Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a busy day for the two of us. We carved pumpkins, made Halloween treats, had the missionaries over for dinner, and went to a Halloween party! The only thing we missed were the trick-or-treaters. We didn't get a single dressed up sugar craving child at our door! Sad... but we had a fun night anyway.

Sorry the picture is blurry, but it is the only one of the two of us on Halloween.

I consider Luke a genius when it comes to pumpkin carving. His vomiting pumpkin (from last year) got more compliments and attention than any previous pumpkin had before at my parents house. This year he chose to make a creepy cannibal pumpkin (with little baby pumpkin being eaten for added creepiness). He carved them both in the time it took me carve my little goofy faced pumpkin. What can I say... my husband is a genius.

Here are the pumpkins lit up!

We had a very Happy Halloween! Now we're really looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas! Bring on the Holidays!

Happy Autumn!

I am a dangerous driver these days...

The reason....

Beautiful fall colors distract me. I wish these pictures I took did Autumn justice. I love the fall! It makes me want to eat pumpkin spiced everything and sip hot chocolate. Fall gives me the chance to turn on heaters (car, apartment, space, etc...) and decorate with gold, orange, and dark red! It is such a beautiful time of year! I hope everyone else is enjoying it too!

Happy Autumn Everyone!

25 on the 25th!

This weekend Luke and I celebrated my 25th birthday. Luke did a lot ot make my birthday really special. Because my birthday landed on a Sunday the celebrating started Saturday night when Luke took me out to dinner. We went to the Jim Gould resteraunt located in Champaigns' own little downtown area (it's about a block long). It's become our new favorite place. With live jazz music, flickering candlelight, and great food we can't wait to go back! On Sunday my sweet husband made a yummy dinner and I had my very first piece of ice cream cake!

It was so good I don't think I can ever go back to regular birthday cake! Then we watched my favorite movie.... Sleepless in Seattle.

I had an amazing birthday because of my wonderful husband! We are definitely MFEO.

Draft Day

Anyone who knows Luke very well knows about his love for fantasy basketball. For months Luke has been counting down the days to the start of the NBA season and the beginning of the fantasy basketball season. Luke scheduled his fantasy basketball leagues' draft for Wednesday and he was so excited I couldn't help but be excited!

Months of study and preparation went into the draft. With his hands free headset Luke was able to talk to his friends in the league (mostly academy buddies) while looking things up online.

It was fun to watch Luke have such a good time with the draft! It was funny to see him be so intense. The draft went well and Luke is excited to have a repeat of last season (total league dominance)!

Part III: Oh Men!

The last day Luke and I had our manly guests for a visit we drove to Indianapolis to see the Indianapolis Colts play the Seattle Seahawks. For most of us it was the first NFL game we had ever attended. We were all excited to see Peyton Manning (arguably the best quarterback EVER) play!

Here is a picture of all the men sporting their Colts gear!

Here we are outside of Lucas Oil Stadium!

The home of the Colts!

Me and my Dad at the game!

Luke, Steve, and Si at the game!

The Colts won the game 34-17. We had a great time at the game and we were thrilled that we got to go with our Dads and Si!

Part 2: Oh Men!

During our trip to Chicago, with both of our Dads and Si, we went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field! Being at Wrigley Field for things like the 7th inning stretch and the singing of the Cubs song ("Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago whadda say, the Cubs are going to win today!") at the end of the game was awesome! Of course it was fun to watch the Cubs beat the Arizona Diamond Backs!

Me and my Dad at the game!

Our Chicago style hotdogs at the ballpark. So good!

Luke, Steve and Si in front of the ivy!

We finished our day in Chicago with a slice of Chicago style pizza! Elder Travis Ferrel introduced us to the best place to find true Chicago style pizza. The pizza is as deep as a lasagna and oh... so cheesy! Awesome!

Chicago is such a fun city!

Part I: Oh Men!

Last weekend Luke and I were lucky enough to have the men in our family over for a visit (minus the family missionary, Travis). It was pretty much a boys weekend, but I tagged along. Luke had class on Friday so we took the Dads; Steve and Keith, up to the University of Illinois to show them around.

We even got to witness a demonstration.

On Saturday we headed up to Chicago!

Our first stop in Chicago was the Sears Tower. From the 103rd floor you can see all of Chicago.

After playing on the Skydeck for a while we all headed over to "the bean." Located in Millennium Park the Cloud Gate has quickly become one of Chicago's most recognizable attractions.


Our reflection in the bean.

We had a wonderful time with the men in our family! We can't wait for next time when Travis can join us!