Category: Family (Page 22 of 26)

Today is our 9th anniversary.  It’s amazing how quickly 9 years has flown by!  We were reminiscing about the years and everything that has changed over the years… new jobs, graduations, new house, new dog, lots of home-remodeling, two kids, new cars… well you get the idea.  We were both astounded when we realized that we’ve been living in this house for 8 years now!  We moved in just before our first anniversary–we were so young!  This was just going to be a starter home that we moved out of before we had a family… haha!  I guess not!  We’ve done so much over the years to this house, and even though we are busting at the seams I have such an attachment to this house.  I went looking at houses online this morning (just for fun!) and I have to say it doesn’t look like we’ll be moving any time soon.  🙂

Tim took me out to Olive Garden tonight and I had the cheese ravioli–yummmmmm… it was a delightful (kid-free!) evening.

Look at my adorable insulated bread stick doggy-bag!

I decided for our 9th that I would make something for Tim that he could use for a long time.  Traditionally gifts for this year are “ceramic or wicker.”  Yeah, those are weird materials.  But I really wanted to use my creative side and not spend too much money, so this is what I came up with:

Tim's very own Candy Jar--filled with his favorite candy, of course (Starburst Jelly Beans) and etched with my cool "modified" Mountain Dew logo

I know it's technically not ceramic, but glass was cheaper! And since it's hard to see on the glass, here's the sketch of my new design based off of the mountain dew logo.

Here's the original logo design for those of you who don't have hundreds of cans strewn about your house... 😉

I was a bit disappointed in the finished product with the glass etching, but it was my first attempt at it--and I ran into a TON of problems along the way, so with that in mind, I would say it turned out pretty well!

Then, just for fun, I wrapped it in gushers. Haha!

Tonight we were able to have Amy and the kids over to visit.  They are up from TN (minus Nathan right now) visiting and attending a family reunion.  It was delightful to be able to see them and let the kids hang out.  The only bummer was the Josiah was a bit fussy since he’s come down with a cold.  He’s pretty whiny and miserable these days.  But I know it’s just a cold and will hopefully pass quickly.

Chloe and Isaac

They played dress up...

and then we watched a little Veggietales...

Tim was like a magnet... when he sat down the kids all wanted to be by him!

I love this picture of Isaac and Audrey snuggling on Amy's lap...

Then, after supper, we took a walk to the park...

Where we discovered big PUDDLES!

Which left them a bit soggy...

And silly!

All in all--it was great fun!

Tim was a groomsman in a wedding this weekend.  It was actually for a friend of ours at church–he’s the pastor’s son as well as the technology & media director for our church.  We’ve known his for a few years now.  We even did a small group with the two of them this fall and had a blast… such an adorable couple!  I was able carpool and hang out with another lady from church who’s husband was also a groomsman.

And let me tell you–what an AMAZING wedding!

It was the most entertaining, well-put-together wedding I think I’ve ever been to.  Every detail was amazing.  And quirky.  But in a good way.  And when I saw it all together it was absolutely perfect.  They are huge technology geeks (and yes, they know it!) as well as Mountain Dew lovers (now you know why they are friends with Tim!).  Here are a few of the neat things from the wedding:

~ a live band along with a cello and violin during their ceremony–an interesting mix but it worked so well!

~ videos of the verses being read by family members put together in  collages and set to music

~ a special box instead of a unity candle that they each put in letters explaining what they love most about the other person and why he/she wants to marry them.  Every anniversary they’ll add a new letter.

~ Paper circles cut out for the flower girls to toss instead of flowers

~  It was  vintage, eclectic, blue/purple inspired theme

~ The ring bearer came in wearing a vest and Gatsby hat (so cute!)

~ They had a pub serve juicy lucy hamburgers and wings for dinner

~ The groomsmen were given ties that said “Dew it!” and the groom’s said “I Dew!”

~ They had mountain dew on tap (Tim was happy about that!)

I started taking pictures and then I remembered that she is a photographer and she has GOBS of photographer friends so it was pointless for me to try and take any.  So I took a few cute ones of Tim and I and a couple random others, but I really didn’t end up with any awesome ones of the bride and groom.  Sorrry!  You’ll just have to take my word that it was great! 🙂

Look! We're actually dressed up for something!

There's the massive burger! I know it's hard to see under my giant lettuce...

This is the only semi-good shot I got of the happy couple. So adorable! (minus the giant head blocking my view)

My handsome man right in the middle! I just love the vest style... (and you can't see the writing on the ties when they are tucked into the vest--isn't that clever?)

Eagle Scout Ceremony

Tonight we attended Peter Greenhalgh’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony.  I’ve never been to any type of boy scout things so I wasn’t sure what to expect but we were specially invited by Kumi, so we thought it would be important for us to be there.  She called me this morning to make sure we were going and asked if I could take a few pictures.  I was disappointed at how poorly the pictures turned out, but the lighting was awful and we had to sit really far back and to the side so we could scoot out quickly with noisy kids.  I was still able to get a few pictures, though, so that was nice.  The ceremony itself was nice and relaxed but still monumental.  There were other small badges awarded to other troop members, but most of the night it was focused on Peter.  It was quite an accomplishment–he has earned something like 26 different badges as well as completing an impressive final service project.

The service project:  He communicated with the central school district here in Shakopee and wanted to reach out to young underprivileged kids with non-English speaking parents.  In an effort to help them with their English speaking skills he put together a collection of kids books and then recorded himself reading each book.  He then put the cd with the book, so the kids could hear the text while reading the books.  Isn’t that clever?  And so helpful!

Peter with his Mom & Dad

At the end of the ceremony Kumi and Mike came up and presented Peter with a plaque and flag that had been flown at the White House.  I thought it was cool.

Of course, Tim missed most of the ceremony because Josiah decided to be loud…  oh, well.  Life with young kids is never dull!

My boys in their polo shirts!

Chloe was very excited to go and wear her new dress (garage sale today!) and see all the Greenhalgh family.  🙂

Looking so grown up!

All in all it was a fun night as a family.  And I know Kumi was very appreciative of our being there–I don’t know if Peter cared as much, but that’s alright.   Of all the Greenhalgh’s he’s the one we’ve never actually hung out with much since he’s never taken piano or watched our kids.  As I get older, however, I realize there are some times in life when we’re there to support more than just the person in the spot-light, but also those working their tail off in the background.  🙂