Celebrating a Blessing...

Today I celebrate a life of an individual who has been the most amazing addition to my life. He is a man who continues to grow in his faith and look for opportunities to mature in his relationship with Christ...in and amongst difficult times he continues to have joy and encourage me...he stands with me when I am dealing with my various needs...he always sees that I'm taken care of and that I feel secure...he assures me of my value and beauty...he desires to be the best husband (and he is)...he seeks to be a great father and he looks for every opportunity to prepare himself to be the best father possible...he puts others first (even on his birthday)...he attempts in every situation to see the best in people...he works to initiate passion and purpose in other's lives...he lives to be a voice of hope-live a life of faith-and be known by love...he cares for all and ultimately he lives to serve, serve God and serve others. So today because of this amazing blessing to my life and behalf of others who have been touched by his life...Happy Birthday Tyler. 

Congrats Wade and Jenny!!

This past weekend we traveled to South Bend (nothing to do with ND) for a wedding. Our friend Jenny (also a relative of mine) married the love of her life Wade. It was a great day for the two of them and we are so happy for them!

During dinner we had a great time catching up with our friends - Matt, Natalie, Matt, Janelle, and Elissa. We have included some pictures below.

 

Picture of me with the bride (I think that's a senior picture??)

Picture of me with the groom (ok - obviously that's a joke...for some reason I didn't get a picture of the groom - sorry wade)

Picture of me, Matt, and Matt with the punch (don't ask me why...it's just what we do)

Natalie with Natalie, Janelle, and Elissa (again...don't ask why - read explanation above)

Because of where we were seated for the reception, we had an obstructed view of the reception festivities. Part of our entertainment for the night then was guessing what was going on behind the wall. We did pretty well (since most of us have been to or been a part of our fair share of weddings - I believe Matt T. has actually been in 12 himself). The picture above was taken during the toast (we think).

This is a picture of the cutting of the cake (again...we think).

Finally, this is a picture of the first dance (ok - you probably noticed that all three pictures are identical. We thought it would be funny to put up the same picture for all the different reception events since we couldn't see what was going on. Despite our limited visibility though, we really did have a great time - so please don't feel bad Wade and Jenny - we just couldn't resist such an amazing sarcastic opportunity).

This is a picture of Natalie, Natalie, Janelle, and Elissa sitting in the egg chairs at the reception.

Matt, Matt, and me hanging out before dinner.

The fab four (too lazy to write out the names again - even though writing the explanation took more effort than just writing the names), along with Sarah and Sasha.

Small Group Get Together

Last night (Sunday May 4th) we hosted a small group get together with people from our church. We were really looking forward to having everyone over - ever since we bought our house last spring. We ate grilled hot dogs (the best kind) and all sorts of great food that people brought. We enjoyed doing life together - laughing, having conversation, and playing yard games until the sun went down. Thanks to everyone for coming and for a great night!

During a game of corn hole, the entire hole was covered with the bean bags - we couldn't believe that none of them actually fell into the hole!

Notice the patio table with no table top - that's the one that I broke a few weeks ago when the umbrella slipped and fell on it - causing the entire glass top to come crashing down into million little pieces. That was the source of at least a few jokes last night!

Cynthia Fundraiser

Saturday night, May 3rd, our church hosted a "We Love Cynthia Fundraiser" for the girl in our church who recently had a heart transplant. We wanted to raise money to help support Cynthia and her family with some of the medical expenses that they have. As part of the event, we had a spaghetti dinner, bake sale, silent auction, entertainment, and outdoor games with prizes. It was a great night! By the end of the night, we had raised around $4000. With additional money that we are still waiting on to come in, we should raise between $5000-6000. Praise God! Thanks to everyone who helped out. I have included a few pictures below.

People enjoying the spaghetti dinner.

People playing basketball outside.

Some girls from Cynthia's class at school doing a dance as part of the entertainment for the night.

Only about half of the baked goods that were for sale as part of the bake sale. Can you say diabetes?

We had over 60 items included in the silent auction. It got pretty competitive, especially during the last few minutes :-)

EN Prom

On Saturday April 26th, Natalie's brother Joel and sister Nicole went to their high school prom. Every year as part of the prom event the school hosts what they call the Grand March. At the Grand March, all the kids who are attending the prom walk with their dates a few laps around the school gym so that parents, family, and friends can see them all dressed up. Afterwards, everyone takes pictures on the gym floor. I have included a few pictures below.

This is a picture of two guys (me and Natalie's brother Jordan) who are definitely happy that our prom going days are well behind us!

This is a picture of Natalie's sister Nicole (second from left) and a few friends. Joel's date,  Valerie (sorry if I spelled that wrong Joel), is the first on the left.

Picture of Joel with a friend.

Picture of Joel and Nicole with the parentals.

Picture of Joel and Nicole with the sibs and in-laws.

ND Blue Gold Game

With the risk of riots looming because we have not posted for so long, I wanted to give you an update on some of the things that have ben going on for us lately. On Saturday April 19th, I worked the Notre Dame Blue Gold Game. This is a scrimmage game that concludes the football team's spring practices. It was a great day for football...Notre Dame won of course :-)

I have included some pictures from the day below.

Joe Montana was in attendance. I took this picture outside the locker room.

At the end of the game, my cousin Jason and I were two of the ushers who got to "sweep the field." This basically means that we line up with other ushers in the south end zone and walk across the field to the north end zone. This is a picture of my foot (right) and Jason's foot (left) in the end zone.

Our view from the field waiting to sweep. It was awesome! I took some video of it as well, but have not posted it here.

This the view from where I was stationed for the day. I am usually in the lower bowl in the corner where the students sit. They are doing some construction in the lower bowl, so since no one was sitting there we all were reassigned for the day. I was pleased with my spot - middle of the field with a great view of the game!

This is a cheesy picture I took of me, my cousin Jason, my uncle Dave, and my section captain Bill. We took this because the captains were having a hard time tracking down the attendance sheets for us to sign in. By taking the picture, we had proof that we were there so that we would be eligible for our free ticket in the fall.