Hitting Up the Brewery with Auts and Nick

As the previous post said, we didn't make it on Saturday night (a couple of weeks ago) to the Anheuser Busch Brewery for the tour with the Rivers.  We did make it on Sunday on the way home.  It was so much fun.  I'll post a few pictures from the tour.

  

 

It was a great day with Autumn and Nick.  We always have so much fun with them.

Well That Was a Long (Unintentional) Break

Long time, no see.  Sorry about that.  I know my three regulars will be disappointed.  :)

We have been so busy lately.  I've started a new job as a Sales Coordinator at National Office Furniture, we are OFFICIALLY ACTIVE with the adoption agency, and we've been having fun with family, friends, and traveling to St. Louis for the weekend to visit with Jodi, Nathaniel, and Will.

I can back it up a little bit though.  We had our home study visit on September 29.  We were both super nervous for this.  I mean, this lady was going to walk through our house and determine whether we would be fit parents or not.  Who wouldn't be nervous?  But it turns out the actual home portion of the home study is the easiest part.  You basically just talk to the social worker, and she reviews your information that we've already submitted.  We even got to see the letters of recommendation that were sent in on our behalf.  It choked me up a little bit to see what everyone had written about us, and how everyone wrote that we will be excellent parents.  The social worker left and finished our paperwork a couple of weeks later, so that officially made us active!  Woo hoo!

So after we were done with the home study, we took a break to do absolutely nothing!  We had worked on nothing but paperwork for a couple of months, so we were ready at that point!  We spent a lot of time with my little buddies, the rest of our families, celebrated Mason's (Brady's nephew) eleventh birthday and Trevor's ninth birthday.

Oh, and do you see Brady's hat?  We were also busy celebrating the St. Louis Cardinals World Series win!  I was so excited during game six that I may or may not have jumped off the couch...multiple times.  (Luckily Brady did not take any photos of that for me to show with you.)  At the end of game seven, I won't even make you guess whether or not I jumped off the couch. As a lifelong fan, I was SO excited to see them win the Fall Classic a second time.  (They also won in 2006.)  

The first weekend of November was spent in my favorite city, St. Louis.  We wanted to visit the Rivers, so Brady, Autumn, Nick, and I packed our bags and headed there for the weekend.  We had so much fun.  It was a much needed weekend away.  

We visited the Arch.  

The Arch is seriously one of my favorite things in the world.  I think it is so pretty.

We also had lunch at Fitz's.  Brady and I fell in love with their root beer, so we bought a four pack.  We also bought a four pack of orange cream soda.  I could drink that every day.

We wanted to hit up the Anheuser Busch Brewery yet on Saturday evening with the Rivers, but we missed the last tour.  So we decided we would do that on Sunday before we left for Indiana.  We enjoyed dinner from Cheese-ology and the ladies watched a little TV while the guys sat around the fire pit.  The next morning Nathaniel made a delicious breakfast, and we departed for the Brewery.  I'll post about that shortly!

Miss You, Big Brother

On September 4, 2003 the world lost a great man.  That man would be my brother, Dean. 

Instead of telling you all about what happened that day, I am going to tell you some of my favorite memories of my favorite big brother. 

• I don’t remember how old I was when he bought his first horse, but I remember falling in love with her immediately.  He would occasionally take me riding, and I remember one Saturday or Sunday he took me riding all day long.  It was the next morning that I realized why, in western movies, cowboys always walk bow legged. 
•   Along with the family, Dean was a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan.  We never really went on vacations when I was younger, but I remember going to many Cardinals games.  One game sticks out in particular.  Denise and I were riding with Mom and Dad in their car, and Dean and two of his buddies were riding in Dean’s beloved truck.  We had to stop so Dean could get gas (and we could use the restroom) not too far from St. Louis.  The worker offered us some tickets, and I think Dean and his buddies bought them.  Dad thought he would still be able to get good tickets at the gate.  Well we got to the game and guess who was in standing room only…us.  Mom had brought the binoculars along, so I would look through them and see Ozzie Smith (my all-time favorite player) do his famous round-off back handsprings.  We saw a family leave, so we quickly took their seats.  Keep in mind that when we went to this game, Dean was under the legal drinking age of 21.  ALL of the beer vendors had large buttons on that said something to the effect of “Under 21?  We card!”  Mom was looking through the binoculars and found Dean and his buddies…buying beer.  Guess Busch Stadium needed to work on the whole carding thing. 
• Keeping with the Cardinals theme, in 1998 Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were in the middle of their home run race.  They were trying to break the record of 61 home runs hit in a single season.  It was September 8, 1998 when McGwire hit number 62 breaking Roger Maris’s record.  I think every Cardinals fan can tell you where they watched it.  Mom, Dad, Denise, and I were upstairs in the kitchen (don’t ask why we were sitting around the 13” TV rather than the larger one in the living room), and Dean had just gone downstairs to take a shower.  He went down right as the game went to commercial with McGwire due up in the next inning.  Long story short, McGwire got up to bat and hit #62.  It was a great day to be a Cards fan.  But where was Dean?  Downstairs in the shower.  We yelled, “He did it!” down the staircase and we were told to shut the door so that he could run over to his TV and watch the replay.  We all still laugh so hard when we think of this moment.  It could be my favorite Dean moment ever. 
• Dean only got to know Trevor for the first ten months of Trevor’s life.  In those short ten months, I don’t think anyone loved a child more.  When we would all be around, Dean would practically scoop Trevor out of our arms.  There aren’t very many photos of the two together, but this is the one I always think of.  Dean trying to comfort a crying Trevor.  It is too sweet. 

•  Dean had a habit of trying to annoy me.  I know, a big brother trying to annoy his little sister…unheard of!  Anyway, he sometimes got stuck driving me places and would make up little parodies to songs.  The one I remember the most is Tanya Tucker’s “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane.”  This song was popular when I was younger.  It goes something like this:  Like two sparrows in a hurricane/Trying to find their way.  What Dean would sing was:  Like four cardinals in a tornado/ trying to hide from you.  Nice, Dean. 
• Denise, my older sister, got married the summer before I was in ninth grade.  It is a Dubois County tradition to stop at a bar, to get beverages of course, before going to the reception.  We stopped at The Shamrock and got some drinks.  I had my very first strawberry daiquiri wine cooler that afternoon.  I was just sipping on it and enjoying the ride over.  As we were pulling into the reception, Dean noticed I had quite a bit of my wine cooler in my mug yet.  He told me I needed to drink it because Mom would get mad if she saw that I had it.  So what’s a fourteen year old to do when her big brother is telling her to do something?  I chugged it.  All I remember from that moment was Denise saying, “Oh my God…she’s going to puke later.”  For the record, I didn’t.  Dean had a great time at the wedding….a little too much fun.  Mom and Dad took him to our house that night and I can honestly say I have never been so happy when someone passed out in the middle of the car ride home. 

Those are just some of my favorite memories of my big brother.  I can speak for my whole family when I say we miss him so much every day.  It’s so hard to believe it has been eight years.  Some days it feels like it has been forever that we have talked to him and other days it seems like it was yesterday.  I miss him calling me Motor Mouth, even though I hated when he called me that!

We miss you and love you, big brother.  Keep watching over us.  

Catching Up

It's been a while since I last posted, and it is because we have been busy!

Last weekend was the big Strassenfest celebration here in Jasper!  We had so much fun!  I don't have too many pictures, but here are a couple.

I also walked the Wettlauf (foot race) 5K race on Saturday morning.  I walked with my sister-in-law, Autumn.  I decided to support my friend (and new cousin!) Lori's Dad, Terry Seitz, in his bid to become the new mayor of Jasper.  A bunch of Lori's friends and family walked in memory of their mother, Ann Seitz, who passed away last Thanksgiving.  It was so sweet to see all of the "We ran 4 Ann because we can" shirts.

Then on Sunday we attended the parade.  Autumn lives on the parade route.  Since she is so awesome, she went and put chairs and their canopy out on the curb at six a.m. so that we all had a place to sit.  Thanks, Autumn!  It was perfect.  

  

As if the parade wasn't enough excitement for one day, we were invited to go swimming at Brady's Dad, Woody's house.  Woody and Marilyn were very nice to let Trevor and Kendall come along.  They had so much fun.

That brings us to a week ago today.  The past week was filled with the usual tasks that come with owning a house.  But today we got to welcome home my cousin, Nathan, home from basic training for the US Marines.  I forgot my camera, but we are so proud of you Nathan!  

Waiting to Get Shelved

Long time, no post.  Sorry about that.  We've just been a little busy with adoption meetings and the Strassenfest!

I just wanted to fill everyone in on our last meeting.  We went up to St. Elizabeth's on Wednesday, and we got a lot of information and homework.

We have some things to do before we can go onto the next step.  They include background checks, physicals, writing autobiographies, making a scrapbook, and a couple of other things.  Our next meeting is September 7.  That meeting is all day long, and it is a training that is required by the state.  At this training we will learn what to put in a letter to a birth mother and a few other things.  After this meeting they will want us to finish our scrapbooks so that we can schedule the HOME portion of the home study.

What we didn't realize was that we were already working on the home study.  Our meeting way back in March was step one of four and this past meeting was step two of four.  The all day training is step three and the home portion of the study is step four.  Once we complete the home portion of the home study, they 'shelf' us.  What that means is they put our scrapbook on the shelf so that a birth mother can see our book and potentially pick us!  That is so exciting!  We didn't realize we were almost to this point.  We hope and pray that a birth mother will see the potential we have to become parents to their child.

We would like to thank all of you for the love, prayers, and support shown to us throughout the process!  We love you all!

PS - If you would like to know which adoption agency we are using, it is St. Elizabeth Coleman.  They are located in Indianapolis.

Slip-n-Slide: Dubois County Style

My cousin Kyle is gearing up for his second year of medical school at LECOM (Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine) near Pittsburgh, PA.  When he left last July for his first year, he had a going away party at his Mom and Dad's house.  It wasn't just any party, it was a slip-n-slide party.  He had another party this year before he leaves on Friday.  It was a blast.

While I choose not to participate in the slip-n-slide portion of the party, it is so much fun to watch!  My little buddies and a bunch of my cousins came out.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Here's a shot of the slip-n-slide:

We had so much fun!  Thanks to Kyle and family for having all of us over for the slip-n-slide!  I also want to wish Kyle a great year at LECOM.  You are going to be an amazing doctor!  

PS - Make sure you send me your new address or else you might not get any baked goods next year!  :)

O'Bannon with the Schmitts

Before this year, I had never gone camping and really had no desire to do so.  I didn't grow up doing it and if I was going to go out of town for the weekend, I wanted to go somewhere with a TV, wifi, and air conditioning (or heat if it was in the winter).  Brady convinced me to go to camping with Autumn, Nick, and Kadance over the July 4 holiday, and my cousin, Janelle, convinced me to go with them at least once this summer.  We decided to with them this past weekend to O'Bannon Woods State Park.

If you are going to camp and are a little uneasy about it, like I was, here are a few tips:

• Make sure you are in a camper and not a tent.  I don't think you could pay me to tent camp when it is 90+ degrees outside.
• Go to O'Bannon.  They have a pretty awesome pool.  (Even though I have no photos because I didn't take my camera to the pool.)  
• Go with experienced campers.  They make sure you don't run out of the essentials such as water, lighter fluid, and beer.  

We arrived at O'Bannon on Friday afternoon.  We both took the afternoon off, and it was a good thing.  We got there and we were supposed to be at site 188.  Janelle and family were at 187, so it made sense to book 188 if we wanted to be near them, right?  Apparently not.  188 was pretty far away from them, so we made arrangements to transfer sites.  We got a site next to them and proceeded to go park.  Brady is an inexperienced camper parker (for the lack of a better word), so he had a little trouble getting the camper into our spot.  A nice man tried to help us, but when Drew and Janelle got back from the pool, Drew made it look like backing a matchbox car into a regular parking spot.  We got everything together and were ready to have some fun.  Friday evening was spent just hanging out and having dinner.  We did go down to the Ohio River though.  It was a pretty nice view. 

Also a nice view:  watching the kids and some of the adults on the back of the truck on the way to and from the river.  Here are a few shots I took from the inside. 

Once we got to the river, here are a few of the pictures we took.

 

Saturday was a busy day.  We went on a hike for what seemed like longer than the posted two miles.  The scenery was very pretty, and we had fun.  After lunch we went to the nature center and visited the pool.  If you like to camp and swim, O'Bannon is the place for you.  Their pool is awesome.  They have an area that has spray jets for little kids (or adults, I don't judge), a kiddie pool, and a pool with two great slides.  Brady and I tried both slides and had a blast.  

After all of that excitement, we went back to the campsite for dinner.  Some of Janelle's friends made ribs for everyone.  Everyone else brought a side.  We were in charge of corn on the cob, and the Schmitts brought potatoes.  Everything was delicious!  

We packed up this morning and came home.  While I don't think that I'll be a camper multiple times in the summer, a few times would be fun to spend time with family and friends.  It was a great weekend!  Thanks, Janelle and Drew, for letting us tag along on your camping weekend!  

Only a Week Late...

I'm only a week late with this post but better late than never, right?

We have become big fans of the July 4 holiday over the past few years.  It's always been great, but there is a new tradition that has begun.  For the past few years, we have gone to Brady's cousin, Jayme, and his wife, Ginger's house.  Jayme and Ginger host a cookout, and we play fun outdoor games.  Jodi is a bit competitive, so she is always fun to compete against.  The Rivers couldn't make it this year, and we really missed them, but we had a good time with family.

The theme of this year's party was a water balloon fight.  It started out as a water balloon fight and then it turned out to be an entire water war!  I do not know if I have ever laughed so hard.

Max and Maggie were ready for the big fight!  

The idea was to get Nick.  Jayme tried really hard to pull one over on Nick.  It didn't work quite as well as he would have hoped!  

Nick and Jayme have quite the bromance going on.  It's great to watch!  :)  

I follow a blog called Young House Love and on the Friday before the Fourth they posted this link.  I decided to give it a whirl and see if it would work.  Disclaimer:  My Mom helped me. 

Anyway...

Outside of the cake

And the center!  

Woot woot!  It turned out!  

Even though we had a lot of fun with the water fight and spending time together, we didn't forget the real reason that we celebrate the Fourth.  We wouldn't be here today without the brave men and women in the military who risk their lives for our freedom.  

We all made sure to thank our favorite soldier, Nick.  Jayme and Ginger were too sweet when they got this cake for him.  

Hope you all had a great Fourth!  (Even if I am a week late!)