Winter Wonderland

Elliott is napping, so I thought I would share the views I've been enjoying--snow and Christmas tree!

Our tree--a little blurry, and very modest in size, but pretty! Hamille helped us decorate while JP was in Switzerland. Elliott has since done some "redecorating".



Look at all the presents! And this is the second batch to fill the space under the tree--Mom took most of them to her house for our Christmas night festivities.
Yes, it's a small space under a small tree, but I've never seen it look like this before! I'm looking forward to everyone opening their gifts!



THE BACK YARD

These photos were taken literally minutes ago, so they are the current weather conditions here. It's not bad, but Brooks dealt with a flat tire the other day. We opted to try taking it in today versus yesterday (with a high of 1 degree Farenheit plus the wind chill!) So, it's warm enough to snow, and I think it would have snowed the last two days if it hadn't been so cold.




OUT OUR FRONT WINDOWS

It's been quiet around here without Jillian, but it has been good for me to spend a little more quality time with Elliott. Before she left, we did have some family fun together watching "Elf".
It was cute how the characters in the movie dialoged about the "rumor" going around that there is no Santa Claus and that the parents do it. Jillian piped up and said, "I believe in Santa Claus!" Well, that answered my question! Last year, she questioned us after hearing the "rumor" from a boy in her class. Another year of magical fun!

While I miss her very much, I am thankful to have so much time to wrap gifts in peace and listen to my wide array of Christmas music. I LOVE iTunes! I can get all the songs I want for only 99 cents each and none of the songs I don't want. AND I can shop from home in my nice warm penguin jammies and enjoy them right away. A music geek must have invented this whole concept. :)

Merry Christmas! Yay Jesus!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas from the Lockes!

Christmas is only a few days away and we are in full holiday spirit. The pile of packages under the tree is growing daily (mainly thanks to Susan's willingness to wrap all the present). Most of our Christmas cards are in the mail (still missing a few addresses). The past month has been extremely busy as we celebrated Brooks' and Susan's birthdays and Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful visit from Brooks' parents and grandmother for Thanksgiving. It was Grandma's first visit to our home. She seemed to have a wonderful time seeing her great-grandchildren.

December also brings the annual holiday program at Susan's school. This year she had the 5th graders put on a show entitled "The X-Mas Files." It was a very cute show about sightings of alien creatures, such as little green men and creatures with advanced antennae on their heads.

2008 has been an eventful year. We hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and written updates about the events of the past year. We thank God for the blessings he has given us this year! We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy 9-Month Birthday

On November 19, Elliott celebrated his 9-month old birthday! While he didn't get a birthday cake, he did celebrate by adding a new sound to his growing vocabulary. He now loves to say "bwah, bwah, bwah, bwah." As you can see he loves sitting at the piano. He is so intrigued by the different sounds. I took Elliott to see the pediatrician on Monday. He now weighs 19lbs. 13oz. and is 26 3/4" long. We are all looking forward to Thanksgiving as Grandma and Grandpa Locke and Great-Grandma Locke will be coming to visit.

Week in Review

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!



Jillian and Elliott celebrated Halloween. Jillian dressed up as a black cat, while Elliott wore a little monster outfit. We picked Elliott's costume because it was the closest thing to a lizard costume. When we picked it, Ellliott liked to stick his tongue out a lot. Jillian got lots of candy when we went trick-or-treating. Elliott just enjoyed the stroller ride. Later in the evening, we went to a Halloween party hosted by Susan's friends Jeremy and Linnea.

Earlier in the week, we all enjoyed a visit from Grandma Locke. She stayed with us for 3 nights while Grandpa Locke was on a business trip to South Africa. Elliott and Jillian had fun hanging out with Grandma and we all enjoyed her cooking.

Jillian and Elliott pose with Nathan Perry for the camera.

Last Sunday, Susan was the sponsor for Brianna Perry at Brianna's baptism.

Brianna Perry's baptism with Bob, Stephanie, and Nathan Perry and Brianna's sponsors looking on.

What Did We Ever Do Without Cameraphones?

This post comes to you thanks to the technology of the cameraphone. Do you ever wonder how someone came up with the strange idea of putting a camera in a cellphone? Well, they sure come in handy in capturing some fun moments. Here are a few of my favorites:


Elliott got to spend some time at Daddy's work. Here he is hanging out with Diane while Daddy did some faxing. Thanks to Diane for this adorable picture!


There's the handsome boy happy to see Daddy. As you can see Elliott is standing pretty well while holding on to something. He loves to stand at the side of his crib.



Jillian's school had a fundraiser night at our local Culver's. Here's Jillian with Scoopie!

Jillian is supposed to read for 20 minutes on school nights. Elliott provides a great captive audience for her reading.

In September, we spent a Saturday at Great America with Susan's sister Gail and her daughter's Katie and Lauren. Elliott is showing tremendous fashion sense by borrowing Lauren's sunglasses.

We made a "quick" stop at Babies R Us recently. Instead of lugging the whole family through the store, I stayed in the car with the kids. After awhile, Elliott was getting fussy, so I got him out of his carseat. Next thing I knew he was ready to drive us home!

In other news:

It's hard to believe that in a little over two months it will be Christmas! Where has the time gone? Elliott turned 8 months old this past Sunday. At his last doctor's visit he weighed in at 17 lbs. 15 oz. and measured 25 3/4". In the past two weeks he has started crawling. It's very cute to see him move across the floor like an inchworm. He pulls himself forward with his forearms only.

Jillian is doing pretty well in 3rd grade. She has a lot more homework this year, so that takes most of her time after school. She has also begun taking piano lessons. So far she seems to enjoy it, although her idea of practice is playing each song twice.

Susan is working hard at incorporating her new curriculum and textbook series into her lesson plans at work. This coming Tuesday she is getting observed by her new principal during her 2nd grade class. I'm still enjoying my work schedule of working 3-4 nights a week. It has been great to be home so much during the day. Susan and I enjoyed our first night away without kids on Columbus Day weekend. We stayed at a bed and breakfast near Starved Rock State Park. We had spent one night at the same B&B during our mini-honeymoon right after our wedding.

Well, I'm off until next Monday night, so I'm going to go get a good (and hopefully uninterrupted) night's sleep.

Moody with Raw Buns

Ok, so Brooks hasn't exactly posted anything recently, so here's a quick update:
Elliott has had diarreah for a few days now and his poor little bottom is so red! He cries when we wipe! :( We have put breastmilk and vasoline on his butt to help heal and protect his bottom from more pain as well as corn starch to hopefully make it less intensely acidic. It seems to be helping, although the thing that will help the most is when this virus finishes running its course through my poor, sweet baby! We have been airing his bottom out, too, which helps as well.
Also, 92% of the voting members (about 760 members voted) approved the recommendation to call Dr. Josh Moody as our senior pastor. The committee said they would call him tonight, so I'm guessing he already knows and is thinking and praying about it. I really like him--I hope he comes!!!!
Finally, Go Redskins! They defeated the Cowboys! Brooks has a new sports buddy, Nathan. He is the brother to my friend and fellow musician (Suzuki instructor of violin) Sarah. I'm glad. It was a little dull listening to them talk football at lunch today, so as long as I have someone else to talk to, I should be ok. :)
Poor Hamille is sick! I took her some soup and other goodies to help her feel better. She can't get around by car because JP is gone till tomorrow and the apartment has a leak in the wall...poor sweet Hamille! I'm so glad we could help her out this week! I'm going to be so busy this week!
I should have my program CD tomorrow and thus will start teaching the songs a such to my students. I have lesson plans to finish tomorrow, meeting Tuesday, church Wednesday, meeting with prayer support team for Jon and Fran Thursday night, BUNCO Friday night, Brooks' homecoming Saturday, and this week I have to plan a birthday party for Linda to occur Sunday night! PRAY FOR ME!!!! I need sleep, too! Pray for Elliott's poor, sore little bum!
Brooks is STILL at the Augustine's playing Rook...lucky little stinker! ;)

Flooding, taking a sabbatical

So this is a post to our blog to report on flooding in Carol Stream and to announce my sabbatical from posting to the blog. I posted this old but adorable picture because I don't have any new ones--no time. In my absence, my husband, Brooks, has been placed in charge of all blog update activity. He has been faithful in this recently, however the content is questionable in nature, since it involved my son wearing a Cowboys jersey. I will admit that he looks quite adorable in it, but it should be a BEARS or Redskins jersey. I will have to talk to my brother about getting something for him, although I bet Diane will get one first. She's the one who dressed Elliott as a White Sox fan even though Brooks likes the Orioles and I'm for the Cubbies, and Red Socks. I'll take that over those crazy Texans. "America's Team" my foot! The president could name them our national team and I still wouldn't budge! Oh well--I must say that it makes our lives a little more colorful.


Anyway, flooding news. I don't have any, except that school is canceled for tomorrow, Sept. 15, 2008. I got 3 calls, yes, 3, from our superintendent Hank Gmitro regarding school cancellations, including one from our school phone tree. Cloverdale's phone tree hasn't even been updated for the year, since we usually don't start cancelling school until after Thanksgiving. I hope all the new employees got the district message. I get to call someone new this year because the person I called last year resigned. Don't know why, but I do know she had a change of position last year after one of our colleagues died of cancer. :( Anyway, I have not personally seen the flooding in Carol Stream except to see the intersection we take to Jillian's school blocked off (due to water) on our way to church this morning. We saw plenty of flooding at Lincoln Marsh and Elliot Lake just north of the marsh. You almost couldn't read the signs the water was so high. Our home is in a higher area and it seems that it was well developed considering all the problems this constant rain has caused. We have lake in our neighborhood that usually isn't there, but otherwise we're safe. Praise the Lord! A co-worker had to evacuate her home due to massive flooding. :( I heard from the 5th grade teacher that calls me on the phone tree. I'd appreciate if you prayed for Katie F. and her family.


Elliott started sitting up with more stability this week, so that makes it easier to accomplish tasks with him nearby. I can carry him to a spot in the house where I need to do something, like prepare his solid food dinner, and he's happy and safe next to me. He has been very upset whenever he sees me leave his presence, which is heartbreaking but I'm glad to know he's so fond of me. :) Jim says it's because I provide him with his primary food source, but I bet he would love me just as much if he was bottle fed. He gets at least 3 bottles a week when he is with Mom and at least 2 more when Brooks is home with him. Then they feed him solid food more than I do. Oh well!


Jillian's reading is really impressive! Tonight she was reading an email survey that Mama Locke filled out and returned to me, but as it got later, she quickly went downhill. I knew it was time for bed then! It was an hour past her bedtime, but she doesn't have school tomorrow. :) I love the way she cares for Elliott. You can tell they are buddies by the way he looks at her when he wakes up in the mornings. He always has such a big smile on his face, it warms my heart so much! I wish I could stay home with him and enjoy him even more!!!





Work has been very exhausting. Some of my classes are more draining that others due to classroom management demands, but Brooks has really been encouraging me to "crack the whip" and not give my little "testers" any room, and it has really helped. Not having kindergarten this year has been a blessing, too, because not only do I have less trouble, but I have smaller classes overall, which is the right thing to do. I don't think it's fair for us specialist to be expected to teach huge classes when the classroom teachers have no more than 25. However, next week I start losing students to the math support program that pulls them out of specials (aka CATs: Comprehensive Arts Team--Art, Gym, Health, Music, Drama/Dance) for about half of the time. Normally, those are students I don't miss, but this year's third graders who qualify are some of my favorites! :( I just hope this program helps them enough to graduate them soon! :) Anyway, another draining part of work is meetings--we have had quite a few recently, from staff meetings to team meetings to TARGET meetings (team meets with administration) to Professional Learning, which I don't want to go into, except that it's the district-wide approach to meeting the academic needs of students, and I think it's one of those wonderful NCLB pieces of legislation. :P Our first meeting was announced only a few hours before it was to begin...and took up all of our lunch and most of our plan time for the day. YUCK! I was thankful for once that I had to pump, so I missed the first half (pumping takes about 25 minutes of my time, if I'm super organized and I have access to the office I've been given permission to use; rarely do I get both on the same day!) thanks to that, then I had to heat up my lunch (oh darn!) I want to help my students reach their academic potential, but I feel like they have very high expectations of us specialist--meeting our own state standards, assessing them on those, integrating between our special disciplines through vocabulary, cross-curriculum articulation, and now being expected to reinforce what they learn in reading, math, and the like. So, as you can see, it's a little exhausting at work. I also have lots of new materials in addition to my new textbooks to get used to (and modify for my classes since lots of their ideas are cheesy and ineffective--I know because I've tried them!!) I usually wake up before Brooks, have more to do to get ready, including feeding Elliott twice before I leave, then getting to work to do my job in an overwhelming setting. There is so much to do and plan and think about that I find that I am becoming less effective...oh wait, I have a family, too?


It's going to be easier NEXT YEAR, RIGHT?


That's what I keep saying, every year since my first year.


It had better be!!!! It was true my second year teaching, but not as much as I would have hoped beyond that...yet. :)


I am surviving by God's good grace alone, which He has provided mostly in getting me through the day, having such an amazing husband (despite his love of those crazy Texans) and two great kids. Seeing how much Elliott loves me really cheers me up. His "need" for me is discouraging, since I usually come home and have so much more to do, and I'm exhausted. This weekend has been very restful, and having tomorrow off will help, too. I hope to get some lesson planning done for next week, which will hopefully help my load next this week...Lord willing and the creeks don't rise! (Oh wait, too late! Was that a terrible pun or what?)

In other news...A new girl to 129 that is from Texas (but lives in Chicago with her in-laws as of recently) and her son, Jack, came to church today and Lauren sat with us. She sat with us in 129 and then came out to lunch with us to Corner Bakery. Jack just turned 2, and is a cute blondie with blue and green eyes who knows many colors, but calls grey "mouse". :) Isn't that cute? He was initially afraid of me at the beginning of class, but he warmed right up to Jillian (of course, who wouldn't?) and was friendly with us after that. When he saw us in line at CB, he ran up to me with his arms out for me to hold him...out of the blue! It was so sweet! I can't understand most of what he says, but he's a cutie and he really likes Elliott, too. He actually says his name pretty well! Anyway, a bit of info on Lauren--she's a widow. Her husband drowned on a recreational boating trip when Jack was only a few months old. I'm sure she was so sad and devistated, but her testimony is so powerful! She read Elizabeth Elliot's book (before the accident) and it was such an encouragement to her, knowing how Elizabeth continued to minister to the people that took her husband's life. Lauren said that she was married for the same amount of time that E.E. was...wow! She is so strong, and I pray that God would use her, and Elizabeth Elliot, to minister to me if that ever happened to me. I tell Brooks that he's not allowed to die before me because I would be waaaay too devistated. I'm the emotional one, so I wouldn't handle it as well. However, he seems reluctant to agree anymore since he tells me he doesn't know what he would do without me...at least I know I married the right guy! :) I need to pray that God would work in my heart on that one, making sure my priorities are straight, but He keeps it real. I'm head-over-heels for Brooks, but his marathon football watching does get under my skin by the 10th quarter (yes, multiple games in a row), so that helps me remember that God is the only one that I can truly rely on--He will never abandon me for football!!!! :)

I still wouldn't trade my husband for another--any day!


Well, I think this last blog has gotten long enough. Hasta el verano!


Susan

It's Football Season!

Dad and Elliott get ready to cheer on the Cowboys!!!


Doesn't Elliott look great as a Cowboy?

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it's off to work I go...

Needless to say, I've been keeping busy this week, getting my room ready for another year of Music classes. I haven't been very excited about it, but I got a bunch of cool new materials in the mail from DO (District Office) to go with our new textbooks and suppliments for them, so I'm getting more excited. I also am enjoying getting rid of more old junk from the previous music teacher to make room for the cool new stuff.

One thing that has made this week feel more comfortable is my Mom. She is taking very good care of Elliott and Jillian and our home, too. She helps out with things like laundry and loading the dishwasher and stuff. I have a much more peaceful feeling about going back to work, even if I would prefer to be home with Elliott myself until he's at least 1 year old. They are, you know, only this little for a short time.

I had a PartyLite show tonight at my place and while I had only 2 guests, we still had a good time. Linda and my neighbor, Giusy, came by and sniffed candles and ate cake. It was pretty good considering that Thursday night seemed to be a bad night for everyone else I invited.

I hope to post stuff from COTW soon, but that may have to be Brooks' job. Overall, I enjoyed it very much. There was so much good stuff, that the only thing I could think to suggest to improve for next time would be: pray for less rain, and don't bring a baby if it can be helped. Some of the highlights were spending time with the family, learning 4 new games, getting to know Lesley and Eric and Ava, and being able to walk everywhere. The chapel service speaker was great and the concerts were fun, too. But since I'm a people person, and I also enjoy games, I think my favorite part was playing skipbo and other fun games with Eric and Lesley. I didn't know them at all really before Camp, and once again, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed them, just like when I met Karl and Alyssa, and others. I just didn't know what to expect, and it turned out fantastic!

Well, I'm very tired and it's getting very late. Time for bed!

For Mom and Jim

From Camp-of-the-Woods
on Lake Pleasant
in Speculator, NY
home of the
Adirondack Mountains
With Love, from Susan and the Fam

The most current pictures of Elliott so far.



I almost caught a smile...


Jillian and Ava (her cousin) at the mini golf course last night.


Brooks, Elliott, and Jillian on Monday for the big Dunkerton family reunion pictures.

Hope you like! We have had a pretty fun week and we miss you! Wish you were able to be here with us!

Love,
Susan

PS-Watch your mailbox!

Mommy Thoughts

Tonight we visited with dear friends, Damon and Crystal Schroeder, who you may remember from our wedding...Damon read scripture and Crystal was a bridesmaid with dark, curly hair. Jillian played with their children, Abby, Stephen, Grace, and Silas. It was a visit long overdue, as we last saw the Schroeders before Silas could talk, and he turns 4 on Monday!

Damon grilled out and Crystal prepared salad, veggies (tomatoes and cucumbers, my favorite ;) and chips. They all enjoyed taking turns holding and playing with Elliott, to the point of our hosts holding Elliott while we ate, and they refused to have it any other way! It was so nice to have a (mostly) quiet meal for a change. Elliott really seems to seek the most attention at some of the most challenging times, like meal times. The Schroeders are so kind and patient and encouraging, and they have fun children. They aren't monsters, but they aren't perfect angels, either. :) They have a loving home and I always enjoy our visits there.

Crystal talked to us about a variety of things, including home schooling, home birthing, and cloth diapers, but never pressured us to any of the above, which was very nice. While we will use cloth diapers when my mom starts babysitting (her idea, she offered!), home schooling isn't in our future, and I doubt home birthing is either.

Lately, I've been thinking about going back to work, and what a struggle and big transition it will be. Of course I would love to stay home with Elliott and get Jillian on and off the bus every school day and make dinners and clean house every day, but in reality, we can't do it financially. Could we do it if we spent less? Maybe, but we do have some debt, the biggest being our mortgage and Brooks' law school student loans. Perhaps if we were debt-free *and* didn't need to save for car, emergencies, repairs, etc. we could do it. Or if Brooks worked for a firm and made twice as much, and was home 1/2 as much as he was before screening...sigh. I'd prefer to have him home, and he knows it, and he agrees.

So, in my recent efforts to prepare myself to rejoin the full-time working world, I thought I would ask a friend who had a baby (more recently) before me what their experience was like. I thought of Sarah, who was a middle school teacher, but declined tenure (for very good reasons) and opted to be a stay-at-home mom. Then I thought of Jess, who had been wanting to quit her job for years, and did so when she had Jack. I remembered Karen, who used to missions with an organization helping orphans in Ukraine and Russia, but her 4 year commitment ended just before Ann was born. And Kate was a vet tech until Megan was born...all of my closest friends (in proximity) became stay-at-home moms! None of them returned to work!!! I'm the only one who will be juggling my family (especially my sweet baby!) and my career! :(

I feel...alone-ish. Yes, Brooks is here. That's not the point. Yet another thing seems to separate me from some of my friends. I don't know...I guess I'm jealous? What do you think? It's getting late...time to let the pondering rest for the night.

Jillian's Birthday week

I'm back. After much harrassment, I'm finally posting to the blog again. Here's a recap of the past week.



Jillian got an early start to her birthday celebration when Grandma and Grandpa Locke came for a brief visit 10 days ago. Among her presents from them were this purple sun dress . . .



and Anne of Avonlea, the second book in the series.

Jillian was in a summer music camp at church all week. Friday night the kids performed a show called "Power." Jillian had two speaking parts (total of 4 lines), first as Shadrach, then as a person on the street. She did a great job and even pronounced Nebuchadnezzar correctly. The picture is from the reception afterwards.

Jillian discovered this week that she could ride a bike without training wheels after all.

On Saturday, we had Jillian's birthday party at Nana's house. A grand total of 10 kids, plus parents enjoyed a beautiful sunny day by eating hot dogs and swimming in the pool.




Jillian and her neighbor friend Mia.




And don't forget the ICE CREAM CAKE!!!




Jillian received a number of great presents, including 4 different Barbies!

My cousin Heidi arrived Saturday evening. We had a great time going to a Chinese restaurant, walking around downtown Wheaton, and going to church on Sunday. We can't wait to spend more time with her this weekend at COTW.


Heidi got to meet Elliott for the first time.





Elliott is really enjoying his new bathtub!!!

It's a long one...

FINISHING UP THE ROADTRIP!
Of course I wish this had happened sooner, but our wireless availability was zilch after we left the Blairs, and other things have been keeping us busy. However, I hope to get everything up-to-date soon...Jillian is staying with my parents this week before we go to C.O.T.W. so we'll see what kind of time I have!


SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND - THE BLAIR RESIDENCE

We had a lovely visit with the Blairs, and I also got to meet Stefanie Campbell and her daughter. Stefanie and Brooks grew up together, and I got to meet her parents briefly at our Forcey visit 3 years ago. The girls played together very nicely, and Stefanie is expecting again. She taught Meredith and Austin in school (kindergarten) but now she stays at home full time. This is the part where I sigh and remember that I will be returning to school in just a couple of weeks, and leaving my sweet baby at home. I'm thankful that my mom will be taking care of him, but I will certainly miss him a lot. It will be a very busy and hectic time, but God will help me get through another year of teaching and being away from my baby.

Anyway, Joan took lots of great pictures of this visit, so here are a few.

Stefanie, Amelia, and the Lockes (minus Elliott, who was sleeping).

Jillian enjoyed playing with Austin, especially on his PSP.

The Lockes go blue for the day.

SILVER SPRING (area), MARYLAND

We didn't manage to get any pictures from the great reunion-style party that Kristy hosted at her parents' home, so here's the verbal synopsis.

There were tons of people from Forcey, and of course, since they aren't the friends that I grew up with, I can't remember all of their names, but I'll try to recall a few: Cyndi, Beth & Brian, Micah & Heather, Zarnez, Mike and his new bride, and of course Kristy and Rhonda. We also got to meet Kristy's boyfriend, Brendan? The group helped celebrate Zarnez's birthday, too.

The next day, we got to visit Kristy's pottery studio, and we even got to paint our own pottery! Jillian and I made gifts, and Elliott got in on some of the fun, too, while Brooks and Kristy visited. I got to make a trivet with ivy on it to go with my green and ivy kitchen. Yay! Thanks, Kristy!

We just got them, like, minutes ago! It all looks great and nothing was broken. :)
Jillian's princess crown


My ivy trivet :)


DAMASCUS, MARYLAND

I finally got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Karl Hjembo! They were in Germany for the past 3 years where Karl was stationed. Now they live in a home that Alyssa's grandmother inherited. It's nothing new, but Alyssa and Karl have done such an amazing job making it look beautiful and more up-to-date. I was so impressed with how much they did in such a short time. Alyssa is an excellent cook, too!


We also got to meet the future Mrs. Jonathan Hjembo, Ally (I may have misspelled her name...). They are getting married on October 4, 2008--yes, that's soon! They shared some of their wedding plans with us, and it sounds like it will be a beautiful event. It sounds like Ally will make her own wedding gown, too!



Mr. and Mrs. Hjembo and Mr. Hjembo and the future Mrs. Hjembo. :)


The very happily engaged couple--it's quite clear in person, even if it's not in this picture. :)



This picture is supposed to recreate the "tripartite talks" they had in Maryland.


The ladies wrapping up before the bride-to-be and groom-to-be have to leave.


Jillian and Gregory playing with his train sets.



Jillian, Gregory, and Ethan, chillin' on the couch.




I thought this was a cute picture, so I put it in. :)

It was so nice to finally meet Karl and Alyssa! I'd heard so much about them, and we had such a great visit with them!


FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA

We stopped at a Panera in Virginia to visit with Jeremy and Stacy Root and their sweet daughter, Susannah Margaret. They adopted her last November I believe. One of the restaurant patrons assumed that the two babies were twins. It was cute. :)


The Root family--aren't they adorable?! They were such kind people--I enjoyed getting to know them and spending some time with them. It has been a long time since Brooks has seen them (I was meeting them for the first time, if that gives you any indication) so I'm glad we were able to see them, even if it was relatively short.



I tried to get them all in there...oh well. It's still a cute picture.


LANGHORNE, PA

After many long days of travel, we were able to relax a bit and spend some great time with (Great) Grandma Locke. Brooks and I were able to help her by pulling some weeds and some carrots (which were not planted this year--somehow they planted themselves from last year!)
Grandma took us out to eat at Michael's as a thank you. :)

Here are some great pictures of Grandma with Elliott! She was wonderful with him!!!


Aww...


Snuggle buddies.

Elliott gets some time with Great-Grandma before going to bed. Notice the shark jammies.

"I wish I could stay in Great-Grandma's arms all night!!!"

Dear Grandma Locke,
Thank you for the wonderful hospitality! We had such a wonderful visit and we look forward to seeing you again soon! We would love to have you visit us in Carol Stream, so we can see you sooner, too!
Love,
Susan and Brooks


PITTSBURGH, PA

Elliott got to meet his cousin, James, as well as Torrey and Anne. We had such a nice visit we didn't want it to end so soon! We also got to attend church with Torrey and Anne on Sunday. Torrey made yummy chicken that reminded me of brushetta. I'm not a tomato fan, but it was still delicious!


They must be family!


Brooks is introduced to MarioKart (Game Cube version) and he and Torrey had much fun competing!


Jillian liked it a lot, too, and moves with the turns--it's cute.


Elliott borrowed James' bumpo chair and was much more content sitting up. Thanks! Isn't this a sweet picture of him?



Elliott sits and watches his big sister play Mario Kart.

Anne and Torrey were so sweet to throw a little birthday party for Jillian! We had cupcakes, ice cream, and Jillian even got some fun gifts!



Anne scoops some ice cream and Elliott asks Daddy if he can have some, too. Daddy looks at Mommy, but he already knows the answer is "no."



The men with the boys :)



The Lockes in Pittsburgh--what a lovely home the Babsons have here!

Overall, we had a great road trip east. It was wonderful to meet (yes, I'm still meeting folks!) and see so many friends and family. Jillian and Elliott did very well keeping each other company, so that made it much more enjoyable for us all. We are now looking forward to driving to Camp of the Woods for some extended family fun!