Dad's 54th birhtday and Carving pumpkins

This years for dad's birthday my mom bought pumpkins for us to carve. I can't remember the last time we carved pumpkins as a family. This year everyone had a "partner" so we had a little competition between the couples. I love my family so much! I am so thankful to the Lord for a FUN family that can laugh together. I think my dad was blessed on his birthday just having us all home and hanging out. Here are some fun pictures.


Get to work! Paul and Rachel oh so serous!

Mom is not sure dad's idea is a "winner"

Tyson the brains and the brawn behind our operation.

Jesse and Kelly love their idea :-)

Everyone had to vote for the best pumpkin...you could not vote for your own.....

Dad tallied the score and the winner was.....Paul and Rachel!! (Don't worry Kelly I voted for you and Jesse)

One of my favorite places!

For the last 3 years my mom and I have traveled to St. Louis for the Joyce Meyers women's conference. Every year it is amazing to see the Lord use Joyce to minister to so many women. I think they said there were between 17 and 20 thousand women there this year. As an extra bonus we brought Jesse's girlfriend Kelly with us. She had never been to St. Louis before so we were excited to show her around. My mom and dad both grew up there and we usually visit family while we are in town. This was the first time we had been back since my grandfather passed away. My aunt took us to the grave site and it was weird...hard to be there and not see him. It was good to see my family though.

Me and Kelly in front of my FAVORITE... White Castle!!!! Reason #23,445 why I love St. Louis.

My cousins Ryan and Kevin came down town to meet us for Kelly's birthday. We had dinner at Morgan's and then we took her to the casino for the first time. We had a great time. Kelly decided very quickly that the gambling life was not for her. She was starting to panic after losing one dollar on the slot machine. ha ha Once she got to 3 dollars in losses she called it quits! It was too stressful for her. ha ha

We took Kelly up in the arch and that was really fun. I hadn't done that since I was like 6 years old. I'm not going to lie being in that tight little pod on the way up made me a little claustrophobic. Plus mom kept telling us stories of when she got stuck in there when she was a kid!!! Makes me sick thinking about it.

This is the view from the top. Busch Stadium!

After the conference we had a day to hang out and mom took us around town. We drove by her old house and the house my dad grew up in.

We met my uncle Terry for an afternoon at the zoo. The St. Louis zoo has always been a favorite for me. The hippos I think were my favorite on this trip.

32 weeks Prego :-)