Family Pictures

Last weekend, we met up with Miranda, a college roommate of Elizabeth's.  She has started taking photo's on the side, so I asked her if she would take ours.  After figuring out a time that would work the best, we had to agree on a location.  She was willing to come all the way down by us, but on a whim, asked if we would like to meet at Mount Mary.  Without hesitation, I said YES!

 The weather was cool, but very windy.  She did a great job capturing us a family.

 One of my favorites is the boys laying down in the archway of the college.

I knew that my Mom had a brick donated to Mount Mary in memory of Elizabeth, but I had never seen it in person. 

Thanksgiving Feast

Extended Love held its annual Thanksgiving Feast on Thursday, November 14th.  Daddy came as Brewer's special guest.

Brewer and his classmates are getting ready to sign to their guests the songs that they have been busy practicing.

Brewer has been singing his songs to us each and every night.  He loved making his costume in class.

It was a bittersweet Thanksgiving Feast for us though, it is our last year to attend as Brewer goes off to Kindergarten next year!

First Official Snow

We had our first official snow today.  The weather started off with a light rain that slowly changed over to snow.  It is very pretty outside, but most of the leaves have not even fallen off the trees yet.

Cooper was pretty excited coming out of school tonight, but then reminded me that if he is going to play outside at school, he needs snow pants and boots.

50th Day of School

Today was Brewer's 50th Day of Preschool, so his teachers had a 50's party to celebrate.  They encouraged the kids to dress for the 50's and this is what he picked out.

 He dressed the part and had a blast doing so.  Daddy even slicked back his hair with LOTS of hair gel!

After school, he was quick to ask if he could take a bath to get all of the gel out of his hair because it was itching!

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

I've been finding lots of pins to pin on Pintrest lately, but never actually make them.  Honestly, this habit needs to stop and we need to try some new things.  I found this one for Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies, made with fresh Cranberries. 

 I followed the directions for the first batch, 1/3 cupful's patted out to 1/2 inch circles.  Bake for 20 minutes.

They came out beautifully, however, the first six cookies out didn't even dent the amount of dough inside the bowl, so I opted to make bars instead.  Very tasty and will try again.  http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/cranberry-oatmeal-cookies-10000000346610/

Friday Night Forts

Friday night after school, the boys made a fort on the bottom bunk.  Amazingly, they worked together to get it made.  After they were finished, they asked if they could sleep in it, and we said yes, why not!

Moments later, this is what we found.

Honor Flight Return

On Saturday, November 2nd Grandpa/Papa and Uncle Nello participated on the Honor Flight to Washington DC.  This was a one day event where they flew in early in the morning, went to three sites, boarded a plane and came home the same evening. 

While there were in Washington DC, they went to the World War II Memorial and to the Korean Memorial, as well as the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.  Papa served in the Korean War at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada from December 1950 to December 1953; he was in charge of the Orderly Room.  Uncle Nello served in World War II; together they were one of two sets of brothers who attended this Honor Flight.

Unknown to them we were all waiting for them at Milwaukee General Mitchell Airport to return home. In just our family, we had 35 members waiting.  On the flight in, ALL Veterans were given a mail bag of letters, notes, and thank you's from family and friends. Papa was given two bags of letters from classmates of Cooper, Brewer, Steven, and Rebecca, along with the students of Tiffany, not to mention notes and thank you's from family.  He was truly surprised and in awe of the gift.

Here we are waiting for them to come around the corner.  A parade of drummers marched by us bringing the Veterans into the room.  Uncle Tony was Papa's chaperon, and Linda was with Uncle Nello.  The parade of Veterans lasted for about an hour and a half.

A video of their return.  Fortunately the Z's were the first ones off!  Unfortunately we needed to wait for the bag pipes to go past before we could go.

 Some interesting facts about the Honor Flight today

 There were two women representing the World War II Vets

 Papa was 83

Across from us was Wisconsin State Senator Johnson waiting for the Veterans to come home.  The man in the red scarf was a POW in Battle of the Bulge.

After the bag pipes came through, Brewer bumped fists with a Lieutenant Colonel; a picture that was captured by the Stars and Stripes Photographer.