Sunday Wrap Up

Sadly, Sunday was our last day of vacation with our families. We started off the morning early with 9am sacrament meeting with the Stevens Family. The best part was being able to see Mike & Kimber's baby Daniel be blessed. He's such a sweet little guy and it was wonderful to be a part of it.
After church, we finished getting all our things together and then spent a little more time with the family before everyone had to start saying goodbyes. I love spending time with our families. They have a special ability to make you feel good about yourself and so loved. I'm grateful for the kindness and love shown to one another. No family is perfect, but for the most part everyone is kind and thoughtful and that love makes spending time together feel like heaven. I'm so grateful to feel fully adopted into this wonderful family.

Tony Sam, Grandma, and Daniel.

While we were enjoying the afternoon, Emily decided to start up a wrestling match with Isaac. She pretty much just went over and pounced on him. It was pretty funny to watch her go after him. Isaac is such a sweet cousin and played with her for quite a while.

You can probably see the candy on her face in the pictures- Emily figured out that the good things (leftover reception treats) were in this big brown chest and kept trying to get into it.
We finally had to say goodbye to the Stevens and headed out to see the Tanners one last time. We met up at a park where we got some quick family pictures- trying to take advantage of one of the few times that the entire family was together. It's always a little crazy trying to get all the kids to cooperate, but I think we got a few good ones. More on that later.

I'm pretty sure this was the hardest shot- I know we ended up with at least one where all the grandkids are looking and smiling. :)

Matthew's birthday was just a few days away so both grandma's had fun little presents for him. Grandma Stevens gave him a handsome new shirt and some really fun toys including a giant light-up turbo launcher. Grandma Tanner gave him a new shirt too and some new cars. All the toys came in handy during our long long drive home.
The drive out to see family is painful, but I think it's even harder going back because you're already tired and know you have to hit the ground running as soon as you're home. We did stop at Grandma & Grandpa Tanner's home on Sunday night to sleep for a few hours. We were grateful to be able to stay with them. We love to see them any chance we can get, even if it's just for a quick stop. I didn't get any pictures since we were only there from 10:30pm to 5:30am. We hope to be back soon!

It was a long trip back and Jeff and I shared the driving. The kids did pretty well even if they didn't sleep much of the long drive. They did enjoy any chance we had to stop, even if it was just to fill up the car. We did find a fun little ice cream shop at one of our stops. The kids loved being able to pick a yummy waffle ice cream cone, and I loved the fact that they were cheap- less than 1$. It was a fun break in the trip.

We finally made it home about 10:30pm on Monday night. Tuesday morning the kids were back at school, Jeff was back at work, and I was busy unpacking, doing laundry, getting ready for Matthew's birthday on Wednesday & packing for another trip, but we were so glad we were able to make it home for Jonny & Emilee's wedding and for more fun times with our family.

Reception Night

Saturday, we spent the day enjoying time with family. The cousins had fun playing together, Kristie and Amanda and I were able to squeeze in a quick run together, and Jeff & Scott went biking. Later on that afternoon, we headed over to the church to help decorate for the reception. I'm not sure how much help Amanda and I ended up being with all the kids we had just between the two of us, but we had fun and the kids enjoyed running around.
We headed back to the church that night about 6:30 for the actual wedding reception. It was sure fun to see everyone and enjoy the evening together. Emilee and Jonny were so cute together.
Sometimes receptions can be a little crazy with all the kids and the late hours, but for the most part I really love wedding receptions. I love getting to spend a few hours with friends and family doing nothing but visiting and enjoying time together. I love being able to catch up with people I haven't seen in years. And I love that everyone is just happy to be together.

It was fun to have my family there for the evening too!

The real question is how to keep lots of little kids happy and entertained for a couple hours. Someone came very prepared with some fun DVD's that helped for some of the time.
And a reception wouldn't be complete without dancing, dancing, and more dancing. We all had a great time dancing the night away! I''ll take any chance I can get to having time dancing with Jeff- I'm glad he's such a willing partner.

Even Lilah was busting some pretty sweet moves!

Daddy-daughter dance.

My other dance partner. Matthew sure made a handsome, cute little partner.

I did have to share him with aunt Lacey too. What a ladies man!

At the end of the evening, Jonny & Emilee cut their cake before heading off. I had to laugh- Emi got him pretty good. Jonny was a smart man, listened to his mother and didn't retaliate with the frosting. :)
The escape vehicle- compliments of many younger siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

It was certainly a fun and memorable evening.

Jonny & Emilee's Wedding

We were so excited to celebrate Jonny & Emilee's wedding on Friday, October 14th. They've been dating about a year now, and we were all excited for Emilee to become an official part of the family. We left our friends, the Rhineharts, home early Friday morning to be at the Rexburg temple by 9:15am. The sealing ceremony was beautiful and it was wonderful as always to be gathered in the temple with so many friends and family members. We missed those who weren't able to make it.
My parents drove down to make it to the temple ceremony as well. Jeff and I love that our families are such good friends with each other. Emily was thrilled to have both sets of grandparents there.

We have a big group of grandkids on the Stevens side, and it sure makes for a lot of fun when they all get together. Eliza and Lora have become Emily's unofficial big sisters. They love to follow her around and take care of her. Emily can be pretty independent and loves to run all over the place, but I think she enjoys these cute older girls making such a fuss over her. I love having these cute little helpers!
Emily is busy and fast, but Eliza is a fast little cookie too and does just fine keeping up with her! I love how Emily still likes to stick out that little tongue.
During all the pictures, Emily kept running over and sitting on the steps. I don't know if she wanted to be in the pictures or just liked sitting on the temple steps. It definitely brought some laughter. Emilee's grandpa kept calling her a little model and thought she was adorable. This little girl definitely has some personality. After the pictures were done, she was free to sit on the steps as much as she wanted.

Emilee & Jonny with the Stevens siblings and spouses.

(With the exception of Bryan, Janette & Mark)

Jonny was the final sibling to get married. I guess there won't be any more weddings until the grandkids start getting married- and hopefully that won't be for a while! I know these aren't the greatest quality pictures, but I was just glad I got a couple with my camera.

All four of the Stevens men.

The second one from the left is hot! :)

The Stevens sisters & sister-in-laws. We really missed Janette. She was due to have a baby right around the time of the wedding and didn't feel comfortable driving by herself with her three other kids from California. I sure didn't blame her, but we missed her terribly.

Amanda, Tami, Angela, Gina, Kimber, baby Daniel, Amy

I loved the picture of Jonny & Emilee with most of the grandkids. It's a big group and can be overwhelming, but I imagine it wont be too long before Jonny and Emilee add their own little ones to the group.

Matthew and Gideon, along with David, provided the comic relief at the post wedding picture session. For a while they were pretty content driving trains around the temple grounds. I wasn't thrilled with Matthew crawling around on his knees, but it only got better from there.
I was watching some of the pictures being taken, when I noticed both Jonny & Emilee with surprised looks on their faces, hands over their mouths, fingers pointed, and outright laughter. I turned to see what was going on and immediately saw the white bare bum of my son over on the lawn. Apparently Matthew, Gideon, and David decided they needed to go to the bathroom- but rather than tell someone and go inside, they decided to pull down their pants and go right there on one of the trees. I was mortified! It's a good thing people have a sense of humor- Gina snapped a picture, everyone was dying with laughter, and Emilee's father said it was the best part of the whole afternoon. We definitely had a little talk with Matthew about things that are appropriate!

These three look cute and innocent enough, but they can be T.R.O.U.B.L.E.!

By the end of the photos, Emily was getting tired and had enough. She started getting a little fussy, and ran right over to Karen. She didn't want mom or dad, she grabbed her blanket and was totally content and happy sitting with Aunt Kippy. I thought it was so sweet. I think Karen would have been my first choice too!
After all the photos were done, we made our way down to BYU-Idaho campus where there was a really nice catered lunch for everyone. We were able to watch Jonny & Emilee's wedding video and enjoy a yummy lunch. There were stories shared, welcome gifts given, and lots of getting to know everyone better. We stayed for a few hours before starting the 5-hour drive back to our families' homes. It was such a wonderful day and we were glad to be a part of it.

The wedding also brought back a lot of memories for me and my parents. It was over 9 years ago that my dad 'gave me away' to my sweetheart, but in some ways seems like just yesterday. It made me reflect on how grateful I am for my wonderful parents, in-laws, and especially my husband.

Dad and me

Road Trip & Friends

On Wednesday, October 12th we took off on another road trip for Jonny & Emilee's wedding that would be in Rexburg, Idaho on Friday. We decided to take it a little slower rather than just driving straight through and got to see some beautiful scenery along the way. I loved seeing the beautiful Teton mountains, and we got lucky enough to see two huge golden eagles. They were actually sitting on the fence, and then flew off to catch an animal. They were beautiful!

The trip was a little rough on Emily. She still isn't a huge fan of long road trips and was so excited to be out of the car when we finally arrived in Idaho Falls. In fact, it was painful to try and get her in her car seat for any amount of time over the entire following week! She would just fight and cry. Poor girl.
We were so excited when we found out the wedding would be in Rexburg, because we have some very dear friends who live in Idaho Falls, and it gave us the perfect chance to go visit and spend the night with them.

Jeff and I first met the Rhinehart family right after we were married. They were kind enough to let us stay with them while we looked for an apartment in Philadelphia. We quickly became good friends and over the next few years we spent many happy times together. We would frequently have Sunday dinners, birthday parties, and date nights. Jeff and I loved their kids and have some fun memories of babysitting and playing. At that time they only had Tanner, Madsen, & Camilla. I have some darling pictures that I need to pull out sometime. Jacob was born in January '04 and Ella was born a few months after. We said goodbye to them when they left in the spring of 2004 and although we kept in touch, we hadn't seen them since Brad graduated from optometry school. So we were beyond excited to have the chance to see them on the trip. We met up with them at the park on Thursday afternoon and got to see Tanner, Madsen, & Camilla at their cross country meet which was so fun! We headed back to their beautiful home afterwards where we enjoyed a yummy pizza dinner and lots of catching up. The evening passed way too fast.
Emily loved having some big sisters for the evening. Camilla, Ella, and Anna were so sweet to her. They had a blast playing with the puppy, and with other games.
I still couldn't get over how grown up all the kids are. I loved spending the evening together and watching the kids have so much fun together. I only wish we lived closer and saw each other more than once every so many years. It was a good excuse to let the kids stay up late playing together before they all had to go to bed though.
Brad and Heather are such wonderful, amazing people and we feel so fortunate to call them our friends. Heather is one of my very favorite people and greatest role models. She has such a fun personality and an amazing talent of making everyone feel loved, happy, and appreciated. Exactly the type of person I hope to be someday. The time wasn't long enough- it always goes by too fast when you're with people you love- but we were grateful for all the time we had and hope it won't be too long before we can see them again. We love you guys!

Pumpkin Love

Because of flooding and inclement weather, many of the local pumpkin patches didn't have their usual stock of pumpkins. Even the preschool classes had to cancel their annual pumpkin patch trips. We didn't really want to travel 2.5+ hours, so we took a different route and took a trip to Walmart for the kids to pick out pumpkins. It didn't seem to matter to them, they were thrilled to pick out that 'perfect' pumpkin. Emily was so excited, she proceeded to slather her pumpkin with kisses. It doesn't seem to matter where they come from, our kids were so excited with their pumpkins!