It's a baby shower!

Amy hosted a baby shower for our good friend Michelle. There were 10 guests in all. It was a good time! Michelle wanted a dessert bar so we had about 8 different desserts. We have leftovers coming out our ears and we already gave some away to Amy's parents, our neighbors and Amy's parents' neighbors!

Chris and Michelle are having a surprise so the shower was gender neutral. We tried to get yellow roses but all we could find was pink. The shower was for Michelle and she's a girl so maybe that's ok, haha. We didn't play any games but we did have the guests fill out pieces of cardstock with words of advice and encouragement to put into a large glass vase to keep in the nursery. All in all, Amy was pleased with everything but we're both glad for it to be over.

Amy's Mom and Dad dropped off a hutch from her Gram tonight too. It is beautiful and fits just perfectly in our dining room. Photos to follow eventually, promise. It's just been too busy a day and we're too tired and lazy...

A Little Inspiration

From The Gabe Dixon Band

The new day dawns,
And I am practicing my purpose once again.
It is fresh and it is fruitful if I win but if I lose,
Oooooo I don’t know.
I will be tired but I will turn and I will go,
Only guessing til I get there then I’ll know,
Oh oh oh I will know.

All the children walking home past the factories
Could see the light that’s shining in my window as I write this song to you.
All the cars running fast along the interstate
Can feel the love that radiates
Illuminating what I know is true,
All will be well.
Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself,
All will be well.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.

The winter’s cold,
But the snow still lightly settles on the trees.
And a mess is still a moment I can seize until I know,
That all will be well.
Even though sometimes this is hard to tell,
And the fight is just as frustrating as hell
All will be well.

All the children walking home past the factories,
Could see the light that’s shining in my window as I write this song to you.
All the cars running fast along the interstate
Can feel the love that radiates
Illuminating what I know is true
All will be well.
Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself
All will be well.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.

Keep it up and don’t give up
And chase your dreams and you will find
All in time.

All the children walking home past the factories
Could see the light that’s shining in my window as I write this song to you.
All the cars running fast along the interstate
Can feel the love that radiates
Illuminating what I know is true,
All will be well.
Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself,
All will be well.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.

All will be well.
Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself,
All will be well.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.

Happy Fall!

I never really liked Autumn. Possibly because it meant going back to school. Don't get me wrong - I loved school! It was just all-consuming for me so I never took the opportunity to appreciate the change of seasons. Now, I absolutely ADORE the Fall. The colors, the weather, the recipes! We've already had 2 batches of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and I'm sure many more will follow. Celebrate we will - and with cookies!

I was instructed to write a blog that was more than 25% text (less than 75% pictures). See the thing is, my writing tends to be a little boring but pictures... pictures are always fun. I'll see what I can do with this blog anyway.

It has been about 2 weeks since the last post so what have we done? Peter bought me flowers. We had dinner with our neighbors and I made an apricot, almond & pinenut cake (super yummy). We saw "Burn After Reading" with friends. We enjoyed the season opener of "House" (swoon). Our realtor and his wife took us to Olive Garden. We went to Macaroni Grill with our small group. I went shopping with one of my college roomies. We hosted Small Group at our house.

I think the most exciting thing to happen though, was having someone else paint our hallways and stairwell yesterday. I met a guy through my work who has painted as a side job for a few other people I know and came highly recommended. He got it all done in one day! It looks fantastic. It is a very subtle color - "Napery" - but trust me, it looks better than primer white with scuff marks.

Not much else going on. This Sunday we're planning a day trip to Maryland to spend the day with good friends :) I'm planning a baby shower for the following weekend and a Pampered Chef party for October 19th (you're invited!). So life is a party at the moment.

If you're the praying type, you can keep us in your prayers. We would greatly appreciate it!

Lots of love,

Amy

Happy Birthday!

Last weekend we drove to Pittsburgh Saturday morning to attend Amber's 2nd birthday party. Amber is Josh and Nicole's daughter - Amy worked with them one summer in college and they've been good friends ever since. Since they live in Pittsburgh, we don't see them very much at all. In fact, the last time we saw them, Amber was about 7 weeks old (we'll post a pic below).

We had a great time and although it was A LOT of driving for one day, it was more than worth it.

Out With the Old

... in with the new DRUMS!

First the old.

Then the new.

Plus the toms that sadly were not used during worship.

Oh to still be on vacation...

We've waited to post about vacation because if we post about it... that means it really is over. And that makes us very sad.

We had a wonderful time at the OBX with Amy's family. We hit the beach, did a little shopping, took our nieces to see "Sleeping Beauty" and ate a TON of great food. It was heavenly to get away from work for an entire week! The cats survived quite well without us (they had great babysitters).

Nothing much new to report. We had a 2nd radon test done on the house after we found out that our neighbor had installed a mitigation system in the Spring. It turns out because of his sytem our levels went down and we no longer need a system of our own!

We're aiming to install a storm door soon. It'll be nice to be able to leave our front door open to let in the Autumn sun! The cats will love it.

Last Sunday each Sunday school class officially moved up to the next grade. Most teachers keep the same group of kids all the way through to 5th grade. We moved up with our now first grade girls but because the incoming K girls class was so large we took 2 of them too. Last week we had 6 girls and it was a whole lot of fun.

Alright, that's all there is to tell. Stay tuned...

What we've been up to...

We need to stop waiting for something big and interesting to happen before we write another blog entry. Life has settled into a nice predictability and we're not complaining.

What happened last week? Peter managed the cat shelter by himself Monday because Amy wasn't feeling well.

Tuesday Amy had devotions at work and was scheduled to bring in snack for break too. After all the baking for the housewarming - she phoned in snack with some help from Weis *hangs head in shame*. Peter went out with the boys for the evening to play manly games at Messiah.

Wednesday we were going to take Panera to Messiah for a picnic but it rained so we picniced on the living room floor, then went shopping for new swim trunks for Peter. Nobody has swimwear any more! Stores are preparing for back to school already. We found a sweet suit (that was not an XXL) for only $9 at Aero. Amy was thrilled.

Thursday we bought a flower box, soil and miracle grow to plant some flowers we received at the housewarming. They look awesome on the front porch. We bought some beach supplies at Target too (and a new clutch purse for Amy - it was necessary).

Saturday we hung out with our small group (after sleeping till noon!). The boys hit the driving range and the ladies picked up "21" and "No Reservations". We ate pizza and watched "21". Peter and I watched NR later. Both ok movies - not particularly excellent but worth seeing.

Sunday we taught Sunday school, went to church, then headed to Chris and Michelle's to help paint the nursery. It took a little longer than expected but it turned out really nice. I believe the color is called "Nectarine Fizz".

This week Amy had a workshop at Roxbury camp Monday and Tuesday. She felt fine each day but was sick each night so yesterday we went to the Dr. It seems to be a bug and not food poisoning and last night was pleasantly uneventful so we're assuming she's on the mend. We don't need to bring a bug on vacation! Peter got a haircut and Amy got a pedicure last night. We're almost ready for vacation. More packing tonight and we're ready to go!