Kinda famous for us ...

So last week Maggie and I went to the library randomly on a Tuesday night while Ryan headed to a Pacer game. While there, we got our picture taken by an Indianapolis Star photographer. Our picture was in the paper the next day (in black and white). The wonderfully nice guy sent me the images and I just love them! They used the first one in print ...

How I love my little book worm!

A Family that Needs Prayer

Susan (Beebe) Thomas went to college with Ryan and me. While I didn't know Susie well while at Taylor, my sister Jen got reacquainted with her when they both lived in India a few years back.

Susie was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. As if that isn't difficult enough to go through in and of itself, Susie is expecting her fourth child. Obviously there are many pieces to this puzzle and our only hope is resting in God, trusting in His plan and knowing that He is with them in this journey.

You can read more about Susie and her family and stay updated by visiting their website: http://www.benandsusiethomas.com/.

Please pray for them that God will give them the peace that passes all understanding as they walk through this difficult time.

First IU Game

Last night we took Maggie to her first IU game. She did surprisingly well. Except that she wanted to wait until we got inside Assembly Hall to change into her cheerleading outfit. I felt like a high school mom carrying around her backpack with her uniform and pom poms inside! :)

We stayed until the "big flags" or about the 8 minute mark for those of you who don't know when the flags appear! (this is them admiring the flags!)

Ryan began to loathe when the cheerleaders did any type of kick. Maggie always stood on his legs when they came out and tried to mimic their moves. Whenever they kicked, Mag kicked. She actually was shockingly on the beat with many of their moves!

Here's to many more IU games with our little cheerleader!

Pictures

While we were all together we got some pictures taken of the kids. They did surprisingly well considering they were running on low sleep and were forced to smile.

COUSINS!

The last three days have been filled with a lot of fun! The eight cousins had a ball running around, dancing, making crafts and more.

Clearly driving through the night caught up with my parents ...

And a Hartzler get together would not be complete without some sausage!

Benjamin had a basketball game on Saturday. He had quite the cheering section ...

My sister was royally surprised despite the fact that she thought two people were showing up at her house and nine actually did!

And this was how tired Maggie looked most of the weekend ...

The only thing that would have made it better would have been all the BILs (brothers-in-law) joining us. Already missing everyone, but counting down the days til we all are together this summer.

Heaven on a plate ...

One more story (that deserved its own post) from when we were home last weekend. My Mom made homemade doughnuts. Oh the memories with these things. I mean seriously ...

This used to be tradition at our house whenever we got snowed in. And this scene brings back so many memories!

I got a few of the process as well. My mouth is watering just thinking about them! :)

Surprises are hard to keep ...

So, mum's been the word. My sister Jen has been in the USA since last Wednesday. My Mom flew her in for a few weeks (with the kids!) to spend some time on America's soil. We had to be quiet because this weekend (today in fact) all the sisters showed up to surprise Beth in Youngstown, Ohio.

Last weekend, Ryan and I headed to Illinois to spend the weekend with Jen and the kids. I have been avoiding talking to Beth almost all week for fear of spilling the beans (which actually almost happened once!).

Here are pics of our time in Illinois last week. Short time, but really fun.

Of course, a trip home wouldn't be complete without some funny stories! Ryan has been doing nightly ab exercises and my Mom claimed she wanted to join in ...

I'm not sure many of you have heard of Spare and Share.

It is a local Goodwill type of store. There are always good finds there (mostly toys for the kids), but thought I would share a few of the things we found on this trip!

One last story which takes the cake. My mom often has a hot AND a cold beverage at any given time. It is something we love about my Mom (and I've been known to do the same from time to time), but when I looked at the table while we were playing cards I couldn't help but get a picture of this.

Can you guess which space is my Mom's? Yep, the one with coffee, tea, orange crush and wet wipes. Gotta love it!

And more pics will be coming of our time in Y-town.