brian's 10 year high school reunion

this weekend was brian's 10 year high school reunion, and we had fun! it was a treacherous, grueling, depressing and frustrating week to find a dress that didn't make me feel like a schoolbus, but we had a great time. friday night we went to the wampus cats football game, but there were VERY few alumni there. violet had a really good time, though! we sat with our friends ryan and rebekah, and it was nice to get some fresh air- this fall weather has been such a "mood uplifter" so far! saturday night was the dinner, and there were a lot more people there- that was the 'main event' for the reunion. it was strange but cool to see a lot of people that we haven't seen since high school, and to see what everyone was doing now, etc. it made me excited about my reunion next year!

violet is doing great. this past week she's started to coo in response to me cooing to her. it's priceless. i got a video of her and nana 'talking' to each other, but it's on my phone, so when i figure out how to put it on the computer, i'll post it, because it's the cutest thing EVER. she LOOOOOOOOOOOVES her nana. :) she got to hang out with nana, papa and her aunt kathy while we were at the reunion, and i know she had fun. :) violet is in her best mood of the day right after she wakes up, which is the complete opposite of how i was as a baby/toddler... maybe she got that from brian... :) she's becoming just such a laid back, happy and loving little girl. we're so proud of how smart she is already (and how strong she is!).

speaking of babies, we found out earlier this week that sarah is almost 5 months pregnant! she waited a while to tell the family because she was nervous and scared and surprised and all the other feelings i can imagine she had... she's not in the best situation to have a baby right now, but she's determined to give the baby the best life she can, and she's trying to make it on her own without asking for any more help from mom and dad than her sisters have, and i am proud of her for that. all we can do with her decision to raise this baby the best she can is to support her and love her and do what we can to show her that she can do it. the easy part is going to be loving that little baby... she finds out the sex of the baby soon, and i'm so happy to be going to the appointment with her. i'm hoping for the best for her and that little precious baby that their lives will be every bit as wonderful as they both deserve it to be. no, it's not a fairytale, but it is what it is, and i'm looking forward to becoming an aunt AGAIN! my parents will be getting at LEAST 3 more grandkids within the year, and probably 4, assuming allie gets pregnant in the next few months, which is the plan... wow, from 6 to TEN grandbabies in 365 days! pretty impressive!

here's violet at her first football game with rebekah:


here is our little family. i wanted to put a dress on violet so we all looked nice for once, but we were running late. oh well.


here we are at the reunion. i didn't take hardly any pictures because there weren't many people taking pictures, and i didn't want to be the only one, especially because it wasn't even MY reunion!


and here's violet snuggling with daddy today: