Sunshine....summertime?

We have noticed the leaves quickly changing, summer fleeting..winter coming, and decided we better get outside before it becomes too cold! We have had beautiful weather and Chicago boasts 20 miles of lake front beaches and parks, so we've been trying to make good use of those miles with our recently purchased roller blades. There is an upper trail that runs through the parks, as well as a lower trail that goes right along the water. We decided to stick to the upper trail, for fear that I may end up in the lake!

Jason when we first got to the trail...

...typical, he should have stayed by the tree:) Actually I was quite impressed with his roller blading skills. He was much more confident than myself!

Finally, a good one!

~~Fall Fling~~

Last weekend we were invited to a fall fling hosted by Dana Gibbs. I had heard she throws quite the party, but this was my first one! We had a great bar-b-que and then enjoyed a little pumpkin carving competition.

"team one" - Jen, Yooney, me and Jason

A few of the pumpkins...our team carved the pumpkin on the far left. We ended up taking second place to Scott's pumpkin, which is the one pictured in the middle. The prize was gourmet popcorn and Jason thought it was absolutely amazing!

These are the kids who stayed for the pumpkin carving contest. Remember if you click on the pictures it enlarges them so it may be a little easier to see faces.

Fondue and a storm...

Last night, as many of you may have heard on the news, a major thunderstorm swept through our region causing many Tornado warnings. Since we don't have a TV and didn't have the radio on we were completely unaware that this system was on its way until we were hit with it. We were in the kitchen chopping vegetables for our fondue party and within minutes we couldn't see out our windows. Hail was beating off them so hard I was afraid they would break! However, the system moved quickly out over the lake and on to Michigan where I believe it caused much more damage. There were some broken windows downtown and traffic congestion here-and-there.
It continued to storm throughout dinner with thunder and lighting.

Dinner....yes dinner...

Jeff and Cassie (Cassie is one of Jason's classmates) had invited us down to their place for a night of fondue! So we brought our new pots, some vegetables and meat, and together with everything they had prepared we enjoy quite the feast! Fondue is still a little new for Jason and I, but we are learning how to make different sauces and really enjoying it! We also have a chocolate pot which we used for desert!

Here is a picture of Jason anxiously awaiting his dinner!

...almost finished!

We now have furniture back in place! I've come to the conclusion that the more time you spend organizing the less organized you become. We haven't quite got anything on the walls yet, I'm having a hard time thinking about pounding holes in the walls we worked so hard to paint! I thought I would put a few pictures on here so you can see our close-to-finished living room....and yes that is a crock pot sitting on our end table. As I said...we aren't completely organized yet:) I promise to get pictures up of the bedroom and kitchen as soon as they are photo worthy.....

Window washers...brave?!?...or stupid?!?

There has been a notice posted in our elevators warning us that it is window washing time, so for the past two weeks I've cautiously raised the blinds preparing to come face to face with a man hanging in my window! Thankfully they make plenty of noise so I was well prepared. Today they were working on a side of the building that is diagonal to us so I was able to get a few pictures. There are 19 floors in our building and as you can see they are sitting on a trapeze with their buckets hanging!!...stupid or brave?? They wash all the windows in our building four times a year. It was so nice to have clean windows, but now I can see how dirty they are on the inside :(

Wedding Pictures Galore!

We just got back from a wedding reception that Jason's parents put on for us at Desert Canyon Golf Resort in Orondo, WA. It was great to see all our friends and family again! Unfortunately we don't have any pictures yet. However, we did get a bunch of wedding pictures! They were taken by our good friend Pam Grillo. You can access her website by clicking here. She took so many great pictures I had a hard time choosing a few to share, so as you can see...I chose quite a few! September 29th turned out to be a crisp fall day. However, despite the weather, it was an amazing day! You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

A few Pictures of the Bride and Groom

(Once again...I had such a hard time picking favorites!!)

Pictures were taken before the wedding, so we are about to see each other for the first time in this picture.

The Wedding Party:

Our flower girl Meredith became quick friends with Ashlyn. Aren't they adorable?

Jason and his groomsmen: Justin Grillo, Brian Kloosterman, Josh Barnes, Joel Barnes.

The bridesmaids and I: Julie Sanderson, Mandy Buckingham, Bethany Buckingham and Leah Sanderson

The wedding party all together

The Buckingham family

The Barnes family


...and the wedding begins!!!

My parent's place in Thompson Falls, Montana.




Miles and Meredith Mittelstaedt

Jason walking his mom up the aisle.


...an eventful walk down the aisle with dad.

... first a slight wardrobe malfunction......

....next knapweed caught in my dress...

However, dad managed to get me to Jason without further ado...

Jason's aunt Jan spoke, she had a beautiful part.

...notice the storm clouds in the background...

Mr and Mrs Jason Barnes!

We were in such a rush to get down the aisle we almost ran Pam over!

Married!

A huddle of Congratulations after the wedding....as well as an eager attempt to warm up!

Meredith holds on to her daddy, Randy, to keep warm after the wedding.

Dad slaved away before the wedding filleting 100 pounds of fresh salmon. Thanks to the help of Don and Darlene Wells (the chefs) we had a beautiful meal for our reception.

Jason decided to try his luck early in the game...however, he did refrain from coating my face in frosting. Thank you Jason.

Josh, Joel, Justin, and Brian put together a kit to help me "Protect Jason from Jason." I owe them a huge thank you as I have already needed it multiple times in the last two weeks:)

...off to Spokane!