Show Us Your Life - Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony

This week Kelly from Kelly's Korner is hosting the 'Show Us Your Life - Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony' blog carnival. This is one thing that I thought I could take part in again.

The Wedding Party:

The Bridesmaids - My girls wore a dark red strapless dress with some beading on the bodice. I think they all looked absolutely beautiful! My best friend from college, Beth, was my maid of honor. My bridesmaids were Erin (another best friend from college), Kathy (Dan's sister), and Sarah (my cousin). My sister, Taylor, was my junior bridesmaid. She was 7 and looked so pretty in her white dress!

My youngest sister, Hannah, was my flower girl. She was 4 and did a great job walking down the aisle!

My mom was way too young to wear a traditional 'mother of the bride' dress so she wore a gorgeous bridesmaid dress instead. It even had a tiny train to be bustled for the reception :) Don't my mom and Dad look great?!

The Groomsmen - Dan and his boys looked so handsome in their tuxes that day! His brother James was his best man. Both NJ and TX are well represented in the groomsmen :)

The Flowers:

I carried a bouquet with red roses and white Cala lillies in it. The bridesmaids all carried Cala lillies. They were just gorgeous even though Taylor's looked mangled by the end of the ceremony :) Sadly, I didn't get any pics of just the flowers, but you can see them in other pics.

The Ceremony:

We had two pastors officiate our wedding. My grandpa is a retired pastor. He baptized me when I was a baby, confirmed me as a teen, and he did our vows at our wedding. It was such a special moment for us! Pastor Mark was our other pastor and he was the pastor of my parent's church at the time where we got married. We were very blessed to have him as a part of our wedding.

Time felt like it froze as the doors opened for me to walk down the aisle. Then I saw Dan with a huge smile on his face and it felt like it was only the 2 of us in this place. We had both of our moms light the family candles at the beginning of the service for the unity candle lighting.

Here are a few more pics from after the ceremony. I think the best one is the candid that the photographer was able to get of my dad paying Hannah $5 so she would smile for the pictures after the ceremony. She had fallen asleep during the ceremony and wasn't too happy when she woke up :)

Sorry for the overabundance of pictures! I hope you had fun anyway looking back at my wedding day. If you want to see other beautiful brides on their wedding day, check out Kelly's Korner Blog.

Wordless Wednesday - Just Like Daddy

Pray Pray Pray Pray

UPDATE 7/28 AM: I don't think Stellan has been airlifted to Boston just yet. I wanted to pass along some great news though. He went for a stretch of an hour and a half last night with NO SVT! It may not seem like a long time, but it was a great break for his overworked body. He seems to have had a decent night overnight and the concoction of drugs that the docs have him on now are at least popping out of SVT every once in a while which is a good thing. Pray things continue to get better today!

UPDATE: In case you aren't following MckMama on her blog or twitter, I thought I would update here. Stellan is being airlifted sometime tonight along with both his mom and dad to Boston Children's Hospital to have another ablation to correct his SVT. Most likely, while doing that, he will need to have his chest opened up and will end up being put on a pacemaker for the rest of his life. Pray for peace and comfort for this family and wisdom and steady hands for the doctors as they perform surgery on his little heart.

ORIGINAL POST:
Baby Stellan is back in the hospital and doing very very very poorly. He had a very rough night last night and it seems by all medical evaluations that his little body is shutting down. To put it in perspective for you his entire family is on the way to the hospital now to be with him. The doctors are trying everything in their power right now to help him. Even though I don't know them, have never met them, and will never meet them, I am shaking right now as I type this. I don't know how to explain it, but I have read MckMama's blog daily now for at least the past year and I feel somehow connected to this family and all that they have gone through with little Stellan. Please lift this family up in prayer in this very scary time. Lift the doctors and medical teams up in prayer that they know what is best for Stellan. MckMama has been updating her blog through http://twitter.com/MckMama if you are interested in staying up to date with Stellan's medical state.

Show Us Your Life - The Wedding Dress

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner has changed her 'Show us your home' blog carnival into a 'Show us your life' blog carnival. I'm a little late for last week, but I thought I would join in anyway. The theme last Friday was the wedding dress. So without further ado, my wedding dress.

Dan and I just celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary at the end of June! I can't believe it has been 5 years already! I am surprised that I do remember quite a bit about our wedding day. I'm sure there's a great deal that all runs together and I forget too though. I loved my dress! I felt like such a princess the whole day. My dress was white, strapless with detail embroidery work on the bodice and a plain skirt.

The train was a decent length...nothing too long.

The only shot I got of the train pulled up for the reception was from during my dress fitting. (sorry for the poor quality photo)

Sadly the dress is now in a box in a closet. I wish I still fit in that dress. Maybe I would wear it to vacuum or something, haha :)

If you want to join in the wedding dress fun or just look at everyone's wedding dresses or what their dream wedding dress would be, hop on over to Kelly's Korner - Show Us Your Life - Wedding Dress. There are a ton of beautiful gowns posted! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Play That Funky Music White Boy!

Jarred has been talking and obsessing and talking and obsessing some more about wanting a "atar" (otherwise known as a guitar). Ever since we got one for my brother for his 5th birthday back in April Jarred has been infatuated with them. Well a couple of weeks ago, we went to a local carnival with our neighbors. There were a bunch of rides, games, food, and of course crazy carney people. We came across this one particular game in which you had to roll 6 balls down a ramp and land them in numbered chutes. Once all six balls were rolled down the ramp and in their chute, you added up the numbers and to win you either had to be less than 11 or more than 30. Now growing up I was never allowed to play games at amusement parks or carnivals so I always thought it was a complete waste of money. Now what do you suppose the prize was for this fairly impossible to win game? You guessed it...a guitar just Jarred's size. Well, he saw those guitars hanging and pretty much had a meltdown about wanting a guitar. Dan ended up playing that game 9 times and spending $15, but on the 8th game, he won! So, now Jarred has his 'atar' and he walks around playing it constantly, makes up songs, he even takes it in the car.

We did have fun at the carnival besides Dan winning the coveted guitar. Jarred and Christopher had a great time going on a few rides. Their favorite ride however was this little roller coaster which they were probably too small for. But we put them in the same seat, lectured them to hold on, and let them go. They had a blast!

That weekend we also went to the zoo with the neighbors and their kiddos. For the most part, the boys had a good time. However, Jarred did have some major meltdowns towards the end of the day which were pretty painful. I'm glad we decided to get a season pass for the zoo so we aren't so stressed about seeing every last animal when we go and we can just relax and see what we see that day. The boys really liked seeing and chasing the peacocks around that were just walking out in the open.

We also went to our friend's house for dinner that Sunday. They have a little girl who is a year younger than Jarred named Meera. We took Jarred's bouncer so he would have something to keep him occupied while we chatted and I'm so glad we did. He enjoyed it and so did Meera...as long as someone was in it with her. She is such a cutie pie! I think she has a thing for Dan because whenever she saw him she just smiled and giggled.

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I will close this post with one thing that has been laying heavily on my heart and mind lately. Dan will be the first to tell you that I spend quite a bit of time reading other blogs. I really enjoy reading other people's stories and getting ideas for everything from activities for Jarred, to recipes to home decorating. One thing that really tugs at my heartstrings is when I come across a blog of someone with a sick child. I am just amazed at how many people rally around these families and lift them up in prayer. The power of prayer is just so awesome! So, keeping with that idea, there is one little girl in particular that has been in my heart the past couple of weeks. Her name is Kate and she was diagnosed with a very aggressive, malignant brain tumor.

Since being diagnosed a couple of weeks ago, she has had surgery that removed about 50% of the tumor, but because of where it is it is very dangerous and they cannot remove the whole thing. Since the surgery she has lost a lot of function in the right side of her body. She now starts her rounds of chemo and radiation with her first day of chemo being today. Please go to their caring bridge blog site and read her journal and lift this little girl and her parents and siblings up in prayer. They need the strength, support and love right now. Here are a couple of links to videos about her and her diagnosis and battle thus far. Pray that throughout this battle Kate is able to keep some of her innocence and spunk.

"Kate's Story - Part 1" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ese3zYZ-NA4

"Kate's Story - Part 2" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czK94X9_ebQ&feature=related

"A Day in the Life of Kate" (Note: This video is post surgery) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0WlAGsOE3M&feature=related

Happy Fourth of July! (a week late)

We just hung out and relaxed for the fourth of July weekend. So, J has this trike with a steering handlebar on the back so we can push and steer him. Up until now he has just sat there with his feet barely reaching the pedals and didn't have much of an attention span for it at all. Well, something clicked last week and he all of the sudden realized that when you push the pedals, you move! Now, he can still barely reach the pedals when his legs are extended and whenever he turns, but he just rides and rides now. We have even been able to take a couple of walks around the block where we mostly push him but stop every so often and he pedals himself. I think it makes him feel like such a big boy! He is so proud of himself and so are we. My baby is riding a bike!

We made our first trip to the community pool over the 4th of July weekend. J had a blast in the water. Our community pool is pretty nice and I love that the kiddie pool part is a walk in design with little fountains. Not long after we walked into the shallow end and were up to about J's waist, he started staring at all of the other kids swimming around. Well, I guess he decided that couldn't be so hard and that he could swim too. He dropped down on all fours and started crawling around saying "I swimmin, mommy!". He even enjoyed going in the deep end this year which he wasn't too fond of last summer. He stayed in until his lips were blue :) We're so glad that he seems to love the water...I guess he's just like his mommy and daddy in that way :)

This is the first year we kept J up for the fireworks show. The fireworks didn't start until 9:30 and he started to get sleepy around 9. So, we headed outside to put off some of our own little fireworks and play with the sparklers we bought earlier in the day. We had also picked up some snaps. You know the ones that you throw on the ground and they pop. Well Dan decided that it would be hilarious to have J throw them at my feet and he told him to "Go make mommy dance." Well J chased me around for the longest time throwing snap after snap at me yelling "Dance Mommy! Dance!" He had a blast, I was nervous, and Dan was laughing so hard he was crying. I guess it was pretty funny :) We can see the fireworks the community puts off from the front of our neighborhood. So, we just took J up in a wagon with a blanket and sat on the grass by the road with a bunch of other people. When it was time to go watch the real fireworks, J thought it was the coolest thing to be awake and outside taking a walk when it was dark out. Overall, I think the fireworks were a big success.

Here is a slide show of our fourth of July weekend. Enjoy! (Remember to pause the music at the bottom of the blog during the slide show.)

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5 years!

On June 26th, Dan and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. I cannot believe it has been 5 years already! It really seems like yesterday that we were planning the wedding and enjoying that magical day. I think it has been a pretty successful 5 years for us: moving in together, owning our first house, moving into our 2nd house, bringing our beautiful son into the world, and just loving our little family. This isn't to say that it's been all peaches and cream. We have definitely had our battle moments which can get pretty ugly. But, the most important thing that shines through to me is that we always make it through those tough days and are there for each other and come out on the other side loving each other even more. I never knew I could fall in love with him more that day we said 'I do', but I keep being surprised and somehow I keep falling in deeper.

So, for this momentous anniversary, Dan completely surprised me and planned a nice weekend getaway (he even packed my suitcase so I wouldn't get any clues). J stayed at Grammy and Grandad's house and had a blast. He loved playing all of Grandad's instruments.

We got up and hit the road bright and early on Saturday morning. All I knew was that we were playing golf somewhere first. After a bit of a drive, we ended up pulling into this absolutely beautiful golf course (Ballyowen). The course was the prettiest course I have ever played on...and the hardest for that matter! It was so nice that Dan and I didn't get paired up with anyone for our round of golf. We did have a few rain showers but in all honesty I thought that just added to some of the excitement and fun.

After golf, we got in the car and drove a few miles down the road. When we made the turn off of the main road all I could see was another golf course on the hill. For a brief moment, I really thought we were playing another round of golf and I started to panic. Dan really enjoyed my moment of panic, haha. Once we passed the golf course, we pulled into the Grand Cascades Lodge. It was absolutely breathtaking! We had some downtime before our dinner reservations so we walked around and took in some of the scenery. After dinner, we walked around the grounds and enjoyed a dip in one of the 4 pools. The pools were absolutely beautiful! We also enjoyed roasting marshmallows around a campfire. It was so nice to sleep in on Sunday morning and relax. My last surprise of the weekend was a couples massage which was just heavenly! Dan really did a great job planning our perfect anniversary weekend. Enjoy the pictures! (Remember to pause the music at the bottom of the blog before starting the slide shows).

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Dan,
You are the best husband a woman could ask for. I may get on your case for not doing the dishes or cleaning up the house, but you give me everything I need. You love me unconditionally and are always thinking of me and putting my thoughts and feelings first. Thank you for taking care of me and for loving me the way you do. You are a wonderful father who would do absolutely anything for our son. I love watching you love him. I can't wait for the next 5 years, and the 5 after that, and the 5 after that, and well you get my drift. I love you with all my heart!

Hey Stranger!

Wow it's been a long time since I have put a post out! We have been so busy the past month and are just having so much fun enjoying our family on these beautiful summer days. Since we have been so busy, I have about a gazillion pictures of our fun so I will probably put a few posts up over the next couple of days.

One of our favorite things to do over the summer is just hang outside and play. Jarred loves playing in his pool. He isn't afraid of the water at all which is mostly a good thing...until he forgets that he can't put his whole head in the water. Although, he has yet to suck in a bunch of water (knock on wood) for which I'm grateful. We spend a lot of evenings with our neighbors and their 2 little boys. J and C are the same age (C is older by 1 month) so they can cause a lot of trouble together and keep all of us on our toes. Here is a slide show of some random outside pics. (Remember to pause the music at the bottom of the blog to be able to hear the video clips)

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I was brave this year and participated in my company's annual golf outing. Our foursome consisted of myself, Kim, Steve, and Dave. We all did pretty well if I do say so myself :) My legs only really shook on every hit of the first hole from all of the nerves. I thought it would last much longer than that! I was so proud of myself! Even though our foursome didn't rank so well overall, we did end up taking home a few of the special prizes: closest to the pin for both men and women (Dave and myself), most time in the sand (Dave), and women's longest drive (me!). I was pretty excited to win the longest drive for the women even though there were only like 6 women in the whole tournament, but oh well. I did hit it like 220 yd and it was the second hole for us so I still had some jitters. Here are some fun pics of our afternoon off of work.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com