October Road Trips

October was filled with road trips. We left our dining room in shambles to spend a weekend in West Virginia with my grandparents (the girls' Nana and Papaw). We also drove out to Chicago for Luke's best friend's wedding. He joined the Navy and went out to Chicago in July, so that is the first we had seen him since then. The girls do very well in the car, and although they were both short trips, we had loads of fun. The girls actually stayed in West Virginia a week before we went down to visit, so we only had Avery while we worked on the house. It just happened to coincide with my grandma's side of the family getting together at the family cabin in WV, so there was a lot of family members that I hadn't seen for a long while that were there. I hope we get to do that more often!


The bridge to West Virginia on 77 in Marietta


Athena sniffing out the back window. She had a comfy ride down since we didn't have Lexi or Lilly in the car.


Avery ready for a walk. It was her first trip to Nana and Papaw's.


We started fishing in the creek to catch minnows and crawdads


Nana brought out the nets


Papaw had a nap on the porch


Avery decided to nap as well:)


We could take pictures all day of butterflies on their flowers


We visited Hunter's house to play on the trampoline


Avery eating a pea


Lilly and Lexi helping in the kitchen


Papaw showing the girls how to mix a drink up at the cabin..LOL


Avery and Mo


Papaw in his natural state


Papaw doing what he does best


Great Aunt Shirley with the girls and I


Lexi and Lilly munching at the cabin


The old Lawson house up on Spruce


A short walk and Avery was out!


So Lexi walked Mo instead


Party at the cabin


The Schartiger Clan


On our way to Chicago!!!


The girls being silly in the backseat


Avery sleeping in her carseat


The odd and awesome things we see on the highway


Pit Stop


The scary hand dryer


Half-way through Indiana, right outside Notre Dame


I seem to always take pictures of water towers


The highway going by Chicago O'Hare is a great opportunity to see an airplane!


Traffic going the other direction was INSANE!! I don't know how city people commute like that.


The girls in front of Lake Michigan where we took Sean and Rachel for wedding pictures


Sean's brother taking a picture.


A tunnel


My powershot battery died on the way home, and Luke's camera was in the trunk, so I took Chicago shots from the highway on my cell phone...


Chicago from the car


More sights to see


and of course, a choo choo!!

Welcome to September....

We had lots going in September. An EF2 tornado blew through the OARDC on our 5 year anniversary on September 16th. We had a family reunion on Luke's mother's side of the family, and we also had a pipe that went to Chris' shower upstairs blow out, causing us to rip out half the dining room ceiling and replace all the supply copper to his bathroom and kitchen. Oh what fun...


The road was blocked the day after, we couldn't get near the OARDC.


Damage in front of the OARDC with cleanup crews.


They had several greenhouses get completely totaled!


Tree damage along a road.


Trees seen from the highway that were part of the OARDC's arboretum.


Avery and I at the Caldwell/Oswald family reunion


Aunt Angie singing with the band.


The entire clan that gathered for the day!


Luke getting into the ceiling demo.


Cutting away at some old pipes...

A Quick Update

We've had lots going on. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Avery's birthday party, and some weddings. I still need to get pictures up from our Chicago trip. Things have just been hectic. On top of that, I started back to work part-time at the end of October, so that leaves even less time for Luke and I to sit down and get pictures bloggged, and he has 2 weddings to edit as well. To see the sneak peeks of the weddings, they are on Willow's Pond Photography's Facebook page here: WPP Facebook

Hopefully we can catch up soon, just letting everyone know we are still here :)

A Baby, Some Play Time, and a Boat Ride

We had some exciting times in August. Our good friends Keith and Angel had their second boy, baby Braylen, we caught up with some old friends at Jake's, and played at the park, and we went boating twice with Luke's parents. The second time we ate at Famous Dave's at Cedar Point. The girls LOVED seeing the roller coasters. I can't wait until they are tall enough to ride them. Luke and I have been together for a little over 8 years, and we haven't made it there to ride the rides at all. One day we'll get there.


Baby Braylen


Avery playing in a container at the hospital


Big brother Kaden giving Braylen a kiss with me and their grandma


Playing at the park with friends


Avery's first big swing ride


The girls with Papa Cowgar on the boat, with Bernie in the way!


Cedar Point


Do you see the look of fear on their faces? ;)


Pirate ships


The local wildlife on Lake Erie


Avery in her life jacket. Her first boat ride


Luke with Lexi and Lilly. It was Lilly's first boat ride too.


Papa Cowgar with Avery