Potpourri of posts aka catch up

So I'm really behind on my blogging. It's happened before and I bet will happen again. Some of it is from me just not getting it done. Other stuff just got skipped over so I could blog about something else. So here is a catch up from early September until last week. My words will be few & I'll let the pics do most of the talking. I love capturing our lives via pictures anyway, so here I go.

Labor Day weekend was Angel's 15th birthday. We went on an impromptu get away & had some great family time together.


PC: The mighty Mississippi. Some may argue that I was standing in the greatest state while I took this pic. I would argue that I was taking a picture of the greatest state ever. Either way, just like this picture, in my life & heart there is a bridge that connects those two great states.


Later that weekend we had our annual church picnic out at the church camp grounds. There were many people baptized and it quite a blessed event. I kept trying to capture that moment when the person was being brought back up & into their new self, but my timing was always off. Later as I looked at these pics though what came to mind though was reflections of Jesus, which is how I would describe my pastor in this picture.


Galesburg in known for it's annual Stearman Flyin. Since we live on the west end of town, which is the same area of the airport, we get a first hand view of the many planes that take off & do stunts/formations through out the week. I took a up close & personal trip with Carmen & Andrew to tour the airport.


We got very close to the airplanes, but couldn't actually touch any. Kids were still thrilled anyway. Our friend Lily also went along for the tour.




Since Angel's birthday is around Labor Day her birthday party is always pushed back a week or two. Her friend, Tori (on the right) has a birthday just a few days later, so they decided to celebrate together since they share a lot of the same friends.






I feel a little bad because Mandy's cross country deserves it's own post, yet I've put it off far too long. Cross Country has been over for weeks and I still didn't get it done. So here it is though. Mandy had a great year on the team. Her time fluctuated quite a bit, but when she buckled down & ran hard she would turn out times that were 3 - 3:30 minutes faster than her norm. We are very proud of her for her dedication & effort she puts into the sport.

Here she is in the middle:


At the start of a race, she is in the back right corner:


Finishing strong:


Spent plenty of time out at Lake Storey. Jim & John found these huge mushrooms while roaming through the woods. By time Jim did his research on this great fungus & realized they were good to eat, they had already gone bad. Awww, shucks.....(no real heartbreak from this blogger)


Homecoming was a few weeks ago. I did blog about that. Here are some pictures. Angel in the parade:


Angel went to the dance with some girlfriends. They are such a great group of friends & they had a great time!


My baby girl....sniff....sniff. Side note though, the dress she is wearing I bought & wore for Halloween last year when I was an 80's prom girl. It looks much better on her. The whole weekend cost her $20. And yet, she looks like a million dollars!!


I just love though, how they are still just kids at heart. In just a few short years they will be forced to be adults and......oh.....my.....I need to grab a tissue......


I did blog about John's football. Here are the final pictures of the last game.


My dad was able to drive over for this game. He never had a son to watch play football, so he does his best with his grandsons.