Wedding Album

Last week we got a surprise in the mail....our wedding album! It turned out better than I could have imagined. All of the images were taken by Loon Lake Photography....they are the best!

The cover...isn't it pretty?? That is my bouquet on the front. I love the metal with the red leather.

Look how thick it is! It is heavy too.

The first page....our shoes of course!

The girls.

Love this page.

The boys.

Cake!

Here you can see how thick the pages are.

And it came in a cool box.

Randy and Amber's Wedding

Last weekend we attended our friends Amber and Randy's wedding. Randy is the husband's friend from college and was his roommate when we were dating. I remember when Randy met Amber....I could tell he was smitten with her from the beginning! He was an usher in our wedding and the husband was happy to return the favor for Randy.

Here is Randy with the husband during the rehearsal.

I didn't take any pictures during the ceremony but here is the happy couple at a restaurant we all went to between the ceremony and the reception.

Me and the husband. It was so hot that day! He looks good...me, not so much, but I'm putting it up here because the man looks so nice in his tux!

My view of the head table.

The cake!

I heart weddings.

Congratulations Randy and Amber! We were so grateful to be a part of your special day and wish you a happy life together!

Father's Day Fun

I know it is a few days late but I wanted to post a few pictures of our Father's Day. My in-laws were in town for one of our friend's wedding (pictures coming in my next post). On Sunday we went to church and then out to eat. We then came back to our house for some yummy trifle made by yours truly. It was a great day to celebrate my wonderful father-in-law. Thanks for raising a wonderful son and for teaching my man how to be a great husband, partner, and friend!

The man of the day.

Dad with the kids. It was really bright outside...hence the squinting.

My man with his "kid"

Master Bedroom: Before and After

Finally....some pictures of our bedroom! Remember my Ikea trip? Guess what was in that box on top of my car....a new bed! I was so tired of not having proper bedroom furniture. So at Ikea my mom and I bought a bed and two side tables. We still need another dresser, but I can't wait that long to show you how nice the bedroom looks! Here it is before we moved in:

One brown wall and three green walls. It was way too dark in there.

We ended up painting and having the carpet cleaned.

Our bedroom and new bed!

The color is "pensive sky"...I had them double the color because at first it was way too light. Love it now. The door you see in the corner is our closet. The door to the left of that is our bathroom. The black sign above my dresser and our picture says "always kiss me goodnight".

We still need to find a solution to the window above the bed. It is a weird size....so I'm working on it!

Our closet.

Our bathroom. Well, technically my bathroom. The husband and I decided to have separate bathrooms when he was getting up at 4:00 in the morning for work. Now he doesn't have to get up that early thanks to his new job but since I totally took over the master bathroom we are still keeping things separate. And, I'm not going to lie, I really like having all the space to myself!

I hope you enjoyed the mini tour! It is still a work in progress but so much better than before!

Vet Visit

The boys had to go to the vet yesterday to get their yearly check-up and update their shots. Let's just say they were not too happy about it. Henry cried the entire car ride there. Usually he is very skittish but he did great with the vet! He let her hold him and look at his teeth, ears, and eyes. He was so good! And Henry weighs a healthy 10 pounds.

And then it was Pancake's turn. Things just went downhill from there. He took one look at the vet and hissed at her twice. He was not going to let her anywhere near him. I was so embarrassed! The vet managed to examine him while he continued to hiss and grumble. They assured me they had seen worse behavior than that! The vet said that cats act the way humans wish they could when they visit the doctor.....so true! I totally want to hiss at a doctor when they poke me! ha! And of course Pancake was not happy when he got his shots. I sort of felt bad for him. And then it was weigh in time...Pancake weighs 16 pounds! I couldn't believe it. Fortunately the vet was comfortable with his weight since he is a bigger built cat and he is eating controlled portions of diet food.

After their vet visit the boys were tired! Henry took a little nap on the couch.

And they both had a little snack when we got home....not on Pancake's diet plan, but oh well!

UP

How was your weekend? Ours was great. For our "date night" the husband and I went to see Disney/Pixar's new movie "UP"....in 3D....because we are cool like that. You should see our awesome new 3D glasses. It was such a cute movie...but it made me want a puppy so bad! We also worked a ton on the front yard. Over the next few days I will post the updated pictures of our yard, master bedroom, and kitchen....I know you have all been dying to see them right?

Adventures with Mom Continued....

The day after our Ikea trip, my mom and I decided to go to Holland (MI, not the actual Holland) and visit the shops. We went to Saugatuck too but I totally forgot to take pictures.

Lots of cute little streets and shops.

And of course lots of windmill stuff.

We had a very healthy lunch.

And took pictures of random dutch flowers.

Oh! And we went to a few antique stores...where I of course had to try on these wooden shoes. Because what trip to Holland would be complete without wooden shoes?

Stylish, don't you think? These things were big...my shoes fit inside of them.

Naturally we were very tempted to buy this attractive lamp.

And mom wanted a picture of this Sparty potty chair...only in Michigan!

Adventures with Mom

As you know, my mom came out from California to visit. It was the first time she was able to see our new house. I really needed my mom's decorating expertise...so naturally we had to spend a lot of time shopping for furniture and accessories. We decided that we MUST go to one of my favorite places....Ikea! I heart Ikea. The only problem is that it is about a 2 hour drive...yuck. So I don't get to go as often as I would like. Back in CA my mom probably has 2 or 3 Ikeas within a 2 hour drive...no fair! Mom and I got up early and survived the 2 hour car ride and then we were at Ikea for 4 hours! It was amazing and exhausting. We got some good stuff.

Oh, Ikea, how I love you.

What do you think we bought???? Couldn't fit it inside the car, that's for sure. Don't worry...you'll see some pictures of the finished product soon!

The goods.

And of course, we had to stop at one of my other favorite stores....Trader Joe's! Oh how I wish we had one in Grand Rapids....I should start a petition. I really really love me some TJ's!

Stay tuned...more adventures to come!

I'm Back!

Did you miss me? My mom has been visiting which means I've been too busy to blog...and since she has been with me she hasn't bugged me about updating the blog! Sadly, she left this morning. It was great having her here...so much got done! My mom makes things happen! We had a great time and I was sad to see her go. I'll be posting pictures soon of our adventures and updates we did to the house! Stay tuned!

War

Pancake has declared war on my mom. For whatever reason he has got it in his little head that he does not like her. Mom claims that he had a "psychotic break" today. What is a girl to do about this? He looks so sweet and innocent.

Texas

Last week my work sent me to a conference in San Antonio Texas. I stayed at a fancy resort and had a great time learning new stuff, meeting new people, and enjoying some Texas food and margaritas! It was my first time to San Antonio and besides being hot and humid, I really liked it. One day there was built-in free time in the schedule and the conference organizers had buses available to take us to the downtown San Antonio river walk. It was gorgeous! Definitely my favorite part of the trip!

Welcome to San Antonio!

The Alamo. It was a lot smaller than I had imagined but still really neat. Did you know that Davy Crockett was at the Alamo? I sure didn't.

Inside the Alamo grounds...very pretty.

There were these beautiful fountains all around downtown. It felt like Disneyland.

Isn't it pretty? I wanted to jump in for a swim.

Here is the river walk. So fun...but I imagine it might be a little dangerous if you had one too many margaritas. Don't worry, I only had one!

Pretty restaurants and hotels were all around the river.

Love the bridge! I could have walked around for hours.

Texas-sized flowers!

I had a great time, but is good to be back home...and out of the heat. I don't think I could live in Texas!