Visit with Jessi and Baby Riley!

Ryder was beyond excited to go pick up Jessi and Baby Riley from Clinton on Thursday night! They are just too cute together and I could watch them walk around holding hands forever! We met them for dinner Thursday, and then drove them back to my parents house that night. Shortly after we left, my mom called and asked if I wanted her to pick me up on the way to the ER...I had no idea what had happened but needless to say Jessi sprained her foot really bad, which made the trip much more interesting!

 Friday we went to the zoo with Nana and Pa and to lunch. I really don't have many pictures because I had the twins with me,and two adults on motorized scooters so it was a task to say the least!

  That night we had a BLAST trick or treating at our church and the YMCA. I got Paul to dress up like Captain America (Tanner had this outfit because he was going to be him on a float at homecoming, but ended up getting asked to bump up to Varsity). Later that night Eric's Mom and Dad got in and we visited with them for a while.

 Saturday morning, we got up early to go watch Paul run a 5k which he placed 3rd in his age group! Ryder loves going to the races and running around!

Then Saturday afternoon we headed to Lauren's wedding which was sooo cute I just couldn't get over it! The kids had a blast!

Sunday we went up to Nana and Pa's for Riley's 2nd birthday party which was so much fun! Ryder loved riding Zeke and playing in the garden! 

 She sure does love her uncle!!

It was such a fun visit! I can't wait to see them at Thanksgiving!

Christopher turns 2!

My nephew turned two last week and Eric and I got back into town with just enough time to go to his birthday party on Sunday! It was such a cute "camouflage" theme and Ryder had a blast! They had a big bouncy house, fishing poles near the pond to fish, and lots of yummy food! I think Ryder had the most fun driving around one of Christopher's birthday presents! The funniest part was he told me Nana and Pa would get him one! ha! I said ok we will see! (Nana wouldn't you hate to disappoint a cute little 3 year old?!?)

Is this not the cutest picture ever?? Makes me sad to think that, that truck is going to be on the road before I know it! :(

Ryder and Daddy even caught a couple of fish!! They were both thrilled!

Near the pond they had two huge holes, and Ethan and Ryder L-O-V-E-D playing in them!! After Ryder peed in one of them they had to share the only one that was left :) They didn't mind!

We had such a good time and were glad we made it back in time to go!! Happy Birthday Christopher!!

5 year Anniversary Getaway!

Eric and I had a little get-a-way this weekend to Hendersonville NC for some camping! I know, I know...me, camping??? Actually believe it or not it was my idea! We went camping almost every fall growing up and it was always alot of fun! Even though I am a girly girl, I love to camp! (AS LONG AS they have HOT showers and toilets!!- I didn't say I was Laura Ingalls!) We dropped off Ryder early Saturday morning for his first real sleepover at Momma-Honey's and Pops! He had a blast by the way!...then we stopped for lunch a little past Hendersonville at a restaurant called Binions....

It was pretty good... It was the almost same as Texas Roadhouse

After we got there and we checked in, we decided to go pick up the canoe we rented...my sister-in-law had forewarned me about Canoeing being a little tricky and that I might fall in... well lets say this picture sums up the first 5 minutes! I was SURE I was going in, but then I got the hang of it and it was fun!!

Once I felt like I wasn't going to end up in the lake, I felt comfortable to take my life jacket off! ha!

 It was SOO Be-A-U-tiful!! I could have just sat in that canoe all day ..if we didn't keep floating over into the trees! :)

We canoed to a waterfall, pulled our canoe out of the water, tied it to a tree and did some hiking! It was SOO much fun!!

Of course Eric felt a little daring....

 I was actually a good 10 feet up in this picture... pretty DARING for me! IF I do say so myself!!!

 Eric decided he wanted to get a little close to these geese...well I thought I might need that life jacket after all, because the closer we got the more they started flapping there wings and I thought we might end up on "America's Funniest Home Video's"

We canoed back to camp and decided to "pitch a tent"

Eric was the chef for the weekend and started to heat up some water for our hot chocolate!

 Then we played a few games while we waited and soaked in our relaxing vaca

Phase 10 and hot chocolate... this is the life!

Of course I had to catch up on the world gossip!

That night we roasted smores and watched a movie we had rented on my computer!

We had the BEST time and are already planning our next camping trip!! WITH Ryder of course! He would have had a blast! Needless to say he had a blast with Momma-Honey and Pops too! My first real night away from him wasn't so bad! I was pretty busy though, you know, reading magazines and staying warm! :)

5 years...wow that's a long time!

Such a fun Day!

Yesterday we went to church which is so much fun because our Sunday School class is literally our group of friends. All of us get a long really well and more importantly our kids love each other! We went to San Jose for lunch and I think our kids might be getting old enough (almost) for a kids table??!! Wow I can't imagine the day we can just sit and enjoy a lunch...

 Then we decided to take Ryder to the fair and he had SO. MUCH. FUN!!! He rode several rides and played alot of games. We always love going to the fair to see the animals too, but this year I could tell he was getting older and fearless because he dind't really care for the animals he just wanted to ride the motorcycle, race cars, and fly the helicopter! It was such a fun afternoon!

Adoption Update and a Be-A-U-tiful DAY!

I have an extra little boy running around my house today and I just love him to peices ( my nephew Ethan). I took the boys outside after we had breakfast this morning around 8:45 and we JUST came inside at 1:00 for naps.. it is beyond nice outside and they played so well!

Nolan says "cheese" :)

I had to bribe them with food to smile for a picture but hey it worked! We had a super yummy grilled cheese, tomatoe soup, and banannas! They gobbled it up faster than I could give it to them and then ran around some more!

Fall and Christmas are at a tie for my favorite time of the year!

and in other news...

**Adoption Update**

We inquired about a sibling group from Colorado yesterday and are waiting to hear back from their caseworker. They are really really really cute so please pray about this with us!