Wedding Week Part 1: The Joy Is in the Journey

I've often heard people much older and wiser than me say that "the joy of life is in the journey."  They've learned that all the stuff along the path to a determined goal is really what life is made up of.  The ordinary, every day sameness of a quick hug and kiss goodbye in the morning, followed by a busy day of running errands, then settling back in for dinner and stories - it's a pretty wonderful routine when you stop to think about it!

That being said, we're applying the same principal to a very exciting moment in my family's life!  My baby brother is getting married!  I'm five years older than him, so I remember the day he was born.  Wow, how can we be grown ups now?!!

The wedding will be in Milwaukee this Friday evening.  So we loaded up the car with snacks, wedding gifts, one adorable 3T suit, and headed off for a little R&R along the way.

Sunday night dinner at On the Border, followed by the movie Rio.  All in all a very "Latin" themed evening, I guess :)

At this young age, Blake has already decided that no trip to a hotel is complete without a pillow fight.

Bumblebee was there to greet us at the Indianapolis Children's Museum!

 My gimpy dinosaur hatchling.

I LOVE this one!  It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

We had a great time at the museum.  Definitely worth the admission!

Last night we rolled into Chicago and took a walk at a nearby park.  Today we are headed into the Windy City!

Something Borrowed...Something Blue

 What a special weekend!  Steve was so excited to officiate the wedding of two of our former students in Wooster, Brian and Jessi.  We laughed several times with them remembering how we accidentally sat behind them on their first date!

 That evening five years ago, we were in the audience watching Brian's beautiful sister Caitlin (above) perform in a school play.  We sat down behind the two nervous teenagers and soon realized what was happening :)  So funny and cute now!

 It's fun to get all dressed up!

 It was a very sweet wedding.  Now for the something blue...

We ended the weekend with a bang.  Poor Mr. Blake took a tumble after church Sunday morning and won the prize of at least a week in a full leg cast.  He has been absolutely great about it though!  When the nurse was bending his leg to determine where he was in pain he would not make a peep.  His eyes were glassy and he was holding his breath, but he refused to cry.  She had to go by his winces to figure out it was his lower leg that had the trouble spot.  Same thing with the X-ray tech.  He is my tough little man!

Great Family Adventure Camp

We had the opportunity to attend the Ohio Assembly of God family camp this year.  The week started with a Carman concert :)  So of course we attempted a photo op with him and...

 ...this is what we got.  HA!

 Climbing the inflatable obstacle course.

 Goin' Creekin'  (we were looking for crawdads)

 I cannot believe I did this.

My former Royal Ranger throwing a hatchet at a log.  He hit the target!

With friends in the pioneer village.

The last night of camp Blake fell asleep at dinner, face down in a pool of chocolate brownie drool.  You can see a bit on his forehead and eyebrow!

We had a great week together.  It really was a wonderful time with friends, and an opportunity for some new family experiences.  The services were so refreshing.  We loved camp!

The Sunshine State

Summer is always a busy/fun time for us.  The day after Blake's party Grandma joined Blake and I for a trip to visit Dad in Florida.

 I was so happy to realize that Blake has started pulling his own weight, or at least his own suitcase, at the airport!  He thought it was awesome!

 More presents!

 They had a blast with this gift.  All week long they were shooting each other with these foam disk guns.

 Headed to the pool!

 I love this one :)

 Why Dad did this I'll never know, but Blake's paddle now reads "For Blake's Butt."

 At least I was smiling at the camera!

 They were wrestling.  Blake's face is crackin' me up!

 We got up EARLY to drive to Siesta Key beach.  Thank goodness we stopped at Starbucks for a caffeine fix.

 He was SO excited to be back at the beach.  He immediately started making sand castles.

 So sweet.

 It rained a little each day we were there.  We finally got a sunny morning on the last day of our trip.  So glad we had a nice window of time to hit the beach!

Birthday Partyin'

Who knew it was so much fun to turn 3?  You are looking at one very excited little boy.  Just look at all of those presents!

 We kept things simple this year, since Blake, Grandma and I were leaving the next day for a trip to Florida.  But I wanted him to know it was a special day, so he woke up to find a few birthday decorations around the house.

Age three has ushered in a fire truck obsession for Blake.  He had so much fun helping me make the cake.

We had a VIP guest list of Grandmas.  Even Grammy was able to Skype in from Washington State!

 Stopping at our favorite local pizza place for dinner.

And the birthday excitement begins to overtake his brain!

 Finally.  It's cake time!

 His only request was for a fire truck :)

 Mmmmm....yummy.

 Telling Grammy thank you for Curious George!

Being silly with Mamaw.
I am so happy to have a three year old around.  He is such a helpful little boy!  He knows he is growing up too, but he's sure to remind me he's not big yet.  "I'm still little, Mom.  You can pick me up."  He's been full of love and cuddles lately and we are treasuring this age, and all of the funny things he says.  Three is going to be a good year!