Celebrating Bonnie, Christmas with the Horns

The Horn side of the family all gathered this weekend to celebrate Christmas.  We also had a celebration of life for Bonnie.  

I don't have any pictures, but it was a very beautiful afternoon spent remembering Bonnie.  So many neighbors, old friends and family came to pay their respects.  Bonnie was loved by many and will be missed. 

Eric collected pictures for the slide show.  Here are just a few of my favorites.

We rented the same home we rented the past few years for the Christmas party.  All of Eric's siblings and all of the grandchildren were there!  It was quite the weekend of eating, drinking, playing games and lots of conversations!  Jessica and her family flew thru Indy, we had a bonus night with them hanging out in our basement playing all the games.  The cousins all got along so well.  It's fun to see them together as full grown teenagers!  

How blessed we are to all be together!

 

Family Christmas Party

We traveled to Illinois for the Schraufnagel family Christmas party.  Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and there was a huge snow storm that began after we arrived.  Not all of the family was able to make it for the party.  

We rented an old historic home in Bloomington for the occasion.  It was the perfect place to gather!  We ate, played games and just enjoyed each others company!  I always love seeing the cousins spend time together.

 

Happy Birthday to Nick!

Nick is 19!  It's his final year of being a teenager!

How can this be?

Lucky for us Nick's birthday fell on his week home from college for Thanksgiving break and he got to be home with us to celebrate!  

Nick chose a seafood restaurant in downtown Indy, Oceanaire for his birthday dinner.  Afterwards we came home for cake and presents.  

Nick is having a great first semester so far.  He likes all of his classes and is getting along in the dorms.  It's been an eye opening experience for him to be living so closely to so many people with many different habits.  

At 19 Nick still loves all things soccer and has even played on an intramural team at IU.  He has become a big IU football fan not missing any home games.  He is very loyal to his friends and girlfriend, Phoebe.  He and his brothers seem to have become better friends over the last few months.  Nick is always willing to lend a hand at home, sometimes even before being asked!  

Happy Birthday Nick!

 

A Little Getaway

Eric and I spent a long weekend in Orlando.  We ate and drank our way thru Epcot at the Food and Wine Festival.  It was so much fun!!  I'm always grateful to be able to getaway with Eric, especially to someplace sunny!

 

Family

Bonnie's burial was this past weekend in Indianapolis.   Eric's siblings and Bonnie's sisters from Illinois all came.  We all gathered at our home beforehand for lunch.  It was a beautiful fall day, the tree that over looks Bonnie's resting place was shedding it's golden leaves throughout the ceremony.  Afterwards we went out to dinner.  Later on that night we toasted Bonnie and shared a lot of memories together.  It was a beautiful weekend. 

Late October

We visited Ben at work the other night.  He is bussing tables at Stone Creek, the same restaurant that Nick works at when he's home from school.  He likes his job and the extra money in his wallet especially!

A clean Ruby with the Halloween pumpkins. 

 

 

RV life

This is a snippet of our living quarters for the week.  

Sam slept above the front seats in a drop down bed, Ben slept in the top bunk inside a cubby.  Eric and I slept in a real bed.  Parent's perks.  It was all so cozy and fun, for a week!  We also rented an SUV to drive to other places, while the RV stayed parked.

We had 2 camp sites, one in Door County, and another in the Dells.  Both had a fire pit and grill and walking trails.  

We all pitched in on the cooking and cleaning.

This was our second RV trip with the kids...I think we'd do it again in the future...

 

 

The Dells

After 4 nights in Door County we moved our home to the Wisconsin Dells for the final 3 nights of our trip.  We had two days to spend in the Dells.  The first day we went to an indoor water park, Ben's request.  We splurged on a cabana and enjoyed a waiter bringing us food and drinks.  Ben conquered the waves on a boogie board and Sam and he enjoyed all of the water slides!  Sadly I didn't take any pictures that day.  The following day Eric and Sam golfed in the morning, while Ben and  I checked out the shops, played mini golf and raced go carts!  Later on we had a delicious lunch next to the Wisconsin River and then later on we went on a beautiful hike.