Happy Days

After the ICHE convention, I had the fun of a several day visit with my longtime friend Aliza and her family. I still remember the day we met, at the ripe old ages of 6 and 7 (Sorry, no time to scan pictures from all the early years!). I certainly didn't imagine what would follow!

Me (on the right) at Aliza's wedding.

We made quilts together, acted in plays together, worked together, studied sign language together. (Did our teacher say that she would pick us up at the library? Or take us to the library?) Aliza finished High School in three years, just so we could graduate together. If that's not love, what is?

Our friendship continued through two out-of-state moves. I went out to help her family settle in PA, and she and her sister came back to help us through our move - one block over! I got to meet her Beloved, Jeff, and have a hand in arranging her surprise engagement. In the dressing room on her wedding day, I saw for the first time why the word "radiant" is used to describe a happy bride.

As the new mom of a nursing infant, she braved the drive back to spend some time getting to know Kyle during our courtship. She did an amazing job designing and sewing a lovely bridesmaid dress - no small feat, considering she was five months pregnant at the time of my wedding!

How fun it was this time to be together, now as wives (of two exceptionally wonderful husbands) and mothers of our own little girls! If the Lord provides them with friendships like ours, they will be deeply blessed!

Another source of delight was being together while we are both pregnant! Her due date is exactly two months after mine.

So, here we are at seven and five months. And people think I look small!

Our little girlies played very well together, which made things a lot of fun. I love this informal shot with all the milk cups at different stages! They were all so cute.

Being models for pictures was another story. Whew! That was exciting!

We did get a few good pictures, in spite of the wiggles that come with their tender ages. ;-)

Alaina and Celene.

Shelby, who looks just like her mother.

It was lovely, lovely, lovely to be together! Thank you so much for making the trip.

ICHE State Convention

Attending the convention is always such a treat - seeing old friends and making new ones (nice to "see" you here on the blog Hannah!), getting practical help and inspiration, it's such a time of refreshment!



We had Alaina with us for this year, which was made very easy with the help of a kind Aunt, along with our Uncles and friends. We could not have done it without you!

Even though it's over, I'm still enjoying the MP3s. I've gotten some great ideas from Marilyn Boyer, and look forward to delving into some other speakers over the next few months.

I can't resist putting up a picture of Alaina and little Amber J. from last year. Now, here they are with their Daddys from this year:

Time goes so fast with these little cuties!

Sandy W. provided several hours of entertainment with her fascinating stretchy bracelets. My thanks to all those who helped us out with the little girl - you were a blessing!

It was so wonderful to see everybody!

While the blog was quiet . . .

Yes, we're still here, we've just been disconnected from the internet for a while due to some severe lightening storms. Time to play catch up!

Back in May I got to help Nate call for an English Country Dance group.
Of course, dressing up is part of the fun!

After the dance, the A. family hosted a lovely dinner at their home. We had so much fun visiting and playing games with them! They introduced us to a new twist on an old favorite game, "Scum". Each position in the game, from the King all the way down to the Scum had a hat to go with it!

Amber, the milliner for most of the headgear, shows off one of her creations which range from stunning . . .

. . .to just plain cute!

Lovely, darling!

How in the world do you get this to stay on?

I'm not telling!

The whole evening was such a treat! Nothing like a little homemade fun.

Sweet Pictures with Little Friends

Strawberries Then, Strawberries Now . . .

Need I say that we're getting plenty in the freezer now?

And this was just one day's picking . . .

Memorial Day Fun

We got to go down to Mimi and Papi's farm for Memorial Day. It was so much fun! Alaina loved teasing and playing with her Grandpa.

We got to see most of the Aunts and Uncles while we were there. All the cousins were very sweet about playing with our girly.

Teaching Haley and Connor how to play Kings Corners. Boy did they catch on fast! They were getting pretty hard to beat by the time we went home.

Sitting around, eating, talking . . . some of the best ways to celebrate a holiday!

Yes, Little Miss gave us lots of entertainment. She had a lot of fun talking in the microphone with Aunt Kristi. Kristi was really able to put her through her paces! She got her to do all her newest word (water, monkey, yes, thank you, okay) and do some good whistling.

It sure was fun to see all you guys. We love you!