COLLEGE GAMEDAY & the night before

The night before the big game {OSU vs UCS} we met up with the Anneliese & Zach Haws and Aaron & Alder Orme and one of Zach's friends. They were all in town for the game. Anneliese introduced us to the fabulous RUSTY BUCKETS, which is famous for their dip fried pickles. Spencer and I tried and they were surprisingly yummy!

I have to thank Anneliese for the pictures, since I copied them off her blog.

Next up we hit HANDEL'S ice cream.

It was a little chilly that night... hence the blanket.

It's always so great to catch-up with old friend. So all of you BUCKEYE fans, you know you have a place to stay if you come into town.

We made it down to campus to watch part of ESPN'S GAMEDAY be filmed across from the OSU stadium. I have to say the mood was a little somber in anticipation for the game, since we didn't look to hot against unranked Navy last week. Looking at Spencer, Blake, & Spencer Fullmers faces the picture below says it all. {NERVOUS!!}

It was a close and great game, even if we didn't win!

Avery didn't want to be left out of this post so here is a picture added to show she was there.

One of the many things I love about living in Columbus these days is getting to see old friends who come to see the BUCKEYES play. This past weekend we got to catch-up with Brooke & Devon Jarvis over Sunday dinner.

I couldn't help but reminisce back to Spencer's first year of Dental school and the Sunday dinners we had at their house along with the Mannings, Karens, and sometimes the Missionaries. They were one of the couples that made moving so far from family a little easier.

Avery finally had her day to shine. She started preschool Tuesday and she couldn't have been more ready. After taking a few pictures of her Evan thought it was his turn and stood by the wall to get his picture.

We just had lunch and hadn't gotten his shirt back on. But to be honest it seems he is only fully dressed half the day. And by night he is so dirty there is never an option but to give him a bath.

Having Avery in preschool FIVE days a week and during Evan's nap time... I can't even express how great it is!

PLAYING WITH ADOBE

I have been figuring out some new tricks on Adobe today and wanted to one of the pictures I was playing with...

I bought the texture package from HERE and then duplicated the background in ADOBE. Then I put the picture of Evan in between the two layers and then used the erasing tool. (if that makes any sense?) I definitely need more practice but you get the idea. I love learning new techniques, if you have any you want to share I am all ears.

Today was KAYLA'S first day of 2nd grade.

She was so excited, she came into my room at 7 a.m. to make sure we weren't going to be late. Her bus leaves at 8:30, which is a nice change from Colorado Springs. Last year she left on the bus at 7:30.

Yesterday, being Kayla's last day of summer our schedule seemed full of things to do. We spent the first half of the day at ZOoMbEzI BaY ; a new water park that is connected to the Zoo. Then we went to "meet the teacher" night. Kayla's teacher, Mr. D'Andrea, looks around 30 and seems to be mellow. I think Kayla will really like being in his class. From there we headed to OSU's stadium for the teams open practice. We counted this outing as F.H.E., since it was MONDAY. We didn't stay long since the kids were pretty tired by this point.

Walking around the stadium, listening to the band practice made me get excited for fall. I hate to see summer go but i love fall!!! Especially in OHIO!

Hocking Hills

When I was young I had fond memories going camping in Aspen Grove, Utah.

It was a Magical place, a place I thought, where fairies could live.

Hocking Hills is that place for my kids.

We enjoyed exploring some of the trails and then headed to the campsite where friends were going to camp.

Cute friends!

My Favorite thing, the Fire!

Spencer broke out the dutch-oven and made some yummy APPLE CRISP.

The girls HIGHLIGHT is always the smores.

Here are the ladies of the night.

(minus Stacey Anne who wasn't there yet and Lacy was setting up her tent)

Thank you Kristie (middle) for organizing the event

We didn't get to actually sleep-over since Spencer had a endo golf scramble today, but we sure had fun staying late... and then sleeping in our own beds. Hopefully next summer we will start the camping thing with the our kids.

To Kirtland and Back

We met up with Spencer's oldest sister Lori and her family:

Brad (husband), Stefanie (oldest daughter) & Max (her husband),

Lindsey (daughter), Bryson (son), and Jacob (son), on part of their

two week road trip.

We stayed at a HOTEL WITH them IN Kirtland, Ohio and then

made our way to Columbus, showing them some of our

favorite places. Oh, how my girls LOVE the attention from their

cousins. They were so sweet to my kids,

it was SAD to see them go!

FAMILY TIME... cosi & biking

We made it out to COSI's (center of science and industry) FAMILY FRIDAY NIGHT. The girls got free coupons from the library's summer reading program. I have been excited to take my kids here again. When we lived in Columbus two years ago I had a family pass. I enjoyed many cold winter days entertaining my girls here. They have so many cool things for them to play and learn with. We enjoyed seeing LOST EGYPT exhibit that is there now and seeing THE GRAND CANYON ADVENTURE in the IMAX theater.

Not to far from our house we have a little pond where we can feed ducks and enjoy a nice biking trail that goes through a beautiful wooded area. It has become one of our favorite family activities.