halloween 2006

call me opportunistic

Last Friday, I took advantage of Cori's offer to take a half day at work so we could go on an extended and overdue date. We went to Rockford where we did some Christmas shopping, went out to dinner, attended a Stake choir rehearsal, and then went out for shakes with some friends.

On Saturday, I took advantage of a break in the rain and Cori's presence at home to take an afternoon run through our neighborhood. The last month on the treadmill has softened me to street running. Between the pavement and the hilly terrain, I was one sore chica come Sunday. There are only a couple of weeks until our last 5K for the year... gotta get out there more often. (But it is so chilly!)

Then on Sunday, we took advantage of the sunshine once more by snapping pictures at the park. We've had so much rain lately, the leaves are very quickly being pummeled from the trees. I couldn't go another day without some pictures. We invited friends to come along so as to get a picture or two with our little family together.

Yesterday, I took advantage of the fact the the fridge was empty to bleach it down before restocking it.

Then, I took advantage of the missionaries' company at dinner to make loads of Cafe Rio food. So good.

Today, I plan on taking advantage of Grant's newly returned appetite to send everything I can into his tiny tummy. The poor guy has had all kinds of reasons not to eat lately. But this morning we seem to be in the clear- and he is hungry. For breakfast he had two pieces of cheese toast, half of an apple, a sippy of milk, the last half of my yoplait, and a yogurt of his own. This is roughly equivalent to half of what he has been eating in an entire day.

Blessings

Fall

from the archives: october 2005

pond hill farm: fall 09

with sara

Sara met us in Michigan. The kids were thrilled to see her. Grace was especially so, as she had made plans to sleep every night in Sara's bed with her (which she did). Other than watching conference and spending time with our Michigan family, we did a lot of our favorite Up North things with Sara. We drove the tunnel of trees. We ate at Legs Inn, our favorite little Polish Restaurant. We toured the lighthouse and got ice cream in Mackinaw City. We looked in the shops downtown. This included caressing the Le Creuset collection at Cutler's.

Welcoming Sara at the Traverse City airport

The Mighty Mac (Mackinaw Bridge) and the lighthouse.

'Superman' flavored ice cream + Grace = blue teeth

Downtown Petoskey

The drive back to IL was beautiful. The grey skies couldn't dim the fall colors. Sara really got to experience the spectrum of life with little kids on our road trip. They were really good, but still... it was 9 hours in a confined space with a 4 and a 2 year old.

Once home, Sara cheerfully helped me with all my house wife antics. We cooked and cooked for the opening night of the book club I've been asked to head. She helped me get everything ready for Gracie's birthday party. She changed stinky diapers and made breakfast. So lovely. We made an outing to Galena (Yes, apparently I'm obsessed with this place. There isn't much to do in our hometown, okay?) Sara treated us to a fancy lunch. The kids got a free cookie from Chef Ivo at the Galena Canning Co. AND we managed not to spend much money.

Thanks Sis! We love you!

and now, normalcy

Well, all our visitors are gone. All our travels are over until Christmas. It is very sad. But with a couple months of regularity ahead, I'm starting to think it might be time to convert the crib Grant has been sleeping in, or get going on potty training. Or maybe I'll clean out the basement... maybe.

The weekend with my parents was wonderful, as usual. The last time we were with them, we were very busy sightseeing. I purposefully made absolutely no plans for this visit. We spent our time reading, coloring, watching movies, playing games, decorating the pumpkins from our garden and relaxing.

Grammie brought Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Papa Jeff brought some goodies too.

Gracie's best Halloween face

We did take one impromptu outing to Galena. It was a beautiful Fall drive. We ate a scrumptious Italian lunch and then moseyed in and out of the shops. On the way home we stopped at the Apple River Fort. Abraham Lincoln spent time there as a 23 year-old militia man.

Dad demonstrating what he calls his 'advanced sleeping techniques.' Sleeping while sitting on a little bench is pretty advanced. Way to go!

It was especially hard to say goodbye. Our next scheduled visit is a little too far away. Thanks Mom and Dad! Even though we know you just came for the kids, we were glad to hang out with you too.

seeing what i'm made of

Gracie's hair was getting long and stringy. I battled with myself about what to do with it. Cori always gets a little uneasy when I talk about cutting anyone's hair around here--except his. Not to mention the fact that I have absolutely no expertise/knack/talent in the hair department. Nevertheless, something needed to be done. Then one morning, Gracie asked me for a haircut. She wanted it to be "short, but not toooooo short." So I did it. And now her hair does this again:
Just chronicling my brave mommy moment.

Speaking of chronicles, I still have more of our recent holiday with Sara to post about. But my momma comes into town today, and she'll be followed by my dad on Friday...

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park

I wanted to go to this park the whole time we lived in Michigan. We finally paid a visit on our most recent trip up to Petoskey. The Great Lakes are immense. There are so many interesting and unexpected things to find on their shores. This park is located south of Traverse City. Its name comes from a Native American folk story. The story tells of a mother bear and two cubs who were running through the forest to escape a hunter. When they reached the shore of Lake Michigan, the mother bear sent her cubs in to swim across and stayed behind to keep gaurd on shore. The bear cubs became the Manitou islands, and the mother bear became the great sand dunes.

There is a great drive to do through the park. We really loved it. The kids thought it was especially neat because we didn't make them wear their buckles in the car.
Everything is really sandy- even where the trees are growing. It isn't unusual to see exposed roots.
The largest dune that is accessible by car is a 450 foot slope that drops into the lake. I couldn't get a picture that would give justice to the angle of descent. It is quite steep.





All of the little hikes around the dunes to the different look out places are on these planked walkways. We were glad we stopped!