Happy Halloween 2010

Happy Halloween! This year was MUCH better than last year as the four of us got to all be together trick-o-treating. Last year Nolan had just gotten home from the hospital so there was no way we were taking him out and about by the monsters and goblins:) This year was so much fun (with the exception of the Lane's being gone trick-o-treating with the cuties in TN). My conversation with Tessa was very similar to our conversation last year about what she wanted to dress up as. Once again...a dinosaur. Nolan was going to be a dragon for trick-o-treating but once we put the lion on him it was hard to resist. So a lion he was. Happy Halloween.



The trick-o-treating gang for the night.

Oh...such a sad lion.





I didn't know that dinosaurs ate ice cream!

Our 6th wedding anniversary...

Our 6th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe it has been 6 years. We had a great day both together with just Derek and I, and also spending time with the kids. We had a great lunch and afternoon hanging out in downtown Madison. It was hard to turn down the excitement downtown as the Badgers were getting ready to play OSU tonight. The atmosphere on game day is one of kind. So Derek and I hung out downtown after lunch until mom and dad dropped the kids off to us. We had a great time enjoying the beautiful fall day at the Badger tailgate party. Tessa was a bit hesitant of how big Bucky was (an inflatable Bucky, not the real deal) but loved hearing the music and seeing all of the instruments. To top the day off the Badgers had a huge win. (Yep, I'm a big football fan too!) Just like the day of our wedding...we all had to sneak away into the bar that night to catch the big win against Purdue. Hard to believe that was 6 years ago.

Here I come...wait...nope...I fell back to sleep!

Tessa's bed seems to be the focal point for many of the blog posts:) Monday morning this is what I saw when I walked into her room. Sometimes she gets up early in the morning and comes into our room. It usually lasts long enough for her to say, "Mommy, daddy, hi." Then all we have to say is, "Tessa, please go back to bed." (The getting up in the night scenarios are significantly different than the actual going to bed scenarios...however, this has DRASTICALLY improved!!) Well, Sunday night she didn't get up in the night but it sure seems like she tried to. Her head was literally hanging off of the bed when I went to wake her up to go to Stephie's. We got a good laugh out of it! Tessa - what a blessing to have in our lives. She sure is a goofy girl and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't get a good laugh from the things she says (or in this case the things she does!!).

Pumpkin Patch Fun

What a great weekend last weekend was to head to the pumpkin patch. It was in the 80's! That is the first time in a long time that I remember wearing shorts to pick out our pumpkins. The pumpkins this year were a bit different than the pumpkins I've seen before. There were some "regular" pumpkins but a majority kind of gave me the creeps. Of course this type of pumpkin was Derek's first choice:) The kids had a blast crawling and running around.
Tessa playing in the mini silo full of corn. She loved it!



"What's that thing?"

"There they are again but those are creepy ones with warts!"

Derek sporting the creepy pumpkin...eeeewwww!

"How do I get to that big pumpkin in the middle?"

"I did it!"

Congratulations Bryan Richard Meade PhD!

Bry, you did it! Congratulations. We are so proud of you and really can't even begin to explain how proud we are. What you are doing is absolutely amazing to me. Traveling to San Diego last week to be a part of your defense was truly a once in a lifetime experience, thank you. No, I didn't understand much of your defense (okay honestly I really didn't even understand one word of the 45 minutes presentation) however because you've taken it apart for us and have spoken to us at our level (haha..I had to say it, sorry) I think I get it. What I know is we've watched loved ones pass away from cancer, friends and family so close to us get changed by cancer, and you are working your butt off to make a difference in the cancer treatment world. Your dedication, work ethic, intelligence is going to do great things in the future. I'm so happy to be a part of your life. You make your little sister very proud. Congrats on such a huge achievement and thank you for letting us be part of your big day. I can't wait to see where your road takes you.
About an hour after the defense...let the party begin:)


Bry's opening page before beginning the presentation...can you read that? :)


Yikes that is pretty. This night Jessie and I were able to see dolphins, a rainbow, and this sunset all within about thirty minutes of one another. If that's not a good night, I'm not sure what is.



Yep, that's a circle on my face on the picture above. Am I surprised? Not at all. Of course we all look for reminders of Grandma Mitchell and really what better place than on a beautiful beach to think of her and hope for her to show up. Jessie, Grandma Meade, Becca, and I had left the hotel on Sunday to get home and below is what my mom and dad woke up to out their condo window on Monday morning. Once again am I surprised? Nope.