Bubby and Kelly!

On July 2, 2011, my baby brother, Billy (Bubby as we affectionately call him), got married!  The beautiful Kelly is now my newest sister, and official aunt to my boys!  I had the privilege of being one of her bridesmaids, and Ty was the ring bearer!  Their wedding was wonderful, and so much fun!  We all had a blast!  Sorry about all the photos, but it was such a fun "wedding weekend," from the rehearsal dinner at the Reds game to the awesome band they had at the reception, that I had to post lots of pics!

Ty and Maddie getting ready to practice walking up the aisle at the rehearsal.

 The rehearsal dinner was at the Reds game, and was so much fun!  They even had a beautiful fireworks display after the game to celebrate Independence Day, which went along perfectly with Billy and Kelly's fireworks theme!  Ty couldn't have cared less about the game going on, but loved running up and down the stairs, and playing with the stadium seats!

 The happy couple!

 Good, ol' Uncle Bubby...always teasing the kiddos! :-)

 Wedding Day!  Up-dos and make-up are done, just gotta get our dresses on!  My sister, Michelle, Maddie (Michelle's kiddo), and me!

At the church with my boys!  They both looked so handsome all dressed up, the only thing missing was daddy...we missed him so incredibly much that day.

The beautiful bride, and her sweet, loving parents

 

Aunt Kelly with her nepews

 We were "rolling on the river"...in short dresses...yikes! :-)

 Handsome little man in his tux!

 Maddie made the cutest flower girl with all her blonde curls

 Billy sang his version of Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" to Kelly, and then he sang "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" to her later that night.  Too cute!

 I was trying to get a good shot of them being sent off at the end of the night with sparklers...this was the best I could do!

  I was so nervous about Ty walking down the aisle.  Like any toddler, experiencing the "terrible two's," he  can be sweet and obedient one minute, then in the blink of an eye, transform into a screaming, temper-tantrum throwing monster!  So what Tyson were we going to get at that moment?  I thought for sure he was going to throw a tantrum and refuse to walk up the aisle.  But, to my surprise, he actually did it!  It was the cutest thing!  I'm not sure if you can see it, but when they got to the end of the aisle, Maddie gave Ty a kiss and a hug...adorable!  I was so proud of him!  The first video has no sound because I uploaded it from my video camera, which I have yet to really figure out...I have no idea why I can't get sound on it.  Thanks to my uncle Greg for grabbing my camera last second and figuring out how to take a video at moments notice!  I really, really wanted that moment captured for Josh since he was missing it, so thank you!  The second video was captured by my Dad, and you should be able to hear the sound on it.  Can you tell I'm one proud Mama?!

Congratulations, Bubby and Kelly!  You pulled off an amazing wedding, and we were thrilled to be a part of it.  Love you both!

Micki and John

One of my best teacher friends, Micki, got married the last weekend of June.  Micki used to be my "partner-in crime" back in the day!  Good,old Struble Blue Jay teachers!  The photo below was taken right before I started dating Josh, when Micki and I took a vacation on Spring Break to Destin, FL.  The trip with her was a blast, and I will never forget it!

Micki and John got married at a beautiful estate in Aurora, IN.  The wedding was so charming, and the reception was one of the best I have been to.  Here is a picture of the adorable bed and breakfast where the wedding was held.

Micki looked breathtaking, and John so handsome!  They make such an awesome couple!  And I LOVED her dress...she looked so gorgeous!

This is the Micki I know...crazy girl climbed out on the roof looking for her groom! 

                          Look at how happy they are!

These are my girls!  Kristin (she teaches at Struble too...my other great friend!), Micki, and myself...I miss seeing their smiling faces everyday at school!

Micki and John, I wish you all the happiness in the world!  You make a gorgeous couple, and will make the most beautiful babies...better be popping some out soon!  Kristin, I hope you gave her the "fertility idol," or whatever it's called, lol! Love you, girl! Congratulations, and thank you for including me in your special day! 

J.O.S.H.

So I promised I would catch up on some things that happened this past month, and I will...but I actually didn't get our computer back until a couple days ago.  It took FOREVER to get it fixed.  Well, not actually forever, but when your hubby is deployed, and it is one of your primary means of communicating with him, it feels like FOREVER!  Anyhow, I do have it back now, and I just have to make the time to sit down and download some pictures back onto it, and then I will catch up on posting.  But for now, I just wanted to tell you all about J.O.S.H., a non-profit organization started by Josh's Aunt Kathy.  Kathy is on a mission to mail care packages to our troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.  She started focusing mostly on Josh's Troop, but now ships to as many of our Armed Forces as she can.  She has shipped over 300 packages so far, since Josh deployed in December.  Please take a moment to visit her blog, as she just wants to spread the word about J.O.S.H., and find as many supporters as she can so she can continue her mission of serving the men and women who are sacrificing so much for our great country.  Thank you, Kathy, for all you are doing in support of our brave military men and women!

The Inevitable...

I hate complaining because in all honesty, we have been and continue to be so incredibly blessed, and while this deployment has been tremendously difficult on Josh, myself, and the boys, the Lord has continued to show His faithfulness, and provide for us all.  For that I am forever grateful.  So, all I will say is that we have been having some computer (and car) problems.  Just the inevitable things that I am no good at fixing, that are very costly, and that ALWAYS seem to happen when your husband is gone for a long period of time (you fellow Military wives know EXACTLY what I'm talking about).  We now have our fixed (and hopefully no more problems with them until Josh gets home...knock on wood) computers (and car) back, and I am gonna try to catch up on some exciting things that happened this month!  I will try to catch up on my infrequent blogging soon! :-)

Thank You!

Happy Independence Day!  Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the brave men and women who serve in the Armed Forces to protect our wonderful country, and our freedom!  We are so appreciative of your great sacrifice!  Josh, we are so proud of you, and miss you so much!  We love you!  Thinking about you and praying for you constantly!

Also, Happy Birthday to my new sister, Kelly (wedding date 7-2-11)!!!  Hope you have a fabulous day!

(wedding post coming soon)

SYTYCD

So anyone who knows me well knows I LOVE to dance!  And they know that my favorite show ever is So You Think You Can Dance!  Last night one of the routines had me crying like a baby...and I am not normally an emotional type of girl.  But this just reminded me of my wonderful, brave husband, and perfectly told the story of all the emotions you go through when your husband comes home from war.  I cannot wait to be reunited and have the chance to reconnect with him again.  I love you, Josh, and am so proud of you!  Counting down the days until you are home safe!

Awesome choreography by Nappytabs...LOVE them!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Now that the weather here is finally sunny and hot the way we like it, the boys and I are having some fun in the sun! We have been spending lots of time playing outside in the water, and I took the boys to the Fort Knox "Water Park" a couple days ago.  Ty is now obsessed, and asks to go back to the Water Park every day (it doesn't help that we live near it and drive past it every time we go anywhere)!  We have been staying very busy, and time seems to be going by pretty quickly. 

Josh is doing good too.  We have been blessed to be able to skype quite often, and though he is overworked and tired, he is always in good spirits.  It is weird to think we are about halfway through this deployment.  It has gone by so quickly, yet so slow at the same time.  I don't think anyone but fellow Army wives who have been there, done that will really understand what that means.  We are so incredibly anxious to have Josh home safely, and are counting down the days until he will be!  Some options are opening up for us as far as his Army career goes...I can't really divulge any details about that right now, just asking for your prayers that God will guide us in making these decisions so we may follow His will.  Thanks to all of you that have been sending Josh letters, emails, care packages, and most importantly, prayers.  He passes on his great appreciation for all your love and support!  

The boys and I have plenty of things to look forward to (mainly weddings!) this summer, and the boys are just two bundles of energy, so there is never a dull moment here!  We are gonna keep on enjoying our summer, and playing outside, and before we know it Josh will be home and we will feel like a family again!  Here are some pics of the boys' new favorite place, doing their new favorite thing:   

Ty laying in the water (I promise, I do feed the kid!  His little ribs are all poking out!)

Caellum loving the water

This is a video of Ty "swimming," and Caellum, well, I have no idea what he is doing! :-)  I guess he's squatting down in the water to get his Buddha-belly wet???

Hope everyone is having a great summer, and staying cool!