Early risers.

This weekend has been pretty uneventful for us, but for the sake of our devoted blog followers we will bore you with our lives :)

Friday night we were asleep by 8pm. Yay for early bedtimes. Saturday, we were up at 5:15am because Sam has started working the opening shift at Shaw's. That left me (and Ethel) with a very relaxful morning. I cleaned, organized closets, grocery shopped, began the ever growing laundry pile, and made lunch for the hubby and I when he got home around 12:30pm. Saturday afternoon, we took Ethel to get a "pedicure" (her hair grows under her feet and they have to use a special razor to buzz it off) and grabbed a pumpkin spice latte (a small taste of Heaven) on a beautiful fall day. 

Saturday afternoon we headed over to the Rogland's house for a beer brewing lesson (Sam was like a child on Christmas morning), and delicious, authentic, homemade Italian food. Mariah's meatballs are to die for! We also enjoyed a scrumptious rhubarb, strawberry and raspberry pie with homemade whipping cream. We were feasting like kings and queens!

This morning we endured another early wake up, as Sam played the drums at the church and I was the nursery coordinator this week. I missed the sermon this morning, but Sam said it was awesome and what I heard of the service from the nursery sounded great. After church we had our friends, Danielle and Justin over for tacos and have just been vegging since. We just put on a pot of french press and have a delicious looking caramel apple to devour.

We also want to send a special message to Grandpa Nelson today! It's his birthday! We wish we could be celebrating with everyone tonight, but we are looking forward to our trip home to Wheaton in October. Happy Birthday Gramps! Thanks for bringing so much joy, laughter and wisdom into our lives. We are so blessed. We love you!

We hope all of you had a great weekend and are enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

Lots of love.
Sam, Katelyn & Ethel

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Friends & fondue.

On Saturday, we had some of our new friends, the Duncans and the Garretts over for chocolate fondue. These Southern friends (from Georgia) had never had chocolate fondue before! They had no idea what they were missing out on. We had strawberries, bananas, pretzels, marshmallows and pound cake as dunkers and let me tell you- it was delicious. Great conversation, great new friends, and great dessert. We are beginning to slowly fall in love with this city and the people God has blessed our time with here. Today we had a wonderful service at South City and Katelyn and the pup enjoyed a nice long nap this afternoon on this rainy day. We hope all of you had a restful, enjoyable weekend.

Love to you all.

Sam, Katelyn & the pup

Guitar lessons.

Sam and I had the privilege of watching beautiful Shyla on Friday night. Shyla loves Ethel, so her parents found it fitting to bring her to our place to babysit. Big surprise- Ethel is still very unsure of Shyla. Julie needed to drop Shyla off before I got home from work, so Sam was going to be with Shyla for a half hour all by himself. Sam's initial reaction? "What if she poops!" You change her? No worries, he did great and no poopy diapers for him to change. 

We enjoyed watching some Yo Gabba Gabba, playing with kitchen toys and the most enjoyable part of the night - Sam teaching Shyla how to "play" the guitar. So precious. Shyla was memorized and is now a huge fan of Wilco and Townes Van Zandt. I was thrilled (not).

As much as we loved watching little Shyla (she's an angel baby), it made us realize we really do selfishly enjoy the quiet Friday nights just the two of us. I'm very thankful for all my "baby fixes" here in St. Louis :)


Love, 
Sam, Katelyn & Ethel

look at the face!!!!

 

Second year of Seminary ...

Here we COME!

Today, Sam started his second year of Seminary. Why not kick off the semester with Hebrew? He spent he morning studying the Hebrew alphabet and getting his bag ready for the first day of school. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and juicy BLT's for lunch to kick off the start to a great semester and even squeezed in a hair cut this morning. Of course the first day of school would not be complete without the question, "Can I buy the Amazon mp3 $3.99 deal of the day for my first day of school?" Does that surprise anyone?

Sam also got a new watch today as a first day of school present. I figured it was an appropriate gift, so he can always get home in time for dinner :) I don't say it enough, but I am so proud of my hubby. As someone who has no desire to go back to school, homework, tests etc. I am amazed at his dedication to learning and the huge effort he puts forth to challenge himself and dig deeper into what he loves. He was even excited about Hebrew! All to say, he is one heck of a wonderful husband and I am proud to call myself his wife.

Learning the Hebrew alphabet.

Lunch for champions.

Ethel at the door watching Sam pull away ... so sweet!

Michigan bound.

This past weekend Sam, Ethel and I packed up the car, Michigan bound for JJ & Sara's wedding! We made a two day pit stop on our way up to Michigan in Wheaton with the Dean's. We enjoyed delicious flank steak dinner and time spent visiting. We were thankful for Mom and Dad being Ethel's babysitters for the weekend. They took such great care of her. I'm sure she was spoiled with lots of yummy treats.

Friday morning we headed to Michigan to witness the beautiful wedding of JJ & Sara. JJ was Sam's roommate in Grand Rapids, and his wife Sara also went to Calvin with Sam. It was quite the reunion of Calvin graduates! It was fun to see everyone and catch up. We were thrilled to be there and the wedding was a blast. Good friends and a good time.

Saturday morning we headed back to Wheaton for a one night pit stop at the Haist's before heading back to St. Louis! We enjoyed a delicious rib dinner on Saturday and a great outdoor church service and lunch at Naf Naf on Sunday. It was wonderful catching up with Mom and Dad Haist. Daisy LOVED Ethel, and Ethel is still trying to figure out how Daisy has so much playful energy. Other then Ethel showing her teeth and attempted to bite Daisy, they got along great. I think this past weekend was a breakthrough. Next trip home, they will be buddies.

All around, our weekend was very special. We love going home to Wheaton and visiting with our families. It's always such a sweet time. We are looking forward to coming home again soon to see the all star Jesse in a high school football game under the lights!

Love you all.
Katelyn, Sam & Ethel

wedding time!

Calvin graduates reunion. All these guys were good friends with Sam at Calvin!

The happy couple!

Thank you Mama J and Papa J for watching our baby for us!

This series of pictures is too funny. Daisy just loves Ethel :) 

Family fun time.

This weekend Mom, Dad and Jesse came to visit us in St. Louis! We had a blast. They got in on Friday and we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Dewey's Pizza, and discovered one of our new favorite places- Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. YUM. It is good.

Saturday, we woke up and had breakfast and little Jesse got a haircut! Thankfully, I did not forget to put the guard on (like the first time I gave Sam a haircut), Jesse was also relieved that I did an okay job :) Saturday for lunch we made our way to The Hill and ate at a delicious and cute deli called Adriana's, and then walked down to Shaw's Coffee where the Coffee Extraordinaire made us some amazing drinks. He's a pro. After lunch and coffee we made our way to the Science Museum and saw Tornado Alley at the Omnimax Theater. It was really interesting, and we will now book it to the basement when those sirens go off! We came back home and had lots of time spent playing Mario Kart on the Wii and Sam put on a concert!  Saturday night we enjoyed burgers by the grill master and some tasty sides. Headed to bed early for a early wake up this morning to get Jesse back home in time for drivers ed.

It was a wonderful time spent visiting, touring the city of St. Louis, and of course eating delicious food! We love having visitors. Thanks Mom, Dad & Jesse for a fun weekend! We love you!

Katelyn, Sam & Ethel

Little Jesse getting a haircut!

Coffee Extraordinaire!

Sam's workplace :)

My cute Barista husband and I :)

Tornado Alley- the real machine!

Sam- "It's the Sam & Kate family time fun band!"

Sam taught everyone how to play the Djembe!

Mario Kart fun was had by all!

GRILL MASTER!

Love my Mom!

BEST frozen custard @ Ted Drewes!

A beautiful Georgia wedding.

Hello family & friends!

After a 12 hour drive, we are home sweet home from a wonderful trip to Georgia with the Dean family! We started our trip at 4am (we are early morning travelers) last Thursday morning and arrived in Georgia for a yummy dinner out with Mom & Krista while Dad & Jesse enjoyed a Braves game in Atlanta for the Bachelor's party. The cabin was beautiful, and I was so excited to see so many extended family members that I hadn't seen in years! Sam was excited to meet all of them too :)

Friday morning was lazy, and we enjoyed coffee on the porch with mom and dad before the late morning sleepers woke up. We spent the day canoeing, swimming and hanging out with family and headed to the rehearsal dinner in the evening.

Saturday (wedding day!) we woke up early and went on a wild animal SAFARI! It was unbelievable. We had heard from several family members that it was worth it to go, so we took their advice! We loaded into a van with no glass windows, just bars, and our 8 large bags of animal food. As soon as we pulled into the park at least twenty animals greeted us at our windows and ate out of our hands! As we continued to drive through the park, we fed zebras, giraffes, water buffalo, bulls, cows, deer, rams, the list goes on! It was nothing like we had ever done before. The animals would swarm the windows and Sam even touched a few buffalo tongues... disgusting! All to say, it was WELL worth it to go and we had a total blast!

Once we got back from the safari, we spent the afternoon swimming and then headed to the wedding. Everything was beautiful. Jessica did a beautiful job paying close attention to all the small details of the wedding and she was such a gorgeous bride. It was great to see Craig so happy and in love :) We had fun visiting with family and of course, dancing.

Sunday was another lazy, relaxful day. We spent the morning on the porch visiting and eating breakfast, and spent most of the day laying by the pool. Jesse was in Heaven to have a brother that would play catch in the pool for hours. Dad and Jesse think Sam could go pro- football after this weekend. Sunday evening we went over to Gene and Sue's cabin and enjoyed visiting with the family that was still in town. Headed to bed early for an early morning wake up to hit the road.

We had such a blast seeing everyone and it was nice to have a break from work and the business of life. Ethel had fun too, and is becoming quite the world traveler!

Congrats to Craig & Jessica, we are so happy for you!

Love you all.
Katelyn, Sam & Ethel

Let the adventure begin!

The beautiful Safari vehicle

These animal pictures are amazing- they were RIGHT there!

Hey Mr. Zebra- smile for the camera!

Look at the tongue on this thing!!!!

No teeth on that upper gum- yuck!

My favorite- these animals are breathtaking!

We clean up nice! On our way to the wedding!

Beautiful couple!

Gorgeous wedding!

Mr. & Mrs. Craig Mobley!!!!!

What a beautiful couple- we couldn't be happier for you both!

sister love!

Being very cautious while roasting his marshmallow

siblings!

No explanation needed here!

Family picture at the cabin!