Jessica's Wedding

Jessica and her groom, Cody were married on Sunday April 14th.  We were there Friday to Monday.

It was a whirlwind trip.  Merry and Owen flew in a couple of days before we got there.Josh's parents, Jamiie, Jeremiah, Sally, and our family caravanned up to Missouri in 2 days.  We got there late Friday afternoon.  We basically went to work right away.  Picking up the wedding dress, running errands, and very late night craft projects.  I think we went to bed between Friday and Saturday night.  Sunday night was a little better but it was still about 1am because there was so much to clean up and pack.  

We all had lots of projects to do.  My main projects were #1 making Jessica a Chief's garter.  I think I spent less than $10 on supplies.  It had 2 little charms on it too ;)

Late night crafts and projects

And #2 making a cake topper.  They had a cheesecake and cookies for their "cake" instead of the traditional cake.  Since it was a cheese cake the topper had to be supper light.  Jessica had a garden/bird-ish theme to her wedding.

Cake topper

AmberDee and I made appointments for all the bridesmaids, mother of the bride, and AmberDee (the super helper) to get manicures per Jessica's request (although we didn't mind).  AmberDee wasn't able to get a mani because she is in school for nursing.  AmberDee and Jessica got Pedis.  Getting appointments on Friday for Saturday was no easy task.  It was homecoming weekend and we had to call over 10 places I think to find one that could take all of us.  And even when we found a place, 2 girls had to go else where because we ran out of time.  The rehearsal and dinner was that evening.  I still think we were 30-45 minutes late.  Ops! Well we were with the bride and nothing happens until she gets there anyways.  Lol!

Mani and Pedi time!! 

 Sunday was not different then every other day we were there. Super busy!  A lovely bride/bridesmaid breakfast at a local breakfast place.  Then Jessica was off with Jamiie to the hair dresser.  We all headed back to the house we were staying at to get us ready.  Hair products, bobby pins and make-up were flying everywhere!!  It was quite the girly morning :)

Getting ready for the BIG DAY!

 The beautiful bride getting her dress, veil and shoes on.  Jessica's veil was her mothers.  Plus it has the same ribbon border as my veil.  I love that we seem to love the same things :)

Bride getting ready

 It was a very, very windy cold day.  It was a little wet at times too.  But we all survived, the lake looked like an ocean (just Jessica was very happy about since it reminder her of home), and Jessica and Cody got Hitched!!!  Despite the weather, the pictures turned out great.  The photographer did a great job making our windy hair look good.

Waiting for it to be our turn to walk down the aisle

 Party time!!  After lots of pictures with the bridal party, we headed over to the reception site.  We eat, watch Jessica and Cody paint a unity cross picture and danced.  During the reception the sister snuck off to decorate the honeymoon hotel suite with flowers and candles.  It was a lot of fun :)

Reception Party Time!

March

March

March was a strange month for weather.  It was hot and it was cold.  I even woke up one morning to a thick layer of frost on my windshield.  I had to scrap it off before I could drive.

Dr. Seuss' Birthday
We started off the month by celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday.  Growing up I never really cared for his books but now I love them and so does the rest of my family.  The week leading up to his birthday, we read lots of Dr. Seuss books, we watched the Lorax (on Netflix)and Horton Hears a Who (which was one of the shared gifts from us to the kids).  On his birthday, we had Carter over for a Dr. Seuss dinner of green eggs and ham (an mashed potatoes).  The kids loved it. I think both, Josh and Carter, thought I was a bit strange. But they both said they enjoyed it by the end of the night.  We finished up by reading all the our Dr. Seuss books (5) plus the 2 we borrowed from the library.

Lego Class
Our Lego class is still going strong.  Landon looks forward to it every week, as well as many of the other kids.  I love teaching it, every week :)

Lego Class

 Everyday life

Fun around the house

 Red Robin
Gainesville now has a Red Robin.  I had never been to one but people around here seemed pretty excited.  Josh and I didn't really have any opinion about it one way or another... Until our friend Michelle told me that they were allowing you to sign up for a free meal.  So... I signed up our family.  Josh met us at the mall for lunch.  We had a lovely, yummy meal that was a little over $55 for free!!  How awesome is that?  The food was really good too!  So now I think I get why everyone was excited about Red Robin.  They have great service and awesome food! Plus they gave us some free food and I am always up for that!

Red Robin Lunch

St Patrick's Day
 I love St Patrick's Day.  I always have.  I am Irish. I had an Irish maiden name.  I always get pretty into St Patrick's Day, well I wear green and since Josh and I have been married we almost always have corned beef and cabbage at least once in March.  I LOVE corned beef and cabbage.  Which is kind of funny because I remember it being a big family tradition things growing up and I hated it!  Oh well, I guess that is why it is always good to keep trying things, because you never know when you will start liking them.

St Patrick's Day fun and crafts

Painting
We have been working on the play area in the back yard.  Arabella and I painted the inside of the playhouse/fort.  We used left over paint that we have collected.  So one great part was the project was free :)
There is now a green, red, blue, and purple wall.  While I was painting, a little bird came to keep me company and sing me a song.  It was such a treat!

More Corks & Colors painting fun :)

Family Fun Day
We had to do some work in Niceville.  It was only going to take an hour or so but we could stay.  So instead of dreading a 8 hour drive to and from Niceville, Josh thought we should just make a family fun day out of it.  We went to the Florida Caverns.  Unfortunately, it was spring break so the tickets for the caverns (which you can not buy in advanced) were sold out by the time we got there.  We still had a lot of fun.  We walked on the nature trails and found caves to explore ourselves.  We will be planning another trip there so we can go in the caverns but for a family fun day it was a perfect outing!

Florida Caverns

Easter
The Saturday before Easter/Resurrection Sunday, we joined many other friends at Mrs Jean's house for a pot luck lunch, games and egg hunt.  She host this every year and it is always a blast.  This year was no different.

Lunch, Dancing with Daddy, and Games at Mrs Jean's

Eggs!!!

Enjoying wide open spaces and the goats.  Especially the mommy with her baby.

Anyone interested in a "Apple" that tastes a lot like a potato?!?

 Sally and Jeremiah came to visit for Easter weekend.  We were glad to have them visit although it was much too short of a visit.  Thank Sally for taking our pictures! :)

Resurection Sunday family pictures :)