happy happy

Another day, another birthday!
Today happens to be my Dad's birthday. Not only that but his 60th birthday.

A milestone birthday hanging out with the family and his granddaughter.

Happy Birthday Dad!

happy birthday

It's my Mom's birthday today.

So by her request the family took a drive to a local park in the woods.

There we saw the statues of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox.

I probably did not need to specify that they were statues!

Then after dinner we ate cake and opened presents.

Happy Birthday Mom!

no question

Abigail loves this dog...


There is no question about it...
She could sit and pat him all day...

And he can sit all day and let her.

sisters

This week the girls in the family have definitely out numbered the men. My sisters were able to take off from work and are here visiting all week. Today we went out to lunch at an old cafe that I spent a lot of time in collage at. Yum.

Auntie Kelly and Auntie Kate

family ties

We had a great day of visiting with my Uncles and Aunts from Chicago. They are my Dad's twin sisters. It had been a while since I have seen them and this was their first time meeting Abigail. They are all really nice and was fun talking and hanging out.

warm sweaters

I like fall because we get to wear large sweatshirts and warm sweaters.

I like fall because it has just enough wind to air dry my blue jeans in 40 degree weather.

I like fall because when it snows in October we know it will melt in a day.

I like fall because we can have snow covered pumpkins and beautiful fall colors all in one.

yep....it is snowing again today.

apples, apples everywhere

Part of the picking pumpkins came picking apples. It was on a large farm that had a corn maze, an apple sling shot and tracker rides.

Abigail was in heaven being able to hold her very own apple.


What she didn't know was that it came off the ground and had a little hole in it from a worm...


Here was an attempt to get a picture of Abigail with her Grandparents.



Then we took a look at the corn maze and Abigail was all about trying it out.


However we decided just to look and feel the corn instead.



My sister Kate was able to come visit us for the weekend and came along for the fun.Finally I would say that this was the best picture we got of Abigail with her Grandparents.

apples, apples, apples...

pumpkin patch

Since we are truly experiencing fall this year I thought it would be fun to go to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and the smell of clean, cold air was all around us. It was really beautiful. We had a lot of opportunity for photos. I will post more later of us at the apple orchard (It was all in one).

the eyes behind the lens

Not often do I get a picture taken with Abigail. I mostly take the pictures which I think is a pretty typical Mom. So being around my Mom, who takes a lot of pictures, I have been in a few with Abigail. I like seeing us together because we are together so much.

little town

In the town my parents live there is a wonderful children's museum. Grandma Carol, Abigail and I decided to check it out and we spend a good part of the morning there. It was set up as a little town that the kids could go run around, interact with, and be "big" people. Abigail just loved it. She played, watched other kids and was interested in all the little things she could get her hands on.

Abigail at the diner, answering take-out calls, preparing food and washing dishes!

Where's the water?

The next part was the human body. This tongue is a slide!

Another slide which was a value coming from the heart.

Grandma Carol and Abigail.

Her first driving lesson...

One of the best parts was the basement which had a large room with water activities. (Krista, your boys would LOVE this.) Actually all of the kids would love it. There is something about water that is so attractive to kids.

We had fun and finish it off with lots of hand sanitizer!

a/c or heat

We have a temporary living space right now. It's been a little adjustment but we are doing well with it. Abigail has been a trooper and now is feeling more comfortable in her new surroundings, crib, and weather.
It is crazy that in about 5 hours time we can go from having the air on to having the heat on.


We ventured out all bundled up. It is cold here. Cold. It makes me sad for home, especially seeing friends wearing their shorts and sandals. Especially since we woke up this morning to snow falling. Very pretty but snow. And it snowed the majority of the day.

It snowed today....

The zipper on her jacket gave her much entertainment while we drove around town the day before it snowed.

Did I tell you that it snowed today? Abigail absolutely loved it!!!

great dinner, but...

Two posts in one day!

We are going to be busy and I wanted to posts these photos. They aren't the greatest photos I have taken but they are memorable to me.

We went out to Oregano's pizza tonight. It was a gorgeous evening outside. Between having garlic bread, Mexican salad, pizza and dessert there was a lot of food for a great price. But you can't put a price on hanging out with great friends, sitting outside, feeding babies, laughing and well having a great time.

It really couldn't have been more perfect except when we had to say goodbye.

Moving is hard. And I will totally miss you guys. And that is all I am going to say!

The girls with their Dad's

The girls with their Mom's

in style

I decided that it was time that Abigail had her bangs trimmed up. There was a section that was long enough for them to lay over her eyes. As much as I love to pull them over to the side in a bow, styling hair on a 14 month old isn't always possible. I can still pull them over but now they won't bother her eyes!

Here is another picture. Jake cut the bangs and I think he did a great job.