5:51 PM

Apple Picking!

Posted by Jake & Christina

Jake and I went apple picking this past Saturday with our friends, Sarah and Weston. We went to County Line Orchard in Hobart, IN. They have lots of fun fall things there. In addition to picking apples, people can also pick pumpkins, wander around in a corn maze, drink cider, eat apple or pumpkin donuts, or even eat some homemade caramel apples. Fun times! Here are some pictures:


Our day started off with yummy cinnamon rolls!






 




I think we are going to have to go back at the end of October because my favorite apples, Fuji apples, will be ripe then. We are also going through our pickings pretty quickly! :)

comments (0)
TOP

6:07 PM

Our Nephew, Ryan

Posted by Jake & Christina

Jake's sister, Stephanie, and her husband, Joe, just had a baby this past April. His name is Ryan Joseph. He sure is growing up pretty quickly! You can view our entire album of Ryan here: Our Nephew, Ryan Joseph
Here are just a few photos from the album.

 
little hands

 
thinking hard

 
  
At Golden Corral 

 
Flyin' Ryan

 
little sandals for summertime fun

comments (0)
TOP

8:39 PM

Jake's Cousin Adam - Drum Major

Posted by Jake & Christina

Jake's cousin, Adam, is Bishop Dwenger's drum major this year. Jake traveled to Fort Wayne this past weekend to capture Adam's "performance" at the football game. The whole album can be viewed here: Drum Major - Adam

Here are a few highlights:

The Marching Saints
Adam
 
Our nephew, Ryan, was at the game too.
The halftime performance
 
Way to go, Adam!

comments (0)
TOP

6:59 PM

Sophie

Posted by Jake & Christina

We thought that we would write about our dog, Sophie today. She is such an interesting dog with so many quirks and random habits. We both have a lot of fun with her. She can be a little bit of a troublemaker now and then, but she's a pretty good dog.

Sophie's absolute favorite toy is the circle bone. She will put the bone around her paw like a bracelet and chew it. She also has to bring it to us every morning, or every time we come home. It's like she saying, "Look at this! This is my favorite toy! Isn't it cool!?" Sometimes she gets a little greedy and likes to 'wear' 2 circle bones. hehehe

 
Sophie is almost always laying on her back. Sometimes it looks pretty silly when she does this. There have also been times when it looks like she is sitting like a person on the couch. She has 'modesty' issues. hehehe... :)

 
A friend of ours bought/made us these bowls for Sophie as a wedding gift. Sophie has learned to pick up an empty bowl and bring it to us whenever she wants more. She usually only does this with water and not with food.  It's cute how she's a good communicator. :)

The song lyrics, "I'm so excited and I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it." describe Sophie perfectly. When she sees people that she hasn't seen in a long time, she has "problems" when she gets excited. Now we don't really like it when she "loses control." We started putting her in her cage for a "time out" when this would happen. It has gotten to the point where she punishes herself (no, not like Dobby the House-Elf in Harry Potter.) She'll go in her cage and sit there for awhile. She'll whine also, even though she could easily just walk right on out. Then when she decides she has had enough punishment, she'll leave the cage and continue on with her normal routine.

Speaking of routines, Sophie has a routine that she does almost every night. We call it, "Sophie's Crazy Time." Maybe she feels like she needs to release some pent-up energy before bedtime? We don't know. We do know that she runs around the apartment like crazy (hence the name). She'll run around the couch, jump on the bed, run back into the living room, run around in there, go back to the bed, etc. She's been doing this since she was a puppy. Who knows what is going on in her little mind :)  We'll have to capture a picture of it someday.

 
Sophie loves her "caves". She always tries to go under couches, beds, and tables. She tends to hide a stash of bones, toys, socks, etc. in her various caves. You never know what you're going to find in one.  If you can't find Sophie, chances are that she is hiding in one of her hiding spaces. :)

comments (0)
TOP

8:47 PM

Greedy Birds

Posted by Jake & Christina

We thought it would be cute to hang a bird feeder on our balcony. We really enjoyed seeing all of the random birds that it attracted. Our bird feeder was a pretty popular place...until...we ran out of seed! Once we ran out of seed, birds started gathering on the rail of our balcony and squawking like mad! It was like they were leading a protest! We decided to go and purchase some more seed for them. Since then, they have been nice and quiet for us. :) I am glad we alleviated that situation before things got out of hand ;)
Here are just a few of our frequent visitors:

 
We think this is a female cardinal
  
This might be a male cardinal. He is missing the spikes on this head though. Maybe he likes the "slicked back" look. hehe

 
I think he looks kind of sinister...
  
We think this is a nuthatch. These guys are messy. They just search for the sunflower seeds and toss everything on the ground. I am pretty sure the person the lives below us is going to get sick of our seeds on their balcony.

 
We think that this might be a downy woodpecker. 
After reading this post, I have come to the conclusion that Jake and I:
1) Are elderly bird watchers disguised as 25 year-olds.
2) Are definitely nerds with too much time on our hands  :)

comments (1)
TOP

6:25 PM

Honeymoon Tid-Bits

Posted by Jake & Christina

We just got married on August 1st and thought we would share some honeymoon photos. We went to Gatlinburg, TN. We spent a lot of time hiking in the Smoky Mountains. They were absolutely breathtaking! We also visited a few shops in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. The weather was pretty great and cooperative for the most part. It did rain one day, so on that day, we decided to visit Ripley's Aquarium. It was a lot of fun to be in a tunnel and watch sharks, rays, and fish swim above you. We ended our time in Tennessee with a visit to DollyWood. It was fun, but fairly expensive. That might have been a "one-time" visit. If you would like to see the whole album, follow this link:  Smoky Mountains or this one Dollywood If not, here are some of our highlights:

 
View from Cades Cove
 
One of the many rugged trails we hiked
 
A deer we spotted in Cades Cove
 
The trail to Laurel Falls
 
Laurel Falls
 
We saw a bear! He came pretty close! 
 
A jellyfish at Ripley's Aquarium
 
Sunrise from our balcony
We wanted to watch the sunset from the highest point in the Smoky Mountains, but unfortunately we were surrounded by (and stuck in) a cloud.

comments (0)
TOP

12:57 PM

Andrew, Alex, & Evan

Posted by Jake & Christina

Jake and I were asked by his aunt to take some pictures of her boys. It was a lot of fun, but it was definitely pretty challenging to get all 3 boys to stand still and smile for a picture. Thank goodness for fast shutter speeds! This photo shoot was definitely a workout trying to keep up with the 3 boys. They are just bundles of energy! We enjoyed it though. :) We thought that we would share some of our favorite photos.

 
 
  

comments (2)
TOP

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)