Napa Valley

Eric and I enjoyed a much anticipated get away to Napa Valley in late September.  This has been a trip that we have been wanting to take for a long time, made possible by Uncle Boomer and Aunt Angela's gracious Christmas gift to take care of our boys and life at home while we are away.  

We stayed at a little inn in the town of Napa, enjoying 3 full days of wine tastings and tours including vineyards in Sonoma and Napa.  We spent long, lazy mornings enjoying breakfast, reading and relaxing, and had dinners out at fabulous restaurants each night.

We flew home through San Francisco, having one last lunch out along the bay, watching the "Ruby" boat sail by.  Guess that was our sign that it was time to return home to our boys and pup, too!  

 

Fall Happenings

Life is full with our 3 boys.  

Ben marched in the fall festival parade in our town.  He plays the baritone with the middle school band.  They sounded so good playing Hot Stuff!  

We have a new baby in our family!

Our nephew and niece in law Alex and Angela welcomed their sweet baby Ella.  She was anxious to meet her parents and arrived early at 29 weeks.  She is strong and mighty and is thriving.  I can't wait to meet my new great niece! 

 School E-days are for studying and stacking firewood! while Ruby supervises.  

State fair worthy zucchini!

Our garden has brought much joy and vegetables to us this season!

Grandpa Dan and Grandma Jill came for a visit with their sweet new pup, Libby.  The boys had a fun time with her and Ruby enjoyed making a new friend!  

Nick continues to play and love soccer.  

A hot air balloon sailed over the soccer stadium tonight.  So pretty!

At the end of tonight's game Nick was injured in the goal box.  Something hit him in the head and he ended up with a concussion.  Unfortunately, it took him out for the remainder of the season.  There were just a handful of games left.  Fortunately, he made a full recovery 3 weeks later.  

 

Go Illini!

We attended the Illinois football game this past weekend.  We met Meg, Glenn and Sarah in Champaign for the game and tailgating.  My friend Eileen and her daughter Rachael stopped by our tailgate to say hello.   Eileen and her family have season tickets as their oldest son is a student at U of I.  Unfortunately the Illini couldn't pull off a win.  A fun time was still had by all!  

Meg and her family followed us home after the game.  We arrived home very late!  After sleeping in, we had the most perfect vacation day together sitting pool side, eating, drinking and catching up with our long time friends!