Happy Halloween!

Matt and I spent the evening at Amy & Jon's house and went trick-or-treating with the kids. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Preslee in her outfit.

Preslee examining the loot!
Arrrrrr! Trevor the pirate!

Gavin Joseph

Little Baby Gavin Joseph was born on Sunday, October 17th at 6:58 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs 6oz and was 21 1/2 inches long!

Proud Mommy Melanie and Daddy Jason with Gavin.
Aubrey sitting with Mommy and Brother Gavin.

Aubrey was a little shy with all the people in the room, so Nana brought Baby Gavin over to her so she could see her baby brother for the first time!

Uncle Macky holding Gavin. He'll learn to watch out for this crazy uncle!

Me holding my new nephew! Soon it will be my turn!

Kaitlin's 1st Birthday!

Kaitlin is turing 1 on October 13th!

Playing with Cousin Aubrey.
"Welcome to my humble abode!"

"I'm so excited for my party!"

Reading the musical card from Uncle Matt and Aunt Sara.

"Bee bee bee bee beee!" Kaitlin loves babies!

"I'm feeling the beat with my new drum!"

Playing with a new puzzle.

"Cousin Aubrey, Sister Teagan and I made a band with Uncle Matt and Aunt Sara's present!"

"I'm so cute!"

"The birthday cake Nana made for me."

"Happy birthday to Kaitlin!"

"Mmmmm."

"I like to pick the dots off and eat them."

Preslee's 1st Birthday!

Preslee turned 1 on September 24th!

Preslee and Trevor playing with the new toy her daddy, Eric, made for her. It was very creative with numbers, door knockers, locks, a basket for toys and more!
Playing in the fireplace wood tray is always fun!

"Look at my beautiful outfit Grandma Cindy made for me!"

Cute as a button!

"I love shaking instruments!"

"Reading my birthday cards."

"Sitting in daddy's lap with my new toy."

"Playing with the car wash Uncle Matt and Aunt Sara got me. I love playing with cars with my cousin, Trevor!"

"Happy birthday to Preslee!" Kacie made a strawberry cake with beautiful bows on top.

"Mmmm....this is good!"

Trevor's First Day of Preschool!

Playing at the table
Trevor standing in front of his classroom.

Trevor in front of his cubby. Look at how proud he is! I talked to him on the phone about his first day, and this is what he told me - "I got to make a wocket with paper fire on the bottom and stars. I also saw catapillars!" Amy said that when she went to pick him up, he saw her and his face lit up and he yelled, "Mom!" Then she started crying. I think I would have cried if I'd been there, too; I can't believe Trevor has gotten so big!

We're Pregnant!!!!!!!

After 13 long, grueling months of trying, praying, seeing an infertility doctor, going through many different tests, and trying new medications - it finally happened! We know many people go through this for even longer than we did, so we are actually very blessed. I truly believe God answered our prayers, and I want to thank all of you who prayed for us as well. I couldn't have made it through this tough time without the support of my friends and family. So, thank you, thank you, thank you!

I took the test the morning we went to the Boundary Waters, and it read "Pregnant"!!!! I woke Matt up at 6am to show him. This is a picture of Matt and Me in Grand Marais.

Above is my first ultrasound at 6 weeks. The baby is just a small, grayish dot, but I could already see the heart beating away! Isn't that amazing?!

Now look at how my little precious has grown in just 2 weeks! He/She looks a little like a gummy bear, but today we could see the heart beating again, the head, the brain, the body, the yolk sack (above the baby) and the umbilical cord (on the right)! Matt says the baby takes after him, because he/she has a really big brain (according to Matt). The baby's due date is April 13th, 2011. We really don't care if it's a boy or a girl; We are just so incredibly grateful that our little one is finally here!

The Boundary Waters

My whole family, Matt, myself, my mom, Kacie, Eric, Preslee, Amy, Jon, and Trevor, spent about 5 days at a cabin in the Boundary Waters. The cabin was only a few miles from the Canadian border. It was so peaceful and relaxing. There were only a few other cabins on the lake - and no speed boats! It was luxury Boundary Waters living though, because we had a restaurant very close to us that we frequented often. Matt and my favorite thing to do was kayak slowly around the lake and enjoy the wildlife and nature. It was very hard to come back to the cities after that. We plan on someday retiring up there - that's our goal anyway.

The cabin had 2 docks - this was the dock for kayaking and canoeing.

Amy standing by the 4 kayaks.

Trevor

Preslee and Kacie

A loon

Me standing on the dock.

The whole fam fishing and enjoying time together.

Jon fishing - is he picking his nose?

Trevor and Preslee enjoying the swing.

The path from the cabin to the lake.

The back of the cabin - this was a new addition of an enclosed porch. Jon's brother owns the cabin.

The front door

The dock

Squirrel!

The dining room table - perfect size for all 9 of us.

Trevor playing with Matt's new favorite toy in the living room.

Our bedroom - there was also a loft with 2 more beds and a master bedroom.

The enclosed porch.

Matt, Mom and I did some hiking. This is Gunflint lake with Canada on the other side.

While hiking on the Magnetic Rock trail, my mom and I stopped to use the "Latrine" - a toilet sitting over a deep hole in the middle of the woods.

Me and my mom.

This is what they call "The Burn Area". A huge forest fire had gone through here and wiped everything out. But as you can see, things are starting to grow again!

Matt and I sitting by a pond.

My mom and I trying to balance ourselves as we cross a small stream.

Me in the burn area. Along the way we found many fresh, wild blueberries. They were so delicous; I don't think I'll ever eat store-bought blueberries ever again!

Matt hugging a baby pine tree - new life is starting and God's world is amazingly resilient!

Matt sitting with a rock man - people built rock statues all over the place.

I built my own rock statue.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but I'm actually standing on a bluff. When I got up to the edge of the bluff the wind nearly blew me over!

More burn area.

Back at the cabin - 2 bald eagles sitting in a tree.

When the loons saw the bald eagle flying overhead, they started wailing their song as if warning each other. I think eagles will eat baby loons.

Me taking a little swim.

Trevor and Amy in her octopus boat.

We went hiking on "Moose Viewing" trail with the whole fam. Trevor tripped and skinned his knee, so Matt gave him a piggy-back ride.

We saw the weirdest thing on the side of the trail - a beat-up old car. We have no idea how it got there, because there were no roads close by and there were mature trees all around it. It looked kindof like a cop car because it was black and white.

There was even a large bolder in it.

Moose Viewing Trail - no moose yet.

Matt and me on our hike to Pigeon Falls.

The hike to Pigeon Falls was very easy because it was either paved or like a boardwalk the whole way.

Pigeon Falls - the left is Minnesota, the right is Canada.

I think the falls usually span the whole width of the rock, but water levels were low.

Downstream of the falls - Matt and I walked out onto the riverbed.

We also stopped in Grand Marais for half the day. Here a float plane was showing off for spectators, and I think maybe giving rides.

The beautiful rocky shore in Grand Marais.

Preslee, Kacie and Eric exploring the lava rock.

The lava rock shore - with the lighthouse in the background.

A ship

Trevor looking at the ship.

Me and Matt

Gorgeous sunset back at the cabin.

God's creation is amazing!

Me fishing - unfortunately none of us caught many keeper fish. After about 1 min of me having my line in the water, I caught the first keeper fish - a small mouth bass. My mom caught the other fish.

Matt fishing

Trevor and I kayaking.

Matt's in the red kayak, and Trevor and I are ahead in the green one.

Taking a break and looking at the fish through the absolutely clear water.

The day before, Matt, Kacie and I went canoeing while Amy and Trevor were in a kayak, and we all stopped here on this rock to take a break and explore a little. Man, did Matt entertain us! Matt had never canoed before, and he didn't know how to exit a canoe! The front of the canoe was on the rock, and he tried to exit out the front with a leg on either side of the canoe. But as you may know, the buoyant canoe raised up with him when he tried to stand up! He couldn't get out without the canoe going with him, and the slippery rocks didn't help either. The rest of us were laughing so hard! But poor Matt had a couple big bruises from this experience. Let's just say he likes kayaks better. Then as we were all exploring the rock, Matt got a little too close to the edge and slipped into the water! But instead of falling over, he somehow managed to maintain his balance as he skied down the slope of the slippery rock. Again we were all laughing at Matt's expense. Thanks for the good times, Honey!

The loon warning Matt that he was getting too close.

The mama loon and her baby on the left - he still had brown feathers.

Trevor eating lunch after kayaking.

A hummingbird sitting on the branch.

The hyper squirrel got into the sugary freeze pops!

Looking down at the lake from the swing.

Crystal clear water.

Jon and Trevor kayaking.

Eric is in the red kayak - Kacie and Preslee are in the green kayak.

Matt fishing.

Me exploring the shore.

Matt and I on our last kayaking trip.

Trevor jumping into the water.

The game room in the basement of the cabin - complete with dart board and pinball machines.

A spider - eeewww. Thanks for that picture, Matt.

Looking from the dock to the shore. As you can tell, the cabin is very secluded.

Me and Matt on our last day - I don't want to go home!