Our Christmas Tree!

Yesterday we went Christmas tree hunting! We went to a local tree farm and found the perfect tree! We were warned that there weren't very many good trees to pick from due to the drought, but we found our tree pretty quickly! I think we were a little over excited because we had never had a real Christmas tree. We have used Craig's grandma's fake tree for the past 5 years. We decided it was time for a change!

Craig spotted this one! 7 ft tall spruce!

It has a few areas of "character," but it has a nice shape!

That tree never saw Craig coming!

One last hug before we killed it!

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With Craig's trusty new sharp saw that tree would have been down in 30 seconds, but I thought I had to try. I made NO progress, so Craig finished.

Ta Da!

The tree is cut! We found out that this kind of tree is pretty pokey - it's needles are sharp! Also, it has really sticky sap! I had to dig out the rubbing alcohol just so my fingers didn't stick together! We were warned that this tree is a little sensitive, so we bought tablets to put in the water. I have watered it several times already. I hope this tree will last through the new year and that we are good Christmas tree parents!

While we were waiting on our full service Christmas tree experience, Craig made a friend!

They had free cider and hot chocolate! It tasted very good and it was also a nice finger warmer!

This is the contraption that binds/wraps the tree after it has been shaken.

Our tree going in!

Craig strapping it to the roof!

I got the stand ready while Craig got the tree untied and brought up the stairs.

All lit up!

I put the ornaments on this morning. We definitely have a different branch to ornament ratio this year!

Our 6th Christmas! Fav ornament!

I'm so glad we got our tree yesterday 6 hours before it started snowing! It is definitely starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

Special Moments!

Sarah had some special news to share with Grandpa!

Sarah and Eric are expecting!

Sarah showed Grandpa an 8 week ultrasound picture!

"That doesn't look like a baby!"

Hopefully next week they will have another picture that shows the gender!

We are all so happy for Sarah and Eric!!

2nd annual pottery painting!

We went back to Potter's Alley again this year and had a lot of fun! I got a little too involved in my projects to remember to take any photos! I can't wait to see how everything turns out!

Catching up...

Saturday we had some great company - Chad came for a visit!! We love guests! After some lunch, we checked out Oliver Winery. This next photo is when we were leaving, with the full moon coming up. It was a really pretty afternoon to sit outside under the heater and enjoy my new favorite wine!

Sunset at Oliver

All ready for Christmas!

me and Craig

It's hard for Chad and Craig to take a good picture together without acting goofy

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Sunset earlier this week

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I met Mom and Mike at McCormick Creek State Park while they were camping there a couple weeks ago. They happen to pick the perfect three days in November to go camping. We followed Mike around on some trails for a couple hours and had a great lunch at the camper.

Every great hiker needs a little rest!

The ground was completely covered in leaves!

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Before

The picture doesn't really do it justice, but we have rearranged our bedroom! Last winter I felt like my head was going to freeze off during the middle of the night because our bed was against the poorly insultated windows. I kept telling Craig I was going to go out and buy curtains...but never did. So this year, I decided we will just move the bed to a different wall! So in the end, no money spent and it feels like the bedroom is brighter and bigger!

After

Thomas

Almost a month ago, we had a wonderful get-together with some high school friends. We got to spend some time with 5 month old Thomas!

Craig is holding Thomas in this picture - definitely checking him out!

Thomas looks almost as big as Eliza in this picture! David and Eliza made a great meal and it was so nice to catch up with everybody!

Bruce's Baptism

Sweet, sleepy Bruce!

Last weekend, baby Bruce was baptized! Brandi (on the left in the black sweater) and Casey (on the right holding Bruce) were proud parents! It was neat to witness the ceremony.

Nashville

This year for our "Staff Outing" we went to Nashville, IN for the day. We met at the courthouse for a picture before taking off for shopping. Of course shopping doesn't compare to getting pampered at French Lick like we did last year, but we still had a great time! Everyone was able to make it except Kim who was on her honeymoon! I really do work with a good bunch of people. As many as there are, it is amazing how well we get along (most of the time.)

Danielle took my picture of a cute hat I was trying on. (It really was cuter in person!) I would have bought it, but it was too expensive!

Amy got friendly with the mechanical orange talking man in front of the fudge shop!

We were treated to lunch at the Artist's Colony before shopping some more! It was a beautiful day!

10-10-10 Chicago Marathon

It was a beautiful day to be a spectator of the Chicago Marathon! For the runners, however, it was warm! Craig and I joined Sarah and Eric's parents in Chicago to cheer on Eric as he ran his first marathon. I was so amazed to see the Kenyans take off and lead the pack.

There were sooo many people! 45,000 runners and 1.7 million spectators!

Spectators have to be well hydrated too!

Craig behind Sarah, Steve, and Linda

Craig, Jess, Steve, and Linda waiting at mile 12

Eric was a St. Jude hero and raised funds for the organization. Eric was able to raise over $1,300!

We saw a lot of pink! We made it to Chicago late Saturday night and different parts of the skyline were lit up pink.

Some of the scenery along the way during different stops to see Eric.

I have no explanation for this random eyeball that was down the street from where we had lunch. It was huge!

Chicago skyline

Sarah on the lookout for Eric at mile 26!

Yay! Congratulations Eric!