Thanksgiving Break

Benny and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! We not only had the opportunity to spend some time with our families (something we haven't been able to do for Thanksgiving since we've been married), but we were also able to meet up with a couple of friends! Thursday, we traveled to Lafayette and first met up with Benny's Mom for a couple of hours before having dinner with Benny's Dad, his wife Leta, and Kyle (Benny's younger brother). We left Friday for St. Louis to spend some time with my family and on the way, we were able to meet up with some friends from Louisiana. The Burnetts were heading back to Ruston from Chicago where they had spent the week, so we met them for lunch in Mattoon, IL at the I-57, I-70 intersection. We had a great time hanging out with my family on Friday night, and then had to come back to Indiana on Saturday because I was on call at work. But, on our way out of St. Louis, we called Ben Ambuehl (very close friend of Benny's) who happened to be with family in Edwardsville (just outside of St. Louis), so we were able to have lunch with Ben and his family as well! It was a very quick two day trip, but so great to see BOTH of our families AND some unexpected friends as well.


Benny and Kathy (his Mom)


Me and Kathy


With the Burnetts (Wade, Amy and Taylor)


Benny and BA with a case of the infamous "Ski" soda...

Aden Daugherty

Last Friday, Benny and I got to spend the evening with Aden Daugherty. (Jess and Travis' little boy) We LOVED babysitting him, and can't wait to do it again soon!

Aden at the park.


Aden with Benny in a little playhouse.


We couldn't believe how well Aden could climb! (Don't worry Jess...Benny had a good hold on him the whole time!)


Me and Aden on the playground set.


Aden loves playing with balls!


Look at that precious sleepy face...this was right before we put him to bed.

Last 2008 AU Soccer Game

November 1st was the season-ending game for the AU soccer team. They had a tough loss that day, but definitely made a lot of positive strides to improve the program throughout the season.


Go AU!


I'm very blessed to have a husband who, even after a yucky game, is still very fun to be around. Here he is playing around with Madison Fridley. (the head coach's daughter)


With Mason Fridley. Benny and Mason have a very special relationship. Benny was there when Mason was born, (or right after...he wasn't in the delivery room! :) and they've been good buddies ever since (we celebrated Mason's 8th birthday today!)


Now, Benny and Coach Fridley are heavy into recruiting...traveling to surrounding cities and states looking for players for next year!

Halloween

Benny and I spent Halloween with the Galemas, Jonathan Lustig, and Rebecca and Audrey Woodward. We had a blast trick-or-treating with the kiddos and then sitting out on the Galema's driveway passing out candy and enjoying the beautiful fall evening.


Benny and me, wearing my "costume." (I found those antennas in the driveway and put them on for the picture.)


Benny with Cassity the Ballerina and Jared the UPS Man.


Audrey and Jared, enjoying the "punkins."


Audrey...I think my favorite part of her outfit were the pink sneakers and the ponytail. Good additions, Rebecca!

Cara'a Wedding Weekend

This past weekend was my cousin Cara's wedding in St. Louis. The rehearsal dinner was at the Kemp Auto Museum, and the wedding was outside at a beautiful country club in St. Charles. Everything was beautiful, and the weather was perfect!


All of my girl cousins from my mom's side at the rehearsal dinner: Andrea, me, Cara, Heather, Brittany, Annie and Erin. (Everyone except Andrea, Cara and I flew in from Seattle.)


Me and Cara. (She was BEAUTIFUL the whole weekend!!)


Andrea and me.


Dave, Brayden, and Andrea Darmon.


My cousin Blake holding Brayden.


Cody and Cara on their wedding day!! What a fabulous couple!


One of my college roomates, Lisa, was in the wedding as well. (Lisa lived with Cara and me my junior and senior years.) I hadn't seen her since I graduated, so it was so fun to catch up and hang out with her!

Thanks, Cara and Cody, for allowing me to be apart of your special day!!

AU Homecoming

Last weekend was AU's Homecoming. Saturday morning, there was an annual alumni soccer game. The "young-old guys" (those whose last season was 2002 and after) played the "old-old guys." (those whose last season was 2001 and before) Benny played, and, of course dominated. (I may be a biased wife, but he did score, and he was on the winning team!) The "old-old" guys won 4-3. It was a fun atmosphere, and I think the guys just enjoyed getting out there and playing again.

Benny watching a play develop.


Getting ready to outrun past this "young" guy. :)


Me and Benny after the game.


Benny and me with Nicki and Jeff Whye. (They flew in from L.A. for the weekend!)


After the men's soccer game, we went out to eat at none other than the legendary Texas Roadhouse (apparently the 926 housemates have a special place in their hearts for this restauarant) Above are Adam and Jared Galema, Travis and Aden Daugherty, Jeff Whye, Shawn Chadwell, and Benny.


The "926" wives (and daughter) who were in town: Jess Daugherty, Nicki Whye, me, Cassity and Leslie Galema.


The whole gang!

I'm definitely so blessed by Benny's awesome college roomates and their wives (and kiddos!!). Love you guys! (We missed you, Schulers, Farmers, Hanlons and Lustig!)

More Soccer! (and Mounds State Park)

Benny, warming up the guys before a game...






Saturday, the Galemas came out to the AU soccer game. It was so fun to have them there!


Cassity, the Raven, and Madison Fridley (she was a little nervous to be close to the Raven)


Cassity, Benny, Jared, and Madison at halftime. Cassity and Jared didn't understand why Benny wasn't on the field playing...



Today was a wonderful day! We went to church (we've decided to make East 91st Street Christian Church our church home), came home and had lunch, and took a nap. Afterwards, we went to Mounds State Park here in Anderson and went hiking, then spread out a blanket and just talked and read. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and it was a really good time together.

Benny, with his snake-swatting stick. (He's not so fond of those creatures, and the boys in Louisiana taught him how to break their back with a stick)





We haven't gotten to see the beautiful fall leaves for the past 3 years....Louisiana didn't really understand what a "real" fall is supposed to look like. The leaves out at the park were awesome!

September

Since I haven't had a chance to blog till today, I decided to get the whole month in one post!


A few weeks ago we made a quick stop by the Galema's after we watched a high school soccer game for recruiting. Before we left, we had to get in a few games of Guitar Hero!

Jared loves Benny. Period. When I'm over at the house and Benny isn't there, Jared asks about him at least 300 times...so cute! Well, it was just adorable to watch him "play" guitar hero with Benny.


He was pretty serious about the game...


Meanwhile, Cassity was playing with Barbies!! Little girls are the greatest!





The Anderson Ravens are almost halfway through the soccer season already! I'm having a lot of fun watching the games and getting to sit with Wendy (the head coach's wife) and her kiddos.

The starting lineup, right before one of the games.



A little action shot...



This picture is great...all of the coaches watch the game with their arms crossed! To the left of Benny is Chad, the goalkeeper coach, and to the right of Benny is Scott, the head coach.

Madison (head coach's daughter)...the AU soccer cheerleader!

One weekend, when Benny was out of town for a couple of games, I got to spend Saturday with Wendy and the kids. We went to see "Fly Me To The Moon" on I-MAX.

Here was the best part of the movie!

I have two cousins who are like sisters to me. One of them, Cara, is getting married next month. A couple of weekends ago, I went to St. Louis for her wedding shower at a really cute tea room in "The Valley."

Andrea (left) and Cara (right).

Andrea, with her 8 month-old son, Brayden. I love his cheeks!! (Andrea and I both had some chubby ones just like his when we were babies!)

Last week, one of my fun work friends from Ruston came to visit with her kiddos. She drove 14+ hours...just HER and the kids...through the night, to get here to Anderson. After resting a bit on Tuesday, we went to the Indianapolis Zoo on Wednesday, and they headed out on Thursday. It meant so much that they traveled so far to see us, and we had a great time!

Marie, ready for the zoo!

A little baby baboon.

Mitchell feeding the giraffe! This zoo was great...he got to touch/feed lots of animals!

Sheryl, me, Marie and Mitchell ready for the dolphin show. (We were sitting right up close...)

And here's why that's not such a good idea with a 5 month old! (Sheryl and Marie got soaked by the splashing dolphins!)

Mitchell and I petting the goats. They were probably the tamest goats I've ever seen!

Back at our apartment...Benny playing with Mitchell. He loves him some Benny, too! When they pulled in on Tuesday, before he even said hi to me, he said, "Where's Benny?" I try not to take it personally... :)

There you have it and there you go!