Mannheim Steamroller

Bo asked me back in November if I would like to go see Mannheim Steamroller play in Indy during Christmastime. Um, YES PLEASE!  We decided to count it as our ten year anniversary celebration. Best idea EVER.
We went to eat at a yummy Japanese steakhouse first, and then it was off to the concert. The concert was so fun. A bit loud, but very entertaining.  Bo and I agree the drummer and the percussionist were our favorites.  They were definitely fun to watch, with their drum stick twirling, swaying, and spinning tambourine moves.  They definitely got into it. It's nice to see someone enjoying their job so much.
I wish we'd brought Carter, so he could see the musicians.  I know baby boy sure enjoyed it, as he was constantly moving the whole time. If he comes out deaf, or grows up loving Mannheim Steamroller, we'll know why.
Thanks Bo for the great date and for a WONDERFUL 10 years of marriage.  I'm so glad you love me, proposed to me, and that I said yes!  Here's to eternity!

BOO!

Halloween was a little crazy this year.  With being in Washington for most of October, I just felt like Halloween was a side note and sort of rushed.  I bought over priced pumpkins (the last anywhere) two days before Halloween, and made Bo help cut them.  Derrick wanted an owl, so I cut the owl for him.  Meg's wanted a moon and stars, so Bo helped her, and Carter designed his own face, which Bo helped with.

The next night we went (minus Bo) to our ward Halloween Party and Trunk or Treat.  The kids had a great time!  Meg and I had gotten her costume like at the end of September, but I hadn't gotten anything for Carter or Derrick yet.  Christina saved me in WA by giving me a Jake and the Neverland Pirates costume she had and wasn't going to use, and Carter decided last minute that he wanted to be a Skeleton Pirate, which meant all I needed to buy was a discounted skeleton mask, discounted because I bought it like the day before Halloween. He already had his pirate costume from last year.  Works for me!  I think this is the 4th time in Carter's life that he has been a pirate.  I hope he never grows out of it.  Well, I want him to grow out of the costume (the kid needs to grow!), but the pirate obsession? I love it.

Anyways, we went to the Trunk or Treat and tons of fun.  The kids got lots of candy, which I may or may have not snitched a bunch from.  The next night was Halloween and we were all set to go Trick or Treating when the town cancelled it due to a rain storm. SO...I found out that the Haunted House at the Children's Museum, which I had free tickets to but didn't get to use because we had been in WA, had decided to stay open on Halloween night because of the rain and trick or treating cancelled, and well, off we went.  I wasn't about to miss our last time to go to the Haunted House here in Indy! Plus, free tickets and entertainment for my kids?  Yes, please!

The next night Bo was working, go figure, so we joined our awesome friends, the Shirley's, and went trick or treating with them in their neighborhood.  My neighborhood is small, and thus LAME.  Brandon, the dad, took Meg and Carter and his son Grant, who is Carter's age, out around the neighborhood since they were older and wanted to go faster, and Anna, the mom and my wonderful friend, and I took Derrick and her twin 3 year olds around at a MUCH SLLLLLOOOOOWWWEEEERRR pace.  For a competitive and greedy kinda person, the little kid pace about killed me. hahaaa.  It was so fun watching these little kiddo's get so excited over dum-dums and tootsie rolls. After a bit, the littles were tired, so we went back to the Shirley's and watched a movie and had microwave popcorn while we waited for the older kids to finish up.

Again, the kids came home with tons of candy, which I may or may not have pilfered on occasion. ;)  They had fun, and I had fun watching them.  Poor Bo was bummed he missed out on it, but luckily he'll have many more years to be able to join in.

 

Washington Trip Part 2

After the family reunion at Ensign Ranch, Bo and I loaded up the kids and headed back to Moses Lake to spend some time with my parents.  My kids had fun playing on the swing, feeding the animals, and just enjoying the great outdoors.  As you can see from the pictures, Megs was the one doing most of the swinging, Derrick had an endless supply of carrots to feed the bunnies and goat, and Carter did the caretaking of the cat and de-gourd-ing of the garden.  I guess my dad told the kids that he would pay them five cents for every gourd they picked.  That pile in the picture?  Yeah that was Carter.  Meg and Derrick weren't even tempted.  My dad ended up paying Carter $20. hahhaaaa.  I could've told him that if he's going to offer Carter a chance to earn money, he would have to pay big. :)  Oh yeah, and Derrick became my Grandpa Baker's best friend.  Apparently they spent many afternoons hanging out on the porch outside.  I love that Derrick got to spend some precious time with his great grandpa, even if he won't remember it.

During our few days in ML we decided to drive to the Tri-Cities and check out potential neighborhoods we would maybe like to move to.  While in the Tri-Cities we also stopped to visit with Bo's sister, Terra, and her kids.  Bo's Mom also came by to have dinner and chat. 

Before leaving Moses Lake to head back to Seattle to spend a day with Ivin and company before flying out, we did a little photo session with my Grandpa.  He is 96 years old!!!  I wanted some pictures of my kids with their great-grandpa (who is living with my parents), so they could have it in the records that they knew him.  Derrick, unfortunately, would have nothing to do with the picture taking.  He was tired and GRUMPY, but really, he LOVED hanging out with his great grandpa. 

So yeah. we headed back to Seattle for one more day with their cousins from Ivin's clan.  We took them all to Chuck E Cheese, a safe bet to not losing any children, which is a must when you have FOUR 2 year olds.  The kids had fun. They love those cousins.  We had some last day fun, and then the next morning we were heading back to Indianapolis.  It was a really fun trip, and like I said before, it made us super anxious and excited to be moving near to all this fun family!!!

 

Washington Trip part 1

In October Bo had a conference for work that he needed to attend, and lucky us, it was in Seattle!!!  It also just happened to line up with Carter's two week break from school.  With the conference and a two week break, you'd better believe we took advantage of it all and headed to Washington for two and a half weeks! 

We came in on a Thursday and spent the Thursday and Friday with Ivin and Christina.  Then on Sunday we drove the kids to my parents house in Moses Lake, dropped them off to have some grandparent time, and turned around and headed back to Seattle.  That's right, Bo and I were going to have 4 kid-free days!!!!!  Much needed alone time for us. :)

While in Seattle, Bo and I ran into some friends from Indy at the Pike's Market and spent lots of time with them looking at shops and eating food. While Bo attended a few meetings/conference lectures I shopped, went to lunch with Ivin, and took naps.  Yes, yes I did.  Bo and I went out to yummy restaurants in the evenings, and even saw a few movies.  Such a fun trip!

After Seattle, we drove to Ensign Ranch, where Bo's family had arranged a family reunion for Thursday through Monday.  All the siblings, their spouses, and kids, along with Sandy and Reed, were there.  Bo's sister, Amanda, had picked the kids up in Moses Lake, so we were able to meet them at the Ranch/cabin. 

Again, I didn't get much pictures, but I did get some.  WE had fun playing outside, playing ping pong, pool, and other games inside.  We did crafts, decorated pumpkins, ate yummy yummy food, and chatted and laughed.  It was wonderful.  It made us sooooo excited to be able to move back home in June so that our kids could be with their cousins a lot more.

After the reunion, we headed back to Moses Lake to spend more time with my parents.   Those pictures will be in the next post. :)

 

 Me and Rachel Ferraris--a wonderful friend from Indy.  Her husband is in Bo's program, hence the reason they were in Seattle too.