Happy Halloween!!!

Okay...I confess...we ran out of candy!!!!! Can you believe it?! Well, first, I waited until today to get candy because I just didn't want it in the house for fear that I would eat a ton of it (it's bad enough to have it on the table at work!). So, I ended up with full size snickers and reese's peanut butter cups - yum! I think the kids that got them think we are AWESOME! I only bought 50 pieces thinking that I didn't want any left over either...I'll definitely remember that we have more than 50 kids coming to the door next year. The worst part is that there is still an hour and a half left of trick-or-treating AND kids keep ringing the doorbell even though the light is off! Here are the two pictures of some neighbor kids we know:

A visit with Grandma

On Saturday, Jason, me, Karen, and Caden visited Jason & Karen's grandma in the nursing home. This was the first time she got to see Caden and the first time we had seen her since Christmas last year. She has fallen a couple times at home and her dementia is getting a little worse. She remembers stuff from the past real well, but tends to repeat things from the present quite often. It was actually kind of sad - they have her in a wheelchair (so she doesn't fall obviously), but she would take long walks every day at home so she seems to be losing some of that mobility by sitting all day. It was a short but nice visit. Caden smiles so much now!! Grandma would makes faces and he just smiled so big...it was too cute!!

Halloween Happy Hour

Our neighbors, Tim & Julie, had a Halloween Happy Hour on Friday night! She decorates to the nines nd even gives prizes for the costumes. We didn't dress up this year, but here's a picture of all who did

Pumpkin Carving

For those of you who don't know, in June, I started volunteering with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time and now that I wasn't working at the gym and my work schedule was pretty regular (I get out at my normal time almost every day), I felt like this was perfect. I think my desire to volunteer for this organization came from my mom's friend, Dovie, and her husand who were a Big Brother & Big Sister to two boys when I was a lot younger. Thanks Dovie & Brad!! This is such a great program, and I am so glad I decided to volunteer my time to make a difference in a child! If you're interested in volunteering or even participating in their annual fundraiser - Bowl for Kids Sake - I would definitely encourage you to do so.

My little sister, Aireol, is 10 years old and oddly enough, we have one certain thing in common! Aireol is on the competitive tumbling team at Gymnastics Etc.. I met her once before becoming her Big Sister, but was never her coach. The Case Manager thought it was a perfect match! We have done things like going out to eat to shopping to going through the haunted house, and now carving pumpkins! Here are a few pictures of our evening...

Happy Anniversary!

Today, my parents celebrate 31 years of marriage! Congratulations! Here's a picture from our Alaskan cruise last year celebrating their 30th anniversary.

Caden's 3 month pictures

Here they are....Caden's 3 month pictures from Portrait Innovations! There were a ton more, but these are the ones I have. Isn't he so adorable???

 (Please forgive him - his father is a Minnesota fan!)

Congratulations, Chad!!

I just got word that my brother, Chad, bowled a perfect game on Friday night!! That's right...12 strikes in a row for a score of 300! Congrats, Chad!!

A night with friends!

For the past year, Jason and I have been getting together with two of my co-workers and their husbands for dinner, rotating houses, usually about every other month. Last night, Mel and Rich opened their house up to us for a nice dinner and bonfire (Is it still called a bonfire if it's in a firepit?). We had a great time, and some of us even had 'smores! Yum!ts

 Girls - Me, Mel, & JA

Around the fire.

Rich even got out his guitar!

Weekend Fun

This weekend, we headed to my brother's place in Mt. Horeb, WI to celebrate birthdays. Before the celebration, we took a little trip to Peck's Farmer's Market in Spring Green, WI. They have a petting zoo, pumpkin patch, corn maze, and tons of good treats to eat/buy. Here's a few pictures of our time there:
We celebrated Chad's (Sept 30), Kelly's (Oct 6), Mitchell's (Nov 15), and Jarrod's (Dec 8) birthdays in the evening. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures because the batteries in my camera died. Hopefully my family will share (hint hint). We had some great appetizers, steaks, potatoes, and of course, cake and ice cream! We had a great time, thanks for letting us stay the night, Chad and Kelly!

Here are your results...

Okay, so, I didn't do as well as I had hoped to in the ISU Town & Gown 5K on Saturday, BUT we didn't come in last place! I know I probably didn't train as much or as well as I could have, but I was kind of nervous and it was cold (excuses, excuses!). Jason was kind enough to stay with me throughout the whole thing which I felt kind of bad about since he was the last male to finish! By the time we were finishing our first lap (we had to do 2 laps), there were about a half dozen people who went past us, which meant they were done!! There was even a guy running in just his shorts - not even any shoes who beat us!! I'm not really sure how much of it I actually ran, but Jason thought maybe half total. I took a lot of walk breaks - my shins were hurting pretty bad for whatever reason (not sure why!), but we finished in 40 minutes and had a pretty good time! Here's a picture of us at home afterwards since I didn't bring my camera...

Happy Birthday, Rhonda!

Here's a picture from Christmas last year - Jason and I gave her and Charlie pillows with their favorite teams on them! Quite the rival going on here!

Hope you have a great birthday, Rhonda!

Caden

Caden is 3 months old today! Wow!!! I can't believe it. He's getting his pictures taken this weekend so hopefully I have some really good ones soon.

On Saturday, we visited with Karen, Caleb, Cody, and Caden for the afternoon. Caleb and some friends were pouring a concrete patio with stenciling (really cool - I wish I would have gotten a picture of it!). It had been two week since I saw Caden, and I can't believe how much he has changed!! He is really starting to get the chubby cheeks, arms, and legs ...so cute! If only it was cute as we get older! Of course, I got my time in holding and feeding him. He is such a good baby! Here are a few pictures to enjoy:

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law, Kelly!

Here's a picture of Kelly from one of our scrapbooking weekends.

Also, Happy Birthday to our friend, Sue!

This picture was from the Epiphany Basket Auction with our friend, Bill. Both have moved out of the neighborhood. :-( We hope you both have an excellent birthday!! (Next year's the big 4-0!!)

Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday to my cousin, Spencer!








This is my cousin, Shawn and his girlfriend, Brandy's, son. Can't wait to see you guys again! It's been way too long.

Happy Anniversary!

It was 3 years ago today that my friend, Jackie, and her husband, Jonathan, got married. Now, they have just welcomed their first little one to the family. Sorry I don't have a picture from that day, but here's one from our friend, Mandy's, wedding. Congratulations!!

Viva Las Vegas!!

Okay, so even though Jason and I are not big gamblers, we just spent two nights in Las Vegas with my friend, Terri (who I used to work with) and her fiance and their friends. We stayed off the strip which worked out okay, free hot breakfast and a free shuttle to Mandalay Bay. The last time we were there was over six years ago so it was fun to go back. It has changed a lot (new hotels) and there is still a ton of construction - wonder what it will look like next time?(the group just outside of Mandalay Bay)

On Friday, we walked on the strip a while and then to Hard Rock Cafe for a late lunch. Friday night we went down to Freemont Street, "old Las Vegas". That was one thing I wanted to do this time around. The light show was pretty neat - I didn't realize it actually covers the street. We had dinner at the Golden Nugget - "only" $20 per person for the buffet! They were having a Bike Fest at the same time so we saw lots of Harley folks.(Tammy and I dancing on the bar at Hard Rock Cafe.)

On Saturday, we made our way to In-N-Out Burger. I had never heard of this place, but my sister said we had to go. I guess they have them in California where Jarrod is from. It was pretty good - REAL potato french fries and the cheapest meal we ate there! Then, we made the long trek down the strip to TI. I figure it was over 5 miles round trip...definitely didn't lack on exercise. We like to do that though so we can see the hotels, and we were able to catch the Bellagio water show. Saturday night we had dinner at the House of Blues and then saw Pauly Shore. He was pretty funny!! 
Jason and I in the Venetian.)

(Terri and I in front of the Mirage.)

We just laid around on Sunday until we had to leave for the airport and head home. The flight was good, just a little tight on AirTran, but for the price, you can't beat it!

And, Happy Belated Birthday to my brother, Chad!!!(It was yesterday - I did call, but didn't get a chance to put it on the blog.)