Baby Shower

So there must be something in the water at church (or abundant blessings, whatever you want to call it :) ), but we have had a run of new babies lately. Today was Melissa L.'s shower, she's due at the end of the month. Heather put together a really special shower and Arzella graciously donated her house for all of us to invade.

Mama to be, Melissa, and new mama (last month) Daina

Third time mama (this past March), Collette, and second time mama (in July), Heather, chatting away. Look at the spread the ladies put together. The cake was awesome! Like, quadruple chocolate chocolate.

Invitations I made for the shower

Baby Kai (born March) and Baby Fiona (born April)

The two girls on the left, Corrine and Allyson, are in my Girls Group. Desiree is so awesome (her blog is linked- see Van Essen).

Amy and her daughters Emma and Ellenie. They are moving back to Midland in three weeks :(. We will miss them so much. Hmmm, can you say road trip?

Heather and Mikaela chowing down

This is my buddy, Katherine. I took her and her big sister Sarah to Build a Bear awhile ago and they helped me build a bear (Morris Alexander). They also got to pick out an outfit for their bears, since it was near their birthdays. I take Morris over there to play with Lily the Flamingo (Katherine is a die-hard flamingo fan...she can even do a flamingo walk!)

Becky, Brenda, Mrs. Mudd, and Irma, trading stories

I just love this group of ladies (and the rest that couldn't make it too, of course!). I am so blessed to attend a church where I can honestly call these people my family.

The Importance of Being...

Freedom!!!! In the words of Mel Gibson (representing my namesake of course), I am no longer confined to my cubby hole of a kitchen, wedged between my miniscule pantry and my refridgerator, dishonestly "borrowing" internet service from some kind soul know only to me as "linksys". I am now a bonefied patron of Time Warner Cable (just the internet...I still refuse to buy cable).

So this evening I had the pleasure of attending a production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" featuring two of my friends' siblings, Scott and Shelley.

I had read the play back in high school but forgot how completely hilarious it is! So clever, so insulting. The witty reparte is Gilmore-esqe...strangely so...anyways, I enjoyed it enormously and am always constantly amazed at the stellar job God did at creating our brains. Storing huge amounts of data (scripts to a play, attitude determination info, etc), it never ceases to astound me what it can store (although I think mine would be much better off without the lyrics to "Ice Ice Baby" and the oodles of Greek letters that one learns when math DOESN'T use numbers anymore). I am still diligently working on my scripture memory to replace (or at least rewire) some of my wasted brain space. 2 Cor 5:21 " For our sake, he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, that through him we might become t he righteousness of God". My next one is 1 Cor 15:3-4...I'm not going to type it...go look it up....that's all folks!

Holy Bikini Batman!

Can you believe it!? Not only do I now own a very pretty new laptop (Dell Inspiron E1505...with all the bells and whistles as a friend put it so eloquently), but yes, folks, mark your calendars...I have started a blog! Can I tell you how excited I am!? (I'm excited).

Road Trip!

This past weekend I traveled 955 miles to Kearney, Nebraska to see my cousin Sean get married. 14 hours in a car! By myself! Actually, the ride up wasn't bad at all, thanks to lots of music (people probably thought I was psycho, dancing in my car, but when you got Barlow Girls and the soundtrack from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, you just gotta dance). Don't worry, I also listened to ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, Casting Crowns, Todd Agnew...and listen to a book on CD that my friends Josh and Lisa loaned me. T0 be honest, I think it was the excitement of getting to see family I haven't seen in 6 years and meet some family for the first time (like my Grandpa's brothers and sisters) that kept me wide-eyed and bushy tailed. I had such a wonderful time! I hope to return in September 2008 for our family reunion (never been to one of those). I've also informed my Dad that I am dragging him along, after all, it's his family. I've got a bonanza of pictures to show you. Enjoy! (And Kansas is very very flat...it's almost concave!)



Here's Uncle Scott taking a look at the VERY high water level in his new lake. He and Laurie just bought 3 acres. It rained a ton the night before (I slept through it all!). Technically he owns half the lake. I asked him, straight-faced, if he was going to put a fence up in the middle. I received a dirty look for my efforts :).



Scott and Laurie's house. Super cute, great interior (with a basement). Homey, homey, homey.



Here's the patio on the side of the house (Aaron's the dude standing...giving me a look...must run in the family). This was taken on Sunday after a BBQ (which I invited all of my great aunts and uncles too, and then called my aunt to make sure it was okay...she is so gracious!)

Here's the reason for going to Nebraska: Sean and Heather...aren't they cute!?

Rehearsing...

The rehearshal dinner was at this great bakery/coffee shop/sandwich plate. Sean and I both mistakenly took a lot of the mustard...which cleared your sinuses out really well. That's Aaron in the foreground.

Congratulations!

Grandpa and Grandma Wallace and me...we had to be there 3 hours before the wedding for pictures. Made for some good photo oppotunities for those not in the wedding.

It was a fun wedding. I've got a bagillion more pictures, but I think you all get the jist.

Jack, Grandpa, Jim, Chuck, Ruth , and Norma

I asked Grandpa when the last time was that he had a birthday with his siblings. He said when he was 11years old. Imagine that, 64 years later celebrating with them again. Happy Birthday!

So all in all, a fantastic trip. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to have this super fun family, even though I don't get to see them very much (or ever!). What an awesome gift!