I'm A Great Aunt!!!

Welcome sweet baby Emery Ann!! I love you so much!

Twenty-three years ago, my oldest sister, Lori, made me an aunt for the first time when she gave birth to her daughter, Jessica. I had just graduated high school and was at Lori's house more than my own. When Jessica was born, I got the first little idea of what it would feel like to have my own baby. She was so precious to me...more than I ever thought a baby could be.
Our baby Jessica is now a mother....Emery's mother. My first niece made me a great aunt yesterday. Just as Jessica gave me a glimpse of what it would be like to be a mom, Emery has given me a glimpse of what it will feel like when my children start having babies of their own. I thank God for every year that he gives me to live and experience days like yesterday. These are the moments that we live for....that make life worth living.

Halloween 2010

We had an amazing time with my friend, Chelita, and her family this Halloween. We started out with a little party for our kids at our house. We made little mummy cupcakes and Chelita brought a very cool pizza snake. It was so yummy and so cool! Eli made place mats for everyone! We had fun crafts to do that Jeff brought home for us one night. We saved them to do with Chelita's kids. First, they made Halloween characters with a clay kit. I was amazed with some of the stuff they came up with! Next, we made candy with a kit that included different colored chocolates and molds. I liked the suckers the best....especially the great skeleton hand that Madison made! Since Halloween fell on a Sunday, our town agreed to trick or treat on Saturday. We went tailgating that afternoon at our local college. Everyone had candy for trick or treating there...very fun. Afterwards, we came home and dressed to go trick or treating with Chelita and her family. We met at Jeff's brother's and took their kids with us. The neighborhood is great for trick or treating. Everyone decorates and sits outside with their candy. It was SO crowded but fun!

By the time Halloween actually got here, on Sunday, we were done with it :). The kids were going to carve the pumpkins but just didn't get around to it. The finally did them on Monday. They were happy that I just let them have their own pumpkins to do whatever they wanted with them.

Madison's Blog

Madison started a blog a couple of years ago but has just now committed to keeping up with it. Here is her link.
http://www.myplacemyplace11.blogspot.com/

Madison

A Visit With The Grandparents

Although I go "home" a lot with my kids, we have not spent the night at my dad's for many years. I have a lot of family in the area since I grew up there, but we always stay with Vicki. This time, my dad asked us to stay with him! The kids were so excited. They were even more excited when Daddy told them that he was setting up his BIG tent...the one he uses in Colorado every year....for us all to sleep in. I just love him for wanting to do something fun with them like that! Even though the kids don't get to see him and my step mother as much as their other grandparents, they LOVE them and can't wait to go to their house...the house that I grew up in. When we got there, we went to see my dad's horses and cattle on some of his new property. The kids love seeing the cows and are especially excited when there have new calves. They keep waiting for the day when they will get to ride the horses. I have always told them of how we grew up riding horses....how at Madison's age we would go out there alone, saddle them up, and ride whenever we wanted. They think that I grew up in the coolest place ever :).An old house on Daddy's new property

October Camping Trip

Because of the heat, we have not wanted to go camping since our Colorado trip, so when the weather turned cooler last month, we took advantage of it. We went to a state park that we have not camped at with our camper yet. We have stayed in the cabins, so we knew that we liked the park. We spent some time geocaching this time. All of the state parks have geocaching, but we have never done it while camping before. It was so much fun. I liked that it gave us a reason to be on the trails...a reason besides just hiking for the sake of hiking. We did so much hiking/geocaching that I was sore when we got home.

The greatest thing that we found were two geocoins. These are not meant to keep but to pass along. Once you get one, you register it online so that the placer knows where the coin has gone. Then, you place it somewhere else. We are still holding onto them until we can place them in another state.