September Happenings

The cute couple

The Ceremony

Family picture

Taylor and Nathan

Kisses from the Aunts

Relatives from Canada

Sisters

Charming the Ladies

September flew by so fast and was so incredibly BUSY! The boys just started school, my little brother got married and my oldest turned 8. Add soccer in there somewhere and... wow! There were so many events and "to-do's" I finally broke down and got a day planner. How I got anything done without one, I'll never know.

The first event was my brother's wedding. It was so beautiful. Taylor looked like a princess and Zac looked pretty sharp too. Nathan almost stole the show as the little ring bearer though. I couldn't stop taking pictures of him! He looked so handsome in his little tux and shiny shoes. He took his job so seriously, because there was gum on the line. Yes, I bribed him with gum balls if he did a good job. He walked slow for a while and then caught a glimpse of me and ran down the isle, showing me the precious pillow with the rings on it. I could almost hear his little thoughts, "Look Mom! I've got the rings, can I get my gum yet??!" He did so good! The flower girls were so cute and loved Nathan too.

It was so fun to spend an entire day with my family. I love weddings. I love seeing everyone dressed up, the beautiful scenery, the delicate cakes, the look of giddiness on the couples faces. All of it. The dinner was amazing and the croissant dinner rolls were the best rolls I have EVER had! Seriously, I could have eaten 5. The boys got a little restless after 6 hours in a tie and when I found them bouncing on the couch in the grooms suite downstairs, I knew we were DONE. I couldn't visit with one more person, they had completely lost it! Congrats on your beautiful day Zac and Taylor. Everything was amazing.

The next day was a little more low-key. We had relatives from Canada come for the wedding and we had a pool party at my aunt's house. The kids had a blast and it was fun to just "chill" and visit and not worry about the kids not getting stuff on their nice clothes.

My cousin and I

Tim serenading Nathan

My uncle Tim brought his guitar and sang songs to us. When he began singing "For Baby", my mom and I looked at each other and started crying. It is "our song" so to say. My parents used to sing it to me when I was younger and I will always have a special place for it. I know my mom is so worried about me. How could she not be? We all want our children to be happy and not go through difficult trials. I am knee deep in a difficult trial. I hope we get to see the sunshine behind this dark cloud soon. Love you, Mom. Keep the hope alive.

Davin turned 8 a few days later and he wanted an "Indiana Jones" party. You know how crazy I get with the theme parties. It was a blast! The invitations I made looked worn and had torn and "burnt" edges and were rolled up like a map. It said, "Davin Indiana Rhodes invites you to attend his 8th birthday party" in Indiana Jones official font and was so fun to make. The treat bags were easy to make with some Indiana Jones hieroglyphs for each kids name printed on a brown paper bag. Then I filled them with coins, candy potions and disgusting sticky eye balls that boys are sure to love. Davin couldn't have picked a better time to do this since all the creepy Halloween stuff is coming out right now. For games we sent the kids on a treasure hunt and hid maps with the next clue in different areas of the yard. They had to get by "Boulder Pass" without getting hit by a boulder (huge exercise ball), jump over snakes, watch out for spiders and finally go on an archaeological dig (in the sandbox) to find the holy grail. It was so much fun for them. Then we had cupcakes with gold coins and a skull and bones on it and blue "potion" (blue kool-aid with dry ice in it). The boys loved it! We got him a new bike for his birthday and he loved that too.

The "boulder" rolling over the kids

Legos!!

Blue potion and cupcakes

A new bike

We have been running back and forth to soccer games and practices too. I'll post some pictures of that later. Davin is also going to be baptized and we are so excited for that. He just started scouts and is loving it. Wow, they grow up so fast! I'm excited for things to slow down a little. (Please?) Cold fall days make me want to stay inside, not run here and there and bake bread. Anyone have any amazing bread recipes? I think it's about time for a "jammie day".