Camping Trip for Hattie's Birthday

 During the third weekend of October we traveled to Springfield for our last camping trip of the summer. Hattie wanted to camp for her birthday this year and we decided to join them for 2 night at Double J campground. Shane and the boys had that Friday off of school due to conferences so I used one of my personal days and we spent the day getting ready and driving to the campground. We got there late afternoon on Friday and left on Sunday morning. We got to spend time at the playground, go putt putt golfing, ride bikes around the campground, go on a nature hunt, do face painting, play a variety of games in the game room, see Ryan and Barbara's new house, watch a movie outside, and we even ate at Cracker Barrel on the way home with the Staab family. It was our first time camping with other families besides our own. We had a total of 5 sites all together. We had so much fun and we are already talking about doing it again next year. 

Thanksgiving

 We had a fabulous Thanksgiving this year by enjoying a lunch at our house with Mamaw and Papa, Nannie, Uncle Dan, Grandma Jane, and Grandpa Ed. Shane made his famous turkey, Nannie made 2 kinds of stuffing and mac and cheese, Mamaw made mashed potatoes and Swedish Rye bread, and I did rolls, sweet corn, homemade applesauce, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin cake. We also had peach and apple pie. At 5:00 we went to David, Nancy, and Adam's house for more turkey and Swedish rye bread, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, and fruit. The kids enjoyed a scavenger hunt around the house and a fun spider web in the basement. It was a great time catching up with family! We were having so much fun that these are the only pictures I took! 

Cousins Take Over Galesburg

 On Sunday, November 21st, we took Jake and Jayla with us after church to shop for toys to donate to the toy drive at the Orpheum Theatre. We had some extra time before the movie started so we stopped at a really cool sign in downtown Galesburg to take some pictures. Then we got to see some real Toy Story characters and enjoy watching the movie on the big screen at the theatre. We ended the afternoon by having mini frosty's at Wendy's. 

Last Days of Summer, Our Anniversary, Labor Day Parade, Backyard Camping, and Random Silliness!

 We sure had a great summer spending all kinds of time together as well as swimming at the Johnson pool. The last day we spent at their pool this year was on Saturday, September 11th. We celebrated our 10th Anniversary with a family dinner at Applebee's. 

4-H Awards Night

 On Sunday, October 24th we attended the 4-H Awards Night at the Knox County Fairgrounds. Bryce got an award for being a first year member and he also got to go up to the stage to accept our club awards. They also had some fun activities for the kids to do like making and shooting off a rocket, making a coffee filter butterfly, and watching a real robot. We also enjoyed a yummy pulled pork dinner. 

Festival of Lights Parade

 We decided to do something new this year and attend the Festival of Lights parade in East Peoria on Saturday, November 20th. We have always done the drive thru display but this year we decided to do the parade instead. It was so much fun and we definitely think we will be doing it again. We parked at the East Peoria High School and walked across the street to find a nice spot to watch it on the side of a hill. We brought blankets and snacks and had a nice cozy time! The dragon was definitely our favorite and we even got to watch Batman stop the parade traffic to let an ambulance and firetruck through to get to an accident. After the parade, we headed to Washington for some yummy Monical's pizza!