Update and Blog problems

Well, I'm still not able to post our trip pictures, and I may have to switch to a new site for our family blog if I can't get these problems resolved soon. So that, among the busyness of life, is why I haven't updated our blog.

We had a great time with Dad and Mary while they were in western PA. We were sad to see them head back to Iowa, but it was good to get back into the swing of things after a week and a half of vacationing. Evan started a Martial Arts class near our house...we're doing a trial month to see if he likes it. Ann-Marie is back into gymnastics. We've been taking a lot of fun and educational field trips. Life continues to be busy......

Upcoming, Alec's birthday party tomorrow (Saturday) and his fourth birthday on Monday! My baby is turning four...where does the time go? Then onto Thanksgiving and on December 2nd, my sister, Sheila, and her family from Colorado will be visiting us for a week! Exciting stuff!

I will update everyone soon as to whether this blog will stay here or move to another blogging site.

Trip details

Well, I'm having problems adding pictures, so I'll update our blog with the details and add pictures once I figure out the problem. On October 30th, we drove to Chicago to my Aunt Sue and Uncle Lyle's house. We went into Chicago on October 31 and visited the Willis (Sears) Tower, the Field Museum, and Millennium Park. Darrell and I flew to San Antonio, Texas on Sunday, November 1st, leaving all three kids in the care of Aunt Sue and Uncle Lyle (HUGE THANK YOU!!!!).

Darrell and I went to San Antonio to attend a New York Life conference. While we were there, we enjoyed the Riverwalk, the Alamo, Market Square, and Gruene, Texas; as well as many nice restaurants and New York Life hosted events. We also were able to meet up with Kathy, a dear friend who lives in San Antonio, and without her would have never discovered Gruene, Texas. The weather in San Antonio was 75 degrees (give or take) with no clouds in the sky! We had a great time. We flew back to Chicago on Thursday, November 4th. My Dad and Stepmom drove to Chicago from Iowa and we all spent one night at my aunt and uncle's house.

We drove back to Pittsburgh on Friday, November 5th, with my Dad and Stepmom following. It was their first time in PA! On Saturday, we had great weather so we took them to McConnells Mills and Moraine State Park. On Sunday, we took them to our church and to Irwin, PA to attend a birthday party for one of our nephews - so they got to meet most of Darrell's family. We took them into Pittsburgh on Monday and visited the Strip District, the Incline, and Station Square. Hopefully that got them interested enough to come back and enjoy more of western PA! We saw them off this morning at 7 a.m. - now back into some sort of a routine. We had a wonderful two weeks, with lots of blessings and great memories made. Hopefully, I'll be able to post pictures soon.

What to do when the pumpkins start rotting.....

Throw them off the deck, of course! Ahhhhh, fall fun!

Tomorrow, our family will be driving to Chicago. We will be in Chicago until Sunday, then Darrell and Paula (only) will be flying to San Antonio, Texas (my Aunt Sue in Chicago has agreed to watch the kids) until next Thursday. Then we head back to Pennsylvania Friday with my Dad and stepmom in tow (who have not been to Pennsylvania yet). Exciting times. I will try to update you while we're gone.

Fall Festival and Soccer

Another soccer season is over for us....and I finally got around to taking a couple of pictures. Evan moved up to the big field and had to get used to a lot more running. He also played, for the first time, on a mixed gender league. Ann-Marie decided to try soccer again after taking a year break and found that she really enjoyed playing goalie. It ended up being a wet and cold season, with lots of cancelled practices, but both children enjoyed playing.

Now onto Fall Festival....our dear friends, the Shullenbarger family from Maryland, joined us once again for this event (even though Jessica is 37 weeks pregnant and the baby is ready to come!) The kids enjoyed dressing up and participating in all the games at our church. The event went very well this year and we enjoyed having our friends stay for a short, but sweet, weekend.
Above, the whole crew dressed up....and below, my three (Evan is Annikan, Ann-Marie is a fairy, and Alec is Spiderman).

One of the favorite activities of the evening was milking the cow......Grandpa Shippy in Iowa will be pleased to see these pictures!

Sleeping Beauty Ballet

On Friday, I had the opportunity to take Ann-Marie and a friend to the Sleeping Beauty Ballet at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. We were able to leave the boys with our friend's family (thanks Allison!) and make it a girls' day. We had a fabulous time!
On another note, Alec decided to write his name all by himself on our whiteboard. Darrell took a picture of the evidence......

Something to make you smile......

Betcha didn't know that Spiderman enjoys his Leappad!

Dinner and the zoo

After several attempts, I have successfully finished this blog! Gotta love old, slow computers....say it with me - "I am THANKFUL for this computer."

Last weekend, Darrell and I were able to go out to dinner in Pittsburgh with Darrell's side of the family. We went to the restaurant "Ciopinno's." All of Darrell's siblings and spouses were there as well as Darrell's dad....this doesn't happen very often so it was a huge blessing! We spent four hours at the restaurant enjoying great food, conversation (still laughing about the tuna casserole - and no, that was not served at this restaurant!), and fun. Darrell had control of the camera, so we have a picture of his meal (halibut) and of his sister, Karen, enjoying her meal.
While we were at the restaurant, my two 14 year old nieces, Analisa and Meghan babysat our kids. What a switch! When I met Darrell, these two little girls used to sit on my lap....now they are babysitting our kids! They left us this message I discovered the next day......I think they are trying to secure future babysitting jobs.

Next, to the zoo....we have a membership so it was time to go. We headed to the Pittsburgh zoo Tuesday afternoon and enjoyed some new areas we haven't discovered. Notice that Alec is in some "different" clothes...yes, they are pajamas. He fell asleep in the van on the way to the zoo and had a HUGE accident. I am out of the diaper bag carrying stage and didn't think to bring an extra outfit. So Alec was treated to the zoo pajamas they sell at the gift store....we thank God for reasonable prices and the membership discount!
Our favorite new (to us) areas at the zoo are the deer and the sharks. We think the zoo in the Fall is the BEST time to go!