20 years

It's our TWENTIETH wedding anniversary today! Clearly, we are not on some tropical getaway relaxing in the sunshine to celebrate. But, to me, being at home together with my dear husband and children is even better. I am so in love with all of them, and so grateful for the life God has given us. It is not "perfect" in the eyes of other people, but the Lord has blessed us in more ways than I could even try to name.

Obviously, we spent the day at home.

My brother texted us this...

Jeremy worked [from home] all day. I made us grilled cheese for lunch. 

We made and kept our pact not to buy each other gifts. We are getting a water softener next week.

There was silliness...

This evening, he grilled some fantastic ribeyes, and the girls made a peach cobbler and we all had a lovely dinner together. We played Tenzi and hung out in the living room. It was a great day. Lots of love and time together with those we love most. Thank you, Jesus.

Nostalgia

I'm very slowly trying to organize and purge each room of our home.  I've started on the den, but it is very full and overwhelming.  However, it is full of nostalgic treasures...

This is a bag from my Aunt Wanda's fabric store that she owned and ran in Churubusco for many years.  I have fond memories of visiting her there.

These are some little doodles that my Grandma Mc did.  I have a lot of her music books, and I find these on little notes inside them.

I love that these are dated...

This is our engagement notice (including some incorrect info) from the Churubusco newspaper.

This is an amazing recipe Jeremy's Aunt Nancy gave me for Amish Caramels.  She got it from her and Uncle Paul's amish neighbors.

Cora and Josh's wedding was 17 years ago today!  I'm not sure I had seen this picture before today when Cora shared it on Facebook.  It was such a beautiful weekend, and we loved being able to celebrate with our dear friends! 

Eventful week

We certainly had an eventful week. It wasn't the best week we've ever had, but the blessings always outweigh the "bad." God is so good to us!

Jeremy took a trip to Colorado for work Monday through Thursday. His flying experience on the way out wasn't his favorite, but thankfully, he did get there and back safely. We sure did miss him while he was gone!! Every time he travels (which is not very often, really), I am reminded how truly thankful I am that he doesn't have to travel and be away regularly.

Jeremy got home from Colorado about 12:30 a.m. Thursday night, and left around 12:30 p.m. on Friday for Indiana. He was able to go to Daniel and Jane's wedding, which he reports was quite nice. We wish them the best!

Annah loved her week at Camp Enrichment! In fact, we are thinking of sending her for the second session too. She learned a lot, and really likes her teachers too. Annah has been working on phonics some lately, and she is doing pretty well. This week, she also learned how to write a capital letter "A." So, now we have chalk A's all over our front porch and sidewalk!

Sylvia really changed a lot this week, it seemed. Maybe it was Daddy being away, or all the one-on-one time she got with Mommy while Annah was at camp? She is really trying hard to use words more to communicate. And, she just seemed to look a little "older" to us after this week too. She's heading more towards that toddler look. She is a fun and ornery little girl!

We got to see our friend Pete while he was in town this week. We met him at Tobin's Pizza for supper on Wednesday, which was so nice!

As usual with my pregnancies, I have become very clumsy. In fact, I took 2 nasty falls this week. Friday, I tripped and was unable to catch myself. I landed on my front, banging up my knee and hip and scraping my ankle. I must have landed partially on my belly, because it hurt quite a bit once I stood up. I was holding Annah's hand at the time, so she went flying down with me. She was alright, but her first concern was that I had fallen on the baby. I went home and laid down until I felt the baby move a few times. It has been moving just like normal since, so I think the worst part of the fall was how much it scared me.

Yesterday, I was trying to stop Sylvia from climbing the stairs by herself. She had gone up about 6 or so, so I went up and got her down. Then I proceeded to fall off about the 3rd step from the bottom while holding her. I banged up my other leg, and bruised my pride. Sylvia was fine. I've been incredibly weepy this week too, so I sat at the bottom of the stairs and cried for about 5 minutes, but it was mostly unrelated to the fall--or anything at all, really. Apparently, the hormones are running over this week!

We discovered mold in our basement this week too. We got a dehumidifier, and Jeremy is working on cleaning up the mold right now.

Erin and Travis' Wedding Reception in Indiana

A new "old" neighbor

Annah is still jabbering away. Her favorites right now are "bye bye" and "dada." 

She has now learned to put her stacking rings back ON the stacker! And, she knows to be excited when she puts one one too! 

We started a class called "Growing Kids God's Way" at church last night. It will last 18 or 19 weeks. We are really excited about it, and hope it will help us become better parents. 

And, the town of Arrowsmith will soon have a new resident! Our friend Kevin (whom Jeremy lived with in Newark, Ohio) recently accepted a position at SF's Corporate Office. He came to town on his house-hunting trip last week, and found a gorgeous old house right here in Arrowsmith! So, we are very excited that Kevin will be our close neighbor again soon. He'll even be staying with us for a while when he starts his job before he'll close on his house! Welcome to town Kevin! Congrats! 

Travis and Erin's Wedding Day

  Congratulations to Travis & Erin! Their wedding was absolutely beautiful! We felt so privileged to stand with them on their special day, and we know they will have wonderful lifetime together! 

     The wedding was also a busy day for us. Annah got to bed 3 hours later than her usual bedtime the night before, and she also refused to take her morning nap. So, she was so exhausted that she fell asleep just minutes before the wedding started. We all decided to just let her sleep. Apparently, she woke up when the music for Erin to walk down the aisle started. So, she was awake for the wedding, but missed her chance to be in the wedding! Sometimes a little sleep is the most important thing though. The wedding went perfectly otherwise and was a wonderful service with lots of beautiful music and many tears shed. 

The Bride and Groom 

wedding party 

 Katie, Erin, Travis, Dad

 flower girl and ring bearer 

 The Lopshire Family 

 Travis' Grandma's

 ringbearer Daniel 

 groom and ring bearer 

 Travis and Jeremy 

 Travis and Scott H. 

 L to R: Jeremy, Annah, Taryn, Erin, Travis, Vonda, Dave 

The reception was wonderful too, and Travis even surprised everyone (especially Erin!) by singing and playing a beautiful song he wrote to Erin. All reports were that the honeymoon was fun too! 

Annah and cousin Aidan playing after Travis and Erin's wedding

Words, words, words!

Annah is talking up a storm! Her vocabulary now includes, "mama, dada, dog, ball, hi, bye, baby, bear, sock, night night, no no, TiggaTiggaTigga... (for Tigger) " and she attempts lots of other words too. 

She is also getting much braver about not holding on so tightly as she walks along things. 

Yesterday at play group there was a costume party for the kids, so Annah got to wear her Halloween costume early. She will be going trick-or-treating on Halloween too though. 

 We are becoming more involved at Bloomington First Church of the Nazarene. Taryn and Annah go to play group every Tuesday. They do something different each week, but it's always fun. Taryn is also singing on the Praise Team on Sunday mornings now. And, Jeremy is getting to know lots of the nursery workers and other parents of babies at the church. ;) 

 Jeremy has changed his work hours to working slightly longer days so that he has every other Friday off now. We're all excited about it! 

 We are very excited about Travis and Erin's wedding this weekend. All 3 of us will be in it. Hopefully, Annah will be happy when it's our turn to walk down the aisle. We'll definitely have details next week! 

2 weddings, 2 teeth, and talking

First of all, we want to send out a big, Congratulations to Matt & Sheli Lopshire on their marriage May 5!  We were able to be home in Indiana to celebrate with them. 
       
Also that weekend we had our family pictures and Annah's 6 month pictures taken.  Watch for them to be posted sometime in the near future! 
     
 This past weekend we made the trek to Toledo for another wedding. Congratulations Niki and Russ Wight!! It was such a beautiful ceremony!  We wish both couples the best for long and happy marriages! 
      
Sunday the 13th was our own first wedding anniversary, as well as my first Mothers' Day.  We celebrated by watching our wedding video, looking through the wedding pictures and spending the day with Annah.  It seems like longer than a year, but it has been a pretty eventful one! 
       
Annah popped her second tooth through on the 12th.  Then, Sunday she started babbling some new sounds, including, "Ba ba ba ba ba," and "La l a la la la," which turned into, "Da da da da da...!"  She has now eaten and liked carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, and green beans.  Potatoes are next and then we try fruit!! 
      
This weekend is Jeremy's 26th birthday!  Wow, he's getting old! ;) 

Engagement

Congratulations on your engagement, Travis and Erin! 

We're so happy for you! 

 Visit their wedding website to send a message of congratulations or learn more about their wedding on October 20, 2001!

Our Wedding Day