The Pelhanks: Busy Fall

We have been quite the busy bees already this fall. Thought we'd catch everyone up on a few of the recent events. First, Brendan is potty trained! We had tried a number of months ago, but his body just wasn't ready for it. Rather than stress him out (and risk many unnecessary arguments) we decided to give it a rest for a few months, and try again later. We did and this time it was a HUGE success. In 2 days we had a big boy on our hands! What a relief: especially for our pocket book as we no longer need diapers (phew!)

Second, we have a new sister-in-law! Mandy's brother, Shane, got married to Lilly on October 1st. It's been a long time coming. They have been together nearly as long as Ryan and I have. I think my mom described it best when she said the day didn't have the feel of a wedding so much as a celebration of Shane and Lilly. In other words, we've felt that Lilly was a part of our family for years. We just finally got the chance to celebrate it. And what a celebration it was! The wedding & reception were at Faust Park's Butterfly House. All of us were in the wedding party: Ryan-a groomsman, Mandy-a bridal attendant, and Brendan-a ring bearer. We laughed, cried, and danced the night away. We are so excited for Shane and Lilly, and were so honored to be a part of their special day. Wish we had more pics of this but we left most of that up to the professional. We did get a few of the guys getting ready, though.

And thirdly, we just got back from our annual camping/fishing trip. This year (& I'm pretty sure every year from here on out) we went to Bennett Springs, MO for trout fishing and good times. This is one weekend a year where we all get away for the weekend--no kids allowed--for a chance to kick back with some of our best friends and family. The last couple of years have been pretty unlucky when it comes to the fishing: last year there didn't seem to be many trout stocked, and 2 years ago we had issues with flooding. But thankfully, that was not the case this year. Ryan and I both made out pretty well. You might even say that Mandy outfished her husband...if you want to get petty (hee hee). We were joined by our friends: Dave & Jessica, Melissa & Nick, Michelle & Chris--and Michelle's sister, and Chris's friend. We also were so excited that our sister and brother-in-law, Tory & Danny, were able to make it for the first time. As always, we had a blast. Wish we had more pictures to prove it, but we kind of forgot about the camera most of the trip. We did get some good pics of a fun game of wiffle ball that Dave decided to break out.

And, our fall has only just begun. We've got a number of other things coming up soon: Eckert's pumpkin picking this weekend, Ryan's big hunting trip, and Halloween. So be expecting more posts (and pics) if we can find the time to get them on here. As always, thanks for keeping up with us. And taking the time to check out our blog.

The groom, 3 of his 4 groomsmen (someone had to take the picture), and a ring bearer: