Bridal Shower for Brittany!

On Saturday, we had a small group over for a shower for Sis. Brittany. We had a lot of fun. She has had several showers already, so we decided to give her a pantry shower. The invitations turned out really cute. We used mini brown paper bags (to look like grocery bags) and even made a little logo to look like the Publix logo.

Inside the grocery bag, was a shopping list and a recipe card. Everyone brought a recipe with the non-perishable ingredients that go along with the recipe plus the items off the grocery list and any kitchen tools that went along with their recipe.

She got a lot of stuff for her pantry. I don't think she will need to go shopping for the first 6 months of marriage. She also got a lot of really cute baskets, cookbooks etc.

We sent everyone home with a little "goodie" bag of groceries! Since it is Easter time, we found little egg cartons with bubble gum. We also found wax soda bottles and of course butter (Reece's peanut butter cups that is).

Kelly made a beautiful strawberry topiary which we of course dipped in chocolate fondue! YUMMO!

This was our surprise guest at the shower. The kids found this snake out in the road. We're pretty sure it is a rattler snake of some kind. Maybe a timber maybe a pygmy. Whatever kind it was, it was not welcome and thank goodness Justin and Jeff saved the day by "taking care" of it.

Bok Tower Gardens

Today, Brady's kindergarten class went to Bok Tower Gardens for a field trip. He was so excited this morning he was up probably around 6am. And I say probably because he was up before anyone else and I'm really hoping he wasn't up any earlier than 6am.

The kids left school at 8:30 on chartered buses. There was enough parent volunteers that each parent only had one other child to look after besides their own. Brady got paired up with his best bud Quinton. He is a really nice little boy and both of them seem to get along great!

The buses arrived at the gardens shortly after 9:30. First they ate a snack. Then they got to watch a movie about the history of the gardens/tower and then went on a "scavenger/sensory hunt" throughout the property.

Afterwards, we met back in the parking lot for our picnic lunches. The kids seemed to have had a really good time, they ate their lunch and then ran off some energy...you know, because "running around" the gardens wasn't enough for them.

Then around 1pm the kids loaded back on the buses. We were given the option of checking the kids out at that time and taking them home with us straight from the gardens. My good friend who is also a kindergarten teacher at the school offered to bring Abbey home today, since she had to go back to school. Abbey thought that was sooooo cool that she got to ride home with her very most favorite teacher.

MIA...or MIF

Sorry to have been so scarce these past few weeks but we have been enjoying the MIF! For those of you who don't get it, that stands for March in Florida. The weather has been truly amazing. Mid 80's during the day without a cloud in the sky and a gentle breeze that could occasionally give you goosebumps in the shade! I tell ya, this kind of weather is why people move to Florida. I really don't know why we don't have our own "Florida Groundhog," because Spring is definitely here and it's been here for the last week and a half. Matthew and I will be attending a Detroit Tigers Spring Training game tomorrow. Again, I tell ya, there's nothing better than Spring in Florida!

Way Back Whensday!

And I do mean Way Back...

Date: February 7, 1992 - 17 years ago

A young boy asked a young girl out for their first date. He took her to this quaint little Italian restaurant in South Tampa called Bella's. They had such a great time. It was the first of many dates. She knew right away that he was her "happily ever after!" I think he knew it too.

This past weekend, Matthew and I went back to Bella's 17 years later for another date. It was still just as popular, however, we were no longer the youngest couple in the restaurant. And although we have no pictures from our first date...because I think I might have been slightly mortified if my parents had pulled out the camera to take pictures of me and this "guy" I had just met, we were able to snap a shot of the two of us with his phone cam this weekend!

Thanks for 17 years of the most memorable dates! I love you, Babe!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to....

Only a few minor tears were shed, but I think that was from most of the grownups who were a little more banged up from skating than the kids. Ahhh to be young and flexible again, those were the days...

Brady's party was so much fun. It's hilarious to see a bunch of young kids out on the skating rink (most of which have never skated a day in their lives) doing the "Cha-Cha slide". Unfortunately, I was out there too having way too much fun and did not get pictures of them dancing. I did take some videos but it was too dark and I couldn't get the video camera to focus very well, so you'll have to be satisfied with the still shots. All in all it was a great day. Thank you to all who came out and helped Brady celebrate his big day.

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"Since I'm almost 6 years old..."

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That's what I have been hearing for the last couple of weeks. The sentence always ended with a question to which the answer almost always was: "no you may not, but that was a really nice try!" Where has time gone? This year has flown by and yet it seems like so long ago that you turned 5.

You have grown and changed so much this last year. You have broken out of your shell and become this outgoing courageous chatterbox of a comedian! You are so smart and analytical which makes your Daddy really excited. He's already planning out when you can take over the engineering business.

You started kindergarten this year and have done amazingly well. Your teacher loves you and you crack her up all the time with your observations. For instance, one day she wore her glasses instead of contacts and you said "Now you look like a teacher, Ms. Cherry!" You started reading over the summer and I love the way you just sit with books all around you going from one to another. I'd say your biggest accomplishment to date was your courage to get baptized. With as shy as you are about being the center of attention, you got it set in your mind that this was something you needed to do and you did it. The whole time you were smiling the biggest smile I have ever seen on your face.

You are such a good hearted, sweet natured boy. You are thoughtful and unselfish (most of the time). You take such good care of all of us. Your new baby cousins are the light of your life right now. You talk about Lindsey and Joshua non stop. Your prayers are some of the sweetest heartfelt prayers I have ever heard come out of a child's mouth. You bring tears to my eyes sometimes.

Happy Birthday B-Boy! We love you more than you will ever know!

Suffer Little Children

I know it is already Wednesday, and this should have been posted several days ago. However, in my defense...my dear hubby left the camera bag at church on Sunday and we just got it back last night. Then it took forever to upload. Plus, there is a little thing called the FELLOWSHIP MEETING that I am getting ready for!

So anyways, back to the wonderful weekend we had. A few weeks ago Brady announced to us that he was ready to get baptized. It came as a little bit of a shock to us. We knew his heart was there, but his fears were holding him back. A year ago if you asked Brady when he was going to get baptized he would tell you "never". Then a few months ago he adjusted it to 11. Maybe because 11 sounded like a long ways away, but still a time frame. Then like I said a couple of weeks ago he decided he was ready.

We talked with him a lot of the next week or so and decided to have him talk to Bro. Buddy. He told Bro. Buddy that he "loves God and likes when he can feel God all around him. And God told me you have to get baptized and I want to follow God's rules"! I wished I could have gotten pictures of him when he first went up to the front of the church. He had the biggest grin on his face. He just couldn't stop smiling. He looked so itty bitty up there next to Brady, but he did it all by himself. I know the video is lengthy and it's the back of his head, but it's definitely worth watching.

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