Happy Halloween!

Fall Fun

Today was one of those unbelievably warm and beautiful fall days. Knowing that the fall colors are starting to fade and that a long grey winter is ahead, we tried to take advantage by being outside as much as possible. After church Annika spent some time playing with the pumpkins she picked out with Nana Peckenpaugh. She loves carrying them all over the yard. We also made a trip to one of our favorite playgrounds for some afternoon fun. I wish weekends never had to end...

100 Years

This weekend I traveled back to Hope College for Homecoming and to celebrate our sorority's 100th anniversary. I had a wonderful night of friends, fun and memories.

Happy 100th Delta Phi

Toddler Trouble

While we were cooking dinner tonight, we realized Annika had been quiet for a few minutes and went around the corner to find this. Sprinkles EVERYWHERE. She stole them out of the pantry and helped herself. Every day is an adventure!

Annika 19mos

Long gone is our petite little baby. At Annika's appointment today she measured 35 inches (95th percentile) and weighed in at 28lbs (75th percentile). It's amazing how much she continues to learn, grow and develop. She gets more and more fun every day!

Recent Happenings

We have been very busy the last 2 weekends.

We traveled to Naperville to celebrate my grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary and to attend the Napeville Central class of 2000 ten year reunion. We had a wonderful time celebrating with family and catching up with old freinds
This past weekend we traveled to the west side of the state so that I could compete in my first 1/2 marathon. My time was 2:01...now I just need to break that 2 hour threshold! I finished off my active day by dancing the night away with dear friends to celebrate at a bachelorette party. Needless to say, I was struggling to stay on my feet by the end of the night!

Summer...come back!

Ok, I've been HORRIBLE about keeping up with the blog over the summer, but school is back in session for Branden and our schedules are back in full swing, so I thought I'd update you on how we've spent our last three months...

- Branden stayed home with Annika over the summer, arranging field trips, play dates, and trips to the park. He was a superstar dad!
- I was busy at work with a new position and spent a lot of time running, training for my first 1/2 marathon
- We enjoyed a visit with the Johnson clan before the 4th of July. Annika and her cousin Will had a blast getting to know each other
- We spent many weekends at Shorewood, introducing Annika to Lake Michigan and the beach
- Annika became obsessed with my parents' golf cart. "Golf Cart" is now her favorite phrase

Amongst all of the joy and fun, there was a lot of sadness as well.

- We said goodbye to 2 beloved family pets - The Johnson's dog, Lolly and the Peckenpaugh's dog, Mittens
- We traveled to Ohio to celebrate the Life of my grandmother, Mildred "Mickey" Wilson who passed away in July and is greatly missed. Watching both of our moms lose their moms in the past 6 months has been incredibly hard.

Though we are sad to see summer go, the thought of crunchy leaves, pumpkin spice, apple pie and football make us excited about autumn.

We love you and miss you Grandma.