Playing Catch up - Summer Recap

I have had so many of you ask me “where are you?” and “why haven’t you posted lately?”. Well, I have thought about it several times…I mean, it’s been since May 20th…that seems forever ago!

But, every time I think about it, I also think about all the other things I need to do and about how long of a post it will be to tell you what we’ve been up to for the last few months.

Well…

For starters, here’s a recap…

1. WE ARE MOVED! I’m sure you remember that we sold our house. Well, we are now moved into our new house.

We LOVE it here. It’s so peaceful being out in the country!

I LOVE…

the three car garage…
the basketball goal…
my new open floor plan…
my BE-U-TI-FUL kitchen (one of the biggest selling points of this house)…
the open backyard…without looking at any neighbor’s house….
And peace and quiet!

Of course that only lasts for a moment… remember… we have three kids and two dogs! Peace and quiet doesn’t last long around here!

We are “sort of” settled in. I would post pictures, but the house just isn’t quite “picture ready”..so stay tuned!

2. We WENT ON VACATION (without kids)!

Chris and I were able to get away for a week with my good friend Dawn and her husband Daniel. Dawn and I have known each other since we were 5 years old. Crazy huh? You don’t find friendships that lasts that long, but we have a truly special friendship that I cherish very much. And, we were extremely lucky that the men in our lives get along great as well! It’s wonderful! The only bad thing is that we live two states away from each other, so we don’t see each other very often. This year, we decided to take a trip together and we had a fantastic time. We went to Coast Rica! This was my first time out of the country, so I was able to get my very first stamp in my passport!

It was bliss! We had such a relaxing time. I have so many pictures to share of our time there. We caught big fish, watched the sun set, relaxed at the pool, played cards almost every night, ate great food, drank this Costa Rican blue drink, walked along the beach searching for seashells and chasing hermit crabs, went scuba diving, had a mud bath, soaked in a natural hot spring, zip lined and went horseback riding. But, probably the most special thing that we did there was renew our wedding vows on the beach. It was awesome and a special occasion that we were able to celebrate with such great friends! I promise that I will blog more about the trip and share all the gorgeous pictures that we took.

3. Speaking of renewing our vows… Chris and I also celebrated our 13th year of marriage this June 20th.

It’s hard to believe that Chris and I have been married 13 years! That is a long time. We have been blessed with a strength in our marriage that is not only made us remember the reasons we fell in love with each other, but also the plan that God has for us for our future. We are so very thankful for our marriage and for each other. Things haven’t always been easy and we have been through some difficult times, but we have overcome those things and have grown closer in the end. This was part of the reason that we chose to renew our vows and to re-enforce our commitment to one another.

4. I photographed my first wedding.

And boy, was I nervous!! My cousin James got married to his wife Allie in Pittsburg, KS and they asked me to take their wedding pictures. As you know, I do some amateur photography and I really do enjoy it. I took their engagement pictures back in November and when they asked me to do their wedding, I almost turned them down. I was very scared about doing a wedding. What if something went wrong…like my camera not working properly or I forget to put film in the camera (that happened to my mom and dad at their wedding!). But, I guess since I don’t have to worry about putting film in my camera since we are in the “digital” age, what did I have to fret about? Surely, all would go smoothly. And, for the most part, things went very smoothly at the wedding. I got most of the shots I wanted to…well, maybe not as many outside as I would have liked, but it was WAY TO HOT to stay outdoors too long and my bride and groom were sweating to death. So, we settled with what we had. Everything went smoothly UNTIL.…

Until I got home and started searching for one of the camera cards I had used. I had switched out cards right before the ceremony so that I wouldn’t run out of space on my card during the middle of the ceremony. I put the card in my small camera case that housed my video camera. Well, when we got home and started unpacking, I couldn’t find it anywhere! My worst fear had occurred! I had lost the “film”! I looked everywhere before I made the dreaded call to my cousin and his brand new wife to find out if they had stumbled across my camera case at the church or reception when they were cleaning up. They hadn’t found it and before long I was routed to my aunt and then both my other cousins to see if they had picked it up when they were helping clean up. NO ONE had it. I was frantic!! I had all the pictures from the ceremony, but the pictures that we took before the wedding (some important ones…like all the ones with the bride and groom and their immediately family) were on the missing card. Everyone, including James and Allie were positive it would show up… but I was a nervous wreck! Well, they were right, it did eventually show up. We ended up finding it in the most obvious place…OUR SUITCASE! I know, those of you that know me are thinking “this is SO Jenny!” It was right there under our very noses, but somehow in the franticness of searching for something that we thought was missing, I missed the very thing we were looking for! Oh well, it makes for a great story right?! And, we ended up with some great pictures.

Here's a couple of my favs...

5. We spent the 4th of July at the Lake with Family

This is becoming a family tradition to hang out together at the Lake on the 4th. Since we have been so busy moving, this was actually our first time out at the lake. The girls had really missed it and to be honest, Chris and I had too! We love playing in the lake and riding the jet skis. For the past several years, all of Chris’ siblings and their families all meet at the lake over the fourth to be together and then shoot off fireworks. It was a great day with family!

The kids all had fun jumping from the boat and doing "tricks"...

We finished off the evening with fireworks, of course...

 
And before the BIG ones were set off, we all got front row seats out on the boat dock...

6.  We now have a 4th grader, a 2nd grader and a preschooler!  School is back in session and Chris and I couldn't be happier.  We were ready for a regular routine and school helps get that in place.  The girls were ready too!  They were excited to meet their new teachers and see all of their friends again.

Showing off their new backpacks...

And getting on the bus this year from our own driveway...

Brooke was excited to go back to school too...she had to pose just like her big sisters...

As you can see, it has been a busy summer for us!  I'm glad I got you all caught up and finally got my blog updated.  Whew!   I can't wait to share more with you about our trip to Coasta Rica...stay tuned!