Family Vacation 2013 Part 1 - The Wedding!

The Maine event.
The Big Bash.
THE WEDDING.

My baby brother got married!!!

My sweet little brother, whom I still sometimes see as ten or twelve years old, is now a married man - of nearly a week! 

AND I have a fabulous new little sister, Hallie, whom I adore.  

Yes, yes: on with it.

Our first couple of days in Maine were spent on the wedding.  After spending our ENTIRE Thursday traveling, we arrived at Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, Maine, late Thursday night.  We stayed in a rented house with my parents for a week, which went really well and was enjoyable for all (yep, you read that right!). 

Friday started off with a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things to keep at the house, and proceeded with lunch with my aunt and uncle, and rehearsal preparations.  The girls and I were in the wedding party, and I tried to do as much as I could to help with rehearsal and wedding prep.  So prior to the actual rehearsal, I met up with my new sis and the other bridesmaids, and gave everyone amateur French manicures.  Then we all headed to the sweet little church where the rehearsal was held.

Rehearsal went smoothly, and was followed by a tasty rehearsal dinner at a nearby restaurant.  That, in turn, was followed by a good night's sleep by all!  (*snort*)


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Saturday morning began almost as Friday night ended, for several of us at least.  I know the Bride and Groom kept some late AND early hours; and though I thankfully got some good sleep during the night, Liam had us out of bed much earlier than we intended to be.  

Pre-wedding prep had the girls and me at the church at 10 a.m. along with Hallie and the rest of the bridesmaids for hair and makeup. 

Before heading upstairs to the sanctuary, I made sure I had several Kleenex in my hand along with my flowers!

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, and I was grateful I had plenty of tissue, since I used it all - especially when the Bride and Groom read each other the vows they had written themselves.

The ceremony was followed by pictures, which I can't wait to see!  The reception was awesome and tons of fun.  My brother sang his new bride a song he had written himself, which of course made me cry even more.  Hunter made a new friend in Hallie's youngest brother, and my girls had a BLAST rocking it out on the dance floor.  I got some good pictures and a super cute video.  (Sorry - you won't get to see it all here.)

The groomsmen decorated Kevin's car, and a sendoff ended the big day.  

It was a beautiful day, and I am so honored that I got to be a part of it.  I wish my brother and new sister all the best, and know they will have a very sweet life together.  Looking forward to watching them grow together as a married couple in Christ!

Brave(?)

I keep telling myself I'm going to blog more.

It doesn't seem to be working.

Maybe I'm not taking myself seriously enough.

Or maybe I just have a few too many kids to chase around the house all day ;-).

I am still thoroughly enjoying Mommyhood-of-Four.  I'm enjoying it so much, in fact, that I ventured 750 miles from home with the four of them WITHOUT MY HUSBAND.  Several people told me how brave I am; I'm pretty sure it's just the final proof that I am absolutely insane.  

Seriously, though, it was a really good time.  We went down to my grandparents' house in El Dorado, Kansas, where we spent three days and were able to celebrate my great aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary and my grandfather's 80th birthday!  It was such a blessing to be able to be there and see what God has done in the longevity of these special lives and relationships.  It was also very awesome to see so many family members that I haven't seen in a year or more - and some of those that I "saw" a year ago, I didn't get to spend any time with, so the chance to spend more time with them made the trip extra special.

After we left El Dorado, we spent three days in Kearney, Missouri (just northeast of Kansas City), with my best friend from college, Shannon.  It's been a year since we've seen her, too, so it was a really good time.  

Now that we're home, Randy has the week off work, and we have plans to get some home projects done this week.  We also have a few family plans in mind.  Actually, we carried some of those plans out today - we picked up sandwiches at a local sub deli and went out by the lake for a picnic, then took our library books back (and got new ones, of course!)  Tomorrow my mom is coming over to stay with the baby while we take the big kids to see Brave.  Tomorrow night, Randy and I are going to get some painting done, and then my family is coming over Wednesday for a cookout.  

Tomorrow morning, the worker from the GAL's office is coming to see K3.  After that, I will have a post with an update about both the kids' cases. 

Terrific Tuesday!

Yesterday we took our first out-of-state field trip!

A friend and I took all four kiddos to Shipshewana, Indiana, for the day.  

We went to a great little bead shop that a lady runs in the shops area.  Kaleigh and I both found some great treasures in there!  Kaleigh spent about half of her spending money on beads! :-)  Most of what I bought will be for gifts :-)

We also went to an awesome Amish grocery store, where they sell a ton of stuff in bulk at extremely reasonable prices.  I wished I had a trailer to bring stuff home in!  I did get a few things to bring home though.  Then we went to the Amish department store, where the kids shopped with their spending money.  On the way out of town, we stopped at the Amish bakery; the kids had been talking about ice cream earlier in the day, so I thought for sure they would all be thrilled to have some.  BUT, only two of them went for ice cream; the other really wanted a doughnut.  Can you guess which kiddo that was?  After the bakery, we stopped at a farm where a lady keeps greenhouses and sells plants.  Lots of fun!  Then we hit the road and drove a little ways before stopping for dinner.  After eating, we were on the road for good - at about 7:00!  

The roads weren't too bad on the return trip.  We hit a little construction in South Chicago, but it was nothing compared to the construction traffic on the other side of the road!  We got to the park and ride a little after 10:00, dropped my friend off at her car, made a bottle for Ty, who had been screaming for several miles, and finished the last 15 minutes of our trek home.  

Everyone slept soundly once they were in their beds, although no one slept any later than usual today.  Two kiddos have visits today, so nap times will be missed and bed times will be a little late again tonight.  I'm hoping that tomorrow we can get back into a routine.

Weekend

Well, we had a very nice - if very busy! - weekend.  Kaleigh and I got up early Saturday morning and headed to church for choir practice.  We were there for a couple of hours, then I met up with a friend for a little while before dashing up to K3's foster home to pick her up for the afternoon.  We hung out at home for a couple of hours, and the girls enjoyed playing together; then we went to my mom's for dinner.  My mom and dad, Kevin, and his girlfriend Hallie, all got to meet K3 for the first time.  Of course, they loved her.

Sunday morning, Kaleigh and I were up and out early again, as we were both singing in both church services.  K2 had a little trio part in one of their songs, and she did a GREAT job!  It was so fun to watch her enjoy singing up there, since I was painfully shy at her age (still am), and you couldn't have convinced me to sing a part like that to save my life!  After church, Randy and I swapped cars (he needed mine in order to bring the baby to church, and I needed it back in order to pick up K3!), and Ty and I went to pick up K3 while Randy took Hunter and Kaleigh to meet the rest of the fam for brunch.

At brunch, Clint, Brittany, and Ava were able to meet K3 for the first time.  I think approval is unanimous.  She is a little shy when first meeting the big people, but seems to warm up pretty quickly.  She is very sweet and I think will be such a joy and blessing as part of our family!

A few days ago, when the forecast was 65 for Sunday, we were planning to find a park after brunch.  But by Sunday morning, the forecast had changed to 40; so we went home and chilled for awhile.  Then Randy took the big boys to the golf store, and I took the Littles to my mom's house to meet up with my cousin for a little visit and so that SHE could meet K3.  Then we had just enough time to dash home, grab the boys, and rush K3 back to her foster home.  Then we stopped at a friend's house so Randy could try to unclog a pipe that had been clogged since Friday morning - which he did quite successfully.  I am married to an awesome man :-).

Both nights, we had to have her back by 6:30 so she had some wind-down time before bed; so it made for two rather short days.  However, we will have her for a longer day tomorrow, another relatively short day Thursday (she gets picked up at 2:30 for a visit), and then Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon Easter weekend.  Then, Lord-willing - and it looks like everything is headed that way - she will be moving in the weekend of the 14th!

My Cousin. My Friend.

My fabulous cousin just had her second beautiful baby girl!  I am almost more excited about Emma than I was two years ago when Annie (her big sister) was born!  Although I have to say, it's pretty much a tie :).  

My cousin and I are only six months apart, and grew up together.  The children of a traveling church planter, my mom and my cousin's dad put down roots and stayed here when their parents (and four other siblings) moved on.  When we were kids, we didn't see each other as much as we wanted to.  And so, to be perfectly honest, we weren't exactly "best friends" or anything.  In high school, we lived in different worlds, went to very different schools, had different friends, and seemingly different interests - although looking back, I realize our interests weren't all that different: we both played sports, were cheerleaders, played musical instruments.  Although we got along and enjoyed each other's company, I can't really say we were "close."

Since becoming "grown ups," we've become what I can now confidently call "close."  She got married long before I even had a serious relationship, but even though we still didn't have much in common, somewhere around that time we both kind of grew into a new stage of life.  The pieces that would give us the capacity to become more than cousins were finally falling into place.  

I think I would say that it was a little over two years ago, when Randy and I were dealing with the whole situation with the kids, during which time Annie was born, when she and I really began to grow closer.

Like sisters, we were bound by a relationship neither of us had any say in.  And since I had only brothers, and she was an only child for 11 years, we were each the closest thing to a sister the other had, at least as young children.  And now, we are more than cousins: we are friends.

And I guess that is why I am so excited about Emma, and know that I will love her every bit as I love her sister and her Mommy.  I couldn't possibly be more excited for her if we WERE sisters; and the girls are the closest things to nieces that I have right now.

So congrats to my gorgeous cousin Tina and her lovely family.  I love you all so much, and cannot wait to meet the sweet little new addition :).