Celebrating one special woman

Last month we went home to Madison to celebrate Matt's mother's 60th birthday. Her birthday was on October 8th, which conveniently fell on a Saturday. So we spent the weekend with Matt's family, celebrating his mom!

Matt's youngest sister Mollie wasn't able to come home, so after we finished a wonderful brunch that morning, we skyped Mollie.

And it was one of the most perfect fall weekends we could have asked for. The high was around 80 all weekend and the fall colors were at their peak in Madison.

(Matt and Wyatt playing some football in his parent's backyard)

The biggest hit of the weekend? The trampoline! My kids rarely get to use it because Matt's parents spend most of their weekends in the summer up at Stormy Lake. So when they realized we would be at Grammy and Papa's AND the weather would be warm, they couldn't stop talking about jumping on it.

(bad picture but this just shows what Blake was up to...he LOVED it!)

(I, on the other hand, could barely watch him as I thought he was going to break a bone just about every other jump. And yes, that is dirt on them. The trampoline hasn't been covered or used since last summer, so it was pretty dirty. But I'd say we cleaned all the dirt off by the end of the weekend!)

What beautiful colors!

The kids loved playing in the leaves....something else we don't have much of with all the young trees around our house. Blake would throw the leaves up and then make this face as he waited for them to come down!

And we couldn't forget the tree climbing...

"Can I go Daddy?"

This has to be one of the best trees for climbing

Watching Uncle Ty see how high he could get

On Sunday, we went out for the official birthday brunch after church to a WONDERFUL restaurant called Sardines. The atmosphere was great and we were right on the lake.....and the food was amazing!!

Matt's mom and her mother, Gigi (as my kids call her, for Great-Grammy)

(and no, they truly didn't even plan their outfits!)

You can always count on my kids to help open any gifts.

Brunch was running a bit later than Blake would have liked, so we were thankful for everyone who attempted to 'entertain' him!

The whole crew...from l to r...Uncle Neal (mom's brother) and his wife Trish, Mom and Dad, Mom's parents Gigi and Dye-Dye (Grandad), our family, Matt's brother Kyle and his wife Christy, Tyler, and Matt's sister Cammie and her boyfriend Chris.

The weekend wouldn't be complete without a picture in front of Lake Monona in Madison.

We had such a wonderful weekend celebrating Mom. So many people have been blessed by her life and she has raised five wonderful kids, been a great example of a godly wife and mother, and an amazing grandmother to our three kids. What a privilege to celebrate her!