Birthday Week

 There are 8 bithdays of close friends and family during the week of October 19-24.  Four of them I was able to celebrate in person this year.  Miss Linda was the first.  She loves it when Sami comes up to her and takes her hand.  I had to do a little coercing (see cheerio bag in opposite hand), but it was still a special moment.

 Grandma Blankespoor was celebration #2.  Here are the girls getting her hair prim and proper for her birthday dinner. 

 Birthday hugs!

 The Boathouse doesn't have the greatest food, but the atmosphere makes up for it.  We finally found a method that worked. . .order first, go outside and watch the ducks until food is ready, come back in and eat immediately, and leave just as the kiddos start to scream.  Our dinner out was actually enjoyable! 

 I sometimes look at pictures like this and say to myself, "who are all those children?" 

 Happy Birthday Grandma!  We love you!

 We celebrated with a first-ever pedicure for Mom. . .

 Celebration #3 - Happy Birthday, Daddy!  Sami was not intimidated by the candles (hence the bear hug). 

October Happenings

Whenever grandparents are visiting, they are greeted with hugs, kisses, and job lists (thanks Moms and Dads!).  Here is Dad working on putting a cold air return off our furnace in the basement. 

Here are Dad and Karl installing a celing fan in our dining room.

Here is Dad cleaning up our back terrace and planting new ground cover that he transplanted from their Michigan yard. 

Audrey loves to write/draw/create. 

Here is Mom on a project:  sorting through baby clothes to give away.  That's a lot of girl clothes!

 
Those are a couple of awfully big walnuts! 

I'm lovin' car pool.  A Central family lives 2 blocks away and they pick up Annika and Lauren for school almost everyday.  Makes life in the morning soooo much easier for me. 

Do not try this at home. . .I'm not quite sure what/if I was thinking as I ventured out on the boardwalk with a boardwalk-width stroller.  Once I started, there was no turning back.  If it weren't for all those twists and turns and ups and downs. . .

Shoes and hats - endless fun!

 Karl had a company picnic complete with games.  Our girls weren't quite brave enough to join in the sack races. 

 Lauren decided she had to go to the bathroom so Karl made the long trek towards the restrooms.  Sami decided she was going to run and catch up.  After Karl was gone about 10 minutes someone asked me where he was and then motioned to the restrooms about 200 feet away.  oops.

 Grandpa and Grandma spent lots of time in the backyard with the girls. 

 It had been quite a while since we fed the fish.  It was fun to see the twins get into it - except that Sami would have jumped overboard if we hadn't been hanging on to her. 

 Grandma went off the beaten path with Annika and Lauren. 

 Love this picture. 

 Audrey, this is a Clydesdale.  Clydesdale, this is Audrey.

 We hadn't been to Grant's Farm in a LONG time.  It was a first for Audrey and Sami.

 We arrived at the goat pen with Annika confidently wanting a milk bottle and heading inside.  Moments later, I saw Grandpa carrying her out screaming with goats nipping at her heels.  This (see photo) was a much less-stressful approach.  When she was younger, she wouldn't even hold the bottle.  Baby steps. 

 Twin lovin' from Grandma.

Family Fun Day at Forest Park

 I'm pretty sure this was Annika's first pony ride.  She has come a long way in the last year in overcoming fear to ride animals.  She had a big smile on her face the whole time.

 Lauren was a bit more hesitant, but she did great as well.

 The "fishing pole" station was a big hit.  Annika "mastered" the art of casting after about 15 minutes of practice and some help from Grandpa.  Lauren improved a lot as well, but let's just say the fish have a good chance of not getting caught.

 Pumpkin painting!

 The guy playing the banjo must have been in his 80's.  Grandpa and Annika had lots of fun dancing to blugrass.

The beautiful afternoon ended with a carriage ride through Forest Park.  We LOVE Forest Park!

Church Retreat

 Our church retreat was down in Bourbon, MO at a Salvation Army Camp.  We only made it one night, but at least we made it!

 Our first night ever with all four girls in the tent.  The 2 pack n plays fit fine in our tent, but Audrey and Sami weren't about to cooperate (see Sami's face).  The twins ended up in bed with Karl and me and Lauren kept waking up cold. . .other than that it was a great night.

Annika was the ball girl for the volleybal game.  She LOVED chasing after the ball. 

 Lauren, Audrey, and Sami used the volleyball court as a sandbox.

The girls always love spending time with Kristin.

Picture Day

 Lauren was all dressed up for her 4 year old pictures so Grandma asked to take her picture.  Sami, watching the whole thing, decided she wanted her picture take as well.  I laughed out loud at the results. . .

Sami's first haircut

 I only cut the back, but Sami was NOT happy.

Ahh, no more mullet! 

Time with Sue

Grandpa and Grandma Pollack's visit allowed me to go to Ann Arbor and spend a few days with my dear friend Sue, who is battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  Many thanks to Karl and Grandpa and Grandma! 

The day I arrived, I overlapped with a mutual friend from grade school.  Sue had brought along letters from a long time ago that each of us had written to each other.  My favorite line was Cindy letting Sue know she was a "lucky bum" for having me move to her city. 

On Sunday afternoon I took a hike with a good friend from high school.  We ended up at a dam on the Huron River.

A social worker at the hospital gave Sue an edible bone marrow transplant kit to share with her girls. Here they are putting the white blood cells (white choc. chips) on the blood (frosting) which is on the bone (graham cracker). Being in the hospital brought back lots of memories of the many days spent in the hospital with Annika. Once again, I was so impressed by the nurses and the wonderful care they provided.

Just before I had to go back to St. Louis, we had an engraftment party to celebrate Sue's body doing what it was supposed to do - engraft the new cells.   Thankfully, Sue was able to go home the same day I did.