treat bags

Tomorrow is Halloween and this will be the first time that Everett might be aware that there is something special going on.  At daycare tomorrow he gets to dress up in a halloween shirt (full costumes would be a lot to handle) and the kids will all exchange treats.  Tonight Everett helped by putting some of the stickers on the bags and by placing some goldfish, cereal bars, and yogurt dippers in them.  Hopefully the other kids at daycare like their treats!

homecoming weekend

We decided to take full advantage of our three day weekend (thank you parent teacher conferences for letting us be off on Friday) by heading to Columbia for MU's homecoming. Right before we left for Columbia we did have one adventure here in KC--visiting a pumpkin patch.  Tom's dad was in town for business so we were able to spend the morning with him.  Check out these fun pictures at the pumpkin patch: 

 Friday afternoon we packed up the car and headed for Columbia.  We were able to stay with our good friends--the Conner's (you can see Polly and I in the picture below) and go with them to see Mizzou's house dec's (house decorations).  If you haven't seen these before it's hard to explain, but essentially the sororities and fraternities team up to make these elaborate displays that tell a short story involving MU's mascot, Truman the tiger, and the homecoming football game.

 Saturday morning we continued to celebrate homecoming by going to the parade in downtown Columbia at 7am! Despite the early morning we had so much fun! Everett was actually fairly entertained by everything, especially the bands that played in the parade.

 We opted not to go to the football game (15 month old at a football game = a waste of money for us), so we enjoyed the game on TV at Tom's brother's house.  The added perk to this was that we were able to hang out with our new baby niece, Claire!

 Even though we had the opportunity to do some fun things this weekend, the best part was just being together as a family.  Despite the occasional tantrum, Everett is at such a fun age right now. We just soaked up all the time the three of us got to spend together in addition to seeing so many other folks we love in Columbia.

Another awesome weekend is in the books!

Sausage Supper Weekend

Last weekend we got to do something that we have been dreaming of for the past 5 years.  We headed to Mid-Missouri for the Brinktown sausage supper.  Brinktown is a little town of about 40 people about 45 minutes south of Jefferson City (our capital).  My grandma has a condo in Jeff City and a house down in Brinktown, which we refer to as "out in the country."  Throughout my high school, college, and early teaching years it became a tradition to head to this feast every fall.   

The trip began with a stop in Columbia where Bonnie met up with one of her good friends, Emily, at her favorite coffee shop Kaldi's.

Everett and I had planned to take a walk around MU's campus but the weather was threatening rain (and did eventually) so we headed to the Columbia Mall.  We discovered a play land, which was being dominated by crazy older kids, where E found a home in a little tunnel.

That night we headed down to Jeff City to stay with our friends the Fitzpatricks.  My former Young Life kid and friend Elliot came over to see E and hang out for a bit.  E took to him nicely.  

The next morning we got up and headed out into the fall beauty that is Mid-Missouri in mid-October.

After an hour we made it to my grandma's house where we got to do a little wondering around the great outdoors.  E loves being outside so this was a great place for him to check stuff out.

Then it was time to head over to the main event.  Here granny, E, and I are hanging out outside the parish hall.  

We explored the grounds for a little bit before heading in to eat.  

This included a stop at my mom's grave site.  This was the first time that we had been out in the country with E.  It was probably the hardest time I have ever had visiting my mom's grave site.  Something about having our awesome little man with us made it especially tough to wrestle with the fact that E will not get to know such an awesome grandma.

We wondered for a little bit more and even got to take E to see some horses before heading in to eat.  The sausage supper is a huge event as you can see from the tremendous line that had formed within just a half hour after opening.

Granny and I at the dinner table.

The sausage.

There was so much good food and Bonnie, E and I left absolutely stuffed.  E even had his fair share of sausage.  I would have been disappointed had he refused to eat it.  It was so good to get out of KC for the weekend and spend some time with so many good friends and family members.  I hope that we can return next year.

turkey creek ranch

This is way overdue... but here is comes.  Back in July right before we moved into our new place we had one last glorious moment of summer.  When I was in middle school and high school the Meyer family used to take an annual summer trip to Turkey Creek Ranch.  TCR is located on Bull Shoals Lake which is in south central Missouri on the Arkansas boarder.  

Not only did we get to spend a week there with my siblings and dad but almost all of my moms siblings and their kids were there with us.  It was an amazing time and a spectacular finish to the summer.  

Since TCR is on a lake my dad brought his boat and we enjoyed all of the typical lake fun.  Here are some pics from the week to highlight our time.

Cousin Mo's hair whipping in the wind.

There was also some cuddle time with Everett's great-grandma.

Lots of fun on the playground!

Sharing a cabin with my sister Jill, her husband Eli, and E's cousin Leo was a big treat.

Leo even fed E some Cheerios.

My sister Lori and her son Mo came over a lot to play.

Getting a pic of the three cousins together was a challenge.

We had a couple of big whole family dinners throughout the week.

One morning Bonnie and I took E and Leo for a walk down to the lake.  The walk back up the gravel hill was not as fun.

There was also a ton of good pool time!

Not only did we get to have all of this family fun but we got to celebrate Everett's first birthday while there. 

We went with a sports theme for our little bubs.

E looks a little tired from a hard day of playing and celebrating...

He also got lots of great gifts from the family.  Including some puzzles...

a sweet dump truck...

and some rockin' Mizzou trunks among other things.

Needless to say after such an awesome week we all needed a little rest...

but instead we moved into our new house the next day.  Now it is mid-October.  Where has the time gone?  Thanks TCR for a fantastic trip!  I hope we get to gather there again sometime soon!