You are 6

(Catch-up again)
You are tall. You have a deep voice and love to laugh. You love a good joke, and I mean a good joke. You still love cars and tractors and dinosaurs and golf and being outside. You love animals. You love dogs and are very allergic to them. You love guns. You love playing with Dad. You love snuggling with Mom. You love all of your grandparents, great grandparents, and other family. You are proud of your uncles and tell stories about them all the time. You like to have quiet playtime by yourself. You love to play make-believe with Lily and sometimes Joseph. You usually make Joseph the bad guy or monster. You love for Dad to read you The Chronicles of Narnia. You are learning to read and get frustrated that you can't automatically read anything you want. You love to go camping. You love art and are very good at drawing and creating 3-d objects. You love planes. You love to go to school. You love to eat. You are a very good and protective big brother. You always tell us when something is dangerous. You love to have fun and play in water. You love the beach. You are growing up very fast. We love you very much! You are 6 years old!

Kirschner Wedding

One of the great parts of the trip was being able to spend tie with Steve's parents, the Kirschners. We stayed with them back in college during our trip to New England and couldn't wait to catch up with them.This was the inside of the chapel. It was in a beautiful spot right on the lake.
Adam Prizio and his wife Anna. David got to go their wedding earlier in the summer. It was a quick fly-in-the-morning-of and fly-back-right-after trip. It was great getting to know Anna and see Prizio again.
This was the view of the lake from The Esperanza Mansion, which is where the reception was. There was a nice large tent set up outside to enjoy the afternoon and then sunset along with some appetizers. The reception began at 3 and lasted until around 9.
Joel, David, and Prizio.
David and Ruth.
Prizio and Joel.
This is Mr. Azzi and Ashley, Joel's son and wife. We loved getting to spend the whole time with this little family. Although we were only with them a couple of days, we still say now and the that we miss them. We had fun. Azzi is a bright little boy with one of the greatest smiles.
This is what the dining room looked like, with beautiful table arrangements, candles, and there was even a wandering musical duo playing requested songs while we ate.
The newly married Kirschners and the Givens.
Steve and his mom.
This is how Joel carried his child more than once. So funny!
This photo does not adequately convey the mount of domination Joel exhibited on the dance floor. He was our entertainment.
And this, my friends, is David eating Buffalo wings, in Buffalo, New York, in PUBLIC. He vowed this would never happen, but the smell and hour to kill were too much for him to resist.

Vineyards

The Finger Lake Region is known for it's vineyards. The grapes produced here are some of the oldest in America. The way that the lakes were formed, glaciers cutting through the Earth, created a perfect area for growing grapes. We learned so much about grapes in the short time we were there. Steve arranged for all of the groomsmen and company to go to a couple of vineyards one morning. David and I did not partake in the wine tasting, but thoroughly enjoyed learning about how vineyards work-remember, we're big nerds :) . We went on a tour and got to taste some grapes right off the vine. They were the richest tasting grapes I've ever had-delicious!
This was our first stop. It was a beautiful building with barrels stacked outside to store the wine.
There were rows and rows of grapes everywhere you looked!
This is the view of the lake from the vineyard. It was a wonderful spot to relax.
In this view of the lake, if you look closely, you can see Keuka College on the shore. That is where the wedding took place. The ceremony was in the lakeside chapel.

Our Accomodations

Spectacular doesn't even begin to describe what we saw when we awoke the next morning. We got to the cabin on Keuka Lake well after dark, so we had no idea what awaited us. This was it...

The lakes in the Finger Lake Region were created by enormous glaciers, hence the hills on either side.
The guys playing around. David, Steve, Joel, Gary, and Joel.
The little yellow cabin is ours. Steve got us a cabin to stay in with Joel's family, Gary-his new brother-in-law, and himself. His parents were getting a cabin on the same lake, shooting for the same area, and it just so happened the two cabins were right beside each other. It was very nice. We spent our free time enjoying the docks, canoes, and just being outside. The nights were spent by the campfire with friends old and new.
The water was so clear. I can only imagine this is one of the best parts of the country to visit in the summer. When we were there in September, it had just started to cool off. 60s in the daytime, 40s at night. It was awesome.

Niagara Falls

In September, David and I went on a 4 day trip to upstate New York, the Finger Lakes Region to be more exact. The occasion was David's roommate from college, Steve's wedding. He and his bride got married on September 11th. Steve claimed it was the only way to NOT let the terrorists win :) .

As soon as we arrived at the airport, Steve and his brother picked us up. We then met up with another old friend from Hillsdale, Joel and his wife and baby. We enjoyed lunch together catching up and headed for Niagara Falls with Joel and his crew.

This is a shot of the water leading up to the Falls. It looked like a fun white water course. There are a couple of little islands here and there and some bridges you can walk across to see the whole area.
Behind us is the American side of the Falls. It was pretty warm when we got there. A light jacket was necessary, but it was still nice. The closer we got to the Falls, the colder and wetter we got. By the time we reached the spot for this picture, we were freezing.
Another view from the American side looking to the Canadian side.
You can see Canada just ahead of where the Falls drop. Notice the ferris wheel. We heard the Canadian side is way better than the American, but we didn't find out due to me not having a passport :( .

It was a powerful scene to take in. The water was more frightening than any I had ever seen. There are several areas built just so you can get close to the edge of the Falls. It's a pretty neat feeling to look straight off the edge.

If you ever get the chance to go see Niagara, go. It's well worth it and unlike anything I had ever seen!

CATCH UP!

The next several posts are my attempt to catch you up! So sorry it's been so long! Enjoy!

First Day of School

By now, William has been a Kindergartener for 2 months! These are some pics from his first day of school.

William insisted on getting a metal lunchbox. We finally found him a camo, army lunchbox which he is very proud of carrying.

William and his teacher, Mrs. Stokes. William gets to spend all year with Mrs. Stokes and is loving every minute. Mrs. Stokes is the mother of Sarah, Uncle Jason's soon-to-be wife. She is a great teacher and loves William.

William and Dad.

This is William getting called into line at the assembly. The teachers call each name and the kids get into line with the rest of their class. I happened to take the picture right as William looked back. :-)