Fall!

 

Fall is my favorite season, and it's been such a treat being up in a midwestern state to fully appreciate it! We've done alot this fall already, but first, I need to bring in the rear with the last few pics from our Texas trip about two very important people!

 

Welcome Baby Easton!

 

 

You are so cute and we can't wait to watch you and your brother and sister grow up once we move back real soon!

 

And Congratulations Mrs. Hamilton!

Shelby got married!

Here she is with her proud papa!

 

 

Guess who got to be the wedding singer???

 

Daddy!

Here he is practicing, while Bekah sings along and Benjamin stares up in adoration!

 

 

Shelby and Ryan wanted Zack to sing "I Will"  by the Beatles, which was perfect, because Zack actually sings that song to Bekah at night!  Since he hasn't been a "wedding singer" in a good long while now, it was a great song to debut with!

(  the only shot i got of him singing was with his eyes closed, oops! )

 

Shelby and Ryan make such a beautiful couple!

And to go along with the beautiful couple, the wedding itself was beautiful!

So gorgeous and fun and full of the sweetest touches that spoke so much about this couple and the love that they have for one another, their family and their friends.

 

It was wonderful seeing my high school bff's again!

Carla and Cassie

 

Zack was just as excited to hang out with the hubbies- Joe, Travis and Mikey!

 

The girls!

Me, Kristen, Vaughanie, Carla, Shelby, Addie, Paige, Cathy and Cassie

 

We were all so very happy for our friend Shelby, you could  feel it in the air, how everyone just KNEW how perfect they were together!

 

The very next day, we had to head back to Indy, so Bekah got a few last snuggles with her adoring grandparents : ).

 

But  guess who we ran into at the airport????

The Newleyweds about to hop on a plane to head to their honeymoon!

I felt so lucky  to see them one last time and gush to them  them how wonderful the whole weekend was and just how happy I was for them!

SUCH a treat! Miss you Shelby and can't wait to see you soon!

( oh and Benjamin got to meet them for the first time!)

 

Plane ride back was not easy, but what a difference a daddy makes!

I was glad I flew first on my own and then, was rewarded with my teamate on the way back!

Once again, the bliss of eating applesauce with a spoon ALL by himself kept him entertained for 30 minutes, easy! Daddy was super impressed with this trick we picked up on the way to Texas!

 

Bekah, the rock star traveler!

 

Back to the grind in Indy, we put the jackets on, decorated the house, and welcomed in the fall!

 

Here is Bekah on her first "show and tell" day, where she chose to bring Barbara while wearing their matching Indianapolis jackets!

( Yes, my friend Staci even made one for Barbara!)

 

The leaves were gorgeous when we got back, I couldn't stop taking pictures!

The street that our townhome is on ( ours is the last one on the R)

 

I even took pics while driving, I was so enamored by the colors, I just had to capture them!

I know, not safe one bit, but this was a quiet street and I just held the camera up and shot, didn't even look through the lense!

The kids enjoyed decorating for fall, and since I didn't bring too many of our decorations, we ended up just hanging what Bekah made from school or making decorations at home, which was really fun!

 

On the balcony, playing with pumpkins

 

Bekah the Ballerina requested that I take  a picture of her too : ).

( "this is a plie Benjamin!")

 

I loved this view of Benjamin playing with the lovely leaves showing through the window.

Really, this Texas girl took sooo many pictures! With all the cedars I am heading home to, I had to take advantage of this year!

 

The red/orange combo was my favorite, it really was like they were on fire!

 

Going on a walk with our dear Aunt Sarah one fall day:

 

Park Fun

 

Funny how getting dressed for the park in the fall is like getting dressed for the park in the winter in Houston, if that! : ) I just can't believe that it's only going to get colder!

 

Oh and this will be one of my favorite Indy memory, an "authentic" pumpkin patch where you are surrounded by fall leaves and NOT sweating! Imagine that!

 

Pumpkin Train

 

Pumpkin Tree : )

 

Instead of walking through the maze, Bekah walked on top of it and kept "posing" for the camera : ).

 

On the hayride to find the perfect pumpkin

 

 

Benjamin liked this one!

 

Trying to get a sibling shot : )

 

Teehee, her posing just makes me giggle because it took sooo long to even get her to smile for the camera over the past 2 years, and now look at her!

 

Kisses for Benjamin : )

 

Picking out a pumpkin with daddy

 

Back at home, the beautiful view from our dining room that I wanted to capture. Sure enough, one week later ALL the leaves were gone!

 

With the weather not always permitting us to go outside to play, we've had to come up with ways to pass the afternoon, such as playing in boxes and packaging!

 

And another fun fall activity, football games!

 

For my birthday I told Zack I wanted to go to Notre Dame with the fam to watch a game and it was so much fun!

We feel so lucky to be up here in Notre Dame country, ESPECIALLY given the incredible season they have had this year!

 

It felt so good to get out of town, if just for the day, and the drive was only 2 1/2 hours!

 

Here is Benjamin, downing a bottle ( this was a month and a half ago) on the ride

 

 

Bekah was PUMPED and very proud to be in her Notre Dame cheerleader uniform, once again!

 

Being on call the night before, Daddy was downing his usual, Coke Zero :

 

The campus, as always, was simply gorgeous!

 

 

So special getting a whole day with daddy, with no pager or computer to take him away!

 

In front of the Notre Dame book store

 

And inside, so we could have a bathroom break. Thing is, the kids could have stayed here all day! I was impressed with their kid section!

Even though we got there on time, we chose to walk around the first half, so we could see the campus before it got dark ( it was a 3pm game), also knowing the kids could not take a whole game. It could be seen as wasteful, I suppose, but to us, it was perfect, we had a wonderful time roaming around, and then, when we got to the game, we could actually enjoy it!

 

Oh and did you know, you have to pay for EVERY warm body that enters that stadium? That included Mr. Benjamin! Way we saw it though, the next time we could go to a game, we would have to pay for plane tickets, so we considered it worth it!

 

Plus, it was just so special having the whole family up there, to see Daddy's school! It was crazy to have so many memories there with Zack and then, to bring our kids into that world! A time when  if  we "talked about having kids"  I would get so excited thinking about the possibility of marrying Zack, and  how having a conversation about what names we liked would put me on cloud 9, for days!

 

So sweet to take a moment and look back on times like those and be filled up with

gratitude all over again! 

 

 

In front of Daddy's dorm

 

Daddy's Dorm- Alumni Hall

Dorms at Notre Dame are sort of like their frats

The Golden Dome,

GORGEOUS!

 

 

 

 

At the grotto, Zack is showing Bekah how to light the candle and say a prayer

 

And finally, we headed to the stadium!

 

After watching the Irish play football every wknd this season, Bekah was honestly excited to see the real thing and was the perfect sidekick for Daddy! Her enthusiasm was precious! She kept saying, "Go Irish, Beat the Cougars!" She would always clap and jump up and down when Zack did, she was really following his lead and thought it was so fun to watch football, who would have thought!

 

Benjamin on the other hand lasted about 15 minutes, and then, I had to walk him around a bit.

 

Special thanks to Aunt Sarah for making the CUTEST Irish hat ever, even though it was clearly too small for him, he was going to wear it gosh darn it!

Love how his hair is peaking out of it, ha!

 

I wasn't expecting to watch too much of the game, and I was just happy Zack got to see it, this little man of mine was entertaining enough!

 

Checking out Touchdown Jesus

 

View of the field

 

We sat right in front of the cheerleaders, Bekah was very happy about that!

 

Like I said, SUCH a great sidekick for her daddy!

Great sidekick for me on the plane and in pretty much everything else I do, and here she is, able to have fun at a football game, what a big girl she is becomming!

 

 

Just like adults, football games are also about the food, and the kids pretty much ate the ENTIRE game. I've never seen Benjamin throw down so much food! Well, maybe on the airplane . . . : )

 

After the game, we were actually able to go to the dining hall where Zack ate every one of his meals for 4 straight years! It was soooo cool being back there, and according to Zack everything both smelled and tasted exactly the same! Good thing, since their dorm food has been ranked the best!

 

Once again, I had to take a moment to watch all the college kids sitting with their friends and think about how long it has been since we were in that position and how much has happened since then! Wowsers, there we were with our kids, nothing like bringing your kids back to your old ( or your hubby's) university to remind you how time flies!

 

And that's just the beginning of our fall up here in Indy, next to come, Halloween, Thankgiving and our trip to Chicago! Oh and Benjamin's 13 and 14 month post!

Can I get them all in before Christmas, that is the question : ).

 

Oh and GO IRISH! We have one happy daddy here in Indy!