Fall and Winter '07-'08 ~Living in Waterloo, Illinois

Includes pictures of:

Fall (see below): Visits to my Alma Mater, Greenville College; a trip to Union Station in St. Louis, family day out to nearby Fort Charters, our home there, Kate's first day of school, Halloween, , Grant's 3rd Birthday, Thanksgiving, and day trips in area

Winter: Snow pictures, Christmas Season, Kate's 6th Birthday, Dave's 31st Birthday, New Years, and Dom's 5th Birthday (click link to view)

Some early Spring : Easter, Goodbye's for our move to Italy,  photos of Dave's trip to Washington D.C. in Feb. 2008 (click link to view)

Pumpkin Picking at Eckert's Orchard in Illinois.

http://www.eckerts.com/

From left to right: Our house, Kate at school, my alma mater; Greenville College.  (Although we homeschool, Kate did attend my childhood elementary school for 4 months during our transition.  Times were too crazy for us to teach her effectively.)

From left to right: Kate's first day, Grant, kids at Union Station (an old train station in St. Louis - now a mall and entertainment center - see link below), boys really into a caterpillar they found.

http://www.stlouisunionstation.com

 From left to right: "Three Little Pigs" while pumpkin picking, the boys and I at Kate's school Halloween party, Kate while pumpkin picking, Dave and Grant, Dom heavy lifting a big pumpkin, and Kate and her cousin roasting marshmallows at a Halloween party we went to.

From left to right: Dave teaching Grant to ride his bike from Grandma and Grandpa, the beautiful countryside-grounds of the house we were renting, Hendel's Market-an awesome renovated old building in Florissant, Missouri-my Grandma, Grant and I went there for lunch one afternoon, Grant and my Grandma.

http://www.hendelsrestaurant.com/

Grant's 3rd Birthday! ("Shrek" theme)

Fort Charters, Illinois ~ Living in the country (about 10 minutes out of my hometown of Waterloo), Fort Charters was only about a 15 minute drive away from us.

http://www.greatriverroad.com/stegen/randattract/chartres.htm

The fort has foundations of some of the quarters used to house troops there, and since I was a kid, a favorite activity at the Fort is to climb through the foundations.  See Dave in one as he follows the children.

Thanksgiving was spent at my parents' home with every one of my siblings there. It was great. First time we were all together in several years; with a couple of us not living near home most of the time. Above: Kids making Thanksgiving cookies and Kate with her Thanksgiving crafts from school.