Trick or Treat

Each year the kids get more and more excited when Halloween is coming near. They get excited about dressing up and getting candy. Thankfully, they even get excited about handing out candy as well. There is usually screams of excitement when someone rings the doorbell. Each of them hands over a handful of treats to the awaiting trick or treaters. This year Ian dressed up as a frog. This is a costume that Ben wore just a few short years ago. We will pass it down to Ben Hackman for next year.

Cami dressed up as a princess. She wore a beautiful gown from American Girl. She has a matching dress for her doll. Ben dressed up as a Clone Trooper. He received this dress up outfit for his birthday and couldn't wait for Halloween to come.

We headed to St. Paul's Trunk or Treat this year. Cars line up. Pastor Gerry fills the trunks with candy. The kids eagerly go from car to car collecting a large grocery bag FULL of goodies.

Alexis, Cami, and Aria help hand out the treats from Jake and Cecilia's trunk.

Cami saw her friend, Maya, at Trunk or Treat. The girls had a fun time trick or treating together then enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate after.

Ian borrowed Alexis's basket. He didn't care about the candy, only that the basket was a soccer ball.

After Trunk or Treat, we headed home. The kids set out their carved pumpkins. Ian helped daddy with lighting the candles so they would glow at night. We headed up and down our block to go to the various houses that were handing out treats. When we arrived home, the kids happily handed out some of their goodies to the kids coming by to trick or treat.

Ian and Daddy lighting the pumpkin

Ian loved "helping" daddy carve the face on his pumpkin

Ben's scary monster pumpkin

Cami's princess pumpkin

Flat Stanley

Our adventure with Flat Stanley began about a week ago. He has traveled to grandmas to play in the snow, traveled via mail to Aladodo and Papas house, baked muffins for school, and visited the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Her pictures and Flat Stanley will be sent to 2 servicemen from their school who are currently serving in Iraq.

Making muffins for Kindergarten snack

Kansas City Day Trip

The time has come to say good-bye to the beloved 717. A few years ago Midwest replaced their DC-9 aircraft with brand new Boeing 717 aircraft. It was an honor to fly the newest aircraft, several of them were right off the testing line when I got to get aboard. The smell of new aircraft is definitely different from the DC-9, DC9-10, and the MD80 and MD88 aircraft that were flying long before I was around. It will be sad to be done flying as I feel that is my second home. I loved my job and will miss it, however, a new chapter in my life is beginning and I will embrace it. Our kids will learn about car trips and being closer to home instead of hopping on a plane whenever we felt the desire to see family or friends or just have a little getaway.

I set off on a day trip to Kansas City with my dear friend, Jayne Mann. She and I met many years ago on a Christmas Eve 3 day trip overnighting in Orlando then Dallas. We were both hoping our full flight would lessen by 2 so that her daughter and my husband would be able to come aboard and fly to Orlando so we would not have to be without family on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. We were blessed to have a few people not show up, so Justin and Megan were able to go with us. Upon arrival in Orlando, we settled into our hotel and headed out to TGIFridays as a crew. We had a great time, spending hours eating and enjoying time together. To our surprise, our captain picked up the bill. Very generous! We also received a special Christmas gift the next day. We flew from Orlando to Milwaukee and were scheduled to fly to Dallas for another overnight. Upon arrival, we found out that Dallas was having an ice storm so our flight was cancelled. We felt bad for the passengers, however, the Dallas airport is not equipped for ice or snow, so on the rare occasion this occurs, no flights are able to fly in or out. We were able to go home and enjoy Christmas evening with our families. It was a great trip!

Our departure information

Signature service - 2 across Recaro wide leather seating with head rests and foot rests

Welcome Aboard your Midwest Airlines flight

A few friends were aboard for our last trip. Thanks Melanie, Joey, and Claudia

Breakfast at Brian Gasek's house was amazing!

Downtown Kansas City

Having dinner with a good friend

High above the skies between Milwaukee and Kansas City

My friend, Pat Manriquez serving cookies. Pat and I flew about 150 flight hours together my right before I went on Adoption Leave for Ian

Cheers to my last flight on the 717 from Kansas City to Milwaukee. The last Midwest Airlines 717 will make its journey on November 2, 2009. Flight 210 from Boston to Milwaukee will arrive at 9:40pm.

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coffee anyone?

Captain Chandler Copps

High above the seats we find 2 former flight attendants

Stinky lav

Try out this jumpseat one last time. I spent MANY hours in this seat

Republic will never be able to be the REAL Midwest Express Airlines. It was a good run for 25 years and now a new era begins...

Parent's Day at ALCS

Today Justin and I enjoyed the morning in class with Ben and Cami at Abundant Life. This gives us a window into what they do on a daily basis. We dropped Ian off with our friend Sarah and headed to school. We split up, Justin going to Cami's room and Dana heading to Ben's room. The 1st graders impressed us with their September memory verses and also their October verses. They are suppose to have Psalm 34:8-13 memorized by the end of October, however, all of the kids already had it mastered. The teacher was VERY impressed at how advanced this years 1st grade it. They also impressed us with their spelling, reading, and math skills.

The kids standing to say their verses in Miss Rohrer's class

The kids each made 'A Book About Me'

Cami's class was full of energy on Thursday morning. The kids were excited to show off their parents to their friends. We were able to hear the kids recite their letters and their ladder blends. We drew pictures, talked about our families, and ate a snack. The snack leader celebrated his 6th birthday, so the kids enjoyed a cupcake to help him celebrate. Our day ended with having a lunch of grilled cheese and chicken sandwiches in the cafeteria with the kids. I must say that the school lunch was actually quite tasty. Justin headed for home and I headed to Brian and Sarah's house to pick up Ian. Cami was wiped out by the end of her day and quickly fell asleep in the car.

Posing for a picture in Mrs. Tiradani's Kindergarten class w/ Cami

Play time in the classroom since it was raining outside.

Cami was exhausted at the end of the day.

Still swimming along

Ian floating

The last few weeks have been a lot of fun for Ian. He has enjoyed our Wednesday morning swim lessons. At 2, you never know if your child will cry out of fear or have a blast. Thankfully for us, we had the second. Ian loves his time in the water and asks almost daily if he can go to swim class. His favorite things at swim are jumping in the water (to the instructor) and the magic carpet. He also loves hanging onto the platform bar and floating his body.

Ian practicing his back floats.