Fall Pretties

I took these a few weeks ago when there were still leaves on the trees...before it started snowing.
As a side note, Aaron and Tiffany were visiting us this week and I forgot to take any pictures. For which I could kick myself.

Helicopter

This is the helicopter that parks in our yard. Yeah, that's right. We live close to a hospital...very close, it's on the other side of our woods/property. This particular flying machine belongs to a doctor who lives about 30 miles to our north, and who occasionally will fly his chopper to work. We heard he used to land at the hospital, but wasn't allowed to do that anymore, so apparently he got permission from the church to land it here...in our yard. He only flies in about once every week or two, and we have yet to meet him, but I don't know, I think it's kind of neat.

Val guessed it

The black stuff on Elinor's face (pictured a few blogs below) is my mascara. She had been really quiet for a few minutes and I finally started to wonder what she could be doing...it's almost never good when she's quiet for more than 30 seconds. She actually did a pretty good job with it i think...at least she got some on her lashes.

Giant chocolate bar and other pregnancy cravings

A couple at our church attended a classic car extravaganza at...guess where...Hershey. As in, the Hershey. You know, the one where the streets are paved with chocolate and the light posts are made of huge Hershey kisses. Ok, maybe not paved with chocolate, but everywhere you go you smell the sweet smell of milk chocolate, peanut butter and, heaven forbid, peppermint from the york patties (please anything but that). Anyway, all that to say they brought us back this awesome plaque/candy slab. I like chocolate...when i'm not pregnant...but apparently when i am pregnant, i really like chocolate. Apart from chocolate, i've also been wanting tomato sauce stuff (something i couldn't stand a few months ago) and salad. Salad? i know weird right? At least i think it's weird. I really, really want salad...most of the time. With ranch dressing too...i hadn't had ranch dressing in forever. I'm usually more of an oil and vinegar kind of girl.

Can i just end with this: A good appetite is something that should never be taken for granted. I LOVE TO EAT! AGAIN!!!! Praise the Lord!

Gotta go eat chocolate.....

The Girl

Just some recent photos of 'lil E. Try and guess what that black stuff on her face is.

Fall

We had a fall festival for church a little over a week ago. The Bickels (most of the people in these pictures) borrowed a cider press from someone they know and we made homemade apple cider. The photo that looks like someone doing some wringing is George....doing some sifting i guess you could call it with a pillowcase. I think that was just to purify it some. You know take out the dirt and sticks and worms and whatnot :) It was a pretty fun time. I got tired of cider in a hurry though. We still have a gallon in our fridge and half a bottle of pear cider.It's probably beginning to ferment...mmm. Oh, and how cute is Elinor with that kitten!?

The Office

So, am I the only one who cries when they watch the Office?

Tomato Sauce

My friend Lacy gave me about a bushel of tomatoes. I thought I would try my hand at canning them...I didn't. I decided to make sauce out of them and freeze the sauce. It was a lot of work, but worth it I think. We had some tonight with spaghetti...tasted good to me. These photos are examples of some of the steps I went through in preparing the stuff. (I should mention it took me several weeks to finish the project, even then I wasn't able to use all the tomatoes...just couldn't take it anymore.)

Seneca

So here we are. I know the pictures of the house and church are a little ominous, but that's all I have of them so far. Please don't let the dark clouds in any way skew your impression of the lovely place in which we live.
It's been great being able to just walk outside and play in our own yard, and that's our very own porch swing...a gracious gift from some folks at church. I know this is brief, but I had to start updating the blog sometime. Hopefully there will be some better photos in the future.

Yeah, we're here

Greetings from PA! I don't have a lot to say right now, other than I've been working on photos to post so you all can have some visuals. We have a different computer though, so I've had to make some adjustments and still need to find some editing software. All that being said, please don't forget about us, and please check back soon.

Where's Rachel?

All,

Warmest greetings. Rachel would like to let you all know that she is eager to be posting, and sharing her fabulous pictures, but the crappy computer that her husband bought has been acting very squirrely. It is currently at the "repair shop" a.k.a. my dad's working on it. Anyway, as soon as it is better, I'm sure you'll be hearing from her. God be with you all.

Joshua M. R.

Easters

Some pictures from Easter in Winnebago.

City's Nature

Some more pictures at the park.

The Sacramento Playlot

We stopped at a playground yesterday on our walk back from the target. Or maybe I should say we stopped at the Target before going to the playground. Anyway, we were the only people there...a rare thing in Chicago. Also, you should know that in a lot of neighborhoods we have "playlots" instead of parks, as was the case here. I suppose the word "playlot" would indicate that someone took a vacant lot and put a playground there. If that's what you were picturing, you're more or less right. This one is pretty nice. In addition to the playground equipment there is a small basketball court and a small field for playing stickball (certainly not for playing any version of longball). It was really nice being alone there yesterday, especially with the perfect weather. It made me feel almost as though we were playing in our yard (with the possibility of hundreds of eyes looking down at us).

let me know what you think of the pictures. It was rather refreshing to be able to take pictures outside again.
-Rachel

One of Those Days

Yesterday was one of those days. I think you know what I mean. One of those perfect days. Warm enough to be comfortable outside, open the windows, and not wear coats. But not so hot that you sweat. We look forward to them for months, at least I do. I'm sure most of you know just how much I hate winter. Granted this winter has not been that bad. Relatively short and warm. But man, I hate the cold. It may have gotten worse since we've been in Chicago. There's lots more walking. That's why I pretty much haven't gone anywhere for months.



Yesterday I did some thinking as Elinor and I were enjoying the park. I often think about why on earth people live here. Why do we live somewhere where we can't go outside without our nose hairs turning into icicles? Anyway, as I was thinking about that I realized something. Those perfect days wouldn't feel so perfect if we had them all the time. In the summer I know I start to take the warm weather for granted. I'm still conscious of how nice it is, but the feeling is nowhere near that which I felt yesterday. Those days are rare. So perfect and refreshing. We've got more of them coming...this is the best time of the year!

Elinor

I sure do love my girl. I enjoy the little time I have in the morning before she wakes up, but I look forward to popping my head in her door when she does wake up. She slowly peeks out between the rungs of her crib and squeals when she knows I see her. She's walking now, and getting smarter and smarter every day. She's become quite the problem solver, which of course means more mischief. I probably have 1000 photos just of her, these are some recent ones.



Getting a haircut

Climbing into her rocking chair

Just some more pics of pals

Here are some more pictures of pals. I didn't have them uploaded yet when i posted that last blog. These are just more of Kathy and a few of Alex and Carrie.