Catch Up

Storytime: When I was in high school, I decided I would pronouce ketchup as "castup," and it drove my dad crazy. To this day, if I do it, it will make him upset. I have no idea why. Maybe I will figure that out over Thanksgiving. Moving on, I have almost a month's worth of blog posts to catch up on, so I'll see if I can do it in one big post. I know once the holiday season begins, these posts won't get done, so let's start with middle October, which I can't believe was a month ago. Where does the time go?!

October 19-21:
We went to Wichita to meet our newest niece, Kennedy, and see her mama and papa. Kennedy and Shepherd were born seven months to the day apart, and we got to celebrate Kennedy's first- and Shepherd's seventh-month-birthday. It is really nice to be able to make a weekend trip to see family, watch the Huskers barely squeak by with our little corn heads, and enjoy time with people we love. Plus, we got to stop at Braums... they have my favorite kind of ice cream, cherry pecan. Yum.

October 22-28: 
The day after we got home from Wichita, my mom flew in to spend the week with us. We spent a lot of the week working on projects for our house and also drove up to Northeast Nebraska to visit my grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins. My Aunt Shelley and I drove to a tiny hamlet called Brazile Mills to their country church. It had snowed that morning, and the church looked idyllic nestled in a bunch of evergreens behind a corn field. It was one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. We actually met the pastor of the congregation, and he told us about the church's history and took us up to the steeple. It was really cool! My mom and I stopped at a few churches along the way so I could take pictures. I have a fun little project I'm doing on instagram, country church project, where I'm taking a snapshot of churches that are 100 years old or older. Most of them happen to be in the country, hence, country church project. If you are on instagram, search the hashtag #countrychurchproject to see what I've found. If you come across a cool church, add it to the tag! On the way back home, Mom and I also found a few antique stores with some great stuff. I'm on the hunt for a few things for my house, and though we didn't come home with anything, I at least know where to look. It was so fun to have Mom visit.

November 9-10:
Aaron's mom and dad came in to town for the Nebraska vs. Penn State game and spent the weekend with us. Chris, as evidenced by the picture below, is the ultimate Husker fan. :) They generously offered to babysit Shepherd on Saturday night when they got home from the football game, so Aaron and I got to spend an evening out, having dinner at the restaurant we went to the night we got engaged and then catching Skyfall, which we both loved despite the awful viewing experience! I don't know how people can go in to a movie and talk to each other, text, or kick seats... sigh. And then the projector bulb went out. And then we had to move theaters...at midnight. It was memorable.

November 16-18: 
TJ, Tiffany and Kennedy spent the weekend with us so TJ and Tiffany could go to the Nebraska vs. Minnesota game, which meant we got to spend Saturday afternoon with Miss Kennedy. It was fun to spend time with a tiny baby again. I couldn't believe how old Shepherd seemed next to her!

And, in the miscellaneous category, we did our civic duty, and Shepherd displayed that he will stand up, but only of his own accord, and definitely not when anyone but I am watching. I think Aaron's seen Shepherd standing in pictures more than he has in real life, because that baby won't stand up if someone's watching him.

Also, I painted these odd panels in our dining room with chalkboard paint. I love it, and I need to get better at my hand lettering! Since this picture was taken, we've also added curtains! I feel like things are getting done! Exclamation point!

So, that's enough photos and catch up for one day. I feel pretty caught up now! Just don't want these memories to slip by; I love looking back each year and seeing what we were doing at any given season. It seems like this season of our life is all about reconnecting with family and friends, and I am so happy about that. Thankful, actually, might be the correct word... how fitting for this time.

It means a lot to us to be able to host in our own home, especially after being so far away, so thank you to everyone who has stopped by (for any period of time). I feel like I am getting the itch to find a home of our own, through I know that's all in due time...

Happy Thanksgiving week, friends!