Chicago...Here We Come!

Beautiful Lake Michigan

A fantastic and charming candy factory in Indiana

The "giant" PEZ...well, you have to know the story behind my facination with PEZ. As a kid my parents did not deprive me of candy, but PEZ were like the "specialty" and were rather expensive. Living on a fairly meager income, I was not treated to PEZ. When I was in college, I told my mom about my lifelong craving for PEZ and she made sure I received a whole pile of them on the next holiday. For what it's worth, the dumb things don't even taste good...but hey, they were cool! Anyway, this giant PEZ is about a foot tall, plays music, and costs ten bucks. I almost bought it, but figured mom would eventually feel bad and get it for me...HA!

Ryan with a huge jawbreaker...no, we did not buy it...I figured it would make a better facebreaker for whoever would attempt to chew around on it!

For all like-minded women out there, this is a gigantic chocolate fountain! It was incredibly tall, and looked very yummy!

The base of the fountain was loaded with goodies and crafts.

The boys at Cabella's

There was an ex-pro football player at Cabella's, although I cannot remember on which teams he played, and he autographed the boy's hats.


Kaitlynn tried out the shooting range.

The "Old Lighthouse" on State Street in Chicago. This was home to Pacific Garden Mission for the first how many years, and they are currently in the process of moving into the new, incredibly nice, facility that God has provided. They are doing a wonderful work in the city!

The new taping room with the cast in place.

Unshackeled's announcer - he's been doing it as long as I can remember, and I'm not going to attempt to spell his name!

The faithful organist who knows just how to add the right amount of fright or calm to the script at any given moment!

Getting ready for taping

This progression of pics just cracked me up. What is her problem, anyway?

Ryan guards our massive box lunches, courtesy of the Mission.

Evan "preaches" in one of the small chapels

The new facility with Sears Tower in the background.

My sweet kiddos

Olivia loves to play the piano and sing.




Whew! 36 weeks...I'm feeling like this baby will be comin' soon! So far 99.9% of people are guessing it's a boy...I haven't had a baby boy in 6 years, so that would be fun again, and a girl would be fun, too. Just so I don't get one of each!

Most of you know that my brother and his wife recently moved to Chicago, Ill. They planned Olivia's dedication for this Sunday, and although I had silently vowed to make Homecoming my last trip before the baby's birth, things worked out that we could leave early this morning for Chicago and do an overnight stay. We left home about 8 a.m. (7 a.m. Chi time), and hit the road. We ended up making unexpected stops at a candy factory and a new Cabella's store. My kids had never been to Chicago, so I wanted to take them to Pacific Garden Mission. Greg had never seen the Mission, and it had been 10 or 12 years since my parents took us there for a tour, dinner, and taping. We were able to watch an Unshackled! taping today (yes, try keeping a 3-year-old dead quiet on a tile floor for 45 minutes) and see their new facility, which is incredible. Having just eaten a few minutes before, we turned down the cafeteria dinner invite, but they insisted on sending us boxed lunches. They were pretty impressive lunches! After leaving the Mission, we headed to Lake Michigan where the kids ran around for awhile and scared me to death by getting pretty close to the edge of the water. We weren't at a beach, just on the edge of the concrete. Next time we plan on doing the Children's Museum and other things at the Navy Pier, but there just wasn't time today, and the thought of walking 10 blocks (instead of paying $23 to park at the Pier) didn't really appeal to me at this stage! We crammed quite a bit into a few hours and later this evening we made it down to Eric and Meg's apartment. We spent some time playing with a very happy, energetic Olivia. She was such a show-off, and had Evan giggling to pieces. Now we are at our hotel, and I am able to blog thanks to their great wireless connection! We plan to attend the dedication in the a.m., have lunch with the family, then head back home. Cridersville will be lookin' awful good after a day in the crazy city!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Staying at Grandma Yount's is always a treat for Kaitlynn because grandma has an incredible amount of "this-n-that"! Here is Kaitlynn with a few of the "treasures" at grandma's.

Congratulations to my dear cuz, Craig Brown, on the opening of his expanded Germantowne Pizza Haus! The new locations holds approximately twice what the old would accomodate, and the interior decor is awesome! By the way, they serve a killer spagetti dinner, and the cheesy breadsticks are to die for!

The kids enjoying Germantowne

Mom and dad, stuffed to the gills!

Sweet little Karianna Brown with some stray pizza sauce on her face!

Kaitlynn enjoying the attention from my students who called her the little green frog when she tried on Ashley's sweatshirt.

Kaitlynn became very excited that cooler weather was imminent. She kind of overdid it, though!

Evan at GBS Homecoming...he said he couldn't get the machine to stop, and he actually ended up eating the whole thing!

With old school friends and fellow blog buddies at Homecoming. Yes, Chris, Nancy got hers up first, but mine's up now!

Greg, with some "help" from the boys and a couple of neighbors, built Jake a new winter home.

I can't say that white is my favorite color for a mum, but the size of this thing was impressive!

The kids enjoy a fall fest at the local home and garden store.


Mmmm - the scent of apples, cinnamon, pumpkin...I'm ready to put a fire in the fireplace, too!

Yes, I'm talking about fall! I love Christmas and all that goes with it, but Fall and Thanksgiving have become much dearer to my heart since becoming an adult. The season is my favorite, and I savor every moment because it goes by too quickly!

Fall Church Retreat...

Little Timothy is just too darling! I think he would be a photographer's dream.

Up close and personal with "Miss Piggy"

I did an upside down shot so we could capture her nice smile. Believe me, her teeth weren't this "pearly" white after cooking!

Brenda and Chrissie Hunter hard at work in the kitchen.

Mom and Doug talkin' politics.

Me at 34 weeks

Baby Paul...what a cutie!

Sarah Seeley chats with a happy smile

Bro. Alley, a family friend since my childhood, gave our evening devotional. He and his wife host our event each year, and attend our church most of the time.

Kaitlynn and Carson shoot 'em up

Tailgaiting
Some of the teens
Some of the kids

Jason and Renee' Hunsaker with their kids, Austin and (not so happy) Emilee

Kaitlynn gives Timothy a lift on her tricycle

Doug and Meghan (Stitt) Beck

Sherry (Moneyhun) Mimms and I

Bill Hunter and Paul Snyder tearing the hog apart

Cramming it all on the grill

It took four pretty good size guys to carry the awkward hog

Kaitlynn and friends enjoying the view

Kaitlynn and Emilee found a quiet place away from the boys

Sally Snyder and her brother Paul...so cute!

Emilee, Austin, and Carson play "house"

Cousins Isaac, Timothy, and Carson Hunter

A happy ending...for most of us!

Each year our church family spends a weekend relaxing and having lots of fun at Beulah Grove campground. Although it was HOT this year (90's), we had a great time. This year's retreat included a hog roast, and that provided lots of entertainment. The hog was actually purchased, shot, skinned, gutted, dressed, and cooked by the great guys of our church. I was pretty proud of them, although the photo of Merlin Barnt with a pig eye in his hand kind of grossed me out. I had a "late" breakfast Saturday morning (due to working on assignments 'til 3 a.m.), and when I walked into the cafeteria with my plate of bacon and sausage, there lay a huge, raw hog on the counter. Yum. Kaitlynn was determined she was not eating "hog", but when mom handed her a piece of this great smelling meat she kept saying, "More!" She later informed me that she only ate the "bologna". I guess that made her feel better, anyway. Our asst. pastor rented an inflatable for the little ones to jump, and they had lots of fun doing that. I spent several hours finishing up a research paper, but thanks to the lovely cabin we had, studying was comfy. Fortunately, our cabin was also a stone's throw from the bathroom! Going to Beulah Grove each year is about as rustic as it gets for me. I've been pretty spoiled at camp (never having to go without a private bath, etc.), and I like it that way! Greg will tell you that I don't usually jump at the idea of tent camping or things of that sort. Anyway, we had a great time with little incident. Actually, one child did get hit after coming up behind a vehicle that was backing up...it knocked him off of his bike, but he didn't get hurt. I think the kids all learned an important lesson right away! Considering the 10-15 guys that brought their arsenal of weaponry, I was surprised to be taking all three of my children home with all of their limbs intact! Many guns and many people in the same place make me nervous! They enjoyed themselves, though, and God (along with common sense) protected us.