Erickson Family Update

Hi Everyone,

We hope this finds you all well. October was a good month. Luke went on a short trip but has been home other than that. It has been a nice change to have him here, even though that will change again soon enough. He has been very busy working on one of the Dodge Stealths we have. We bought it a couple of years ago as a car that needed to be fixed up. We finally brought it back with us when we drove from Wisconsin to Tacoma this past January so that has been his project ever since then. We thought that he would have longer to finish the project then he now has though. We need the car to be running before he leaves for training in January so we can move when he comes back from training. The car is going to look amazing when it is done. He has made it so it is almost brand new in many ways. Luke also celebrated his 27th birthday in October. Unfortunately both Blake and I had our 2 week checkups that day so he spent most of it driving us around.

Brooke has been enjoying Kindergarten. It is amazing how much they learn in such a short time. It is very neat to see her learning to read, learning about the days of the week, and much more. Brooke has also reminded us how big she is getting because she has lost two teeth in the past two weeks. They are the two bottom front teeth. She is such an amazing little girl. It is so cute how much she loves Blake and is so great with him too.

I am finally adjusting to having two kids and the schedule that goes along with having a newborn. I had a bit of a time with my recovery but am finally just about feeling like myself again. It feels great! I started, in the beginning of October, babysitting a couple of afternoons a week and will continue to do so at least until Christmas break. It is nice for Brooke too because then she has a friend to play with. He is a boy from our neighborhood who's mom just started working outside of the home, and with kindergarten being half day, she needed some help. It has been working out well overall. I have also been trying to go through the house and get rid of things we don't want to move and am trying to get some of the rest of the house in order so it has better selling potential. I have a few more projects in mind but they will have to wait until December.

Our main focus lately has been our trip to Wisconsin coming up this weekend! We will be home late on the 15th and leave early in the morning on the 29th. We can't wait! It will be so nice to see as many people as we can. I know a few of you have talked to my parents about seeing us, please let me know if you are interested so we can get it worked out. I would love to be able to see as many people as possible, even though it seems impossible sometimes :) We can be contacted through email of course, otherwise you can always call our home phone at 253-847-8914 or my cell at 715-563-6701. Also, for those who are interested, Luke and I will be going out Wednesday, November 26th (the night before Thanksgiving) at 8pm down at The Village Tavern on Spring Street in Chippewa Falls. We won't be back in Wisconsin until we move to North Carolina, which is supposed to be in May. We are planning on taking a detour and stopping by on our drive there. This, of course, is not set in stone though because the life of those in the military is everchanging so it seems.

Here are some pictures for those who might be interested. Brooke was a cheerleader and Blake was a pumpkin for Halloween. There is also some of us at the pumpkin patch in there.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37429&l=72e9c&id=641524478

We hope that you all have a happy and safe thanksgiving, and that all of those traveling and/or hunting stay safe as well! We hope to hear from you all soon! Take Care!

Love,
Luke, Amanda, Brooke and Blake