Ghosts and Goblins...and Football Players!

Happy Halloween!
A rainy and cold Beggars Night (yes, that's right - in Des Moines the kiddos trick or treat on "beggar's night" instead of Halloween evening) didn't stop a large group of goblins, ghouls, and of course football players from finding our home. My dad painted the above pumpkin for us earlier this month - isn't it great?

Lewis Family Fall Gathering

Most of the Lewis family "kids" have fall Birthdays which started the fall birthday party trend. This year we feasted at Greg and Anne's and found some time to catch up with the family.

Calling All Pasta Lovers

We just learned one of our favorite farmers market purchases is actually a national restaurant pasta supplier and is available to purchase on their website! Thank goodness for Pappardelle's outside of the normal summers martket window!

We reccomend the Spicy Thai! The recipe included is a yummy (and very spicy!) Thai Peanut Pasta Dish surely to clear up any stuffy nose this winter!

http://www.pappardellesonline.com/servlet/Search?category=Dried+Flavored+Flat-Cut+Pasta

Birthday Girl

When it comes to Birthdays my husband takes the cake! His time and creativity spent with making not only my birthDAY, but WEEK great - heeds a little bragging! Birthdays are big in my family. It's probably because my sister and I celebrate just 8 days apart. As kids I remember day long celebrations with lots of cake, balloons, and always pumpkin painting! The perks of a fall birthday. :) As we got older Katie and I always found a fun way to mark the year together - a trip to the spa, a concert, a weekend vacation, or a joint shopping trip where we "picked" out our gifts for each other. No matter the age, or the distance apart we always found a memorable way to spend the big day with one another!

Jon saw one of these events first hand in the first few months we started dating. Katie and I celebrated that year with a concert in Ames where she was living at the time. Ever since that year, Jon has put together several special things to make my day great. Last year he created a birthday cake out of my favorite red velvet brownies from my favorite bake shoppe, he also gave me a white hoody with the instructions to embroider it with "Mrs. Foss"....the engagement came 5 days later!


My week began this year with a fun filled birthday dinner hosted by my mom at Givanni's in Iowa City. For those of you have never had the opportunity to eat some of the most amazing Italian food Iowa has to offer....GO! Katie and I stuffed our faces with breads, bruschettas, pastas, and a cheese cake my mom picked up at The Bread Garden to top it off! Saturday morning I awoke to find a surprise on the Iowa City landscape....snow!
As I mentioned in earlier posts, Jon's family (even extended!) gets together at each of their birthdays. Jon's parents hosted a huge salmon dinner at my request and Lisa topped it off with my favorite cake - homemade red velvet! We brought our wedding photos with us to the party, you can see here Grandma Joan and Molly perusing through them. We of course has the usual amusement from Drew and Brady was very happy camper getting more smiley each time we see him.



Even Lola got in on the Birthday fun at home one night! She isn't fond of flowers in hair.... ;)

I had a few other "birthday" lunches with friends and even a movie on Friday - but the best part was yet to come! I woke up on Saturday morning feeling like it was Christmas morning! I ran downstairs, only to find this cute little package awaiting for me! The new purse (Louis!!!) I had been dying for, tickets to Wicked, breakfast at Gateway Market and dinner at Centro! All of my favorites wrapped into one day!

Time for the Old Folks to Play some Soccer!

I kid...but have no room to do so! I think everyone who knew me in my High School Days...would say I could throw up a mean toe touch or basket toss, but if it involved a ball, dribbling, or passing - forget it! I give Jon, his sisters, and dad props for playing in this league. It's incredibly fun to watch! I didn't make it to Jon's game last night...but he informed me he scored me the two goals I was promised and he recieved a yellow card for his aggressive plays!

Snuggies!

Here is Jon pictured with one of our matching snuggies! We recieved these as a wedding gift from my co-worker, Shane who always made a joke about getting me one as I sat at work each day last winter with my coat on! These blue, fleecy blankets with sleeves are just what we'll need on fall evenings...but wait, there's more! Our two snuggies included TWO reading lights! Now we can read in warmth and style.

Still More Wedding Photos