A Great Sunday

Sunday morning a group of us went up to visit Troy and Ellie for the day. It's really not that far of a drive at all which is SO nice. We didn't leave until about 8:30 to get there in time for church.

So we went to Belvidere for church and then went back to Troy and Ellie's. I had seen their little apartment from the outside but I had never seen it once they moved in and got it all decorated. Ellie defintely can make anything look cute! :)

We just hung out at their house for the afternoon. We ate some snacks, played some banana grahams, and laughed. A lot. :) I miss hanging out with them every other weekend!

Group picture! We realized that we were all sibling "couples"... or something like that. :)

We all went out to eat at Granite City and then headed home. It was a great way to spend a cold and rainy Sunday.

Random Fall News

Just so you know, I'm still surviving.

Barely.

This week was the worst week of school so far... even worse than midterms. It was just frustrating with the chapters we're working on... in ALL of my classes. I hope I don't have another week like it!

But the good news is... this coming week will be #11 of the semester! Which means I only have 6 more including finals!

Nothing else is really new. Just loving being an aunt like no other. :) Going to Hyde & Luke's and playing/holding with the kiddos on the weekend is seriously my reward for making it through the week. :) Yesterday I went over there and took a nap on the rocking chair while holding Carter the whole time. I loved it. :)

A few pictures & happenings from this fall:

Babysitting Bridget- she's such a cheese!

Adam shot this turkey in our front yard the other Saturday morning... in his pi's. :) He butchered it himself and now we have a huge turkey in our freezer for our Thanksgiving dinner. :)

A couple weeks ago I went to Holly's orchestra concert with Kristin. Why? Because I miss being in an orchestra sooo bad (and because Holly's my friend and she wanted me to come. :). I think it'd be so fun to join the Bradley orchestra or something. You know, freshen up on those violin skills of mine since I don't ever play anymore? Ha, yea right. If only I had the time...

The concert was really short, but I was pretty impressed for a high school orchestra.

Afterwards we went to Steak N' Shake to chat. Both of these girls crack me up... they're so full of energy!

I can't believe it's almost November already. I was telling my mom how the days really do drag on, but looking back, the semesters fly!! I really do love to go to school, just fyi. :) I'm not really complaining about it (well maybe I kind of am... because this semester is definitely my worse so far... :) I love the socializing and I really don't mind the homework either. I just hate the actual studying part... and feeling like I always have tons to do. But it will be over before I know, I'm sure!

Anyways, enough about school. I have a life besides school so I guess I should only blog about that part. :) SO I promise I won't even mention it in my next blog post. :)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Life as an Aunt

How I love snuggling with these two. They are my two favorite kiddos ever.

Carter Lucas

Well folks, I'm an aunt again!!

Carter Lucas was born last night, October 17th, at 10:18pm. 6 pounds, 10 oz, 19.5 inches long.

I forgot how small they are!

New family photo.. minus Bridget.

I didn't get the best pictures of the new little man. These were taken right after birth. So I will hopefully get some better ones soon. I'm not sure who he looks like... but he has big lips and big hands. :)

My mom and I were blessed to be able to be in the delivery room again. Heidi did an amazing job just as she did with Bridget. I was really glad for Hyde because the labor was only about 4 hours long! It all went super fast, but every one is doing well!

Praising God for this precious little miracle!

Summer Birthdays

As you all probably know I have a lot of events/happenings that happened this summer that I never got to post about. But better late than never, right? :)

My entire family has spring/summer birthday's, all 5 months in a row(except Bridget and the little boy-to-be are messing up this trend...:). So lots of out-to-eat bills on Dad's credit card and family pictures in those months. :)

Out to eat for Father's Day. Poor Dad, his birthday is so close to Father's Day that they usually get combined.

We went to Heidi & Luke's for dessert afterwards. Grandpa loves to spoil Bridget with ice cream, and she knows it too!

We celebrated Luke K and Dad's birthday together one time too, I think... but I don't have any pictures. Sorry Luke!

For Heidi's birthday we went out to eat for Mexican, then to the Ice Cream Shack for dessert.

Once again, being spoiled by Grandpa.

3 generations

Mom with her daughters

For my birthday, it was my first day back from Mexico and I was exhausted. I slept till 11(I don't know if I've ever done that...), then went for lunch at Panera with some Schick ladies.

Everyone but Aunt Jeanne... someone has to take the picture!

That evening we had a young group thing, but Kendra came over afterwards to hang out.

That Sunday we celebrated my birthday with my family.

Hahaha... so my mom totally forgot to sing to me, so she started cutting and serving the cake. Then she remembered and put the candles in. :)

The Knapp Family

I love the summer evenings with my family... and now they're over. But Fall is such a beautiful season... I love the chill in the air, sweatshirts, and cookouts. And I could go on and on about the reasons I love Fall. :)

Miss Bridget is 1!

One year ago today I witnessed the amazing miracle of birth.

Today Bridget Ann turned 1! I can't believe how fast the year has flown by!

It has been soo fun to see her grow up and see her strong personality develop. :) Being an Aunt is wonderful. :) I love it that she knows me and wants to come to me when she sees me! :)

This little miss loves to say "Hi" to everyone all the time, walk all over the place, and is always trying to say new words! So fun.

Tonight we celebrated. She was definitely the life of the party! Warning: I took a ton of pictures and I posted a lot too. But you know, I haven't posted any of her in a long time so this will make up for it. :)

Just chillin'

She loves Uncle Luke!

Bridget loves puppies right now. Hyde got her this darling stuffed yellow lab. She would've been totally content with just that... she wanted to carry it around all night!

She got a baby doll and stroller too.... the baby soon became a bigger hit than the puppy.

That poor dolly is going to get some beating on!

Cupcake time!

No hair involved until the very end...

...and then it was bath time! :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Bridget Ann! Aunt Wendi loves you lots!! :)

Apple River Weekend

I'm super behind on posting happenings on my blog, but... I'm going to be on the ball for at least one post!

This weekend our young group went on our annual bus trip to Apple River. It was my second year going and it was once again wonderful. Although there was one specific person that was dearly missed this year.

...but this was my first year with Kendra so that was fun. :)

The first stop is always Tanners Orchard for some apples and hot cider.

In the afternoon we go hiking at Apple River State Park. All of the girls.

Saturday afternoon we sang at a nursing home and then we ate a really good dinner at a cafe in town that we rented out. We had a singing there too afterwards.

Then we went back to the hotel for games, snacks, and just to hang out.

I was a "mom" of a room with 3 younger girls. My old tired self must have rubbed off on them because we sure didn't stay up late at all. Thank goodness. :)

These cows were sooo cute all lined up watching us as we got off the bus. :)

We had a morning service, then ate lunch in the reception tent on the property because they had just had a wedding there the day before. There was one on Sunday too right after we got done with our afternoon service!

An awesome car.

Me & Kendra with the gorgeous church in the background

The entire group!

Sunday afternoon was more hiking, dinner, talking and enjoying the beautiful weather!