Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!

I'm heading to a conference in Austin, Texas tomorrow- and because I'll be working through Saturday night, I took today off to balance my hours. And I invited Kristine, Elise and Rachel to come from Des Moines for some fall harvest fun at Vala's pumpkin patch. They arrived last night just in time for some corn chowder. Elise asked us if we had any toys, and we improvised. We remembered a box of kids' activities we had put together for our wedding, so we got that out and Uncle Matthew and I had fun taking turns playing with Elise, making jungle animals out of felt, coloring, and putting together puzzles.

And then today was the big day at the pumpkin patch. We originally went thinking we'd only stay for two hours, but there was so much to see and do, and the girls were having so much fun, that we ended up staying for five!! I really enjoyed having time to just get to know Kristine better. And of course it was great watching how excited the girls (especially Elise) were about everything- the animatronic pumpkin-eating dragon, the chance to feed live goats, the hayrack ride, the kettle corn, the train, the storybook farm, the pirate ship, etc.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love being an auntie!

Friday Night (for lack of a better title)

Over the past two years, Matthew has impressed/blessed me with some pretty special dates. Some of the most memorable include the time that he created our own Drive-In Movie in the lot behind Rodd and Melissa's house; all of our letterboxing excursions; our Valentine's date at Vivace and then Chicago at the Orpheum; dinners at Anthony's Steakhouse... and of course all of the nice, low-key dinners at his house or mine, walks in the neighborhood, explorations around Bellevue, movies, and countless episodes of How I Met Your Mother.

During our pre-marital talks with our pastor and his wife, we were counseled to never stop dating, and have commited to keeping a weekly date night the best that we can. I'm sure over the years it will take different forms, but right now it's typically Wednesday or Friday night. And it's been fun. Last Wednesday night, he packed a picnic and met me downtown. We had our little dinner on a bench at Heartland of America park. This October has been beautiful! After some walking, we headed over to the community theater and saw Footloose: The Musical, which was a lot of fun. I've really been missing theater lately. It makes me sad to think I haven't been in a play in 7 years. I hope that some day my life will veer back in that direction again, even if just for a brief season. But I digress...

Last Friday night, we decided to celebrate our two-year anniversary by camping out at Two Rivers, the place it all began. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Tom and Jenn (and Tommy!) and Matt and Michelle met us out there for a few hours, and it was great sitting around the campfire chatting with friends, chowing down on Matthew's gourmet camping food ("hobo dinners" of sausage, potatoes, peppers and onions; baked apples; s'mores), and enjoying the stars.

And though our alone time has been great, I've also really been enjoying our community lately. Our small group from church split recently, so now instead of being one of ten couples in the group, we're one of five. At first I was really sad about this, as I dearly love the couples in the other group, but it's also been really nice to be more intentional and go deeper with the four other couples in this "new" group. We're with Nick and Stacy Mackey, Tom and Jenn Potter, Joe and Liz Messer, and Matt and Michelle Glosser, who live (essentially) in our neighborhood. It's a great group, and I'm really excited to be building relationships with these women.

The End, for now (for lack of a better ending)....

Stacy, Me, Jenn, Michelle and Liz