Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Grady!

July 17th weekend we headed to St. Louis for Beth Collins and Ryan Grady's wedding! Ryan is one of Scott's best friends from high school and was the Best Man in our wedding, and Scott was excited to also be the Best Man in his! We rode with Nathan Johnson (who was also in the wedding) and his girlfriend, Kayla.

It was so beautiful in St. Louis! We stayed in a nice hotel that had a gorgeous pool. It was SO hot outside, so the pool got used quite a bit.....I even got burnt!

After the rehersal the boys picked us up and we headed to the rehersal dinner, which was held outdoors at The Boat House. Beautiful location, good food, but very hot!

The wedding was gorgeous! Beth looked amazing! At first I didn't know about the guys' attire, but when you put it all together, it looked so good! The reception was then held at a country club that her parents are members of. Scott did a great job on his Best Man speech....I think I was more nervous for him then he even was! He's such a great public speaker. Food was great and they had a really good live band, too. It was such a fun time hanging out with friends! And, of course, we had to dance to a few tunes! Fun time!

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Grady! Thank you for letting us be a part of your wonderful day! We love you both!!!!

Train Ride with Drew

Drew Krause is one of Eli's best buddies! We met Drew and his Mommy, Laura, for lunch at Sonic and then headed to UP Mall. The boys played at the train table in Barnes & Noble for a bit and then we headed into the mall where they got to ride a train! Love that the mall is doing this! Afterward, Laura and I got a little shopping done! It was a fun time for all!!!!

Candyland Birthday with Cole

Eli's buddy, Cole, had a Candyland birthday party! It was so cute! They started the party making candy (fruit loop) necklaces....don't think Eli's lasted too long. They played some games before we had a yummy dinner. After dinner we had cupcakes and then, Cole opened his gifts. At the end the kids got to hit a pinata to get more candy! Eli came home wired, but was ready to crash early! It was such a fun time!

Happy Birthday, Cole Dog!!!!! We love you! Thank you for letting us celebrate with you!

A Day in St. Joe, MI

Last Monday Scott had off of work due to the 4th of July holiday, and since it was beautiful outside, we decided to head to St. Joe, MI for the day. We hadn't been in quite a while and were really impressed with all the changes. We first ate at Schu's for lunch...yum!...then headed to check out the beach. Eli enjoyed putting his feet in the water and loved playing on their playground while Jayce took a nice nap.

We then took Eli for a carousel ride. He loved picking out what horse to ride and the 2nd time even picked the Michigan University horse!!!! Couldn't believe that Scott let him get on that thing!!!

Eli would have loved playing in the Whirlpool Compass Fountain, but he was quite tired. We then walked around downtown for a bit. Eli loved finding all the painted dogs! We were all exhausted by this time, so we got some Kilwin's Ice Cream (Delicious! Jayce got to try some, too!) and headed home. It was a wonderful day and a great family time! We'll have to go back soon!

Eli really had a great day!

4th of July Weekend

We were very busy this 4th of July weekend, but we had such a fun time with family. On Friday Eli, Jayce and I headed over to my Dad & Joey's condo for some time in the sun. We had a nice lunch, then had some play time in the pool. Eli even got to go on a jet ski ride!

Friday night we had Ellie & Abby Hershberger watch the boys and Scott & I had a date night! We went to my favorite, Bonefish, for dinner, then went to the movies. (It's very hard to get Scott to go to the theater!) We saw Knight & Day, which was pretty cute and had lots of action. It was a great night to get some time away and hang with my hubby!
On Saturday we all headed to my Dad & Joey's condo to hang out with my family for the day. Keli, Pablo and the boys were there. We had a fun time swimming, eating, celebrating Vincent's birthday and spending time together. That evening, Keli & Pablo, headed to a wedding reception (taking the 2 youngest boys) and the rest of us headed to dinner, then went out on the boat to watch the fireworks. It was the perfect night for fireworks and the boys loved them!!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!!!!

A Little Humor

So, these two guys walk into a bar......

Martin Campout

Every year some friends from church, Chad & Kristen Martin, have a campout at Martin Pond (Chad's parents' land). It was an amazing place! This property had everything for camping! It had a huge pond for swimming, fishing and paddle boating; 3 cabins (one of which we stayed in); a big sandbox and swingset for the kids; and a great area for outdoor cooking and bonfires.
Eli had such a great time playing with all the kids! His favorite was playing in the huge sandbox with all the trucks and cars. He got SO dirty! Eli also really loved going on a jeep ride with Chad & Daddy in some of the trails. Now Daddy thinks he needs to get a jeep! A video will be coming soon that Scott created that shows many of the highlights of the weekend. Stay tuned...

Thank you so much Chad & Kristen for inviting us! It was such a wonderful time getting away and being with friends!