Trunk or Treating

This past Sunday our church hosted their first ever Trunk or Treating event. People decorate the trunks of their cars and pass out treats from them. It was a lot of fine minus the extreme winds and chilly weather! Here are a couple of pictures of the girls treating through the parking lot! There were themes from Jonah and the Whale, to hippies, to the Garden of Eden to Hawkeye Galore! It was a great event and we can't wait to decorate our own trunk next year!

Our little Raggedy Ann and Egyptian Princess

We have had a Halloween party already and the girls got to wear their costumes to dance class today. They get to wear them to church family night tomorrow night where they will go to a nursing home visiting the residents and than of course trick or treating on Friday! We have gotten some good use out of them this year! Happy Halloween!

Face Painting?

Elizabeth got awfully quiet the other night as I was cleaning up dinner. I looked in her room and she was in front of her dresser mirror, talking to herself as she was "face painting" her face with black magic marker. Thank goodness it wasn't a Sharpie. Check out her work!

Pumpkin Carving, Fall Fun and Baby Tummy!

We have had fun going to the pumpkin patch, bobbing for apples, playing in the corn bin and carving our pumpkins. The girls didn't like the "goo" so much in the pumpkins, but it was fun nonetheless. And as you will see, we had to have four pumpkins on the table (we couldn't forget the babies!) My tummy continues to grow as you can see! YIKES! Things are going well though and that is a true blessing! Hope you all are enjoying these beautiful fall days!

My baby brother is getting married!

So, I am still very new at this blogging thing, but I think I like it!:) It is a lot of fun and I am realizing that I have a lot of friends out there who blog and it is a great way to keep up on there lives!:) Thanks for sharing those!

My baby brother Michael called on Sunday evening. He is in the Americorps for the second year and finishes in November. I hear from him periodically because his schedule and travels can be crazy. In fact, he was just moved to a disaster team in Austin, Texas. So, he was busy with that. But, he called nonetheless about 9:30p.m. on Sunday...yes, Matt and I had just crawled into bed, I do realize that is early for some...but, he was just asking how things were going and such and than said he thought he would call because he hadn't talked to me in awhile and oh yeah, to tell me he is engaged!:) You can only imagine my surprise!:) He is marrying Laura who he has met through the Americorps. She is from Virginia and is going to be going back to school to be a teacher after the Americorps is done. Michael will move out to Virginia as well. I am so happy for them and can't wait to meet my future sister-in-law!:) They are going to drive home to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, stopping over in Iowa on their way. I have asked him to send me a picture so that I can post it on the blog, but I guess he hasn't had a moment to do so. Once I get it I will post it!
They are thinking that they will get married next summer sometime. I can't wait!

One other random thought for the night...Gracie said a little prayer as we were praying before bed. It went like this, "Dear Jesus, thank you for everyone that I love and thank you for making sure that the babies are okay. And Lord, I just pray that you are enjoying your day in heaven. I love you Lord Jesus. Amen." It just made me smile and I had to share.

Good night.

A double blessing...

One last post for tonight...for those of you that may not have heard our wonderful news, we are having twins. I am due April 16th. Today is 13 weeks. We are so blessed and feel like this is a double blessing of course. God is so good and He is so faithful. There are often times in life that we want things to happen in our time, but God's timing is perfect. We need to put our trust and faith in Him. We found out our news on August 29th. Elizabeth and I were in the ultrasound and the ultrasound tech asked if Elizabeth knew what we were there for. I had told her that "yes, we talked about that we were going to see the baby in momma's tummy." The ultrasound tech proceeded to say, "is it alright if I tell her how many?" and flashed up the two little blessings that God had granted us. Matt was in clinic and unfortunately couldn't get out, but Elizabeth had a picture of the babies from the ultrasound and we went to see Matt in clinic afterwards. She went running to him with her picture saying "Daddy, daddy, momma has TWO babies in her tummy!" From than on out, it was no secret. We picked Gracie up from school and told her the news. She just kept saying over and over, "Are you sure? Are you serious? I just can't believe it! I am so happy!" So, we continue to patiently await their arrival. We are in the process of trying to sell our house and have an offer on a new one in Iowa City near the hospital. Again, this is a time that we just have to put faith in Him that He has a plan and He will work out the details. We are truly blessed and can't wait for our new family of SIX!:) People will often remind me that we are doubling our family...it is a little overwhelming when you put it that way!:) I will keep you posted on the progress, I PROMISE! I think I have this blogging thing figured out a little more now! Keep checking back!

Matt's Commissioning to the Air Force Reserves

Now again, I realize that I am WAY behind on this blogging bit, but Matt was commissioned into the Air Force Reserves on May 3rd of this year. We are very proud of him! And THANK YOU to all the men and women who are serving our country, protecting our freedom. May God bless each of you and your families and loved ones!

Our First Kernels Baseball Game

We had a beautiful summer afternoon when we joined others from church to go to our first Kernels game in Cedar Rapids. This was quite a blast and the girls especially enjoyed all the baseball diamond had to offer for treats...who can go wrong with pretzels, nachos and cheese and ice cream? They also enjoyed watching the mascot and dancing along with him. It was a lot of fun and we plan to do it more often during baseball seasons!

Many Wonderful Summer Days Up at the Cottage

We were able to enjoy some extraordinary summer days where we just lazed around and enjoyed the water and company of family up on Lake Avalon. Matt had a week off in September and so we travelled up north and were so blessed with the most gorgeous weather of the summer! You will see us having fun in the water and swinging on the porch. And of course, we had to add a picture of Papa Art and his girls.