I love going to weddings.  One year when I was in college, I went to eight in one summer!  There have been a few years without any, but most summers I get to attend at least one or two.  This summer we were invited to four!  It does help that Jeff and I are both musicians!  But even when I don't know the couple getting married, and one of us is just playing or singing, I still love the excitement, seeing the months of planning coming together, the way each couple makes their wedding unique to fit their personalities, and now these past five years, to remember the joy and emotions of my own wedding and how thankful I am to have been blessed with a husband.  Jeff is truly one of God's greatest gifts to me.

 

This weekend we attended the wedding of Jeff's cousin, Lindsay.  Neither of us knew her well, but it was another chance to go to a wedding and reception, enjoy dancing (with each other and with our girls), see extended family, and enjoy time staying with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Valerie, and Great-Grandma.

 

This wedding was unique in that it was the first time I have seen a dog in a tuxedo on a leash as the ring bearer.  As they say, to each his own!  My favorite part of the ceremony, however, was when the bride's father sang to her right before giving her away.  Oh my, you can imagine the waterworks in that room.  I knew from looking at the title of the song, "I Loved Her First," that I was going to need some tissues, especially now that I have two girls of my own.  Jeff said afterwards that if Ella or Lucy ever asked him to sing in their wedding, he would have to record it.  I think that's a smart idea. 

 

Here is a link for the sweet lyrics, you're interested.  Or, if you're up for a good, sappy cry, you can watch the music video for the song:

 

    

 

 

This was a busy, fun weekend!  My mom was gracious enough to come stay with us for a few days (while my dad is living it up at Walt Disney World with my brother) to give us some free babysitting, so we made the most of it!  I got a haircut Friday morning, we went on a date Friday night, and went to Holiday World (without Lucy) on Saturday! 

 

We were blessed that one of Jeff's colleagues gave us comp tickets to see "My Fair Lady" on Friday night.  We left early and had a nice, quiet dinner outside in a beautiful, scenic setting.  I can't remember the last time we've done that!  The show was very well done (though we were a bit critical of the music, go figure) and it was a very nice escape for us both.

 

On Saturday, God provided a free opportunity for fun again, this time through our good friends, Jason and Lynne.  Jason's step-father works at a local radio station and had some extra tickets from the station which he said we could have.  We ended up having four couples and three kids (including) Ella there for the day.  We had a wonderful time.  I was smart this time and didn't ride any roller coasters, and I stayed happy and nausea-free all day!  My favorite part of the park is the water park.  Ella  road the Watubee, her first "big" water ride, though she had the most fun of the day running around in the "Jungle Jets" with the other girls.  We all had a fantastic day and nobody even got sunburned, thanks to the free sunscreen.  Maybe Lucy will be big enough to enjoy and handle it next year.  A special thanks to Grandma for helping make it all possible!

As promised, here are the long-await pics of our new house!  This house is about 100 square feet smaller than our last one, so we were a little concerned going in how things would fit, but it all fit perfectly!  We are still loving our new place and we're so thankful to God for providing it for us.

 

I also have to share that Lucy is now passy-free!  We have been dreading this big transition, and even waited 2 months longer than we did with Ella.  Lucy was VERY attached to her passy.  Following advice I read on the internet, I tried cutting off the tip of it.  She, of course, hated it and cried.  But then what surprised me was that when I went in to comfort her, she asked me if she could throw it away!  I let her and put her back in the crib.  She still wanted another one, but she very clearly understood "passy broken" and "throw it away."  I gave her a soft blanket in its place, which she quickly latched on to, and within a couple days, she quit asking for the passy and goes to sleep fine.  Whew.  One big change we've noticed, though, is that with her passy, she went to sleep immediately after we left the room.  Now that her mouth isn't full, she jabbers, sings, and plays for several minutes (up to an hour one night!) before going to sleep.  She's not crying, though, so we don't mind.  If only potty-training would be this easy!  (Yes, our least favorite part of parenting is only a few months away!)

I posted last week that we were spending our time at Outrigger Island.  No, we didn't get to take an island vacation - we were having Vacation Bible School!  I was the assistant music director and Jeff ran the sound and media.  Ella and Lucy both had a great time.  The highlight for Ella was getting to play with our former next-door neighbor, Emily, all week.  Emily is 4, like Ella, and they had so much fun playing together this past year, so it was sad to say good-bye when we moved.  Ella sent a VBS flyer to Emily in the mail inviting her to come, and we were all thrilled that she came!  They really had a ball.

 

On Saturday, my niece, Cassidy, had a skating party for her 14th birthday.  Jeff and I had not been skating in about 10 years, but we had a great time!  And neither of us fell!  It was Ella's first time to skate at a real skating rink.  We took her plastic skates from home, which she used for the first few rounds, but then she really wanted "big" skates like ours.  She really felt like big stuff going around the rink in those skates.  She fell a couple times, the worst being on the carpet, leaving a giant goose-egg (and now bruise) on her forehead.  She still had a fun time, though, and I know she would like to go again.

 

House Update:  We're done!  It's hard to believe that as of yesterday, we have been here a month already!  We put up the last pictures this morning, so we are officially unpacked and "settled in" now.  What a great feeling.  Just in time for Jeff to start school tomorrow.  Yes, TOMORROW!   The summer has flown by, as usual.  I hope to get some pics of the house this week and post them next week.