November

We didn't have a very eventful November but of course if I stayed up to date on this blog maybe I'd remember more from this month. There was, of course, Thanksgiving to look forward to.

We had Thanksgiving this year at my parent's house. Tyler's family goes to Island Park each year & have Thanksgiving dinner and stay a week in cabins. They also go there to get Christmas trees & the past few years they have been generous enough to bring home extra trees for Tyler & I but also my parent's as well. We wish we could go up at least every other year with them but because of Tyler working in retail, the day after Thanksgiving (aka Black Friday) is a must work day for him.

I did a lot of cooking this year which I didn't mind at all. I enjoy it.

I made 2 pies, one pumpkin & one apple. Tyler & I made the mashed potatoes & deviled eggs. My little sister Karli was a master chef this Thanksgiving, she did the turkey! She also made banana cream pie, chocolate satin pie & creamed corn to name a few.

I really wish I would have taken pictures on Thanksgiving & I have no excuses as to why I didn't.

But it was a fun day & I loved spending it with Tyler & my family.

In November we also had the opportunity to help out my good friend Dustin Izatt. He was teaching a photography workshop & needed us to "model" for him & his students for a mentoring session. We gladly accepted & I have posted a few of the photos we have received from a couple of the students.

[warning - if you don't like to see kissing you may want to close the page now :) ]

{we watched Tyler's family's dogs while they were out of town & I took this picture with my phone because it was so cute. Toby & Roxi finally accepted Brian (he is actually Roxi's baby from her last litter) & they were all curled up on the doggy bed together napping}

Halloween

Before I tell you all about our Halloween this year, I have to give a shout out that on October 17th we became an aunt & uncle yet again. My brother Tim & his wife Megan added a second daughter to their family, Avalynn. She's super tiny & super beautiful... see for yourself...

{I painted this owl for Avalynn's homecoming}

HALLOWEEN

Halloween this year was pretty much the same as usual. We didn't buy any candy because no one (& I mean NO ONE) comes to our townhome. So like every year, we go to my parent's house to hang out & help out. Every year my Dad grills hot dogs on the bbq & hands them out to the trick-or-treaters. We also make hot chocolate & for those who only want candy.. well we have that, too. :)

Tyler helped grill most the hot dogs this year & I think the grand total was around 100 hot dogs.

After the trick-or-treaters died down, Tyler & I went to our friends & watched The Fourth Kind. It was SUPER strange.

{Carson (Ty's little bro) always comes over for a hot dog- he also always dresses up as a football player}

{He always gets the chicks}

{Tyler grilling his heart out}

{A few of the pumpkins we carved}

{my pumpkin, Bob}

{We also made caramel apples this year & they were SO delicious}

Happy Birthday Tyler!

It's my love's birthday today! He is so stinkin' old, 23!

And even though he has to take a final exam, go to work & then go to his last night class - I hope that today is still an amazing day.

Mostly because there is a SURPRISE for him when he gets home & there is a carrot cake baking in the oven.

I love you Ty!

...The Gelter's

These were taken one week before Miss Avalynn was born so believe it or not these are already out dated.. just an excuse to do it again soon I suppose! :) But even though she will deny it, I think Megan looks absolutely fabulous at 9 months pregnant- wouldn't you agree?

Meet my cute family.

Gapinski Family Photos 2010

Back in October we had the chance to take some family photos before it got too cold. We actually did both my family & Tyler's family on the same evening which worked out SO great! I will post my side's photos next but first here is a few of the GAPINSKI'S...

A recent project!

So a couple months ago I had the random desire to redo a chair that I could use when I shoot family portraits. I didn't want to spend a lot of money but I wanted the end result to not be just a boring white chair. I asked my cute friend Emily Flannery for some words of advice & she helped me a lot!

I started by finding a plain old kitchen chair from DI for $5

The hard part was sanding all the shine (top coat) off of the whole chair. With all the little nooks and creases it made it very tedious.

I had pre-determined that I wanted the chair to be gray & white to easily match anything I may want to use it for. So after I finished sanding I painted the entire chair with gray primer spray paint.

After it dried, the next step was to coat the entire chair with crackle glaze.

After the glaze had dried it was time to paint the white top coat.

It was pretty cool to watch the paint crackle as I was going over with the white paint. The nice thing was that I didn't have to be too careful about making everything look perfect because the end result I wanted was for a weathered old look.

After it dried, I sanded some of the edges of chair just for effect & then put a clear sealant top coat so that the paint wouldn't chip off with use.

And the end result...

I really loved learning how to redo this chair. It wasn't difficult but it took time. The end result made all the time well worth it!

On a side note... Did you guys see this sunset the other night?? GORGEOUS

The Buddy Walk

Dang.. I'm behind.

Every year we have the privilege of going to the Buddy Walk to honor our amazing nephew who has downs. It's such an awesome time & we enjoy spending time together as a family.

I was also super happy that Tyler was able to attend this year.

We enjoyed a concert put on by Signing Time which is a DVD series and TV show that teaches kids sign language. Kids with down syndrome do well with sign language and my brother and sister in law have been doing such a great job at teaching Porter.

{Emerie enjoying the concert}

{Porter Ray enjoying time with Daddy during the concert}

{The Signing Time crew}

{Isn't he just the cutest?!}

{Em & Karli during the walk}

{Em & Chase}

{Waiting patiently for lunch..}

{Devanee enjoying her cotton candy}

{Tim & Megan enjoyed it as well}

{Tyler & I}

{Dev found some sweet glasses & decided to give them a try}

{Dev, Em & Karli enjoying the huge blow up slide}

This was such a great day, and we have always looked forward to the Buddy Walk every year. We are so blessed to have such an amazing nephew - he is such an incredible guy & we are so excited to watch him grow up! WE ARE LUCKY.