Caleb's Acting Debut!

Caleb performed in his second grade class's play, Anansi and the Talking Melon, on Wednesday, December 7, 2005. Mom, Dad, Corie, and I were able to attend the afternoon performance. There were various animal parts and Caleb played the elephant. Each child made his/her own costume! It was a very cute play! Way to go, Caleb!

Mom's 61st Birthday

We celebrated Mom's 61st birthday with dinner at Corie and Caleb's. She received gift certificates to Red Lobster and some pajamas. Ben and Wendie weren't able to celebrate with us because Benny was sick. Wendie did stop by for a brief visit. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Benny and Matty - 11/30/05

I went to visit Wendie, Benny, and Matty on November 30th. Ben was teaching class that evening. Here are some cute pictures of the boys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mom and Dad hosted Thanksgiving at their house. Of course, there's was lots of yummy food! Mom stuffed and cooked the 20-pound turkey that was donated by Corie (Giant grocery reward points!), and she also made mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. Corie made a green bean casserole, and I made pumpkin pies. Tommy brought the Cool Whip! We are so blessed and enjoyed a wonderful time together. We missed Ben, Wendie, Benny, and Matty. They spent Thanksgiving weekend in New York with Ben's Aunt Louise.

Corie's Birthday

We celebrated Corie's 37th birthday on her birthday (November 15th) at Mom and Dad's with dinner, cake, ice cream, and presents! We (Mom, Dad, me, Ben, Wendie, Benny, Matty, Caleb, and of course, Corie) were all there to celebrate.


Corie makes a wish and Caleb looks on as Corie reads a birthday card.

Matty Turns1!

We celebrated Matty's first birthday two days early, on November 13th, at Ben and Wendie's. Matty's grandparents - Mammy and Pappy & Oma and Opa - came to celebrate, as did his Aunt Corie, cousin Caleb, Uncle Tommy, me, and his Aunt April and Uncle Mike and their four kids. It was a great celebration! Matty loved it when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him! It took him a while to dig into his piece of cake, but eventually he stuck his hand in the icing!

Right to Work Annual Meeting

The Right to Work Annual Meeting was held on Friday, November 4th. We gave out several awards: one to retiring House member Representative Sheila Miller, one to 20-year Board Member Tom Beckley, and our first Ronald Wilson Reagan Award to Matt Brouillette of The Commonwealth Foundation. And then, the Board Members surprised Susan with the Everett M. Dirksen Award! Senator Piccola presented her with a citation from the Senate and Representative Teresa Forcier offered the promise of a citation from the House of Representatives. It was not ready in time for the meeting. Additionally, Fred Anton of the PA Manufacturers' Association was our keynote speaker and Representative Daryl Metcalfe and Jeff Zeh of PA Associated Builders and Contractors offered remarks.


Susan and Rep. Miller and Susan and Matt

Representatives and Susan

Fall 2005

Fall is my favorite time of year - I love the warm days and cool, not cold, evenings!


This is a tree in my development.

My front porch.

The Alvarez's fall decorations!

Benny and Matty - 10/31/05

I babysat Matty while Wendie took Benny out trick or treating on Monday, October 31st. Ben teaches on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I went to help out Wendie.


Benny is ready to go trick or treating and Matty is ready for bed!

Scott's Farewell

Scott got called up for active duty to serve in Kuwait. He left for training on November 1st. Vickie had a farewell get together on Sunday, October 30th. Please keep him and Vickie and the kids in your prayers.

Penni in a paper bag

While I was updating my blog this evening, I looked over and found Penni in a paper bag with some tissue paper that I had brought upstairs to put away. I thought it was so cute that she crawled in the paper bag. She slept there for a while!

Trick or Treat

Last night was Trick or Treat! We all converged at the Alvarez's! Corie, Caleb, Ben, Wendie, Benny, Matty, and the Bucher's. Matty and I stayed at the house to hand out candy.


Corie and Caleb and Andrew, Caleb, Benny, and Austin
Matty waits for trick or treaters

Helping those less fortunate

My church is participating in "40 Days of Community," the 'sequel' to "40 Days of Purpose." For our churh-wide project, we collected food for New Hope Ministries as well as loose change in coffee cups. Additionally, "40 Days" small groups did projects for New Hope clients. We collected 275 boxes of food and $1,405 in loose change! What a blessing the food boxes and money is to New Hope, as well as the projects. We are so blessed!


Passing the boxes to the truck, the loaded truck, and some of the 'crazy' youth!

A green thumb?

For Administrative Professional's Week, Susan got each of us an African Violet. I put mine on my windowsill at work and would water it every once in a while. I tend to kill plants. In fact, I 'planted' plastic/silk flowers in my front yard this past summer! Anyway, I went to water my African Violet the other day, and this is what I found:

Isn't it pretty?! It's purple and white!

A nice surprise

On Wednesday, October 19th, state Representatives Teresa Forcier, Daryl Metcalfe, and Kathy Rapp stopped by our office with a gift for Susan. When Susan finished opening her gift, Rep. Forcier said, "Behind every great woman is another great woman!" And she handed me a gift as well! Susan and I both received hand-made pottery bowls. They're really unique. A few days later, Rep. Forcier brought one for Mom, too!

Manchester Parade - 10/16/05

Ben and Wendie invited us to their house to watch the Manchester Parade. We ate lunch before the parade. Unfortunately, the Penny Carnival, sponsored by a local church, was canceled because the lady who organizes it has cancer and no one volunteered to do it this year. Caleb and Austin had fun, even though they fought a little bit over who had the most, picking up candy as parade participants threw it out to the 'audience.' Benny and one of his other cousins, Carrie, also raked in a bunch of candy!


Let the parade begin! Austin, Caleb, Carrie, and Benny are ready!

Matty is on the porch with Oma. It's nap time! He did fall asleep for a while!

Farmer's Fair - 10/15/05

The 90th Annual Farmer's Fair was held in Dillsburg (Dad's hometown) on Saturday, October 15, 2005. We all converged at Mame's house for the afternoon and evening. We had fun going downtown to see some exhibits, taste some food (the bloomin' onion was gross!), and buy some stuff. I picked up Austin Saturday afternoon, so he came too, then spent the night.
Caleb and Austin wait for their turn in the moon walk.
Matty in the stroller while downtown.
Caleb and Austin check out the baby peeps.
Benny is ready for the parade to start!

Camping - 10/1-3/05

So, I came up with the bright idea to go camping as a family over Columbus Day Weekend. Of course, I didn't know it would rain most of the weekend! Mom, Dad, and Tom took the camper to Pinchot on Friday afternoon because it was pouring, and we just let it sit there until Saturday morning. We set up the camper and tarps in the rain on Saturday. Mom and I stayed in the camper Saturday and Sunday nights. Corie, Caleb, Dad, and Tom went home each night, but came back the next day. Mom made plenty of food! It was a pretty nice day on Sunday and Monday, too.
We look like the Beverly Hillbillies!

Caleb stokes the camp fire!

Becky B. - 9/24/05

I babysat Becky on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005. She was almost 14 months old.

Soccer Game - 9/24/05

I went to Caleb's soccer game on Saturday, September 24, 2005. He played goalie for a while then a full back. He kicked the ball for a goal, but the darn goal post got in the way!



Caleb as goalie


Caleb takes a break