The Great Pumpkin Patch

For any of you Martha Stewart fans, a few years ago she did a show on "The Great Pumpkin Patch". This happens to be a 30 minute drive from us in a small town called Arthur, Illinois. The town has a large Amish community. Real horse and buggies going down the street, authentic clothing, the whole bit. We felt like something out of the movie "Witness". Anyway, it was really neat. We talked about how we even envied the quietness of their life. I think it would definitely have its advantages. But no blogging :)

Some of you know or may remember that Jake and I have a tradition of the 12 days of Christmas during which we plan an activity for each night to celebrate the season. Jake suggested that this year we add the 13 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN! (I know it seems like we are trumping Christmas, a fact which secretly bothers me, but it is in the spirit of organizing seasonal activities for our kids.) So Sunday we kicked off our celebrations with a Halloween movie, "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Then Monday we went to the pumpkin patch, (of which I really do intend to tell about). We had a great time together. We went through the hay mazes and bought yummy food at the Amish Bakery. Ty squealed with delight at the baby black pigs. Luke loved going through the mazes and sweet shop. It was really great! It was great weather and for such a large tourist attraction not busy at all. They have their own museum which tells about the farm. They have a map for people to mark where they are visiting from. There are spots marked from all over the world. What a fun day!

Decatur is on the map!

Apparently the big news here this week is that Matt Damon is on location in Decatur, Illinois of all places. He is filming his upcoming movie, "The Informant". People at Jake's work were taking time off to go around the city trying to catch a glimpse of him. Pretty lame, I know, but still it is pretty funny to have someone so famous is this town of 90,000. Someone at Jake's work said they saw him at the court house and eating at the Cracker Barrel. I found myself feeling bad for the poor guy. No where to run, a very small repertoire of restaurants. I just thought it was a funny thing to add here to my blog. Go Decatur! ha ha. (I have to see it when it comes out. I actually felt a little pride for the city I love to mock.)

Additionally, Jake and I saw "Leatherheads" a few weeks ago. It was cute and entertaining. But I did again feel a little fondness stirred within me when part of the story took place in Decatur. The original home of the Chicago Bears! Our claim to fame! Since the story was about professional football in the 1920's it was very interesting to see how Decatur was a hot spot. Got to laugh. Oh how the years go by!!

One year plus!

I forgot to post on March 21st, but that was our anniversary of our move to Decatur. It has brought a lot of growth, but I am grateful for the opportunities it has afforded us. One of which is our ever-increasing closeness with the Deshler family. This has been a great source of comfort and joy to us. Luke loves them very much and I will always be grateful for the time we had to share together. Also, and more importantly, I am so grateful for the ways we have grown as our own family unit, independent and solid together. We have learned so much. I love Jake even more and I am so grateful for the memories we have made here. I will always look back on this time with fondness. It has definitely had its struggles at times, but the benefits have been great. We still look forward to our next adventure in life, not knowing where we might end up next, hopefully out west if possible, but Illinois isn't so bad after all.