quickie...

Just a quick note...because I'm running extremely late this morning. I'm in the process of uploading a lot of new pictures...so check it out. There are a couple from Tina & Randy's wedding (stupid camera wouldn't work for me) and there are a bunch from our trip to MN this past weekend. I will try to post more this week/weekend. Have a great Monday everyone!

Congratulations Tina & Randy...the wedding was beautiful!

Thanks again Andrew and Holly for the hospitality...we had a great time, and can't wait to see you guys again!

where has the time gone??

As I looked at Brianna the other day I thought to myself "where did my baby go?" She has been replaced with this sassy, adorable, push-me-to-my-limits little girl. I've seen a lot of people posting about this lately...but I swear I was thinking it first! :) As we approach her 2nd birthday, part of me misses the little baby who used to love to snuggle in my arms and used to rely on me for everything, but as I look at my little girl, I can't help but fall deeper in love every day with the girl she is becoming. She is independent, stubborn (she gets that from her Daddy! ;), funny, clumsy (from her dad also!) and adorable...believe me I could go on and on. Some days she makes me want to run screaming for the hills, but in the next moment she is making me laugh until I cry. I see her and watch her everyday but yet it didn't hit me until the other day that she is growing up in those moments where I wasn't looking. She amazes (and frightens) me everyday with the things she does, and the things she tries to do...really when did all of this happen? I probably don't say this enough...but being a mom is truly such a wonderful thing, there is no greater joy and sadness than realizing your baby has turn from this:




Into this:



Hope you all had a wonderful 4th! We are off to Milwaukee today to spend an extended weekend with the Goodness's, and then next weekend we're off to Iowa for Tina and Randy's wedding, and the following weekend we are off to Minnesota to spend a long weekend with the Isaacson's. So the posts may be few and far between, but hopefully there will be lots of new pictures to share...so stay tuned! Lots of love to all of you! Have a great weekend!! :)

photos

Well our photos have a new home, all 3174 of them! Actually there are more now...I've just uploaded some more into the June 2007 album. Sorry this is short...it was another action packed weekend and I'm ridiculously tired. I'll be back sometime soon though, we've got a weekend home this weekend! Have a great weekend everyone!!

relay for life...

If you know me...you know I hate asking for anything, but a couple times a year I make an exception to that. There are two causes that are near and dear to my heart.

One, is the March of Dimes, in which I point you to Dale and Suzanne's blog (which most of you read anyway!) because they are much more versed and eloquent in speaking of this organization, if you're new to their blog...browse through their archives and you will see just how important your support of the March of Dimes is.

The other is the American Cancer Society, and specifically the Relay for Life. This is my 3rd year participating (although I don't know if you can count the first year because I wasn't really there...having just had my baby girl!)...anyway...not the point. For the last 3 years my family has participated in the Dyersville Area Relay for Life. As most of you know my grandpa passed away from his brief battle with lung cancer 2 years ago. For most of us, cancer has touch our lives in one way or another, and if it hasn't touched your life on a deeply personal level...you are lucky, and I'm asking you to donate to this wonderful cause so that maybe you can live your whole life never having been affected on a personal level. Don't wait until you've lost someone you love to this disease to wake up and start doing something about it, what, I'm ashamed to say, is what it took for me.

I'm asking you all to look inside your hearts and donate or come walk with us on August 3rd, or both. My personal page where you can donate is linked here, but honestly...donate anywhere you want, the important thing is to get money for research...we're all in it for the same reasons.

My love to you all, and thank you to all who choose to donate!

*I'm also creating a link on the sidebar for when you can't see this post anymore*

busy weekend

Hi all! Its been a busy weekend here at the Carroll house. We took off Wednesday night after work for Iowa where we dropped Brianna off at my mom and dad's house. On Thursday morning we headed to Galesburg where Bob was playing in the Harley Knosher Golf Outing.

That's Harley in the picture here with Bob.

He played a practice round on Thursday and while he was doing that, I visited with the Business Office ladies and then worked out in Knox's new fitness center (which is fabulous!). After that Holly and I went to get some much deserved pampering in the form of pedicures. After the boys finished their practice round we had dinner and headed out to enjoy some good company and beer!

We had a great time hanging out with everyone. Friday was the actual tournament so we spent all day on the golf course which was also fun. The team Bob was on (Andrew Isaacson, Jeff Ancelet, John Hawkinson, and Bob) won the low gross score (55), so all in all it was a good day.

On the way back to my parent's we stopped by to visit Alli and Steve and had dinner with Alli, which of course is always a treat! :o)

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing with the family for the most part. Braden, Brianna, and Kelsey got to go swimming and had a blast playing with each other, even if they did get a little cranky towards the end.

It was a fun-filled weekend for us...never a dull moment. Although I think we'll be paying for the action packed weekend for a while with Brianna, because she is definitely out of her routine. Hope you all have a great week! I have a bunch of new pictures, but since Yahoo! photos is shutting down my pictures are not being moved over to Shutterfly, so I won't upload any new ones until I see how this goes. Hopefully I don't lose everything! Keep your fingers crossed!
Our love to all!

aloha...

I guess summer is officially here! We filled up Brianna's pool today and she went "swimming" for the first time. She had a blast. She spent yesterday and part of today at Grandpa & Grandma Carroll's so Bob and I went shopping today to get her some new summer clothes and a new swimsuit. (Bob picked this out) but we thought it was too adorable to not get it. She did not want to get out of the pool, but she was alittle prune by the time we pried her out of there. After she came in and got dressed she still wanted to wear the grass skirt so we put it on over her shorts. Anyway there are a bunch of pictures up of her in her pool. Hope you enjoy! Have a great week everyone! :)

new pictures

There are a few new pictures of Brianna up from Monday at Bob and Nancy's.
Sorry this is short, but I guess I should go get ready for work now! Have a great day everyone!!

it takes more than scarlet fever to slow her down...

Well...its been an interesting week around our house. I got a call on Thursday from Brianna's daycare that she had a fever and they needed me to come get her. At the time they also let me know that one of her little classmates had exposed her to scarlet fever (strep with a rash basically...it sounds much worse than it is). The mom of the other child called as soon as they knew, but obviously all the other kids had been exposed already. The joys of having a kid in daycare :) Anyway, I picked her up and you could tell she didn't feel good, she was pretty mopey and took a nap when we got home. After her Tylenol kicked in she was eating and running around like a crazy person. So we hoped that it was just a fluke that she had a fever. I didn't take her to the doctor right away because she only had a low grade fever and had absolutely no other symptoms. Anyway, when we went to be we checked on her and she was pretty warm so we tried to give her another dose of Tylenol. Well...thats when it hit the fan. She got sick and continued to get sick on and off for the next hour or so. We got very little sleep Thursday night and made a doctor appointment for her for right away Friday morning. By the time we were dressing her for the doctor on Friday the rash had appeared. We got to the doctor's office and he took a quick look at her throat and immediately said that she had strep and a pretty bad case by the looks of it. So scarlet fever it is. She didn't eat much all day Friday, but by today she was practically back to normal. So, we played outside for a little while this afternoon, so she is feeling much better now. Tomorrow we have to spend the day sterilizing all of her toys, blankets, etc...anything she puts in her mouth, so that we can get rid of it. Now as long as Bob and I don't get it...everything should be great! :)

Hope you are all doing well, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Our love to all!

*a few new pictures of us playing outside today in the latest photos*

happy mother's day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and moms-to-be out there! :)
I hope each of you has a very special day today!
Lots of love to our moms and grandmas!! :)

Brianna's feet are much cuter than mine, but I had to show you all what we did yesterday! :)
Oh...and new pictures up finally!

Congrats to Dan & Amanda Felton on the birth of their baby boy, Evan and Beth & Peter Cunico on the birth of their baby boy, Caleb! We can't wait to meet these two little boys!

quickie...

New Easter pictures...you know what to do...click the link! :)

weekend fun...

There are new pictures up...one's I actually took myself. :) We had a good weekend at home, although in all honesty we didn't do much. We went for a walk yesterday, I did some work, we napped, Bob watched basketball...like I said, nothing too exciting. Today we went to church then to get groceries and to get Brianna a new carseat, we had one in Bob's car that someone had given us...but it was no longer working out. We also bought Brianna her Easter dress, which I think is absolutely adorable!! (The pictures of her in it are not very good 'cause she wouldn't hold still).

There are quite a few pictures of the mess Brianna made of herself eating her first cupcake since we found out she's no longer allergic to dairy. She still can't have eggs for a few more months...but I had heard about using a box cake mix and mixing it with a diet pop (instead of the eggs, oil, etc) so I tried it out and they are really good...and Brianna can eat them...and 1/2 the calories! Everyone wins! As you can tell by the pictures she completely enjoyed it!

We spent the last couple hours outside today playing....other than that nothing exciting. Well I guess I should go and pay some bills and then do some more work. Hope everyone had a great weekend! Have a good week! Lots of love!

*Blogger is being a pain and won't let me upload pictures to the post, so click on the link to see them*

more brianna pictures

She's right....everyone does love a brown eyed girl! :)
Thanks for the pictures, Mom!

new brianna pictures

I've added some new brianna pictures. (Thanks Nancy!)

Check them out!

happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday Mom!
We Love You, Have a Great Day!!

weekend o'fun...

We had some visitors this weekend! Alli and Steve came up Friday night and we went to the Cubby Bear North to see Minus Six play. Ben and Amanda met us at the bar. We had such a great time and it was so much fun to see our friends, and the band was amazing as always! :) We decided to go all out and make it a real night on the town (Bob and Nancy watched Brianna, thanks again!)
So we arrived at the bar in style.

We then enjoyed some great music

A few drinks :) and some great company

We made it home finally sometime after 3am and I think I finally made it to bed sometime around 5:30. It was a great time (however I am reminded that I'm not in college anymore and its hard to stay up that late!) Well, I won't bore you with the rest of the details from the night, but there are some additional pictures so check out the latest pictures. I know I promised you new pictures of Brianna, but I don't have any quite yet. I know Nancy took a bunch over the weekend, so when I get some of those I'll post them. I'll try to post again soon! Lots of love to all!

Thanks again Alli & Steve for visiting, it was so great to see you guys, love you much! :)

short and sweet

Hi All!
Just a quick note to let you know we're still alive, we've just been really busy lately (you understand...tax season and all)! I've tried to get Bob to post during tax season, but so far, no luck! :) Anyway, not much new and exciting going on around here. Brianna is growing so fast and is adding some words to her vocabulary, bubble, hat, brr, etc, unfortunately none of them are "please and thanks" (we really need to work on that). She seems to have, in the last month or so, decided she is too old to take naps at daycare. Everyday when we pick her up we hear..."no nap today". At least she has stopped waking the other kids up (I think). She runs around like crazy person most of the day, and always has some new bruises from bumping into things cause she doesn't pay attention to what she is doing...I think she gets that from her daddy! ;) Other than that, we've just been busy with work and day-to-day life. Unfortunately I don't have any new pictures. But I'll try to post some soon. We have visitors coming next weekend (yay!!) and I'm sure there will be some pictures from that, Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy are watching Brianna on Friday night while we go out with some friends, but I promise to take some new pictures of Brianna soon. Anyway, I guess I should get back to this work I brought home. Hope everyone had a great weekend and have a great upcoming week!
Lots of Love to you all!

happy valentine's day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Lots of love from us to you! :)

i miss my buddy...

New pictures (finally) up! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Have a great week!

a new look...

So, I've decided that its time for a new look here at "And Baby Makes 3" and a change in the title was in order as well. Since Brianna is no longer technically a baby, I decided that this may be a more appropriate title! :) And as far as the complete change in colors, layout, etc...well I was just bored with that and it seemed a little too young for us now! So, I hope you like the new colors and look, it didn't turn out exactly how I had planned, but I guess it'll do for now!

In other news....we took Brianna back to the allergist on Monday to have her retested for her dairy allergy, before they did the test the doctor told us that most kids don't outgrow it that quickly (its been 6 months), but that he has seen it happen. So they did the test and I guess she is one of the lucky ones because her test came back definitely negative! We have to take her back on Thursday to have her drink milk in the office and see if she reacts, but if she doesn't we're good to go! We still have to follow the egg and nut guidelines he gave us, but that (hopefully) won't be so bad! She also had her 18 month checkup on Thursday and she is 24 pounds and 31 1/2 inches. Right at the 50th percentile mark. So, she is doing fine. Other than that I guess there isn't too much else to report.

Hope you all have a good weekend!
Lots of love!

Let me know what you think of the new setup, either in the comments or the guestbook, I'm anxiously awaiting some feedback. :)

we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

Hi All!

Yes we are still around. I told you the posts would be few and far between! Send all your complaints to Bob, because I told him he needed to make posts in my absence! :) Anyway, just wanted to touch base and tell you that we're all fine, nothing really new and exciting to report. Brianna spent the weekend at Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy's house and they took this adorable picture of her that I just must share.

Hope everyone is doing well and that 2007 has been a good year so far!

We now return you to your day, already in progress...

PS. Grandpa K~ we love you and miss you everyday!

happy 2007

Hello All!
Just a quick note tonight. We hope you all had a wonderful New Years, we spent the weekend in Iowa celebrating Christmas/New Years with my family. Brianna and Braden had a great time playing together and we had a good time watching them and relaxing.

It was great to be back in Iowa for a few days, since we probably won't get there again for a while. We headed back today and stopped in Galesburg along the way.

We saw the Business Office ladies for a while and then had lunch with CJ (former golf teammate of Bob's and current men's and women's golf coach at Knox).
Then headed back home and got everything unpacked and put away and we're trying to get ready to go back to work tomorrow. :o(

We wish you all a happy and healthy 2007!
(there are lots of new pictures...check them out!)

quickie...

Hi All...
Just a quick post tonight, hope you all had a great Christmas, we had a lot of fun and it continues into this weekend...we're traveling to Iowa tomorrow night and staying until Tuesday. We'll celebrate Christmas with my family and get to spend a little time with some family and friends. Tuesday we're taking a detour though Galesburg to spend a little time with our "Knox family" and then we'll head back home to get ready for another week. Whew....and just a warning, things are getting busy at work and once tax season hits full on, the posts may be pretty scarce, unless I can talk Bob into taking over the blogging duties! :o) Anyway, there are some new pictures in the December album (mostly of Brianna opening her presents). Enjoy, hopefully I'll have more after this weekend. Have a safe and happy New Year! Here's to a wonderful 2007!

merry christmas...

With lots of love,
From our family to yours!
We wish you a fantastic 2007!

fun weekend...

Hello again all!
I hope you're all enjoying this abnormally warm holiday season! :)We spent this past weekend in Wentzville visiting Angie, Nick, & Braden. We (Angie & I) decided to make Christmas cookies together. So Bob, Brianna, & I took off Friday after work and headed down there.
We made cookies on Saturday while the kids played together and Bob and Nick (well, I'm not sure what they did ;) I guess the only other exciting thing is my fabulous new low-maintence haircut! Other than that, not too much to report. Check out the new pictures in the December album!

it all started with a little duct tape...

Today is a day that is very special to me, December 15th is a day that changed my life forever...let me take you back....

Well, it was Christmas time and I was traveling to spend a few days with my boyfriend (You all know Bob. Internet say hello to Bob!) and his family to celebrate an early Christmas. So I packed my car up with the loads of presents and started on my journey. I arrived in Crystal Lake on Friday afternoon, excited to see Bob, because it had been a month since I'd last seen him. We hung out Friday night, talking and relaxing.

Rise and shine...its Saturday morning, and we all head out to watch Brian's basketball tournament. We had a great time at the tournament, I met some more of Bob's friends and talked to some friends of his parents, and of course watched basketball! :o) We arrived back at the Carroll's house where, like any good visitor would, I took a nap. Actually I think Bob and I started watching TV or a movie or something and after I fell asleep he got up. Mary was coming over that evening and we were going to have the traditional opening of the presents.

Fast forward until evening ('cause really I was sleeping...I have no idea what was going on). Mary came over and we were sitting around the tree, opening presents, talking and laughing, you know...general holiday merriment. So Bob hands me my present, a huge box and I quietly wonder to myself what this could possibly be? So I tear off the wrapping and inside, I find....another box. Haha...funny funny, I tear open that box and I find....another box...OK really? Are we 12?? So I open that box and find yes, you guessed it, another box. (I'm getting a little frustrated here) so I tear the wrapping off of that box and underneath I find....duct tape. And I'm talking several thousand layers of duct tape, he seriously might have deprived a small country of their duct tape rations for an entire year on this thing. He is laughing uncontrollably as I tear the layers off one by one. I think they did finally have pity on me and let me cut through some layers! So...finally...we're inside the box. I dig to the bottom of the box and find....a note. OK...so I open the note and read "Your present needed to be cleaned. Look in the dishwasher." You can all see where this is going, can't you? Inside the dishwasher was yes...another note! "Your present is clean, but now it needs to be dried. Look in the dryer." Imagine my surprise when in the dryer was...another note (you're shocked aren't you?) "Your present needs to cool off. Look on the porch." So out to the porch I go. Did I mention that during this whole thing 5 people are following me around the house...yeah..I didn't feel like a dork or anything :o). Anyway, out to the porch, I start looking around and then I believe Bob tells me to maybe look under the pillows (there are of course 1 million pillows on the porch). So pillows start flying and of course under the very last pillow is....you got it...a note! (Boy you guys catch on quick). "Your present has been with me the whole time. Look in my pocket." I really wanted to punch him at this point, sending me on this wild goose chase while all the while he's holding onto my gift. Of course silly me...in his pocket was....A NOTE!! "I promise this is the last one, your present is up in my room. Don't turn on the light, you will see it when you enter my room." So we head upstairs, me and the gang :o) As I step in his room...I see a light in a tiny box shining on the bed holding the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. It was perfect. As I turned around, Bob was on one knee asking me to be his wife.

And I know what you're all thinking "after all that, you had to know thats what your present was going to be" But honestly I didn't, it took me by complete surprise, it was the most amazing proposal and it all happened 5 years ago today. December 15th is the day that set all my dreams into motion, it is a day that still brings me to tears and makes me smile. It is a day that replays in my head each time I look down at my ring. It is a day that makes my heart happy, it was a day that ended a chapter in my life but that began another.

Actually now that I think about it, the way Bob proposed is actually quite fitting for our life together. We started out with some big dreams and plans, and as we've opened boxes and found some notes, and fought our way through the endless layers of duct tape, our dreams and plans have changed and led us in directions different than what we imagined, some good, some bad, but through it all we never let the duct tape get in the way of getting to the good stuff.

Make video montages at onetruemedia.com

Bob,

I could not possibly put all of our memories in this short little video, but I hope this makes you see how each and every day I'm living my dreams because of you. I know December 15th, 2001 is not the beginning of our story, but its the day I began believing my dreams could come true. Thank you for always standing beside me, encouraging me, and loving me, even through all the duct tape :o). You have changed my life in so many profound ways, no words could possibly describe (funny how I've used 12,000 to try) so I will leave you with this...

Here's to unwrapping our future, through all the paper, boxes, and even the duct tape, may we discover all the wonderful and exciting things life has in store for us and continue to dream....together.

I love you!

its about time...

I know thats what you're all thinking, but hey...give me a break...I've got a life too (sort of!). Things are busy here, but nothing exciting to speak of. We were back in IA for Thanksgiving. We celebrated Braden's 1st birthday, can't believe he is one already. Thanksgiving Day and the day after Thanksgiving were actually quite hectic, but they were a lot of fun as well. The Saturday after Thanksgiving I went shopping with my mom, grandma, and Aunt Cathy. We left mom and dad's at 7am and did not return there until 1am Sunday morning. Yes, you read that right, it was a long day, but we had a lot of fun and I got almost all of my Christmas shopping done in ONE day! So, nothing exciting around here besides trying to get ready for Christmas, working and trying to get ready for tax season :o(, and trying to keep Brianna from cracking her head open (she is at the present time sitting in her baby bouncy chair backwards bouncing up and down) Geesh...she is going to make all of my hair fall out and/or turn grey! She has become quite the stubborn little girl and doesn't like to be told "no" at all. But she also makes us laugh and smile more than she makes us frustrated (most days!) It was fun watching her and Braden together over Thanksgiving, they seem to really like each other and actually shared very well. Other than that, not too much else happening. I know I didn't post my sappy sentimental Thanksgiving post, but we really do have a lot to be thankful for. I'll leave it at that. :o) I'll try to post more in the near future, but everyone enjoy your holiday season!
Love to you all

cutie pie...

Just had to share Brianna's very first "school" picture with you! Isn't she adorable? And no her hair is really not that red in real life, I'm not sure why it looks so red here, but regardless, she's a cutie pie...now if she could just remember how to sleep through the night...we'd be set! Our love to all!

short & sweet, 'cause i'm sick

Some new pictures in the November album.

I guess she really is a girly-girl. We were cleaning out closets this past weekend and she picked up my purse and put it on her arm and started carrying it around and then started blowing kisses. It was so adorable. Its funny, cause I very rarelycarry a purse (I just like to buy them), must be instinct! :)

Here is our new family picture. Thanks to our buddy Vince who gave us a coupon for a free 16x20 picture, this picture will be hanging (in giant size) on our huge, empty living room wall! Thanks Vince!!

OK, I really must lie down now. Love to all!

home again, home again....

So...here we are...another week underway. We spent the weekend in Eagle River, WI at Garth and Beth's place. They have a beautiful home and we had a great time hanging out with them. Brianna had a fabulous time as well. I think she has made a lifelong friend in Bailey. Although I'm sure Bailey was very glad to be rid of Brianna by the end of the weekend. :) Today, both Bob and I took the day off of work, so we took Brianna to daycare, ran a bunch of errands, and then took Brianna to her 15 month checkup. She is a little over 23 lbs and 30 inches long...she is in the 50th percentile for height, weight, & head size. She got 3 shots (including a flu shot) and had her hemoglobin tested again and her iron is fine!! We have to go back to the allergist in February, so hopefully that will all go well too. Other than that I guess there aren't too many changes going on here other than we converted Brianna's crib to a daybed. Although she doesn't really like that yet, so we put her mattress on the floor and she seemed to sleep well last night, we're hoping bedtime becomes not so much of a fight all the time. Anyway, I guess I should get going...I started this post last night and am now just finishing it this morning! Everyone have a great week!

Thanks again Garth, Beth, & Bailey...it was great to see you!

happy halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!!
All Our Love,
Bob, Amber, & Brianna

goodbye old friend...you'll be missed

Before you get worried....the old friend we're saying goodbye to is Brianna's trusty pacifier (or pacifiers :) This will be the last pictures of her with it in her mouth, because as of Friday night, we have banished them. (Well, I take that back, we have them still but the only one she is allowed to have is the one with the tip cut off, which she HATES!) I pretty much feel like the meanest mommy in the world, and have come very close to caving (like at 3 am this morning, when she was crying and wouldn't go back to sleep) but for the most part, its been OK. The worst part is when/if she wakes up in the middle of the night and its not there, she gets very anxious. We know its not going to get any easier, so we just decided to do it, and hopefully she'll adjust pretty quickly. (Please cross your fingers that that actually happens!).

In other Brianna news ('cause lets be honest...thats what you're all here for)....she is walking! Finally! She is so cute, she still doesn't trust her legs much, but she is getting the hang of it. I may try to post some video shortly so that you can see her walking debut! I have never done that before, so we'll see how that goes.


Lets see...what else...we're still here, chugging along with work, me with my class, trying to keep our house relatively put together (haha...that is funny...you'd be laughing too if you could actually see our house right now!) There are a few more pictures in the October album, so check them out. Other than that, I guess there isn't much new going on here...I hope you all have a Happy and Safe Halloween! I'll try to post a couple pictures of Brianna in her costume for your enjoyment! Our love to you all..have a great week!

quick update

(this is the picture we had taken for the church directory)
Hi all...not much new around here, we were gone all weekend to the Quad Cities and Brianna stayed with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy.

We had a great time this weekend, and it was great to see Alli and Steve and we met some great people,

we had a blast...thanks guys! Anyway there are some new pictures up, some that Grandma Nancy took over the weekend of Brianna and some from our weekend in the Quad Cities,

there are also a couple from last weekend when we made a quick trip to Galesburg. Other than that, I guess there isn't too much to report. Have a great week everyone! Lots of love to you all!

sorry...we've been hiding..

OK, we haven't really been hiding...but we haven't been home much either. Lets see, since we last left you here is what has happened...
Mom, Dad, Pat, Sandie, Jean, Vic, Angie, Nick, and Braden came to visit. All of us (including Amanda) took a trip downtown to various museums. Some of us went to see the King Tut exhibit that was at the Field Museum, while others went to the Museum of Science and Industry. I think everyone had a good time. The weekend following that we made the trip to Iowa to celebrate Grandma Felton's 80th birthday with a surprise party. It was a lot of fun and there were tons of people there (including a lot of babies!!) I'll have to see if someone has a picture of all the grandkids & great-grandkids with grandma that I can post here at another time. Anyway, a good time was had by all. :) Lets see...that brings us to last weekend (or just a couple of days ago) where we actually spent the weekend at home. Nothing exciting there. Other than that we've been busy with work and classes (me) and trying to keep the house running smoothly (or as smoothly as possible). We're back on the road this coming weekend, we have 2 weddings in Iowa, one on Friday night and one on Saturday, and then next weekend we're traveling to Moline to visit Alli & Steve. So, as you can see not too much exciting going on here. I can't believe its October already, the year has gone so fast! I will try to do better on the posting (I know I say that every time....) I hope you are all well and I hope we get to see lots of you in the coming weeks. I'll keep you posted if anything exciting ever happens to us! :) Our love to you all!