Beginning to look a lot like Christmas....or it should be anyway!

Well this is what it could look like anyway, should the weather happen to change anytime soon!  In the meantime, I've gotten the bulk of my Christmas cards done, so I am finally ready to haul up the Christmas storage boxes to begin the decorating process.  With the house void of children's footsteps these days, I guess waiting for their imminent return seemed like a good idea!  At least the "little" tree we were given from our dear friends thirteen years ago is doing a fabulous job of lighting up the outside of our home on a nightly basis.  The nice thing about this tree, is that it can be seen from 270 degrees on a half mile radius!

And finally, here's one of my favorite holiday photos, so I had to post it here.  Hope your holidays are happy and shared with those you cherish!

 

It's About Family

2012 Thanksgiving

Blessings abound!  It's not often our children get both sets of grandparents and aunts/uncles from both sides together for a visit.  These are times to be cherished for sure!

        While all members of the family could not be together :(, those of us who gathered here in Indiana had a laughter filled day.  Having the cousins together was a rare treat, especially since they range in age from 11 months to 21!  The highlight of the day had to be the multiple rounds of the "special" birthday song due to the many upcoming birthdays.

Cousins!

Evie's rendition of "Call Me Maybe" drew loud cheers from around the room!

     After the standard yummy Tday fare, we capped the evening off with multiple pies- pumpkin, apple, pecan- with ice cream and whipped cream too!  Good thing the Drumstick Dash provided a good calorie burn earlier in the day.

The Happy Hosts

The Drumstick Dashers relaxing

Three Generations
Hope you all had an enjoyable day with friends and family.  There's nothing like a home filled with laughter and love.  Blessings to you!

Change of Season

Ten Reasons to Love Fall

10.  All the pretty colors

9. Mums the word      8.  Pumpkins everywhere

7.  Harvest happens

6.  Happening upon the Trader's Point Hunt   

5.  PURDUE Football Fun

4.  More PURDUE Fun with old friends

3.  Riding through the harvested fields with friends  

2.  Remembering these faces from Halloweens past

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON TO LOVE FALL........

1.  Yep - Family from far and near gathering all together at one table!  

Hope you all have a blessed Fall!

Fifty Years - A reason to celebrate!

What a nice celebration the family had for my in-laws celebrating their golden anniversary.  It was a fun evening sharing stories and honoring the life these two have created together.  They set a wonderful example of how marriage is a partnership, and how to have a lot of fun along the way (note the hand constructed "contract" pic.)  Congrats Chuck and Donna!

It seems like just a few (26 to be exact) years ago that the photo below was taken.  Since then "Chonna" as we lovingly refer to them, added "wonderful grandparents" to their list of successful tasks.  While the two grandchildren we provided them were not able to join in the festivities of the 50th Celebration, they certainly were there in spirit.

The grandchildren that were able to attend brought a lot of energy with them - it was really great to see them all together. 

Modeling Uncle Kevie's jacket

So pretty!

The Empty Nest - or not really

What a difference a few years make - Sarah then and now - heading off to school.  (Note worried look, jam-packed car with dorm stuff and life belongings vs one suitcase and a look of no worries)

After depositing Eric just a few miles from the ocean for his studies, and waving goodbye to Sarah, we hopped on a plane destined for Ireland for a great week with dear friends.  What better distraction from my suddenly empty nest? (okay so 21 years might not seem that sudden to you)

While Dublin proved to be an exciting place to be, in part due to the Notre Dame v. Navy football game, it was the lovely country side of old rock fence rows dividing the rolling fields all the way to the sea that was the best part of the trip for me.  From Dublin to Kilkenny, and Kenmare to Birr, the people of Ireland proved delightful and friendly, whether it was in a pub or along our way by the road. Mount Juliet in County Kilkenny was just as wonderful as I remembered.

The gardens of Mt. Juliet then and now.

The Cliffs of Moher then and now.

ERIC 2001

ERIC 2001

KEVIN 2012

2012

 An Irish beach then and now

SARAH & ERIC 2001

KEVIN 2012

As our week came to an end, and we arrived back to our home, I imagined how strange it would be with no one expecting us, but all I had to do was open the car door to these two faces, and realize that while the nest may be void of our two-legged loved ones, there are still plenty of the four-legged variety to greet us daily and make us feel much loved and needed.  So I guess the nest isn't so empty after all.

August!

This year August has had a few notable events:

     *Sarah arrived home from her amazing European travel job..Weissman Teen Tours.

     *The National Holiday (aka Kevie's bday) was celebrated over several days in Chicago with activities galore...lakefront tour, Geno's pizza, Russell's BBQ, Garrett's Popcorn, and best of all the COLDPLAY Mylo Xyloto concert

     *Our marital contract was renewed for it's 26th time

     *The 1150 mile trek to deliver Eric to college was a big success

The Birthday Boy and family

The Happy Couple <3 td="td">

A great father son combo - note Eric's shirt on move in day!

Chris Martin of Coldplay
(at this close range, it seemed like he was singing right to me all evening!)

 

Dad's life instructions for son

Derby on Eric's bed...missing him

A clean room after countless hours of toil by mom