Our Aweful Beautiful Life

These two boys have been peas in a pod for as long as I can remember, and this weekend proved no different. We picked them up from Football practice, they quickly changed personas clothes into "farmer" clothes, and we hopped up to my parents to farm with Grandpa & Grandma & Uncle Trent! Such a wonderful evening. These kind of nights are so good for my soul! Love nights on the farm, and watching these two little boys enjoy the farm just make it that much sweeter. Don't let them fool you -- Emmalyn and Keaton can hold their own with Colton & Wyatt! We left the side ditch and jumped in the pool one final time before the cooler weather comes and Grandma shuts down the pool. By Saturday morning, the boys were up early to shoot bb guns, and they didn't just shoot the target. They went out to the south barn, and had one goal: kill a pigeon just like Dad. And that they did...with their little hunter buddy as a tag along. They were so proud of the...

On Sunday, September 18th, 5 days after babies expected due date, I got a text from Matt saying, "Shall I live tweet the days events".....................and I quickly responded, "does this mean you're there?"..........and go zero response. Trent & Mom finally clued me in that they did finally go at 4am on Sunday, and we all anxious awaited the arrival of a new niece or nephew. Anxiously. Awaited. All. Dang. Day.   Finally, around 6pm, we got word that sweet baby George David was here, and all were well! Welcome to our family circus, George. We are glad you are here, and joining this rowdy bunch of cousins. Uncle Jason and I are so excited to be your Godparents. We hope you always let Christ's light shine! Love you sweet baby boy!   On Saturday, one week after George's arrival, we baptized him into the catholic church. We were honored to be asked to be his Godparents!! 

Life is pretty chaotic these days. Third grade math. First grade Zoo project. Football. Pig Chores. Cow Chores. A new puppy. Uncle Jacob & Makayla's wedding planning. Uncle Trent & Stefanie's wedding planning. Overtime for Dad. Life with a three year old. It gets a little wild some days....but I can't say we aren't having fun along the way. When I come across these kinds of photos in my phone, they put a smile on my face...for sure. Love you kiddos more than you will ever know. Thanks for being the sunshine in our days and for always putting a smile on our faces...even if we do get a little grouchy sometimes! :) We've also recently started the process of putting in an inground basketball goal. We all worked together to build this entire project, and I pray we can spend many years gathered under the hoop, cheering each other on, and sharing lifes stories. 

Typically, we spend our Labor Day weekends at a campground, soaking up the last bits of summer sunshine.  Because we didn't have any group plans with our camping buddies this year, we checked with Seth & Jenna about camping together somewhere. Just as we started to make those plans/reservations, Jason found out he'd be working overtime at a factory shutdown both Sunday & Monday, so we didn't make any reservations. Seth & Jenna went ahead with reservations and we were set to do our own things. Until that Tuesday before Labor Day, when Jason found out he'd not be working, and we decided we wanted to do something fun with you kids. So, we decided to use a Hyatt night I had saved up, and bought tickets to the last Indianapolis Indians homegame for the season, and planned a fun over night in Indy. On Wednesday, Jenna called, and after bragging about reserving the LAST spot at the Potato Creek Campground, found out that apparently you have to have horses to camp...

For the last several years, we've found a weekend when all our camping buddies can gather up Grandparents, friends, Aunts, Uncles, the homeless man across the street....whoever we can find to watch all our kids for a weekend so we can get away and actually CAMP. You know. Sit in our camp chairs and stay there. Sleep in. Not eat powdered donuts for breakfast. And lunch. And afternoon snack. Or do, whatever. Actually enjoy a cold beer by the fire. Play bags. NAP.  Basically, a weekend to do WHATEVER WE WANT TO, without having to worry about kids safety and entertainment plans. We've ventured down to Rockville Lake in Parke County for the past three years, and have come to love the little tradition we've started. We've gone floating on Sugar Creek. We've went out on a boat on Raccoon Lake (only because we planned to float and overslept adn happened to know someone who knew someone with a boat).  This year, Stefanie & Trent joined the ranks, and Stef offered up he...