Rachel - Can You See It Yet?

Our good friend Rachel and mom of one of the Bundles of Babies, Carli Grace, posts a series of blogs on her site inquiring whether or not her husband's mini-me is starting to resemble mommy more than daddy.  Most times we all have to say now, but lately, with this smile, I'm seeing it more and more.  If only we could have gotten them both making this face in the SAME picture...

Karen's 40th Birthday

My dear sister Karen turned 40 in June of this year.  After threatening to disappear the last couple of years as it was approaching, she finally decided that if we promised no big party or anything embarrassing, she would stay in town and celebrate.  My grandparents flew in to surprise her for her birthday (she is their first grandchild) and spent the week.  We spent the day with the girls at the park, played games, and then had dinner at Cheesecake Factory, YUM!

And yes, we did put 40 candles on the cake, and by we I mean I did it, but hey, that's what little sisters are for, right?

These Boys...Part Two

And then we have pictures like this, that make us feel (somewhat) sorry for the boys afterall...

Arrrrr!!!!

In May we had Stephen's 4th birthday party which was a pirate theme.  The girls had a great time with their goody bags, and one Saturday we spent the ENTIRE day playing pirate!

These Boys...

In our group of friends, there are A LOT more boys than there are girls.  As a matter of fact, until the Bundles of Babies, Sammie was the only girl.  Now that more than just Nathan and I have a girl to think about, all the parents in our group of friends are noticing things about the boys...like those that can dance like this:

And two thoughts come to mind; one, where did a seven year old learn to dance that way, and two, which one of the girls is he going to date first!

ESI Day at the Zoo - 2010

Our 6th Anniversary

Nathan and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary in June this year.  Hard to believe that it has already been six years.  Just tonight as we were having dinner with the girls he asked me what we would have been doing on a Saturday night ten years ago...My how the times have changed.  We have had almost twelve years together total, been blessed with two amazing, smart, sweet, funny, beautiful little girls and I can't imagine our lives any other way.  Looking forward to the next six, and every year after that!

This year my parents decided to take us all out to dinner for the evening, we had a nice night out, lots of chasing the girls around, but that is the way our dinners out go these days!

Love My Husband

And love this picture of him...

Jessie & Nick's Wedding Day - Part 2

I have no pictures from the ceremony, however, we have some wonderful ones from the reception!

The crowd waiting for the Bride and Groom to arrive:

The Happy Couple:

Some other happy couples:

Nathan performing his Man of Honor and brotherly duties and giving his speech:

And then the party started!

Sammie and Grandpa H. dancing with her favorite monkey:

Three Ambo Generations:

Auntie Jessie and her flower girls:

Nathan got to dance with both his mom and his sister that night too!

It was a beautiful day; beautiful bride, handsome groom, gorgeous couple, amazing wedding, and two wonderful families brought together by two incredible people. 

Congrats and best wishes to both of you, Jessie and Nick! 

And to Nick, welcome to the family!

Flower Girls and Ring Bearers

Nick's nephew, Joss, was the ring bearer, and he did a fantastic job!

Sammie and Brenna were the flower girls for Jessie and Nick's wedding.  Sammie did make it down the isle, in record speed, she RAN to me the second she saw me.  She also proceeded to run all over the church during the ceremony, next time we'll all know that letting her do that at the rehearsal only makes her think she can do it during the ceremony as well.

Brenna however, did not make it down the isle, she actually didn't even make it to the isle.  Ten minutes before the ceremony, she dislocated her elbow.  Turns out to be the way she was picked up, by the lower part of her arms, and it is very common, called nurse maid's elbow.  Never heard of that before, and what timing!  We weren't sure if she was hurt or just tired, over stimulated, and hot, so I went through with the ceremony, and then had to leave to take her to the ER.  While waiting, we felt a slight pop and she was able to move her arm again, and was happy, thank goodness! 

We asked the doctor and they said it would be fine to head to the reception, kids are resilient!  And so they are it seems, Brenna was running and playing all night!