Our Life in Pictures...

Yesterday was our 7th anniversary...I can't believe it has been that long! We didn't do anything big since Isabelle is sick right now...but it actually turned out to be one of my favorite anniversaries so far. We all three went in the van and got Cracker Barrel to go. (Thanks for the gift card, Dad and Sherry!) We parked and ate it in the car and then while we were driving around I went through an old box of letters that we had written to each other during our first year of marriage while Ben was in Korea and read them out loud. It was a hoot!! It was a lot of fun to reminisce about what we were like and how we felt back then. Everything was so new. Just to give you a chuckle, here is a little excerpt from an email that Ben sent to me on April 16, 2003 (I am so glad I printed these out.) Most of them are all mushy and stuff but I thought this one was pretty funny:

• "...So I heard that your birthday is coming up soon, and I don't want you to be disappointed because I totally forgot about it...I guess you will handle it like a man right?.....So what would you like for your birthday? Maybe a blender? or a new iron? I'm not sure what a new wife could possibly want...How about some laundry supplies? or a cookbook? How about some band-aids for the calluses on your barefeet! Maybe some granny panties? I have all these good ideas and don't know which one to choose. :)"

Just a disclaimer: he made that birthday really special for me and I didn't get any laundry supplies or granny panties. :)


I am a day late on this, but in honor of our anniversary, I scanned some old pictures of us and made a slide show. "Our Life in Pictures" so to speak. It's a little long, but I hope you enjoy it. :)

Happy Anniversary Honey! Only 15,694 days until our 50th anniversary! Let's make each one count. I love you!

2nd Birthday Party

Isabelle had her 2nd birthday on Saturday! I can't believe my baby is two already! The past two years have flown by, and I'm sure the next two and the two after that will fly by even faster! I'm so proud of the way she is growing up, but a little sad that she is officially not a baby anymore. :(

Here is a picture from the day she was born:

First birthday:

This year, her birthday fell on a Saturday, so we were able to have her party on her birthday. Last year, it rained on her birthday and we ended up having to change our plans. This year, up until about Thursday, they were calling for thunderstorms on her birthday again! We were planning to have the party outside at a local park, so I prayed all week long that the rain would hold off long enough for her party. My prayers were answered, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day! We grilled hotdogs and the family all brought food and helped us celebrate her birthday.

Here is a picture of her cake: The lady I babysit for sometimes makes cakes, so we traded babysitting services for the cake! I feel like I got the better end of the trade! It turned out so cute!

Isabelle loved her cake. She seemed to be mesmerized by it. Before the party even started, she sat down in front of it and said, "Mommy I need a fork." :)

My husband has quite the artistic side that I had forgotten about. He free-handed this swiper on cardboard and then painted it and cut it out for a game we were going to play.

Some of the kids waiting to play "catch the stars".

We blew up a bunch of balloons and drew stars on them and spread them out in the field. The kids had to catch them and bring them back to the "star pocket" while "swiper" chased them around trying to swipe the balloons.

It was hilarious.

Madison is one of the little girls I babysit. She is so sweet. She decided to share her balloons with Swiper.

Jacob got a turn as Swiper and he was nice too. He swiped the balloons and then gave them back. :)

My stepdad Michael, stepsister Amanda, and her new baby girl Olivia. This was Olivia's first birthday party.

Some of the kids playing:

Enjoying some cake and ice cream:

Evidence of my brother eating something besides lettuce:

Opening presents:

I forgot to take a picture of the treat bags at the party, so I took this one when I got home. My sister found the idea for these online. They are brown paper bags, and I painted the fronts purple and made the face on the "paint" function on the computer and just printed them out, cut them out and glued them on the bags. It sounds like a lot of work, but I like doing stuff like that so it didn't feel like work to me. They are supposed to look like Dora's backpack, in case you couldn't tell. :)


One of the other moms brought a HUGE thing of bubbles, so we had fun with that too.

Aunt Megan blowing bubbles:

It was a full day, and we were all pooped and went home to take naps, but it turned out great and we had a wonderful time!

Especially the birthday girl! Later that evening we were driving around and she said, "I wanna go to my birthday party!"

Last Sunday Isabelle started in the two year old class. This past Sunday when we got there the teacher wasn't there yet, so Isabelle decided to take things into her own hands. She got the baby dolls out and put them in the seats, got in the teachers' chair and started singing and giving out Bibles. :)

Here are a couple videos. The first one is when we sang "Happy Birthday" at her party. She got kind of shy and put her head on Daddy's shoulders. The second video is of her "teaching" Bible class on Sunday.

Thanks to all our family and friends for helping with the party and for helping us celebrate with Isabelle! We love you!