The Past Month...

Matthew & Alicia's rehearsal dinner

Lena w/ her new BFF, Madison, at Old Thresher's in Shelbina (Kind. field trip)

Hattie & Lena w/ their AG dolls at the store in Chicago

The whole group of girls w/ their dolls

Hattie, me and Lena on Michigan Ave.
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Well...I am supposed to be doing my Pilates DVD right now so I thought it was a good time to post:-). The last month has been filled with tons of activity. We made a quick trip to NW Iowa for Labor Day weekend to watch Wil (my nephew) and Jon G. (Shannon's cousin) play college football for Northwestern College. Despite our van puking out at 11:30 at night one hour from our destination, it was still a great weekend (that's a whole other post).

Then, on Sept. 12, our close friend and HIS Ranch employee, Alicia Steffen, married Matthew Schrenk. It was a great weekend that culminated in Shannon giving them a ride from the reception in the cart behind our Clydesdale mare, Ruby. They are now at home in St. Louis and we miss her at the ranch SO much. (and not just because I have to muck stalls now!)

The following weekend, Hattie, Lena and I headed to Chicago on the train with my mom, Renee, Jane and 6 nieces for a day at the American Girl store. Oh my! We had a blast but decided that when we do it again, it will be with more a lot more caffeine.

The next Friday, my sister and her family arrived (Nelson & Mary). The kids played and we gabbed. Mary's birthday was the 21st so we celebrated.

On Monday, September 27...my wonderful husband turned 42! He was in the combine most of the day so the kids and I took the gator out to him and brought him food and treats to celebrate.

Finally...this past weekend, we traveled to Manhattan, KS for the wedding of our cousin, Brandon Knobloch, to Sharita Lacey. It was a beautiful wedding and the kids had a blast at the dance and in the hotel pool with some of their cousins that they don't get to see very often.

It is a crazy time of year with school activities, harvest, bow-hunting and general fall clean up/yard work, but I love it! There is just something about the cool fall temps that energizes me and makes me marvel at God's creation in a new way. So...if you are a busy mom today, take some time to sit down with a hot beverage, count your blessings and breath in the fall air (and of course, read this blog and marvel at it's fabulous content). And...the pilates are still waiting to be done so I had better add some photos to the post.