Record bending girls' night... (Tues.6/15)

our project was a success!

(we didn't use this site, but here's a pretty good
tutorial on how we did it...)


very good times!!

The girls are kind to amuse me and my craft-needs!! :)

Favorite Guys... (Mon.6/14)

Nice treat to have my nephew Dustin around! ♥

Company picnic... (Sun.6/13)

Fun times with the B&C family....



I think the RC cars were our favorite...



and the oversized balloon crown the magician made me! And Kayla won jeremy a Hulk!! :)

Props to mom for making party plans for that many people!! Oh my!!

after the recital... (Sat.6/12)

Rockstar singing Sister had her recital today
...a surprisingly good (& very long) one!

Redbox movie datenight... (Fri.6/11)

The new Alice in Wonderland was pretty fantastic.

Stranger than I remember the original, but great.

My favorite aspect was that
although she technically was the 'right Alice'...
she had to sort of become Alice that could/would
slay the dragon and save the day!

I like it when he tells her she'd lost her 'muchness'

I sure can identify with that!
Sometimes I feel like I go seasons without a whole lot of muchness... maybe that's why Romans 5 was written!

...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope... (Rom. 5:3&4)

Maybe we gain 'muchness' by being in over our head a time or two... and if/when we persevere, that's when the reward comes...


Another thing I liked about the movie was how her father used to say he would sometimes 'believe in five impossible things before breakfast' ....I want to think that through some more. I think I might need to practice some of that in my own life too.

Mom's birthday.. (Thurs.6/10)

Wahoo's & the marsh walk with the fam...

love eating and walking and talking with them!
♥

GB girls' night... (Tues.6/8)

outing #2 of the summer with
Bev, Noreen & Stacy... ♥

Produce... (Mon. 6/7)

deliciousness from the Alford garden...
mmmm ♥

what i forgot to say was what exactly is in those bags...
squash, cucmbers, zucchini, garden peas, green peppers, and cabbage!

...and a bag full of potatoes in the bread box! :)

Day 9: Family Finale... (Sun.6/6)

our last full day together

and we got a pic with Ric Flair...

Wooo!

Dinner that night was pretty awesome too!

Such fun times...

Sad to see them go!

Day 8: J&G's Wedding Day... (Sat.6/5)

ready for the wedding...

waiting for the shuttle to the beach

the wedding was this morning

then we had some beach time,

brunch with everyone,

and a sweet reception at 5:30...

sweet morning wedding

dinner reception

johnny, david, & kellianne

cousins... & uncle john (father of the groom)

twins, aunt cheri, & christopher


parents of the groom, and mom & dad... ♥

Day 7: Rehearsal Brunch... (Fri.6/4)

Giada with her family and maid of honor

at the house for the rehearsal brunch ♥

Day 6: Bachelor/Bachelorette... (Thurs.6/3)

I have seen this look many times..

thankfully my parents sent me to NY every summer
(from ages 4 - 16!) so I actually feel like I got to know
& grow up with my cousins....

Johnny is a video-game-guru & master!
this is a look of defeat [as in I will defeat you!]

It doesn't surprise me one bit that this is what he wanted most for his bachelor night!

didn't intend to hang with the guys,
but i'm not much of a club dancer
and that was the bride-to-be's wish... :)

J and I only stayed a little while anyway.
Enjoyed meeting everyone though...
of course we had to work the next day.
(That's the unfortunate part about staycations!)

Day 5: Break... (Wed.6/2)

Everyone went their separate ways this day...

John, Beth, Johnny & Giada

went to dinner

and the Connolly clan took Kayla

went to Medieval Times

Mom & Dad took the night off

to prep for the rehearsal brunch

and J&I got the night off too!!!

:)

Day 4: Rotelli's... (Tues.6/1)

a strange, yet wonderful

panoramic of everyone at Rotelli's

for our Tuesday night gathering...

same story; minus the panorama...

Day 3: Memorial Day... (Mon.5/31)

burying Elizabeth :)

...nice to have an extra day off

while everyone was in town!

After the beach

we came home and cooked out...

a cool shot of John Richard

with his dad and Grandpa Branch ♥

Day 2: backyard fun... (Sun.5/30)

sweet hang time...

...cousins!

& the guys handling a few fireworks for us...

Inspired to paint...

During worship/church today I had the urge

to come home and paint.

Wasn't quite sure it was going to work out

(esp. since we have family in town)

but I'm glad it did!

The weeks are so busy,

it's a real treat to get to slow down

and have a quiet afternoon...

and feel like painting! ♥

Here's the other one I did...

(It helps if I do two at a time

otherwise I lose my momentum

waiting for the paint to dry... :)

you will receive power when the Holy Spirit

comes on you... -Acts 1:8

Day 1: Arrival + Baseball... (Sat.5/29)

the family is starting to arrive...

John & Giada's big day is just a week away!! ♥

for their first night in town

we went to a Pelican's game! :)

Judd-gathering [#1]... (Fri.5/28)

Chip & Coleen Judd have invited us to hang

with a few other select-couples

at least monthly through the summer...

Our first get-together was pretty great!

Definitely looking forward to more.

Thankful for the hang-time and for the

investment they're intentionally making in us!

Jill-time... (Tues.5/25)

nice to get to hang with Jill and Laila..

(Carly was at her grandparents')

sweet, sharpening friendship!