Our Little Lady Bug!

Well today was Madelyn's first Halloween and it was a GREAT day!!! Jim started off the day raking and bagging all the leaves in the front yard. It took him about 3 hours and 20 trash bags to do the front yard! Madelyn and I played all morning and watched Jim from the window. She was waiving to him the whole time he was outside :) Waving is a new trick that she started a few days ago. This afternoon we finished carving pumpkins. We carved the first one Monday night and had 2 left. Jim does an awesome job with the pumpkins and Madelyn and I had so much fun helping him. We were telling Madelyn all morning she needed to take a good nap so she would be ready for her big night and she listened....she napped for 3 hours and she was ready to party after dinner. Tonight we passed out candy and took Madelyn' trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Our neighbors all have small children so it was really neat to see all the little kids! Madelyn really enjoyed playing with Leo and Hannah! Madelyn recieved a lot of Halloween cards in the mail and had a great time opening them.

Fall Fun!

Yesterday I went on an overnight trip to Wichita for work leaving Madelyn and Jim at home. Before I left to go out of town I stopped by the babysitters to spend some time with Madelyn. We had a great little visit and then when I handed her back to Rachel she started crying. That is the first time that has happened and it broke my heart. I hurried to the car and just started crying. I love our babysitter and I know she is in great hands but I wanted to run back in and scoop my little baby up. I missed her so much last night but it sounds like she had a great time with her Daddy. I had dinner and drinks with my girlfriends which was so much fun. We don't get together enough!

Today when I got home the leaves were out of control in our front yard. Jim will start his weekly racking tomorrow so I wanted to let Madelyn play in them for a little while. She had so much fun! When we came inside she was tired and relaxing with Jim when we noticed she had snuck a leaf in!

Let's Go Yankees!

Tonight is Game 1 of the World Series and the Yankees are playing the Phillies. Daddy pulled out Madelyn's Jeter shirt that is way to small for the big night. My Dad got Madelyn the shirt the first time he was in the new stadium and he purchased her the Yankee duck at Yankee stadium when they played the Red Sox on September 26th. It is a lot of fun watching Jim and Madelyn watch the Yankee's together. My dad is a die hard fan and I have a lot of memories of games with him.

How Big is Madelyn

Madelyn was full of tricks today.... she was also lifting her arms when we would say "How big is Madelyn". She is at such a fun age.

Peek-a-Boo with Daddy & Mommy!

We always play peek-a-boo with Madelyn and this afternoon she decided on her own to play peek-a-boo with us! Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Patch

We have had a great weekend. Yesterday we went to the KU vs. OU game in Lawrence. We met up with the Nunn's from Wichita and went to my friend Dave's tailgate party. He and a group of people rented a lot right across the street from the stadium. They had tons of food and a DJ. It was a great pary and OU won which made it a GREAT Day. Aunt Mary watched Madelyn and it sounds like they had a fun time. Madelyn must have had a great time because she only napped for a little over an hour the whole day!!!

Today we went out to lunch and then drove south to Louisburg, KS to the Powell Pumpkin Patch. It started raining when we got there so we hung out in the car and waited for it to pass. It was really a neat place with hay rides, a giant corn maze and acres of pumpkins to pick. You take a wagon and actually go into the fields and pick your pumpkins. We had a great time and Madelyn was all smiles the whole time!!! We purchased 5 pumpkins (one for each family member including Snickers and Cody). Now it is time to start carving!

Giants vs. Chiefs Weekend

Earlier this year we had seen that the NY Giants were going to be in KC to play the Chiefs on October 3. At that point in time we decided to try and see if we could get everyone together to go to the game. By the time it was all said and done we had 20 tickets to the game. Most people arrived in KC on Saturday for the game on Sunday so Saturday night we had everyone over to our house. I think the headcount was around 30 and we were all treated to Oklahoma Joes by my parents (thanks Mom & Dad). Saturday night OU was playing Uncle Bill's Miami Hurricanes and in a sure sign that good does not always triumph evil Miami ended up winning the game. It was great to have eveyone come over and despite the OU loss it was still a good time getting to see everyone. I think Lauren and Madelyn enjoyed all the attention as well and it was really neat to see them play. I must say, Brian and I have some cute little girls!

Sunday everyone met at our house, and we packed up and headed to the game. We had sandwich trays and tailgated and threw the football before we headed down to the stadium. It was a little surprising how much blue there was in the stadium. Fortunately the Giants did not disappoint and they were able to pull off a fairly easy win.

Thanks to everyone who came to KC for the game....we had a BLAST!

Fenway Park...Madelyn's 1st Game

Well during our Boston trip, we ventured into enemy territory and took a trip to see the Red Sox at Fenway Park. They were playing the Toronto Blue Jays. I have to be honest, while I don't particularly care for the Red Sox, Fenway was certainly a pretty cool place to watch a ball game. From the man on stilts and the band outside to the inside of the stadium, it was pretty neat to see. You certainly got the feeling you were in and old time ball park, even the seats seemed to take you back. In the 8th inning the game was called due to rain and the Red Sox lost. Madelyn did very well at the stadium, she was awake and looking around for most of the time. She really seemed to enjoy the baseball game. I think we might have to try and make some more games next year. During the rain delay, I went and walked around the stadium a little, I was able toget up on the foul portion of the green monster.

After walking around the stadium for a while I decided that this was my favorite view, unfortunately it was raining too hard to watch them update it.

Boston Trip for the Cohen/Carhart Wedding

Friday, Sept 25th Trish picked me up from work and it was off to the airport to fly to Manchester. While we were driving there, we were passed by multiple police cars and there were several helicopters circiling the airport. While waiting for the bus in long term parking, somebody told us that they had seen the cops loading up there assualt rifles and heading toward the terminal. Come to find out later, three guys had stolen a flat bed semi and had been joyriding through KC. When the bus pulled up to the terminal, we saw about 50 cop cars and a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. Luckilly we had allowed extra time. Anyway the rest of our trip into Manchester was less eventfull. We arrived in Manchester close to midnight and Karen & Connor were waiting for us, we did a little visiting and then it was off to bed. Madelyn came down with a cold/cough/fever so the first night there we didn't get a lot of sleep.


The next morning we left Madelyn overnight for the first time and drove to Cape Cod for our friends Lauren and Ian's wedding. For the most part it was a very relaxing and calm drive, until we got about a mile from the Sagamore Bridge. It was down to one lane each way for road construction. It took us a little over an hour to go one mile. It was a little bit frustrating, but in the end well worth the wait. We got into our hotel about an hour before the buses left for the wedding. After doing some quick ironing and getting dressed we headed out to the parking lot and got on our bus. The wedding was at Ian's families home in Orleans. They had tents set up for the ceremony as well as the reception. It was a neat ceremony with a rabbi and priest jointly peforming the ceremony.


The reception was a great and a fun time was had by all. The first dance was coreographed to Michael Jackson's, "The Way You Make Me Feel". It was truly a beautiful location with water off both the front and back of the house. Ian and his groomsmen arrived by boat and the band at the reception was great. The food was delicious and the photo booth was a ton of fun. Thanks again for inviting us we had a blast and you guys make an awesome couple.


Sunday morning we got up early and went back to Trish's parents house. It was a rainy, yucky day and Madelyn wasn't feeling good so we just relaxed. We enjoyed cheesesteaks and pizza for dinner and had fun watching the Yankee's. Kelsey had come home from college to see us and it was great spending time with her.