Scott and Jen's wedding

My husband's brother Scott and his lovely fiance Jennifer tied the knot this weekend in Fife, Wa. We left Spokane early Friday morning, and got into town about 11am. We went straight to Scott and Jen's house and hopped into the process getting everything together. Chad helped out the groom and I helped out the bride. It was a really fun process and so rewarding. My sister in law Jen had already baked her cake which was to die for. It was white chocolate with raspberry filling, so good! :) She was pretty bogged down with things to get done, so I got to do the honors of icing and decorating her wedding cake. It was such a fun process. I love talking to fellow cake decorators too. It's like a secret language! lol By Friday eve we were pooped when we stumbled into bed at around 1:30am. The next morning was Saturday and the day of the big event. I spent a few more hours on the cake, whilst Meg helped one of Jen's sis' out with flower arranging. She was so helpful! Chad made multiple trips to the store along with many other duties. It was so fun though. When the wedding couple are people you love and admire, it doesn't feel like work, it feels like... I don't know, maybe it is work, but it's laced with a strong sense of pride as well! As the wedding drew closer, and the weather got hotter, it was time to get into my bridesmaid dress. It had been so warm, that the dress that had fit when I left my home on Friday morning, no longer fit Saturday eve. Every time I breathed I ended up inadvertently pushing my zipper down in the process. No problem, just don't breathe right? Yeah.... right... good thing we had wraps! It felt so right to be part of such a beautiful process, and to be honest, it made me love my husband even more, as I saw him work so hard for his brother's wedding. I will definately NOT take him for granted. After the wedding ceremony, we bridesmaids raced to change into cool and comfy clothes, while things got set up for dinner. After dinner, Chad made his best man speech and I felt such pride to call him MY man! He looked so handsome! We got lots of compliments on the cake and I felt such proud to say I had decorated it. It came out just the way I had wanted it to. After all the pomp and circumstance came the real party! Chad and I let loose! I learned that my husband has only one dance move, and it is a very obnoxious one, so I danced for a while, but headed into the house after the 10th or 15th time my overly alcoholified husband tried to do the dice roll move on me! lol... I ended up passing out in Scott and Jen's son Hunter's room in his play tent where I located the only pillow and blanket I could find. Jen and Chad were the last people standing at what turned out to be a most incredible party! So happy for those two finding eachother. Glad to have more nieces and nephews too! :)


The three present collectors, including Meggie.


My nephew Hunter picks his nose, cute!


My handsome Chad


Chad and his bro Scott


The lovely cake


Best man speech


Beautiful Mt. Rainier as a backdrop

Update...

Okay, so we moved into our house on June 29th, 2010. We had exactly ONE day to move ALL of our stuff, then we had ONE day the next day to clean the townhouse. We had to be out by the 1st of July. It was a stressful, horribly chaotic time, and now thankfully, it is all a not too distant nightmare. The good news is, we live in a brand new home now! The first night we were in the house, all I wanted to do was take a nice hot bath and soothe my poor aching muscles. I go to start the water, and only a trickle comes out. Not only that, but when I ask my husband to go turn off the sprinklers(suspected to be the culprit of the low water pressure), he turns them off, water pressure returns to normal, but guess what? No hot water. I could've cried. It's these little quirks in the first few days that have me smiling now. Only because it's all over! :) Since then we have done some settling in. I have done painting, and my dear husband has done most of the unpacking, including(ladies please don't drool) unpacking and hanging up all my clothes and arranging all my shoes in the walk-in closet. What a man! We have hung up curtains so we are no longer living in a fish bowl. We have installed an air conditioner so we are no longer living in an oven. I haven't taken many pics yet. Still so much work to finish. I painted Meg's room with stripes, pics to come... and I painted Nick's room in a Mario theme, pic below. I also got started on the guest bathroom with some stenciling. In the mean time, my poor 8 yr old dog, has gotten hit with 2 sets of porcupine quills, and gotten sprayed by a skunk, meanwhile, my husband and I learned that if you cut the end of the quill off it deflates the quill and it will usually come out easier, not to mention that 1 qt of peroxide, to 1/4 cup baking soda to 1 tbsp dish detergent will get the skunk smell out of your pet.(consequently, NOT your garage, if you chose to store said pet in there over night while you figured out what to do) SO many things to learn! Meanwhile, the kids have really enjoyed being able to freely ride their bikes and climb on the awesome dirt pile in the back yard. All in all, it has been a pretty good time for all when I am not pulling out my hair because the kids are telling me they are bored for the 5oth time, lol. Also, last weekend, we had a special treat with Chad's biological son Mason, who is soon to be 11, and his family coming to visit us for an evening full of good, wild fun complete with Wii Just Dance, mini-motorcycles, and S'mores. This is Nickolas' half brother, and we couldn't help but notice the resemblance.(pic below)... Nickolas also took quite the spill on his bicycle this evening, and the front teeth that he worked so hard and waited so long to grow in, got chipped. After a trip to the dentist, we were reassured the tooth probably wouldn't die, and that the chip can be fixed! *phew* Meanwhile, Nick seemed to be scraped from head to toe with a big goose egg on his head to top it all off. After cleaning and bandaging him up, he is doing better tonight, but seemed really relieved to go to bed. Tomorrow it is off to camping with my mother and sis for the weekend for Braeden, Serena and Nickolas. Should be a fun time for the kids. Personally, I think the adults are brave for taking them! Will post an update with more pics as soon as I get a little more settled in. In the meantime, hope everybody enjoys the sun! :)



Nick's Mario themed room



Nick and his half-brother Mason! Look at those smiles! :)

Miss Serena turns 8!

It seems like just yesterday I was combing Serena's waist length spiral curly hair while she screamed blood curdling and deafening, but that was some time ago, and the hair has since been cut to a chin length, less pain inducing bob. Serena just finished the 2nd grade and now she turns 8! June 26th marked her birthday and of course we had to do something special for her. She chose to go to Roller Valley Skate Center. All of the kids skated their hearts out and none of them threw any fits when they fell! I was so proud of our family! They even did the limbo! Once in the car going home, they were all out like lights! Exhausted from the party! Hope next year is just a fun!


Birthday girl!


Miss rena.



Nickolas.


My 3 kiddos.


Braeden skates.


Grandma Cherrie and Braeden

MORE fishing June 24-25th

So, with all the stress of waiting on the new house, and getting the keys in our hot little hands, Chad and I decided to cope the best way we knew how, by fishing. Being out on the lake and just being at one with nature is so calming. I also really enjoy picking out birds and figuring out what they are. We've seen quite a few Blue Heron and Bald Eagles. Anyway, here's some pics from there days we needed to get away.


Me, fishing... at Clear Lake.


Nick with the two fish he caught at Clear lake.


Meggie and Chad.


Chaddy and I.


Badger Lake


Sarah's fish


Rainbow Trout


Scenery


Cool little weed


Nightfall


Nick,the camera man.


Meg gets a bite.


Neato turtle.

Fishing for Father's Day

Since Chad has to work on the actual date of Father's Day this year, we decided to celebrate a day early. I bought him a new wallet as the Super Mario wallet has seen it's better days, and we went fishing! It was really nice to take the three kids(Christian is in Utah with his grandma, and Meg is with her dad this week) and go have some fun on West Medical Lake. I really enjoy fishing with my family, seeing the surprise on their faces when they see something cool, or when they get a bite... Priceless! Hope all the dads out there have a great Father's Day like we did!





Braeden and Chad fishing


The cloud that Serena said looked like a fish because we were fishing.


All three finding cool bugs


Chad showing Braeden how to put bait on.


Chad catches a fish!


Serena giving the fish a hug.


Braeden doesn't really want to touch it...


Serena fishing.


Nick fishing.


Braeden fishing.


Beautiful bird I saw.


What a perfect day to go fishing! :)

Almost done!

Well, the house is pretty much finished! There was work being done on the roof with the rain gutters being installed and a man was working on the columns on the front porch today. All the appliances are in, carpet and kitchen flooring is in, toilets, sinks, lighting... SOOOOO exciting! The home is scheduled to be finished on friday, and we are scheduled to do a final walk through with the Realtor on Monday. Hopefully, by next week we will be the proud owners of a brand new custom built home! Kids are excited and I will be SOOO happy to have this whole moving process DONE! Packing stinks! But, it is a good way to get rid of all the junk and stuff you have accumulated that you don't want anymore. All-in-all it will be a very nice home. I am so thankful to have gotten to go through this process, but also thankful for it to be done. I'm ready to move in! :)




Kids bathroom DONE!


Kitchen Flooring


Bathroom flooring


Stairwell


Living room carpeted


Kitchen DONE!


Columns started on front of home, soon to be finished!

Nick's Birthday Party

Well, Nickolas turned 10 today! Chad says he was born at around 3 pm. So, his party was at 3 pm. Uncle Stan and Jan came, so did Ali, and Papa and Grandma Laurie, and we had it at Chad's Mom's(Grandma Cherrie) place as we are in the process of packing. It was really nice to see him get roller skates for his birthday and not go run off and cry in the corner, he has matured so much! He immediately put them on and went for a skate. He did some skating and some falling, but didn't quit. What a trooper! The only thing that made him come in was the fact that the pavement was really hot and when he fell once it burned his hands. What a blessing Nickolas is to our family with his quirky sense of humor and perspectives on things. We are lucky to have him! Happy Birthday Nickolas!






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