don't spell with your food

10 yr college reunion

The last saturday we were in Indiana we drove up to Upland, IN for my 10 yr college reunion. We had to stop on the side of the road to get this picture to prove that this school really is in the middle of the cornfields (it is also always windy!)
We had a great time being together without the older boys revisiting old haunts and talking with college friends and professors.

This is the bell tower in the middle of campus where Bruce proposed to me on my 21st birthday! We feel so blessed with all God has done in our lives since that day.

Here i am with my favorite Bio professor and my great friend Jen Dake who i studied, laughed and lived life with while at Taylor. Going to a small school was so nice. This professor and his wife invited us over to their house every monday night to watch "Seventh heaven". He would make us special treats (homemade ice cream, popcorn...) and they just showed us wonderful hospitality. It was a home away from home. They even hosted a wedding shower for me.

That night after a dinner with people from our class Jen and I went over to Dr. Moore's to hang out, talk and eat breadsticks from TOPPIT pizza! yummy! The perfect end to a perfect day!

Walk in the woods

I spent a lot of my childhood exploring in the 1/2 acre of woods behind our house. My parents moved to a new house when i was a senior in high school. That house has a wooded park nearby. The park also has a public water well that my dad gets his water from.
So one day while we were in indy we took the boys to the park to get water and to explore. It made bruce and i really want to have a home someday with some land for the boys to be boys!

skipping rocks...

it will make you wish you were a kid again

(okay this happened almost 2 months ago, but wanted to document the experience!)

While in indy we visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum. I used to come here as a kid and have vivid memories of time spent there. So i was excited to have the boys visit. I didn't realize how much they had added. The best thing they added was the amazing dinosaur exhibit, with real palentologists working that you could talk with and ask questions! We had a great day and made some of our own wonderful memories.

chilly zoo

we checked out the indy zoo. it was great!
we went to a dolphin show, explored the safari, rode the train and wen to the petting zoo.

good times with old friends

This trip to Indy i was a little more organized and contacted some of my old friends (who were also bridesmaids of mine) to get together.
It was so nice to catch up to meet their kiddos and just talk!

I had lunch one day with Jeni, a friend of mine who is the assistant director of special education at an indy school district. we talked about her work and her life in indy. it was great to be able to catch up after all these years and have so much in common in our career interests.

this is my friend michelle...i've known her since before she was born!
my parents are her godparents. we were babies together and now it's fun to have babies the same year.


This is my friend susan. We met in high school, where we laughed all the time!

Susan has 3 little ones as well. although hers are 8,6 &4.
It was so amazing to see a glimpse into my future. I was so impressed with how she is rearing her kiddos. They were so sweet, fun and respectful. Quade loved meeting the "older boys" and Price loved meeting Lily the "older girl". =) It was a great day!

first day in indy

quite an impressive way to start the day...fancy breakfast on a tablecloth in the formal dining room.
(quickly learned that a 2 yr old and 4 yr old probably do better in the kitchen)

Off to a local fall festival...

all in all a great first day

up, up and away

Yes we are a little crazy.
When i am out and about with my 3 boys i draw a lot of stares. When you fly with 3 young boys you draw even more attention. some people give you looks of pity, others are fearful that you may sit near them.
However, this flight to Indy the boys were great. those around us had to be satisfied with their flight experience.
(we won't talk about the flight home...celebrate the victories, forget the defeats).

We worked as a team. Bruce sat with Price, I sat with Quade and we passed Watts back and forth.
We had just enough toys, just enough snacks and just enough video entertainment...

These were the happy grandparents that greeted us...with dinosaur puppets and everything!

buddies

One of price's best buddies is Mason. They are quite a pair with a lot of energy. Here they are at Chick-fil-a's play area.

Swinging monkeys

silly faces

short shorts

Our new "trick" for solving the dilemma of what to do when quade's clothes get wet and he doesn't want to wear them, is to trade clothes with Price. This works for 2 reasons: 1) Price could care less if the clothes are wet 2) Quade's hips are so skinny that he wears the same size Price does.

Here is a picture of Quade at 4 yrs old

Here is a picture of Quade at 17 months wearing the same shorts!