Home Sweet Home
It was wonderful, cold yet wonderful. I haven’t seen many of Marks side of the family in such a long time! My brother in law is now a Chief Warrant Officer (2) in the Navy, which I have been told is a huge deal. The ceremony was wonderful, Mark did a wonderful job officiating it- and of course we all cried through the majority of it. Did I mention it was wonderful?
Let me start by introducing you to everyone:
Left to Right: Jeff, Mark and Jim. Jeff and Jim are Marks older brothers (and they are twins). Jeff lives in Missouri with his wife Cathy and 3 boys, Greg, Matt and Brandon. Jim lives in Chicago (for the next week) with is wife Cindy and their 2 girls Emily and Taylor. He has been in the Navy 22+ years and was just promoted to Officer. His entire family made the trip to Chicago to support him in this HUGE event.
Left to Right: Heather, Cindy and Cathy. Us girls had such a blast! Cindy and I got to know eachother so much more over this trip, and I cant wait to build a stronger relationship with her. Cathy, well- Cathy and I are like sisters. I am an only child, so it is so wonderful to have her in my life. Do you notice that I am wearing 72 layers in that picture? (And I still came home sick!)
Marks Mom and Dad. 2 of the funniest people I have ever met. Marks dad rarely speaks, but when he does it is important (just like his son). Usually he resorts to grunting, which we all make fun of him for. Marks mom is a hoot and usually has everyone laughing, she has helped us out tremendously both time Emma spent an extended time in ICU.
Emily and Taylor. These are Jim and Cindy’s daughters. Emily is 19, and a spitting image of her father. She is expecting her first child in May (we loved rubbing on her 5 month belly!) and such a great girl. Taylor is such a sweet girl, she is very quiet and her sister is her best friend. Jim and Cindy did a wonderful job with them! Emily is having a baby boy (whom she is naming Heath, after me of course) and is very excited about this next chapter in her life. Taylor has been homeschooled up until this next year, and will be going to public school for the first time. She is very excited!
We all had a blast together- I will spare you the boring details of yet another family reunion and just leave it at saying I am so very blessed to have such great relationships on both sides of my family. My parents did a wonderful job watching the kids and I am so thankful they were gracious enough to take on the responsibility of Emma Grace’s long medicine routine while Mark and I got a much needed vacation. It was wonderful to see their smiling faces when we returned home (Emma said “Look! Its the mommy!”)
Here are the rest of the pictures, the ceremony was one of the most amazing things I have ever been apart of- ever.
And now I am off to do laundry and watch last weeks American Idol episodes. I hope you guys had a wonderful weekend, I will catch up on your blogs later today!
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And we are off…
This will be the first time I have seen snow in over a decade - I am like a kid excited! I am so so excited to see my SIL, I know we are going to have a blast together! Did I mention the snow?!
While I am gone, I want to leave you with a song (shock!). Many of you have asked what song the words in my header are too. I finally found it on You Tube (Ive been waiting patiently!), although it is not sung by the artist in the video (The guy does a pretty good job though!) The song title is Kindness and is preformed by an amazing artist, Chris Tomlin. Enjoy, And I will see you all when I get back!
Prayer for Kelli: Please read her update here. If you havent been following her story, Kelli is in Kidney failure and in need of a transplant. BooMama and her readers amazingly raised over $9000 dollars for Kelli’s transplant fund. Kelli is struggling right now both emotionally and physically, and there has been a change. Please lift her up, claim her miracle and ask for God’s perfect will to be completed in her life. Kelli, you are so very loved sweet friend.
edited: It is with a heavy heart and tears that I ask you to pray for Joel’s family. Joel went to be with the Lord yesterday, and his family could use your prayers. He left behind an amazing family, you can read more about them here. Pray for his family, especially his parents and his 12 siblings, one of which is his twin . Please lift each of them up.
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