Boiler Up!!!

This weekend we headed to West Lafayette to hang out with Doug's sister and her family and his parents.  Each year, as a family, we attend a Purdue football game together and then go to Arnie's for dinner.  We had a great time and always enjoy going to the games!  It also helps that they killed Eastern Michigan.  We got there at the perfect time as the girls got to get their picture taken with Purdue Pete.  Following the game, we headed to the bookstores and then Emma, Doug's niece, had a soccer game which we were able to watch.  She did a great job!  With it being my birthday on Saturday, my only request was that we get ice cream, so we made a stop at the Urban Swirl. (It is just like YoYo's!  Yum Yum!!)  What a fun weekend! We always look forward to going back to Purdue events and visiting family!  Boiler up!!

 

Emma and McKenna with Purdue Pete

Emma and McKenna posing in front of Mackey Arena

Again, the girls watching the game

 

Doug and McKenna at Emma's soccer game

Oh the Memories...

September brings a whole new level of excitement to our house with birthdays, anniversaries, Purdue football games, fall weather (my favorite season), and, of course, Grabill Days.  How could you grow up in the Leo area and NOT attend Grabill Days as a kid?  However, that level of fascination isn't quite the same for me anymore, but it most definitely is in McKenna!  I remember going and walking around that same square for hours at a time and now I have a child that loves to go to the parade "that never ends."  Not to mention the fact it is so beyond loud and a enough candy is thrown out to make every dentist cringe.  A girlfriend and I took "the girls" this past Saturday and met my mom, sister-in-law, and nephew at the same corner that we have sat at for the past nine years.  Two of the girls had never been to a parade before and were in awe!  Not sure that they sat down for the whole hour and half that this parade was happening. They all walked away with bags full of candy and smiles that were priceless.  We had a lot of fun and look forward to returning next year. Below are a few pictures from not only the fair, but McKenna's softball team.

Kaleb, Karysa, Lexy, McKenna, Reece, and Ashley with their "cool" glasses!

Sport ONE Krush (10 and Under) Softball Team

Team with coaches after our last tournament for the summer

Just a little busy...

In the midst of our busy lives, I suppose that I have forgotten that I have a blog that I can post updates about our family within.  So...here goes.
This summer was relatively uneventful until the middle of July.  McKenna ended up in the hospital for four days with Salmonella poisoning and we have continued to fight the aftermath of this horrible illness for the past month and a half.  She has had three different cultures for this illness with the last one being ordered just last week.  Two of them have come back positive with the third one, much to our surprise, coming back negative.  It is apparent that the antibiotics that she was given the second time were extremely effective...maybe a little too effective as it cleaned out all of the good bacteria in the colon causing the same symptoms of Salmonella poisoning.  In order for her body to recover, we have been told she should be on a probiotic and  yogurt once a day.  This seems to be working.  At this time, we have no real idea where she may have gotten this illness, and, most likely, we never will know for sure.  We have a few ideas, but nothing substantial.  We feel extremely blessed that everything turned out the way it did and are thankful for all the prayers that were sent out way.
When we weren't involved with this disgusting illness, we were typically at the ball diamond with McKenna.  She played on a travel 10 and under softball team called Krush that was sponsored by Sport ONE and various other sponsors from the Leo Area.  While her team wasn't dynamite, they did improve drastically over the course of the summer.  As parents, we were very proud of the girls for their dedication and continued growth in this sport and definitely look forward to next year.  Our family has developed some wonderful friendships over the course of this team being put together and have spent many evenings with these new friends and their families around the corner in the cul-de-sac eating and socializing.
School is back in full swing for all of us.  Doug is back at South Side and resigned his coaching job at Northrop last spring.  While he looked for other opportunities, nothing really panned out for him until a couple of weeks ago.  He will be joining the girls basketball program at Leo High School for the upcoming school year.  He is very excited to be apart of this staff and this group of girls.  This will at least give him something to do this winter.
Dane and Allison have both started back at IPFW for the school year.  Dane is a senior and has been doing lots of different work in graphic design.  Allison is a sophomore and starting her second year on the golf team as the number one golfer for their team.  McKenna is in 4th grade this year and loving every minute of it up to this point.
I believe that brings us up to date for the most part.  I will try harder to remember to update the blog.  For those that have been interested, I am sorry!  Pictures coming later.