October 19th

The North Carolina State Fair! Arthur and I actually skipped church to go early this morning. It was the only day we were both free but we needed to get back before 5 for Rachel's birthday dinner. It was chilly - about 55 degrees and unbelievably crowded!

You always need painted cows.

The largest pumpkin - That's a lot of pies.

A pig pile!

Beautiful weather...

Deep fried everything!

More deep friend everything!

Deep fried pecan pie. Yum! We also tried the deep fried mac & cheese but that was just ok.

When we got home, we had Rachel's birthday. Arthur made lasagna and we had chocolate cake.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

I think 22 candles is the limit we can safely put on a cake!

Cctober 18th

More car pictures... We spent most of Saturday looking at cars. He finally decided that on a 2002 Suzuki Aerio. We hope it will be a good little car for him. He has had fun learning a 5-speed!

We aren't completely out of the woods with cars yet. Arthur's new Saab has a leak that we can't seem to get fixed. Soon we will have 3 running vehicals again - I hope.

October 12th

In the early part of Sunday, Dan and some of his friends from church went ice skating.

Dan and Erica waltzing?

The gang

October 12th

More of our car saga... On the way home from skating, Dan lost control of his car and hit the cement barrier on Capital Blvd. Fortunately, he had no one else in the car, he is fine, and he didn't hit or involve any other drivers. Unfortunately, the little green Saturn is a goner...

The front axle and the drive shaft are broke. Plus the door frame was bent and there was a lot of body work.

Goodbye little green Saturn!

Arthur, Dan and Pastor Mike waiting for the tow truck.

I was pretty tore up. We just spent all that money on the car and it was so great to have 3 good running cars. But God is good...

Today (Wednesday) we were hearing back from the adjuster. My hope was that they would repair it. We figured the car's book value wasn't worth much. This morning I just prayed "God I know you are going to do something amazing today and I'm just going to look for it". Not only did they value the car much higher than we expected, they factored in the work we just had done on the car. There is enough to get another good used car and not just a junker!

October 10th

Roses on Arthur's rose bush

October 7th

We've had a couple of weeks and although I haven't blogged, I have taken pictures! Yeah! I also borrowed some from Andy. I love getting pictures from him and Christine. Unfortunately, I did upload the pictures backward so I hope you don't mind reading backwards. :snort:

Fall has arrived in NC which means my mums bloomed. They are so huge that they are soon going to be known as the mums that ate the house.

Arthur played with the camera to take a closer shot.

More mums!

The continuing car saga... Dan's car has been finally been put out of its misery. We got a new 1999 Saab this weekend.

However, Arthur thinks that the turbo Saab is too much car for Dan so they switched cars. They both seem happy but if Arthur gets a ticket he will never hear the end of it. I , of course, still drive the mommobile.

The car that wasn't . After a very pushy salesman at Capital Ford suggested we take home the Jetta that Dan tried, we had a new Jetta (or Yetta as the salesman called it). It was really cute but the car payments were too high and Dan's insurance would be too high so back it went.

The youth group went paintballing! Yes, that is the youth leaders in the chairs.

Dan with some of the youth. Dan is technically not in the youth anymore but he helps out and participates in most activities/studies. Pastor Mike, the youth leader, has been mentoring him. They meet on Fridays for fellowship and Bible Study.

Dan helping to guard their post. If you want to see more pictures of the youth, check out our church website http://www.ccraleighyouth.com/

Christine at Higgins Armory in Worcester, MA.

Let the battle of the wits begin!

We used to visit Higgin's Armory quite a lot when the boys were little primarily because Andy was a big knights fan. When I asked him what he thought of it as an adult, he responded "it was a lot smaller!" :snort:

Andy and Christine also went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Yes, Arthur now has this shot as his desktop.

There is nothing like a hot dog at the ball park!

The North Star

Arthur always told Andy that this is the North Star (No, not the Bud Light sign, but the Citgo sign). When they go to and from Fenway, they never get lost if they can see the Citgo sign.

So this has been our last week or so. Unfortunately, I still have no wedding pictures. Sigh...

Hopefully though we are at turning point for us. We have 3 running cars, our bills our paid, and our refrigerator is full...All is right with the world.