A Decade...

Wow. If you can believe it, today is mine & Randy's TEN year wedding anniversary! I can't believe it has been a whole, entire DECADE!

It has been one heck of a ride, but I will add that it's been the most amazing & rewarding journey! I am not sure what I thought life would look like when this anniversary came along, but I think I must have thought I would feel older than I do! Ten years sounds like a long time, but when you think about the fact that you are spending a lifetime with someone- it's just a drop in the bucket. I hope the Lord blesses us with many more drops & that the next few decades will be filled with just as much joy, laughter, & downright craziness!

Happy Anniversary, Babe! Thanks for being my sidekick through these years & keeping me sane!

Here are a few little inside jokes/funnie/memories we share(d) in our day to day life: (I hope they bring a smile to your (Randy's) face today! No pressure to read further if you aren't Randy, but you may not "get it!"

-"Turrrr-keeey!" which we state randomly & often & it comes from a game show where the man's answer was LITERALLY turkey for everything & in the end... he WON!

-Jokes about your Dad & grabbing the ENTIRE loaf of Lord's Supper Bread when he wasn't sure about how to break it at that congregation. And then your Mom just shaking her head in disgust. Meanwhile we were about to bust a gut in the church pew laughing! I love hearing you retell this story simply because you get that ginormous laugh going that I can't help but to laugh with!

-How YOOOUUU Doin? ....

-Which leads me to ALL the Friends quotes we live by! I am not sure a day goes by without a Friends quote somehow dropped into conversation! :)

AC/DC singing (or rather- screaming!) whether you are playing it on the guitar or belting it to the radio...

Seven Bridges Road is another one that comes to mind when I think of us singing together. You are awesome at harmony & I stink at it!

All the other duets we sing in the car while the kids think we are crazy! We love a good duet! :)

Your MAD dance skills- NOT! Oh, those stiff hips make me laugh! (You look like Chandler-- see Friends got worked right in!)

"I am one lucky guy... I get to see TWO of you..."quoted while anesthesia was wearing off... Oh the anesthesia stories!

Your ankle athletic socks with dress shoes... and many other wardrobe faux pas over the years...

Me walking into you having bought yourself a nice pretty & expensive Taylor guitar 3 days before MY birthday. It wasn't a pretty scene, was it?

That scene in your Mom's living room where Jeremy pulled that horrible prank on Lisa about needing her kidney! And her falling for it!

You, allowing me to talk you into crazy things like several cats & one lemon of a Jeep that you really don't want! And maybe a dog or two... (or three!)

Split shift parenting for 3 months during your mom's recovery... Me working 7a-3p with no lunch, then coming home & you leaving & working 4p-12p. Whew! It makes me tired just typing it! But it was worth it!

Dropping everything & driving to Boone on a Friday in October. WHAT where we thinking!? The fog on the mountain that got us lost & the hours of searching for a hotel with vacancy: read 1:30AM!

The trip to Va where we (I) didn't check to see if Busch Garden's was open. (It wasn't...oops!) But we made up for it by coming back a second time, right!? :)

Getting pulled over & then lost on our way to a separate trip to Va when your tags were expired (again, because apparently I hadn't done something I was supposed to...)

Hiding Gracie for several weeks on Richardson Ln because we weren't allowed pets! Then turning her in to Second Change & having them "hold" her until we could move into our house- which meant paying $90 for a dog we already owned. See? I talk you into crazy stuff!

Dry heaving (together!) over the vomited up round worms on the floor & in the crate... and then driving Zack to the vet in 9 inches of freshly fallen snow to take care of it! (And the consequent absence of spaghetti noodles from our diet for awhile!)

The first time I cut your hair! LOL! Oh, ye of little faith- you just had to start working on it yourself, didn't you... and then Jeremy ended up having to SHAVE your head!

Leprechauns... the entire labor with Jackson was just crazy & my hallucinations made YOU a little crazy too! :)

The Christmas I had strep throat at my Dad's... and you were awesome (granted I was drugged up) but you took Eli & I only saw him every 3 hours to nurse & then you sat out in the car waiting at Medac (to keep Eli out of the germs) on Christmas Eve & then traded out & waited for my name to be called while I nursed him in the car... THAT is devotion!

Dutifully taking on ALL the kids' vomit over the last 7 years simply because you know I can't handle it. And there's been a lot of vomit. I can't thank you enough for taking one for the team on that one! :)

I could go on & on, but I think you get the picture! No one else may have enjoyed reading all that but it was good for my soul. I have enjoyed all our memories together & I thank God for you & this life he has given us!

Love,

Jen's Shower

My cousin, Jen... or as the kids affectionately call her, FeeFee, is getting married in 2 weeks! My mom, sister & I (really, it was just Mom... we just did what we were told on the day of!) threw Jen a bridal shower. It was so much fun! We had an oriental theme because Jen loves all that stuff. So it worked out to be a really fun theme. We had great food, & really nice details (again, thanks to my mom!) Here are some pics of the food & details....I have to admit that the food was probably some of the most fun shower food I have ever had. We served ... Mint Tea (or water) in these cutesy decorated glasses....
We had orange slices with cherries for a pop of color. Don't you LOVE those dragons??
We had eggrolls, more cherries, & mochi balls. What are mochi balls? I have no idea, but they are a mildly sweet, crunchy, nutty, asian ball. (They were in the asian section at World Market!)


Here is a close up... beautiful, aren't they!?
We had some edamame, too. Emma decided she loved this & ate about half her weight in them!We also had sushi!!! I told you it was some of the best shower food ever! This was actually my first time trying sushi & all this was "vegetarian". None of it had any raw fish in it, but I got to try a Philadelphia Roll & a California Roll. And it was yummy!
We also made some cream cheese wontons (or some people call them rangoons). These are my favorite asian treat. I love these! Rebecca & I actually made these from a recipe my mom found where you bake them instead of fry them. And they turned out superb! I hope my mom saved the recipe because we will be doing this again!My mom used her embroidery machine to embroider all these beautiful napkins! They are adorable! And then Emma helped by sticking the decorative (but functional) chopsticks in them.


We had Almond Cookies for dessert & they were so yummy that I couldn't stay out of them!For favors, lucky bamboo was sent home with each guest in these adorable little planters!

And I almost forgot to mention that we hung this beautiful umbrella from the ceiling in the living room....Jen got a lot of great gifts too... One of the sweetest things she got was from her future sister in law, Lisa. She gave her Brian's (groom) grandmother's Christmas linens! It was so sweet!


Here is Jennifer with her mom (our aunt, Peto!), her future mother in law, and sister in law....

She also got these amazing pillows that I can't quit thinking about. They would look fabulous on my couch! LOL!
And this is what the hostesses gave her! Yes, ANOTHER quilt! We did it again! I can't believe that we made another quilt, but working on it together made it more bearable! The colors are so beautiful & perfect for Jen who just loves nature. We used a birdhouse fabric that was just totally "Jen" to build off of for our color scheme! The thing about quilt making is that when it is done, it is so pretty that you forget all the work & delve into another!
Here is a close up of the fabric choices... (And sorry for these photos, but for some reason, the pictures I uploaded straight from my phone will not cooperate in size nor justification...)

The last few pictures I just couldn't resist in sharing... This is a little bit of behind the scenes of shower preparation. Sara Beth was with us & she was very fussy & clingy. Rebecca wasn't able to get much done, sooooo she strapped her on!

Sara Beth was in heaven & we didn't hear another peep! And just moments before getting dressed for the guests to arrive, Rebecca had her strapped on still & was mending the quilt we hadn't wrapped yet. We went ahead & washed it for Jen & wanted to make sure no stitches came loose. And of course, one little 2 inch section had! So Rebecca put in a blind stitch to fix it! Talk about pulling it out in the bottom of the 9th!

But we had a blast getting ready for the shower & we hope Jen enjoyed it as much as we did. We love you FeeFee & wish you & Brian only the best!

We've Been Busy! Weddings & VBS, oh my!

This summer has already been flying by! We have been busy every weekend from the last weekend of June & are scheduled up through the first weekend in August! Crazy, huh?! We've been camping over a long weekend, been to Grandaddy & Grandma Tee's house for one weekend for my nephew Brian's wedding, and then VBS at church, then we threw a shower for Jen's wedding, and then this weekend we are heading out to our Beach Week until the following week. Tired, yet? I am!

Here are some pics recapping our time....

I put the camping trip & Jen's shower in separate posts, so I will start with Brian's wedding! Here are some pics from the Ceremony.... Brian & Taylor Register...

Kayla, my 14 year old (very beautiful) neice...
My grandaddy... I love his grin!

My boy, sitting in his Daddy's lap!
And of course, Grandaddy & Grandma Tee!
Then there was the reception....


Did I mention that my husband wore a tie? He did & I was crazy over him the whole time. He never wears ties except weddings & funerals. But, oh, how I wish he dressed up more often! As soon as we hit the reception, he unbuttoned the top button & loosened the tie! Wimp! LOL!

The kids were super excited over the candy bar that was an "appetizer" before the real food was served. They were in heaven!

It was a nice reception & a beautiful couple! We headed back home late that night from Wilmington, so we were pooped!

Then, 3 days later we started VBS! Hometown Nazareth!

It was a busy 3 days but the kids had a blast as usual. We took our nephew, Kaleb with us each night & I think he helped build Eli's confidence because by the 3rd night, Eli had mustered up the courage to go up in front of the group to sing the songs!

I took a lot of pictures on the last night, so here are a few that I chose to upload...
Sara Beth with her Mama & Daddy (she is just too cute not to photograph!)


Little Miss Emma Rhea!

Eli playing one of the games (that he came mighty close to winning!).
Leah with her tribe bandana on her head. She looks like Aunt Jemima!
Eli again! And let me tell you that the last night he raised his hand to say the closing prayer in front of EVERYONE! It was so sweet that I cried. He had such a precious voice up there praying to God & I was so proud!
Jackson, who really wanted me to stop taking his picture!
But I wish this one had been in focus... because I can't resist those freckles!

Digging in the rock quarry turned up some pretty stones!

I didn't sign up to help other than bring supplies this year because we just had too much going on. But once I was there, I did end up helping these gals in the dye shop... we dyed bags! So fun!

It has been an incredibly busy summer so far, but it has been worth every mile we have driven to be with everyone & participate in all we have been able to! Beach Week is up next week, so stay tuned!