Highlights from last weekend.

Last weekend was the first time Dave has had some time off for quite awhile. We decided to take a little trip up to Michigan to spend some time with our old friends. Thank you Julie and Steve for a FABULOUS weekend!
Highlights:
Saturday-
* We went for beautiful walks around the neighborhood and admired the leaves on every tree.
* Dave played some Saturday morning basketball with his old friends and then did a session at the Detroit temple.
* I was able to sneak in a cancellation slot for a voice lesson with my teacher. She is such a quality and exceptional person and singer. I wish I could transport her to Indiana.
* Julie threw a BYU Football party that night with a whole bunch of friends and yummy food. I felt like I had never left Michigan!

Sunday-
* Church was the best. I can not wait for the day when I can be in a "branch" again. It was the primary program and Josh went up and sang with his favorite buddy Zeke. Holy cow, I never expected I would get so attached to a group of people the way I did in Detroit. Let's just say, I shed many tears on Sunday.
* Julie and I visited one of my favorite converts in the hospital, Marcia Dai. Julie even put me on the spot and asked me to sing to her. Thanks for joining me!
* That evening we all went to the Stake center to see a beautiful art gallery called, "Reflections of Christ." I was very touched by the artwork, photography, and video.
*And to top it off, Julie, Steve, Dave and I put the kids to bed and then watched an AWESOME movie that I had never even heard of. "The Bucket List" I totally recommend it to anyone.

Monday-
* Dave took his favorite morning run through our old neighborhood and next to the beautiful water.
* At 12:00, Dave really did something amazing. He watched 8 kids at the park while 6 of us girls went to lunch at Panera. The kids had a great time with Dave and a group of moms at the park COULD NOT BELIEVE that we had left him with so many little kids! We were all impressed. Thanks girls for all getting together for some girl talk. I can not express how much I love each of you and miss you like CRAZY! You guys are the best.
*Then, it was time to hit the road. The driving was all smooth and it was such a treat to be able to have some quiet conversation time with Dave. For dinner we stopped at a big buffet place in northern Indiana. (The quality of food was SIGNIFICANTLY below Chuck A Rama, if that tells you anything.) There was a huge gathering going on in the party room of about 100 Amish people. I had never seen anything like it. They were all dressed in identical clothes, same color fabric, hats, suspenders, long beards, long dresses all lavender. I glanced in the party room and said to our server. "Wow! That is a huge party. Are they some kind of pioneer group all dressing up for fun?!" She said in a kind way, "No, they are all Amish. They are not dressed up, those clothes are for real." I think my jaw dropped and I said, "For reals?!" Needless to say, Dave was totally embarrassed for me and apologized to the waitress. So I guess there is a huge Amish population in Northern Indiana. Now I am totally fascinated by their lifestyle and had tons of questions to ask Dave.

We are thankful to only be a few hours away from Michigan. I couldn't help but feel that I was home again while in Michigan. I know eventually I will have the same feelings for Indiana, I just need a little more time.

Joshua Orme

My last two blogs were about Maddie and Ty, so here is Josh. This is the costume he wants to be for Halloween. A black ninja. His Darth Vader friend is a boy named Jackson from his school. Josh's soccer season is coming to an end this week, so I posted a few picture's as well. Dave took the shot of Josh standing backwards to the camera. It has been so good for Josh to get his competitive side out on the soccer field. It is amazing how different his games are from a year ago. It is great when they really start catching on to the game.







Next week I need to get up to date with everything that has been going on. Two weeks ago my mom came to visit for a week. We had a blast together! Last weekend I went on a girls trip to Vegas/St. George. (Can't wait to blog about it!) And tomorrow Dave and I are taking the kids to Michigan for the weekend to say hi to our friends and visit our favorite spots. I will have to get caught up with pictures next month. HAPPY FALL!

Ballet!

Maddie has almost completed her first session of Ballet! She never stops smiling during the whole class. Her teacher is classic. Miss Johanna has been dancing from the minute she was born, literally. Her mother was on a dance floor when her water broke and she came a few minutes later at the middle of the party. It has been so much fun to watch all the cute little ballerina's dancing around the room.






All the time people are telling me, "Maddie reminds me so much of Dave." This is so true. There is something about her body, the way she moves, her athletic ability that reminds me of Dave. I was laughing while watching Maddie dance the other day because although she looks like a ballerina with her strong little body, she is not graceful and smooth. In fact, she may be the least graceful in the class. Now, those of you who have watched Dave play soccer, hockey, or skiing also know that despite his stunning performance, he is far from graceful. Now I know Maddie is only three, but I just don't know if she will inherit her mother's graceful elegance. (Do people know when I am joking around??) And on top of that, another mother pointed out to me, "Your little girl looks like she should be doing flips and jumps in gymnastics, not ballet."
She sure is cute though!

P.S. Quick story. Our puppy still loves to chew everything. Tonight he was chewing some stuff up in the living room. When I came to clean it up, I saw that there was some blood on the toys. Then, I found a puppy TOOTH! Sick! Josh was super excited and raced up to put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy. So now I am sitting here thinking about how much money I should leave for a dog tooth! Has anyone ever run into this situation before? If so, let me know!

All about Tyler

Tyler has recently hit his 18 month mark. I realized I don't take nearly as many pictures of my boys as I do of Maddie, so I tried to capture some cute shots of Ty. Tyler is doing great. He is still a super easy going and happy little guy. Last week we went to a Down syndrome specialist who agreed that he is doing fantastic. I think I take it for granted how good he really is. Last week I met a mother with a 4 year old with Down's who still can not eat solid food. Her child's mouth is smaller than normal, (which makes the tongue appear too large) and so it is hard to chew food. She also said that her son did not walk until he was three. (Which is also normal for a child with Down syndrome.) So there are two major blessings: Tyler is eating all table foods and walking at just 18 months. Tyler has lower muscle tone than a normal child which also means he is super flexible. He is extra wobbly because there is not as much stiffness in the muscle. To help take the wobble out of his knees and ankles, he is going to get some custom fit braces in two weeks. She said with his braces (they fit under his pants and inside his shoes) he will be running in no time.
Josh and Maddie are wonderful big siblings. Josh now understands that Tyler is going to be different, but at this point it really makes no difference to him. Josh said the other day, "Mom, I just want Tyler to grow up faster." I asked him why and he said, "I need Tyler to be bigger and stronger so I can wrestle with him more." I have no doubt that Tyler is going to be a good match for Josh in a few years.

Our new ward in Indianapolis

I took a lot of picture's at the ward picnic a few weeks ago. (Dave and I are on the activities commity.) I figured, why not put them on my blog so that I will always remember some of the families we are getting to know here.
So, my thoughts about church....hmmm...
I remember my good friend in Michigan (Anna Ellsworth) who had been in a branch for most of her life. When some boundaries were changed, they were put into a ward. I asked her how they liked it after the first two Sunday's and she said, "To tell you the truth, we feel sort of lost. It just seems so big. We aren't used to it." Well, I definitely felt the same way moving here. I loved our branch in Michigan so much. We knew every face that walked through the door, and when a new person showed up, we couldn't wait to meet them and hear their story. (Everyone has a story in Detroit. There are some fascinating lives out there!) I felt so close to our branch in Detroit, and I think that the fact that it was so small made me even more attached. This ward is nothing like what we have been used to for the last 4 years. It is a wonderful ward with wonderful people. However, I know we did feel "lost" for the first few months. It isn't quite as entertaining as our branch in Michigan. For example, people in this ward don't shout out random comments in the middle of sacrament. And, we don't have to have our parking lots patrolled during our meetings to prevent our cars from being stolen.
All in all, we are happy to be here in the glorious (ha,ha) state of Indiana! It is wonderful to be members of a church that offers so much service and support. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to raise my family in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (I am getting pumped to watch general conference tomorrow!)