Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Big Trip: Phase 3... THE WEDDING!

Our time in California this past week has been incredible.
We arrived in CA after saying a teary
goodbye to my sister and family in TN last Wednesday.
Then the wedding festivities began! Jeremy's brother
Aaron has married a beautiful, funny, warm, and inviting
woman named Abie and we are all so excited to welcome
her into our family. She is absolutely perfect for Aaron,
they are such a fun couple. Finally, all in one place!! From left to right, our
brother-in-law Jimmy, Jeremy's sister Jennifer,
you know who..., then Aaron, Abie, Jeremy's sister
Heather, and her absentee paper plate husband, Gerry.
(Gerry was unable to get time off from his job on the slope...
we missed him!) And it wouldn't be a picture of this gang
without at least one silly face photo. The rehearsal... the wedding was held in the most
beautiful of places behind Abie's parent's church!
It had a little creek running beside a grassy area.
And you had to walk across a bridge to get to it.
The weather was perfectly warm.. we LOVED it! Abie and her three flower girl nieces!
Hallie, Morgan, and Grace. And Friday night after the rehearsal dinner,
it was off to swing dancing lessons! Aaron and Abie
provided lessons for all of the family and friends that
wanted to come! Their friend taught the 2 hour class for all of us.... A typical night in the life of our trip! ZZZzzzzzzz
A plum-tuckered princess.
Aaron and Abie gave Morgan a tiara, shoes,
and jewelry as a thank you for being in the
wedding and as soon as the ceremony
was over, on went the crown!


Hooray, a new sister!


The ceremony itself was beautifully orchestrated!
I wish you all could have been there. Abie and her
father walked across the bridge and down the aisle
to a live band playing Holy is the Lord by Chris Tomlin.
It gives me chills thinking about it. God bless you two as you journey
through the rest of life together! (Get a good tan in Mexico first, will ya?)

Jeremy and his happy baby girl. She was such a trooper on this trip, as she always is, I guess. She slept in so many different beds, rode in the car for countless miles, was held, kissed, and cheek-pinched by loving relatives and was such a great airplane traveler. Sweet Annika, you are a complete joy of a daughter.


the Mr. & Mrs.





My little people getting ready to walk down the aisle.
Aaron waiting for his bride.

Drew and Gavin did so well standing up for the ceremony.
Beforehand, we had lessons on where they were allowed
to put their hands.... clasped in front, clasped behind,
or at their sides. (Up the nose or scratching body parts
was frowned upon!) They were SO adorable.

Jen and Jimmy getting ready to sing/play during the prayer & communion. What a talented duo! They live in Oregon,but will be up for a long stay during Christmas!!!!




Snuggles for her new Auntie. Morgan cried and cried after the newlyweds left the reception for their honeymoon. I guess she didn't expect them to go... and missed them terribly. :) It's hard not living close to them too. Not knowing when we'll see them next.


My children's two Great Grandmothers, Corrine and Jill! (Dave's mother on the left, and Anita's on the right.) All of my grandparents have passed, which is sad for me... and these two gals make it easy for me to call them Grandma.

The middle Bacon bits were the first dancers on the floor that night!


I believe that this post blows away the competition for being my longest picture post ever. There were too many good photos to leave any of them out. I hope you enjoy! We arrived home last night and have had a super relaxing day today. Can I just give a plug for my awesome husband of 9 years? This morning he ran to the store to pick up some food for our empty fridge and came home with a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, ran the bath water, popped in a Jack Johnson CD, and sent me to the bath room with 3 new magazines that had come in the mail! I think that was the first time I'd really relaxed in these past 3 weeks... Thank you, sweet husband. I can't believe it wasn't just us walking down that aisle. Were did nine years go? Well, I've got 4 guesses and they happen to be 8, 6, 4, and 8 months. I always thought it was impossible or cliche' when people say that marriage gets better with age and ya know? Ours has. I wouldn't go back for anything.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Big Trip: Tennessee, a Day at the Farm












Today we traveled to the Donnell Century Farm, where they
host groups of schoolchildren for a farm adventure! This farm
has been a working farm for over 150 years!! It was an amazing day.
The perfect way to end this past week's Cousin Camp. It was HOT...
nearing 90 today. The kids learned about cotton, milking a cow,
chickens, goats, cows, walked through a corn maze, fed donkeys,
and had a YeeHaw of a goodtime in the barn going down the huge
slides and playing in the corn box.

Thanks for the amazing time, Sis. I miss you loads and loads. I can't wait to hear about your new adventure welcoming Molly into your wonderful home. I love you.

Big Trip: Tennesee... Thanksgiving and more!


On Saturday morning, all three Howell boys had soccer
games back-to-back, and at the field there was a great
playground. It was smokin' hot, as you can
see on the kid's faces...









Well, there's lots of catching up to do! We fly out to

California in the morning... and I'm pretty sure

that Great Grandma Jill doesn't have a computer

so I'd better update now! (Jen's computer downloads

pictures faster than I can blink.... WAY better than mine at home!)



The pic above, and the following pics are from Thanksgiving Day!

Yep, we had Thanksgiving a tad early, since we'll be

missing it together. Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole,

mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, and apple pie. Yu----mmy!

A rousing game of stick the hat on the turkey.


What are we thankful for this year? Being here in TN!

And guess what?? Well, you probably know if you read

my sister's blog... but we got pictures of Molly last night on

"Thanksgiving"! They were told not to expect any more pictures!

And lo, and behold brand new pics of sweet baby Molly. AND....

they got THE call today after 3 years of waiting!!! They're flying

to get her on Saturday! And will arrive back in the

States on Thursday with a daughter! We are so blessed

to have been here through all of this. If we can't see her,

it's the next best thing. Can't believe we'll miss her by

just a week. :( But God knew that they needed 6 crazy

distractions to keep their minds off the wait. I think we did the trick. :)


Lotsa plum-tuckered little turkeys.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Big Trip: Phase 2, NBA Basketball!

Friday night, Kris, Jeremy, and the 4 big boys went to a NBA Basketball game in Memphis!!! Kris scored some FREE seats in a box office!!! Those sweet rooms that VIPs sit in! The boys had a blast... so did the Dads! Then they hit Steak & Shake on the way home. Yum, yum! Thanks, Howells for a FUN night!!! What a highlight.. Jen and I took a spin around Jackson with Peyton, Morgan, and Annika for some more shopping. Big surprise.




Friday, October 10, 2008

Pumpkin Patch!!!

Nothin' beats a day at the pumpkin patch!
I hadn't been to one since I was a child in
Washington!!! We had a great day, as you can see!




Beautiful... there were so many different
colors and shapes of pumpkins and gourds.

Our sweet little pumpkin grabbed on to this little one early
on and chewed on it the whole time. All six of us picked
out our own to take home. All the mini one's were 2/$1!
I seriously wanted to take home the entire patch.

Precious sisters.



Cousin Camp group photo!






Swimming in the fffffrrrrreeeeeezing water.

But they had such a fantastic time.

I vowed to get in this week when the

solar cover has been on all night. :)

It was 85 degrees today and perfect.



Big Trip: Phase 2 Tennessee: Jeremy & the Bacon Bits arrive!!!



They made it! Cousin fun begins... They had a great trip,
the only glitch is that AK Airlines couldn't check their bags
all the way through because they had to switch airlines 3 times.
So they had to go to baggage and get all their bags,
then check
them all back in with United in Chicago... and then still make
the connection. They got to their gate right at boarding! I was
SO excited to see them and share Tennessee with them. It is so
fun here and WARM!
As we got back in the hot car today, Morgan said,
"When is somebody going to turn on the coldness?"
And right after, Gavin piped up with,
"Yeah, I can't breathe in this weather!"

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Cousin Camp shirts are complete!


Jen and I just finished the final touches on the
Cousin Camp t-shirts!! They turned out so COOL,
if we do say so ourselves! I think I may have found
another new hobby to add to the others. :)
Up next? Jeremy and the kids arrive in 4 hours!
Yea! I just talked to them and they made it to
Kansas City. Hooray! 2 flights down, 2 to go.