State Fair

This year was the first time I have ever been to the State Fair and not been miserably hot. The weather was just gorgeous the day we went. My mom and youngest sister were able to go with us. We had a really good time and ate way too much fried food.

Yes - that's Emily and I riding an elephant. SO COOL! I've always wanted to ride an elephant. Even if only for 2 minutes. There was a sign for pony rides $5 then a little ways down a sign for elephant rides $7. Seemed like a no brainer to me!I love draft horses. Check out the beautiful one behind Emily.

Emily playing on the farm equipment. I'm not even sure what this thing was - and I grew up on a farm! I'm guessing it was a sprayer.
My youngest sister Kristi with Drew.
Emily wanted this Scooby Doo so bad that she threw a coin in a wishing well and wished for it after we had told her no. We're such softies that we went back and bought it to surprise her against our better judgement. Of course now, two weeks later, Scooby can't keep his air for more than an hour. No surprise there. That's what we get for buying an inflatable Scooby at a fair.

My Family

For all my friends out there (hopefully there's at least a couple) I should introduce my family. Especially all my sisters. Here I am with my husband Don and daughter Emily. Don and I met at Purdue our junior year. We're both CPAs - go ahead and crack a joke, it's nothing we haven't heard before. Our daughter Emily was born in 2004. She is fun-loving, strong willed and very lovable. She has brought us so much joy.

This handsome blue-eyed babe is our son Drew. He joined our family in April. He is so easy going and just a doll. He was worth the wait and then some.

And here are my sisters and I. From left to right: myself, Bev (2nd youngest), Sarah (the middle child), Kristi (the youngest), and Julie (2nd oldest). You guessed it - that makes me the oldest. I would also like to point out that at 5'7" I am the shortest. (Bev is wearing flip-flops and I'm wearing heels). Julie and her husband and daughter live in the house we all grew up in north of Kokomo. Sarah and her husband live in the Geist area. Bev lives with me and is engaged to a great guy. Kristi has an apartment near IUPUI where she attends.

Here you can see where my children and I get our blue eyes - my wonderful mom Terry. She moved to Fishers last year and I LOVE having her near. I am so lucky to have such a great mom. My dad passed away in 1994. Unfortunately I don't have any digital pictures of him to share. He was a great man and we all miss him.

And here is my niece Abby with Emily. They are best friends. Abby has the whitest, curliest hair you will ever see and is absolutely adorable!! I love this picture. It has to be in my all-time top ten favorite pictures ever. They were playing dress-up at my mom's house last fall. My mom had a real tea party for them - the works. So sweet.

That's my family with the exception of my brothers in law. So far I have two and one more to be. Watch out for pictures of them in future posts.

The New Camper

My first official post will be from a camping trip we took a few weeks ago since many of my friends don't even know I enjoy camping. Here is our NEW camper! Just a little pop-up but so much nicer than a tent. I have been tent camping since I was a kid. This little pop-up is camping in luxury to me. I know my sister Sarah thinks I've gone soft. I don't have a problem with that.

Here are three very important people in my life - my son Drew, niece Abby, and daughter Emily. They are hanging out in the new camper for the first time. Emily and Abby LOVE camping. I'm sure that has a lot to do with getting to be together 24/7. I love how much they enjoy each other! I hope they stay this close as they get older.

Here's our site - pretty basic. Just the family and nature. We were at Potato Creek State Park near South Bend. It's a nice park. Some of the group loved the mountain bike trail. Anyone who knows Sarah be sure to ask her about flipping over her handle bars. I'm sure she would love to show off any remaining battle wounds.

Next trip is planned for October. We're off to Spring Mill State Park. But before that we're doing Disney in September! All you Disney veterans out there need to give me all your Disney tips.