pirate Cruise where they got to find a hidden treasure.

After we left Disney, Brian, the kids and I headed to Vero Beach for a few days. This was the first time the kids had been to a beach and this was the first time Brian and I had tried a relaxing beach vacation. I think we're more theme park and water park folks, but I will say the resort was beautiful!

August

August brought with it the beginning of school! Emmy is in 1st Grade and Tyler started Kindergarten. Emmy loves school and as Tyler said a few weeks ago he is starting to get used to it! In fact yesterday he came home to tell me he was going to have new attitude towards school. Of course today when I asked him about his new attitude, he said it got off track, so I guess we'll

see!

August also brought about Fall Sports! Tyler played Flag Football for the Morton Hogs and Emmy was on the Shamrocks soccer team. Emmy loved soccer. Tyler liked the games, but was not a big fan of the twice a week practices.

September

For those of you not familiar with Central Illinois, you may not be aware that with September comes Morton Pumpkin Festival. This entails a week of gorging on pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin chili, etc. It also includes a pumpkin decorating contest. This year's theme was Christmas in the Pumpkin patch. Emmy decorated her pumpkin like Santa Claus. Tyler thought he could wait till Halloweem and make a jack-o-lantern. Maybe we'll try again next year.



At the end of the month Brian and I got to head to San Antonio to surprise a fraternity brother of Brian's from college. Nine of us met down in San Antonio for a long weekend and had a blast. As you can see Brian and I went to the Alamo, a bunch of wineries, and the Missions during the day and enjoyed the Riverwalk each night! It was exactly what we needed!

October

October is always a big month for us. We have our nephew's birthday, Emmy's birthday and all of the Halloween activities we can fit in! Since Jack and Emmy have birthdays less than a week apart, we decided to hold a birthday party together. This years theme was Dr. Suess.




The weekend after our family party Emmy had her friend party. She invited her whole class and some friends from her summer camp. Despite the flu outbreak at Bethel, we still hosted 13 kids plus two cousins for pumpkin decorating, making caramel apples and overall Fall Birthday Fun!

Finally October brought Halloween. We love all the festivities leading up to Halloween. We went to Howl-Zoo-Ween and Wildlife Scary Park. We spent our Halloween evening Trick or Treating with Jack and Brooklyn in Dunlap!

So, now you are caught up on our life. I have made a commitment to myself to keep this blog up to date, so check back often!