We Shall Call This The Summer of Weddings

We have 5 weddings this summer.  And if you add the one we went to last December and the one next April, that is 7 for the year and a half.  It feels like the days shortly after college again.  What is crazy, three of those weddings are from Justin's childhood neighbor and close family friend.  Three of their four children are getting married within a year of each other.  Three more are Justin's cousins and the one for me is a basketball player I coached.  It is fun to go to weddings and see the joy of the bride and groom.  It is fun to dance and see old friends and family.  And, the one we went to this weekend had Orange Leaf for dessert!  Of course, Aria likes to dress up and dance.  And it is fun when your meal is croutons, cheese, ranch, and potatoes.  And this year, with our 10th anniversary in just over a month, all these weddings make me think back to my own and how lucky I am to be married to my awesome husband!

A Day for Adventure

Justin doesn't have much travel involved in his job and we are quite thankful for that.  In fact, I can count on one finger the number of times Justin has traveled overnight for work.  But, last week he had to attend a meeting in Dubuque.  When he first shared he would be going there for the day, a light bulb went on in my head.  Our really great friends, Heather and Ryan, live in Dubuque!  There is a fun river museum in Dubuque!  Aria and I are hitching a ride and coming to Dubuque with you!  What turned out to be even more special was that Justin's meeting in Dubuque just so happened to fall on our dear friend, Heather's birthday.  So we got to enjoy the museum and take Heather out for lunch.  She picked a fabulous place where we got to eat outside right next to the river.  Ironically, Justin was at the same restaurant and we didn't even know it!

It was such a fun day to travel to Dubuque as a family in the middle of the week and have a fun adventure.  Aria and I had a great time at the museum.  My absolute favorite is always the otters.  They are just so adorable.  Aria says her favorite was the alligator.  We also enjoyed their new turtle exhibit and the eagles.  We tend to like animals, in case you couldn't tell.  Except snakes.  We explored the old riverboat, drove the little remote control boats, played in the water tables, and learned a little along they way.  The fact of the day was that girl turtles are bigger than boy turtles.  And even though Daddy didn't get to enjoy the museum with us, we did get to find a yummy ice cream shop for a special treat after he was done!  This is certainly a great stage of life we are in!

Eadie's Birthday

Aria's good friend Eadie turned four a few weeks ago and we got to celebrate her birthday, cowgirl style!  Eadie's mom is really good at picking a theme and finding all sorts of creative ways to celebrate within the theme.  From the games, to the treats, to a buckaroo making animal balloons and hats, it was a great party! Yeehaw!!  I really enjoy watching the girls interact with each other these days.  Sure, they are friends because their parents were first, but they do choose to be friends and have a lot of fun together.  They also know each other well.  Aria and Eadie have a lot of fun playing dress up together and Aria really wanted to get Eadie a new dress up dress for a present.  When Eadie opened the present, she was so excited!  I loved seeing Aria think of a present she knew her friend would love and they would enjoy playing with together!

Swimming With Sophia

Aria's good friend Sophia invited our family to go swimming with her family to celebrate her 4th birthday.  We went to a local hotel that allows people to pay a $4 fee and swim in their pool.  What a clever idea!  We basically had the pool to ourselves the whole morning and had an absolute blast! We were thoroughly worn out afterwards.  Thanks for letting us celebrate with you, Sophia!

4 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

When you go on vacation with 7 other kids, you get to do really fun things like this...

The Best Trip EVER!

I am exhausted.  I have laundry piles.  I have no idea what we will eat tomorrow for supper or lunch or breakfast.  I should go to sleep.

But, my heart is full.  And I must capture this moment while it is right in the front of my head.

I feel like I just returned from the most amazing spiritual retreat ever.  I have a renewed confidence, a deeper faith, and a serene, peaceful attitude.  I have a little bit more knowledge about how deeply God loves me.

About 7 years ago, God formed a small Bible study group of 4 couples, married about 2 years, all within a couple years age of each other.  It was a call from our church to do a 6 week study on a topic I don't even remember.  These couples were a part of an ABF class at church together and knew each other a little bit.

Our first meeting was on August 31, 2006.  I know the exact date because it was the day after my 25th birthday and Erin, the host of the evening, made cupcakes to honor the occasion.  I didn't even know she knew it was my birthday.  I probably didn't even consider her my "friend" but more like an acquaintance.

That has definitely changed.

Over the years, another couple joined the group and then one had to step away and yet another one joined.  We continued to meet on a weekly basis, studying God's Word, sharing our triumphs and struggles, and eating a lot of yummy food.  We met as couples at first, then added kids so we met as families.  We also started a separate "girl time" for the 6 women.  We experienced all aspects of life together.

We formed a bond, deeper than any friendship I have ever experienced, built solely on our love for God.  And that is what makes this group so special.

Beginning in 2011, one family moved back to their Texas home in May and another, again back to their Texas home in October.  In May of 2012, the third family left the state to move closer to family in Minnesota.  And finally, in August, the last of the moves for a family to a different community in Iowa.  What was once a core weekly group was now spread out all over the country.

I felt the need to spell this all out as I reflect upon our recent trip.  The roots of the group are so key.

Today we returned home from a 5 day retreat with 5 families in a 6 bedroom, 6 bathroom house.  We had 10 adults and 8 kids, aged 5 and under.  We had not all been together for almost 2 years.  Children have been added to families in those 2 years.  Jobs have changed.  People have moved.  Life has gone on.  New friendships have been formed.

But this friendship has remained the same.  I was ecstatic to see friends that hold such a special, special place in my heart after so long, yet it felt like they never left.  Our conversations, our level of trust, the way we used to live life when we all lived in the same town, was just the same.  And our kids played with each other.  And our kids played with the other adults.  We laughed.  We cried.  We visited some caves.  And we ate lots of yummy food.

As I said in the beginning, I feel as though I was at the most amazing spiritual retreat, ever.  Yet it was not technically a spiritual retreat.  But my friends, the best friends I've ever had, spoke God's truth into my life and strengthened my faith, just as they did for all those years we met every week.  And it's not like we did Bible studies the whole time.  Or at all.  But they showed me who God is by the way they listened, the way they parent their kids, the way they strive every day to live their lives according to God's purpose for them.

I am a constant work in progress at being confident in who God made me.  I struggle with comparing myself to others and wondering if I am good enough.  I am good at putting up a guard and not letting people all the way in.  But I don't have those problems with this group.  They are real and they let me be real without judgment.  It is absolutely wonderful.

For a long time I have mourned all of my friends moving away.  But as we got together this weekend, I realized something significant.  Back in 2006 when God brought our group together, He knew it would not last forever.  He knew people would move away.  Yet He knit our lives together and formed a bond as strong and as deep as Him.  I think God formed this bond between us so that it would stand the test of time, distance, and change.  God made these friendships so special because he knew they would have to be in order for us to maintain them.

I am so thankful for the time we spent as a small group and the bond that we formed.  I am thankful that we are still committed to spending time with each other, so much so that people took off work, drove thousands of miles, dealt with whiny kids and sleep deprivation, and paid hundreds of dollars to spend quality time together.

This was the best trip ever, not because of anything we did, but because of the time we got to spend together.  I think it was God's way of giving us a glimpse at eternity.  Beautiful fellowship with people who love God.  Oh how He loves us all!

My people, thank you.  I love you.  I can't wait until we do it again.  You filled up my heart and helped me remember who God made me.

  

Aria's Birthday BOW-tique

I thought it might be difficult for Aria to figure out what to do for her birthday party, but in early January we just happened to see some Minnie and Daisy decorations at Wal-Mart and she said, "We could have a Minnie and Daisy party!"  I was thrilled that it was not princesses so we went with it!  Aria has a Minnie and Daisy game on her Leap Pad where she gets to design bows for a surprise party for Minnie, so she was all about designing bows at her party.  And having a Minnie Mouse cake.  That was after we had a hard time deciding between cupcakes and regular cake and if she wanted Daisy on it, too.  Big decisions for a 4 year old.

She was very sure of her guest list, though.  Her three friends and their families.  She wanted to make sure the siblings and the mommies were included.  She hesitated at first with the daddies, but once she realized we were having the party on a Saturday and the daddies would not be at work, she wanted them to come.  :)

There was a pin the bow on Minnie game with the party decorations at Wal-Mart that she wanted to play besides doing the bow decorating.  She also determined that maybe Caleb wouldn't want to make a bow, so she wanted him to make a hat.  Such a thoughtful girl.  To my great surprise, her lunch menu changed a few days before the party.  All along she said we were having her favorite, mac and cheese, but all of a sudden she switched to pizza, carrots, and grapes.  It was so fun to watch her plan things out.

The party was a great day of celebrating Aria.  Thankfully she was feeling better than she was on her actual birthday.  She also has some really great friends who loved celebrating with her and gave her very nice presents!  The only issue was my lack of camera battery in both cameras.  Seriously, how did I miss that?  I was still able to get some good pictures and video with charging in between photo opportunities.  We didn't quite catch the happy birthday song on video, but that is okay.  The one other small glitch was with Aria's new bed.  She was very excited to show her friends, but she wasn't quite sure what to think when they wanted to climb into it and go down the slide.  We finally talked through it enough that she let them enjoy the slide.  It is amazing how many people fit into one little girl's bedroom.  :)

Here is what we did capture...

Making the bows and hat took a lot of adult supervision, but I think everybody had fun!  For the bows I bought some black headbands and some bow ties from the Party Store.  I cut off the elastic for the bow tie and glued the bow to the headband.  It worked quite well and was pretty easy!

There is a boy in her bed!!  And he even wrote "I Love You" on the card he gave her.  He also once mentioned he was going to marry her.  Hmmmmmm.  Good thing we know his parents!

Personal space is not something that is understood by preschoolers, especially when birthday presents are involved.

I might have to do a separate post of my Minnie cake creation.

I am very thankful for these cute kids and their awesome families!  It was a special day for Aria because of them!

Omaha

No this post has nothing to do with Peyton Manning...

On the Saturday after Christmas we got to go to Omaha for the wedding of a family friend and childhood neighbor of Justin's.  We left relatively early in the morning and made the surprisingly easy drive out there.  We arrived a little after noon and it was 60 degrees...weird!

It was a super fancy wedding, so we got all dressed up!

Seriously, it was probably the fanciest wedding I've been to.  It was in a humongous cathedral in downtown Omaha and the reception was at a fancy art gallery.  Aria got her own kid's plate of food that included mac and cheese plus a cool kid package of fun things to do.  It was assigned seating with fancy name tags and beautiful decorations.  It was quite the occasion and was fun to be around a lot of Justin's childhood friends!

We decided to stay an extra day because how can a family go to Omaha and not go to the zoo?  Even if Sunday, the day after the 60 degree weather, was a lovely -5.  We ran from building to building and took our time inside enjoying the animals.  There was still a lot to see.  Our favorites of the day were the 5 lion cubs who turned one year old that day

the awesome giraffes

a silly orangutan

and of course, the penguins!  Especially this one that just hung out by us in this bubble.

We also stayed an extra day because our hotel had a mini waterpark in it, but it was soooooooo cold!  Of course the play structure had one of those ridiculous buckets that Aria won't go near, so we spent our time in the frigid pool.

But the main reason we stayed an extra day was to see these people.

I wish I would have taken a better picture, but I was too busy catching up with my very dear friend, Gina.  She brought her family over to swim with us and we let the dads swim while we chatted and stayed where it was warmer with her one month old baby.  Then we got to go out for lunch with them, too.  It was so fun to connect with them!  It never matters how much time passes or what is going on in our life, we are always able to pick up right where we left off in college.  It does still seem a bit weird that we are all grown up with kids and stuff.  :)

So glad we got to have a fun little trip during Christmas vacation!

Fire Pit!

The benefits of having a masonry contractor for a dad:

When you suggest a fire pit for a birthday present, thinking just a hole dug in the dirt with some stones laid in a circle will work great, instead you get an amazingly beautiful three layer capstoned ring of awesomeness!

I absolutely love fall and I've always wanted to be able to have a fire to sit around on cool evenings.  As a birthday present to me, my dad and Justin and Aria put this together in about 2 hours and I LOVE it! 

The construction:

Breaking it in with friends:

And the best reason for a fire pit...S'MORES!  Made with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, of course.

Extra bonus: Friends who have an outdoor movie screen they'll share to entertain the kids!  Best way to watch Veggie Tales!

And might I just add how amazing the weather was that we needed to snuggle under blankets for the movie! 

I want to use this thing every weekend!  Thanks, Dad!  You've always been great at crafting things of great beauty!