June / July

Not a lot happened in June last year. July was busy with Vacation Bible School.

May

Heather's birthday and Mother's Day both fell on the same day last year, May 9th. A week later she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Illinois College. Our family now has three Illinois College graduates: me, 2004; Erin, 2006; and Heather, 2010.

March

Happy 50th Birthday, Dad!! On March 17th Dad turned the big 5-0. Anyone who knows my dad is well aware that he enjoys riding his bicycle and riding as much as he possibly can. To commemorate the special occasion, Dad decided to bike from home (Winchester) all the way to Denver. Colorado. On his bike. By himself. The word 'sore' comes to mind, doesn't it? A short post on his trip will come later, but to get the full affect of what happened on the trip, visit http://www.mannaforthejourney.blogspot.com/.

April

Next up, Landon (aka, Bubby, Bub & Bubbalicious) and I celebrated our birthdays in April. Bubby turned 1 year old last year. I just got older.

The Birthday Buddies

2010 Year in Review

January

Julia turned 3! We had lunch at Cracker Barrel, one of her favorite places to eat.

Then we had a party at her house with Hannah Montana.

February

Mom's birthday was celebrated on Feb. 12th. She turned...uh, nevermind. I won't tell. The week before my mom's birthday was marked by sadness as her oldest sister, Carol, lost her battle with cancer, but gained a new home in Heaven. Aunt Carol loved Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths." Having lived four hours away from each other, I didn't learn as much from her as I have my other aunts who live closer. But, I learned a great deal from her and about her in her last days here on earth and at her celebration. She left behind a great legacy.

Below is a picture of my mom with her sisters, four of the closest sisters I've ever known.

Marilyn, Linda, Carol and Pat

What happened to 2010??

Somehow our family missed posting anything to the blog during 2010. Well, actually the only thing posted was the announcement of my dad's new blog for his bicycle trip that he took in September. But, that was it. Seriously? How did we miss posting about our family life in 2010? Well, never fear...I plan to do a little year in review of 2010 over the next few days. Since we're still not too far into this new year, I'll be posting some pics from last year to get everyone up-to-speed with the happenings in our lives. Stay tuned...

New Baby On The Way....

Erin is due with Baby #3 on April 1st. She's currently at 32 weeks.

Snowstorm of the Year...or maybe just this month

On February 1st the Midwest was hit by a blizzard, which dumped around two feet of snow in our yards. I don't think in all the time I've been alive I've seen this much snow at one time. And, I don't care to see it again. Everywhere you look there are piles and piles of snow. These piles have made parking lots and alleys somewhat of an obstacle course to get around.

Justin, Dad and Caleb came to rescue me. There was a snow drift all the way up my backporch steps.

Justin and the mighty snowblower - it has definitely come in handy this winter.

New Blog

Check out Mark's new blogsite at www.mannaforthejourney.blogspot.com

Wedding Update...
















Caleb and I finally have a wedding date! We will be getting married on December 18th, 2009, in Jacksonville.

You can find more information about us and our wedding here.

4th of July Happenings

We celebrated the 4th of July at mom and dad's house. Due to rainy weather most of the day, Justin opted for Dollar General firecrackers we used in the back yard. Here are pictures from the excitement...

White Hall Parade...





Mom & Dad's back yard...

May Happenings


Mom, Samantha, Erin, Julia, Heather and Grandma Bentley at Westfair's Mother/Daughter Banquet ~ May 9th



Mom and the girls on Heather's birthday ~ May 9th


Being silly...


Caleb finally got to meet Landon!


Smiles!

Sam's Birthday
Monday, April 13th

We celebrated Sam's birthday on Monday with grilled pork chops for supper and grandma's strawberry (or "strawbaby" pie, as Julia likes to call it) for dessert. Julia also helped make the strawberry pie.

The Wahl Family


Justin, Erin, Julia & Landon
April 10, 2009

Easter

Justin, Erin and their kids came for lunch on Easter, along with Grandma and Grandpa Bentley. Here are some pictures from the day...

Baby Landon is here!!!

Landon Ryan Wahl arrived this afternoon at 1:13pm. He weighed 9 lbs., 1 oz and was 21 1/2 inches. Here are pics of the new arrival!