What we've been up to

Darren was cleaning off his motorcycle this weekend and so Stratt pulled out his bike and decided to clean too. It was cute. He loves to do everything Dad does.

We went to a fun pumpkin festival with a spook ally and a jump house and a hayride and pumpkin patch and lots of good treats. The best part about it was everything was free except the treats and the pumpkins!

I told the boys they could pick any size pumpkin as long as they could carry it themselves. I'm a mean mom. I figure I'm carrying around enough extra weight these days already. In fact, the joke I heard many times while at the festival, "Are you trying to steal a pumpkin?" It was funny the first time. :) I was hoping the bumpy hayride would help me get this baby here faster, but no such luck.

Here's Stratt Struggling to carry his pumpkin.

I love this pic of the boys. It's hard to see Stratt's expression in the background, but it looks like he's thinking about something very interesting.

Fishing night with Daddy.

A recent huge belly shot . . . the baby is due any day!

My handsome church boys.

High School Homecoming football game with Dad.

I love it when my boys get along . . . it is a rare and beautiful thing.

Feeding the ducks at the park with Stratt.

We're finally a 2 car family!!! We've had 1 car for 8 1/2 years and bought and sold several motorcycles and scooters along the way to get us by (but not so great in the rain and snow of Iowa). With the baby coming we finally made the step to getting a bigger second car. It has been really nice.

Pumpkin Patch

Here's Mel and the boys on our trip to the pumpkin patch today. Melanie is due any day so I have orders to keep my phone on loud wherever I go.

Labor Day Break

I'm pretty sure I have the best husband ever. Labor Day weekend Darren took the boys on a little road trip back to Notre Dame to visit some friends and left me home all alone to catch my breath before this baby comes. It was such a nice break. I cleaned my house and it actually stayed clean . . . imagine that. I got a ton of stuff done, but of course made time for movies and ice cream too. It was great to have some quiet time, but good to see my boys again. Thanks Darren for helping me keep my sanity. :)

Quincy's First Day of First Grade

I can't believe Quincy is a first grader!!! He looks so old to me in this picture with his shirt all tucked in and his belt (he loves to do that). He was sad to see the summer end, and Stratt misses his big brother during the day, but Quincy loves school! Thanks Grammie and Poppie for his new school supplies!

I found these pictures of Quince when he started his first year in preschool when we were at Notre Dame. It makes me sad that he's so old now. :( Time really flies!

While Quincy was at school, Stratt spent the week hauling around a "pack-pack" full of notebooks and markers and toys and played "school." I love at the end of the day watching Stratt run down the driveway to give Quincy big hugs when he gets off the bus!

Family Reunion

This August we had a fun family reunion. Unfortunately Darren was the only person who couldn't make it. We missed him, but the boys had a great time with cousins. My sister lives in Utah, and so my mom and dad rented 2 townhomes up in Park City to accommodate all the families, it was really fun to all be together. Thanks Mom and Dad (and Debi) for making it all possible - we had a great time!!!

My Dad with Stratty and Ethan throwing rocks in the creek by my sister Debi's house.

Bowling with Grandpa and cousins

I love Stratt's tiny bowling shoes.

Stratt was very serious about his bowling. Any time he hit any of the pins he would jump up and down and shout, "I won!!! I scort (scored)!!!"

At the dinosaur museum

My cute mom helping the kids.

My dad was such a good sport, he took the kids swimming several times a day. They loved it!

And the kids loved hearing Grandpa Roger tell silly stories every night.

We went to the park and my mom had airplanes for the kids to fly.

The cousins and uncles played a game of soccer while the moms watched.

We ate lots of good food and treats (thanks to my mom and Debi's preparation).

And we even got all 14 grandkids to stand still for 2 seconds to take a picture.

But the highlight of the trip was meeting my brother Ben's fiance, Sunshine. She's great and we all love her!

It was definitely a successful reunion and fun to be with my family!