Almost Autumn

        The months sure do fly by these days. I can remember when I was in high school wondering if the school year would ever come to a close. These days I can not believe how quickly time fly's, how is it possible that Allison and I have a 10 month old. It seems like just yesterday we were taking her home from the hospital. How quickly Norah Mae learns stuff is amazing to me, not in a child prodigy kind of way but its cool to see her sitting one day then crawling the next. We had a little scare the other night where Norah started choking on some food, Allison and I handled it well and she was fine but it was a very long ten seconds.
         We have been having an awful lot of fun lately. We went to the Grand Rapids Public Museum the other day. It was a lot of fun, they had a Titanic exhibit with a bunch of artifacts recovered from the depths of the ocean. Last week we did homemade pickles, they turned out really well and we can't wait to try some new variations next year! On Saturday we went to the Smiths Bayou annual chili cookoff. It was a really fun time, for $5 I was able to sample 15 types of chili. There was a bluegrass band for entertainment and a raffle, Allison and I didn't win anything. The best part is that all the proceeds go to a local charity that they choose. I think we will go again next year. Today we went to a cookout with some good friends. The food was great and so was the company. I'm glad Allison got out there and made friends, now we have people to hang out with! It is almost September and Michigan is going through a hot snap. This upcoming week it is supposed to stay in the high 80's and low 90's. We are looking forward to our visitors who are coming very soon. Norah can't wait to see both sets of grandparents.

Chili cookoff



Calvin Klein Ad????

Daddy got Norah a new teething necklace

She's not as high as she looks.

Helping daddy pickle

Mamas spaghetti is the best!!!!

Allison's Duck Dynasty beard. I love her even more with each passing day haha.

Coast Guard Festival & Norah's 1st Tooth

This past week was the annual Coast Guard Festival. The weather felt more like Fall than it did Summer. I worked the damage control wet trainer for kids day and they seemed to have a blast. I froze to death, it was 65 degrees out and the water was ice cold. I grilled food for the USCG retirement dinner and had a good time. It was good to rub elbows with some old Master Chiefs. Norah Mae has finally pushed out her first tooth. Teething so far has been a breeze. Norah is also rolling all over the place and is now pulling herself up on all sorts of things. Our sweet girl has also figured out what we don't want her to get into and has set her mind to get into that stuff. We have already had to move some of our stuff around. We are hoping for a warm day so we can finally get to the beach, it has been a cool summer so far. I hope that isn't a sign of the winter to come. Allison has been scouring every yard sale this side of the Mississippi for toys and clothes for Norah, That girl sure can find a bargain. The next few weeks should be fairly slow for the Croteau family. Norah sure is looking forward to our visit from the Croteau and White grand parents in a few weeks. Hope you all are well see you soon.