Haunted Hayride

Who is ready for a haunted hayride on a crisp, chilly day??

 Todd and I took our nieces and nephew to Colonial Gardens, which is a local garden center that puts on a huge fall / halloween event for the entire month of October.  One of the main events is the Haunted Hay ride.  The day time rides are for kids and adults (who are scared of monsters). The night time rides are so much fun!!!  Monsters jump out at you and even climb into the hay wagon.

 If you're in the area, you should go visit Colonial Gardens!

 A few of the events they have are: Pumpkinland, Children (day and night) Hay Rides, Haunted Gardens, Walk of Terror, Corn Stalk Maze, small petting zoo, play rooms and more.

 Happy Fall!

Honorary Parents of the Groom

My oldest son, Ahren has a close friend who recently got married.  

Ahren was the best man in the wedding.  He took his duties seriously and helped make his friends wedding day a special one.

 His friend doesn't have parents and is not close to his family.  Ahren and his friend have been friends for a very long time.  Long enough that we consider him a part of our family.

Todd and I filled in as the parents of the groom.  We felt very strongly that the groom deserved to be represented and to have support from our family.   

Flowers for the (stand-in) mother of the groom.

The groom expressed over and over again how much it meant to him to have us be there for him, not only for the wedding but while he was growing up too. I know Ahren also appreciated us stepping up and being there for his friend.

Ahren's best man speech was perfect. A mixture of sentiment and humor.

He thanked family and friends, the wedding party, parents of the bride and

 "parents-ish" of the groom.

His description of Todd and I got quite a few chuckles.

It was an honor to represent the groom.  A memory I will treasure forever.

Congratulations to the beautiful couple!

Zachary Graduates College

For the last two years Zachary has attended Full-Sail University in FL.  He pursued a degree in Recording Arts.  The accelerated program he completed earned him a Bachelors Degree.

Growing up Zachary preferred to be at home. His friends came over to our house.  He didn't like to go places, he even didn't like going on vacations.  You can imagine how big of a surprise it was to us when he decided to move from PA to attend college in Florida!!

When he first left I cried for days. I was sad to see him go, but I was also happy for him to be getting on with his life. I wanted to see him happy and productive even if it meant him being so far away from me.

His father and I are very proud of him for taking a chance and for succeeding!   We are excited to see where his new adventure begins!!

50th Wedding Anniversary

April 10, 1965

Stan & Judy celebrated their wedding day.

50 years later  ....

2 sons, 2 daughter-in-laws, 4 grandsons and 2 granddaughters.

from left to right:

Ahren, Tyce, Tami, Brandon, Maddox, Judy, Zachary Morgan, Stan, Todd, Chad and Heather.

Stan and Judy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at the same church they were married in, having a luncheon with family and friends.

 I was in charge of making a new wedding album and the welcome table.

 I thought it would be nice if each guest wrote a memory they had of Stan and Judy.  

All the cards were collected and put into a 'treasure' box.

My sister-in-law was in charge of the table decorations.  

I loved the gold tablecloths, simple and elegant.

 My good friend, Heather has her own cake business. 

 I think she did an amazing job making the anniversary cake.

Judy made the party favors.

Happy 50th wedding anniversary to my wonderful in-laws!

Spring Break

Zachary has been home on spring break for almost a week.  It's been nice having him around again.  

I'm glad he was home to celebrate Easter with us.

Egg hunts are a thing in the past. 

 My boys think they are too old for an egg hunt, but they are okay with getting Easter baskets on Easter morning.

We spent Easter with Todd's parents and his brother's family.

Maggie's spring break was spent with a cone around her head.

 Poor baby.  

She had surgery to get spayed.

The vet also tattooed a state license number on her.  In the state of PA, you have to apply annually for a dog license.  Because Maggie is tattooed, we never have to get another dog license for her.  That save a few dollars.   Pretty soon the cone will come off and stitches out.  Maggie will be good as new!

Hockey Game / Date Night

Friends of our gave us tickets to the Flyers game.  Sweeeet seats 13 rows from the ice!

Game day came after a huge ice storm the night before.  Luckily it was a warm, sunny day (if you consider 35 degrees warm) and the ice began to melt on the roads. The parking lot is a considerable distance from the rink. We had to walk in a lot of slush and my feet were wet and cold by the time we made it to the rink.  Wet and cold feet are not a good thing to have when you are sitting in a cold, ice rink.

 There is something about a hockey game that makes me feel alive.

The smell of the ice, when the team comes on the ice, the cheers from the crowd, the red light and horn blare when my team scores a goal, Pepsi, soft pretzels and greasy pizza.

 The view is practically the same as when I watch Brandon play, 

but we were a lot closer than the pictures depict.

most importantly -

 Flyers won!!

 It was a good day in Philadelphia!