Our Newest Addition

No, not MY newest addition!  My sister Tracy and her husband Peter welcomed this sweet little bundle of perfection Noah Gary on Tuesday, September 22.  He is 9 pounds 10 ounces and PERFECT in every way.

I was so happy I happened to have Tuesday off (right now I have Fridays off, but had to switch because another person needed Friday off) and it worked perfect!  

Tracy labored for almost 20 hours before they decided to do a c-section.  She had some complications during the c-section, and we are all so thankful that she is ok and healthy!  She was so disappointed that it ended that way, but honestly, I don't know many women who would hold out that long!

I am so proud of her and especially with all that she went through, she is going to be one amazing mama!  And now she can totally hold that against him when he's naughty, haha!

I am so stoked to have a baby in the family, he is going to be so fun.  I only wished I lived closer, after being with them on Tuesday, I am feeling so sad that I can't just drive there after work and see him...

Tracy, I know you will eventually read this, and I want you to know how incredibly PROUD I am of you!  You went through so much this week, and now you get reap the benefits with this little guy.  I am so excited to see what a great mama you are going to be, and I am blessed that I get to be there for you guys.  Love you all so much!

Perfect Fall Weekend

This weekend was a PERFECT weekend!  The weather was a bit cool, sunny and just all around gorgeous.  Plus I got a ton of stuff done!  I had Friday off and I watched pretty much any September 11 special that has been made.  Every year I watch the actual footage of the Today Show on MSNBC, still gives me the chills.

I finally got my fall decorations out, I am thinking a trip to Crafts Direct is needed to update a few things...

Despite stopping frequently to watch tv, I got a ton of organizing done.  Feels so good to open cupboards and see organization!  Saturday I got some canning done, got 8 jars of salsa put up.  Brad smoked some ribs and we had friends over that night.

Sunday we went to church came home and after lunch walked back into our woods to grab some apples!

There is an apple tree that is huuuuge!

Of course we had to take some pics (why must she pose for e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.)

I was able to connive the family into helping (yes Alayna was there too, but she had a friend over) and was able to get 8 quarts of apple pie filling plus 4 gallon bags full of cut up apples.  I said if they helped I would bake them a pie....

 

Such a great weekend, I am so ready for cooler temps!

Volleyball 2015

As I mentioned before, Rachel was SUPER stoked to make one of the JV teams this year for her first year of high school volleyball (insert sobbing here).  There were 45 freshmen  (who all make the freshmen team) and only 8 of those freshmen that either made a JV team or varsity (2 freshmen made varsity!) and Rach was one of them.  We are SO proud of that kid.  She has been obsessed with volleyball since 5th grade, but has really had to work hard to get where she is.  In 6th grade she was the only one out of her group of friends to not make the JO team, it was heartbreaking.  However, that girl has learned so damn much from that experience!

Tuesday was her first game at Princeton and I was excited to go watch her play.  However they had to change the times, and they left 2 hours earlier than expected, I was bummed that I missed her playing, but I got to see the other JV and varsity games which were awesome (JV1 lost but varsity won)!  Thankfully Brad was able to go and watch and I got updates and pics.  Rachel's team won all three games and Brad said she played awesome.

Rachel (and her bff Taylor) started, which was cool, as there are only 4 freshmen on her team and the rest are sophomores and juniors!

She has home games next week, so I won't miss any games.  Her coach told her that if proves herself more, she might get bumped up to the next jv team.  I told her to not get her hopes up, and after playing their first game, I don't think she will want to, she LOVES her team!