she's walking :)

almost 11 months old & she has taken LOTS of steps!

and busy shopping while my Daddy & Grandpa watch football :)



and last, who's more excited...? us or Haven?

pumpkin festival memory

Haven attended her first Pumpkin Festival in Morton last Thursday [before we headed out of town to WI]. Imagine Artists [operated by a good friend of mine, Taryn Kaiser] here in Morton was running a special, so we couldn't help but capture the moment-great job ladies!

a day at Tanner's

Ahh, now that it is officially Fall, I waited a mere one day before I packed up Toodlebugs and headed off to Speer to visit one of my favorite places in Central IL, Tanner's Orchards. It was an unusually warm, windy day but Haven, myself and "Aunt" Holly had quite the time nonetheless!

Our little Punkers amidst the Pumpkins...this is how she got her nickname as a mere 10.5 months ago, I thought I was doomed to deliver on Halloween night, thus we called her Pumpkin & then I turned it into Punkers...to this day, Arlan's really not a HUGE fan of the nickname :)

Punkers thought she was quite "big-stuff" playing on the playground with the big kids.

Haven wasn't necessarily a fan of the goats, as we arrived fairly early and these trained goats got very excited (aka hungry) to see visitors.

Haven in the funny mirror...she thought this looked more interesting than the goats!

"Aunt Holly" and Punkers

Friday's Funny

A blast from the past...one of the very first garden parties we hosted ended with a trick being played on Brent...it was great!

the red combine

Haven got her first ride in a combine...well, it was a red combine, so I suppose it still counts! :)

She was very inquisitive about the whole process: watching Papa Miller drive, watching the corn fall from the auger, and then into the wagon...she was fascinated often pointing at things as she witnessed them & we explained them.

Her mother on the other hand was battling not only her allergies but also, more importantly, her pride of actually humbling herself to ride in a RED combine.

Thanks Papa Miller-it was great fun! Grandpa Verlyn-can I ride with you too? :)

perhaps Papa Miller, if your combine wasn't red... :)
[insert: hee-hee from your favorite daughter-in-law]

ISU Retreat 2010

Once again we were invited & privileged to travel up to Arkdale, WI, to attend the annual ISU Retreat with some of our college kids. Northern Bay Resort provided excellent accommodations for our large group of 46 students + 2 couples + 1 Haven...that's right, we took Toodlebugs with us and she was great! Not only did she continue to be a wonderful traveler there & back but she LOVED all the attention and was constantly entertained by the multiple college students ready to hold, play, crawl, giggle, and amuse her.

Ticket to Ride was a popular game choice during the weekend.

Ah, boys will be boys and a game of 500 may very well transcend the generations :)

Another popular game...the card game called MOW-a version of UNO with absolutely ridiculous rules!

Friday's Funny

I always knew this day would come... :)

waking up

One of my/our favorite things to do in the morning or after a nap is to go in to get my little chabbering Punkers...she is so fun when she is ready to begin/continue her day. She is SO excited to see you, tell you about her night (which usually I already KNOW about), and let you in on her "conversations" with her animals.

Since Arlan has started back to school, this is one of the many things he has missed-so just the other day after a nap, he took a few pictures....enjoy!