Of the Essence

There's so much we haven't told you. I don't even know where to start...after writing our last post, school really heated up for Andrew, and he began to require the computer to take notes all day at school, and all night to study. No kidding, I haven't spent more than 5 minutes on this thing in weeks. If SteeleReveal is to survive, we might need to resurrect the ole' Toshiba.


Anyway, Andrew just left to watch the BYU game with friends and Asher is napping, so time is of the essence ( not positive I completely understand phrase, but it sounds like a fit). I'm feeling the excitement and urgency that only borrowed time can bring, so enough chit-chat! Let's document the last month of our lives!


For now, I'll just hit the high points...things we've done and fun we've had. If I can find more time this week, I'll post the nitty gritty. :)

Okay, so back in September, Andrew and I attended our first Ohio State football game. It was nuts. We sat in the student section with all the liquored up college kids. They cussed, screamed and chanted, while we sucked on hard candy and wondered how our baby was doing. I knew then we were old.

It was a gorgeous day, and the Bucks won, so we couldn't have asked for more.

Okay, now I have to tell you about Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. The three of us (especially Asher and I) are big foodies, so when we heard about this place, we were determined to go. Andrew had read an article about it winning a national award months ago, so was excited as well. Jeni's has made quite a name for itself and it's novel approach to more savory, exotic ice cream flavors. They offer some pretty offbeat options, and when we went, we tried almost every one before settling on brown butter almond brittle and pistachio honey for me, and dark chocolate, and goat cheese with red cherries for Andrew. Oh. my. GOOOOSH! This stuff is so good. Come visit us and try it, please.

Not what we got, but this gives you an idea...

Ash man and I took an impromptu trip to Kentucky during the first week of October. My sister Liz and her family decided to drive up from Texas while my brother-in-law had time off, so since they drove 20 hours up, we figured 3 hours down sounded pretty doable. We packed up and hit the road during nap time, and Asher slept most of the way.

The visit was so, so much fun. Seeing Asher play with his cousins Wesley and Kenton ("Wessey" and "Tenton") was a definite highlight. They really seemed to love each other! Of course, I never laugh more than when I'm with my sisters, so having four of us together was nonstop fun. Maybe that sounds hokey, but there is just something about letting your hair down with people you love that makes me ache for time with family. We had a great time taking the boys to different parks, playing the Game of Things, going to see dad's softball game together, and eating way too much (realized after the fact that in one day, I ate $15.00 worth of frozen yogurt. Sad but true).

Here are some pictures from a picnic we took together. We met my dad at a park where he used to come and play ball as a little boy with my grandfather, and seeing him play there with our kids was sweet and special.

Best friends sharing an apple :)

 It was extra sad to go our separate ways, but we'll have to just look forward to the holidays.

 We weren't without family for long, because Andrew's parents came for a visit last weekend. We love them so much. It was really Asher, though, who seemed to get the biggest kick out of their arrival. I wish I had captured on film his reaction to seeing their faces for the first time! He was glued to "Nina and Poppy" their entire visit. We had fun at cousin Adra's 4th birthday party and seeing all of Andrew's family in town to see Cousin Josh run the Columbus marathon.

No, I have no pictures of our weekend, but I can tell you that it was wonderful and low-key. We're missing Joey and Kim a lot...but again, we'll just keep anticipating the holidays.

And that's it for all of the major happenings. Here is a small but sweet note to end on...the other day, I was putting a very sleepy boy down for his nap, who literally fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Watching his little chest rise and fall as he drifted into dreams was so precious, I snapped a picture of the angel as he slumbered.

We love you, Asher Joseph.