Happy 17th Birthday Sissy!

Dear Gage and Gabe,

On December 3, your big Sissy turned 17. It was a Wednesday, so we celebrated the previous weekend on Saturday. She had some of her close friends over and we prepared her favorite meal - Cajun Shrimp Pasta. After eating, we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate cake pops while she opened her gifts. We ended the night with a friendly game of Apples to Apples and you boys had a lot of fun shuffling all the extra cards around.

Granny and her babies

I love you,
Mommy

Happy Thanksgiving - 11/27/14

Dear Gage and Gabe,

On Monday, November 24, Great-Grandma Pat fell down while walking up her steps. She fell into the corner of her apron closet and broke her left hip. She was able to get help quickly and had surgery to repair the fracture on Tuesday in Evansville. We were able to stop and see her in the hospital in Evansville on Thursday on our way to see the rest of the family for Thanksgiving. She was in great spirits and didn't seem to be in much pain. I was so happy we were able to stop in a visit her.

We made our way to Fort Branch to Uncle Steve and Aunt Peg's house for the noon Thanksgiving meal. It wasn't quite the same without Grandma's chicken dumplings, but we made do with what we had! It was great to see and visit with all the family. We don't get to see them very often, so we try to make the most of our time with them.

 

After lunch, we went over to DeAnn and Dave's house to see the Leister side of the family. We were still full from lunch, so we didn't eat dinner with them. But we did visit and enjoy our time together.

 

I love you,

Mommy

WKU vs Army - 11/15/14

Dear Gage and Gabe,

On Saturday November 15, we went down to Western Kentucky University to watch the Toppers take on Army. It was a coooold day, but it would be our only opportunity to watch them play during the season. We picked up Jett on our way and clothed in our big winter coats, we made our way to the field. We were planning on buying tickets at the door, but a nice man gave us some tickets for free. He usually has 15 seats for his friends and family, but because it was a cold day, some of his people bailed. Sad for them, but lucky for us.

Before the game, President Ransdall parachuted onto the practice field with a member of the Army's parachute team. Then the Golden Knights of the Army parachuted into the main arena right onto the 50 yard line. It was so neat to watch! You boys thought it was amazing.

We ended up leaving right before half time. It was really cold and you boys were over the experience of the game. The popcorn and chips were gone and you were ready to go. WKU won the game 52-24! We really enjoyed the game and were glad to cheer on the Tops!

I love you,
Mommy

Got milk, Gabe?

Dear Gage and Gabe,

You boys love to drink milk. You'd much rather have it instead of juice, which is fine by me. Gabe, you are the more enthusiastic milk drinker, and you will actually get the gallon of milk out of the refrigerator and bring it to us when you're thirsty (as long as the fridge is unlocked). You grunt and bring it to us saying, "Oh, heavy. Heavy." I recently caught you trying to pour yourself a cupful, but luckily found you before you attempted to pour.

"Heavy, heavy"

I love you,
Mommy

Mommy runs a(nother) 10K - 10/18/14

Dear Gage and Gabe,

I like to run the Medical Center's 10K Classic every year if I'm off work. It worked out that the race this year was on my off weekend, so I was excited to participate. I was a little hesitant about the race, since I would be nearly 16 weeks pregnant at the time. I'd been running before the big news and had actually started to train for the BG26.2 in November. I started cutting back on the miles since I was starting to feel some fatigue with the longer distances, but 6.2 miles wasn't out of reach. My doctor gave me the green light for the race, so I was ready to go.

I drove to the starting line solo and then Daddy brought you boys, Dows and KD to watch me finish the race. The weather was cool, but it was sunny and there wasn't rain like last year. This made the race much more enjoyable. The race ended at the 50 yard line of the football stadium, which was really neat. I finished with a time of 52:43 which was my second fastest 10K race. I was very proud and so glad to have you all there cheering me on!

I made this for the race

Running through campus with about 1/2 a mile to go

At the finish line

With KD and Dows

One of my biggest fans!

My other biggest fan

I love you,
Mommy