Wedding Bells!

Life moves so quickly, and often leaves us wondering where the days have gone.  Our niece, Harmony, was the flower girl in our wedding almost 14 years ago, and on May 27th we were able to help she and Chris share in their own special wedding day. For those of you who know Gene and Tina Burley, you will recognize Harmony as their middle daughter.  While Greg and I were busy with wedding responsibilities, Ryan snapped a few random photos...

I love this one of Allison and Karson!
(They weren't in the wedding, but they
coordinated quite well!)

I was so excited to play this piano...could spend hours right there
on that bench!  (Wait, I did spend hours on that bench...but I would
do it again in a heartbeat!)  Because I was focused on my own stuff,
I just now realized that Mark and Greg had to light all of these little
candles on the floor.  That had to be a pretty funny sight...6'8" and 6'7"
bending to the floor over and over and over...

Christopher and Harmony Funk

The cake was very pretty, as were the flowers.  I had a beautiful
wrist corsage, but being the pianist made it a little difficult to wear!

One of the reasons the kids absolutely love to go to MI is that they can spend hours roaming the property doing the things that boys love to do.  Forget video games, books, and all things sedentary, these guys become men of the wilderness...haha!

Yes, this was a little scary...

Fishin' in Grandpa's pond

Ahhh, the good 'ole summertime! 

**For the "gory" details of our trip, see www.stephanieburley.blogspot.com

Summer Vacation Is Here!

All of the Burley cousins
(except for the oldest two - one being on her honeymoon)
in a wildly unique tree on Harmony and Chris's property!

School is out, warm weather abounds, the sun is shining, and we are loving it!  We attended the wedding of our niece/cousin at the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, and enjoyed a fun visit with many of our extended Burley/Black family members, as well as "old friends", Greg's pastor and wife, and even "old" teachers! Our children decided to stay on and spend a few days with Grandpa and Grandma Burley, and they are having a blast.  Kaitlynn caught a 13.5" bass, and has become quite a pro at baiting the hooks with minnows!  They have been swimming and fishing quite a bit, and spent last weekend at a cabin in northern MI.  Grandpa and Grandma are going to be worn out, so we hope that they can spend a few days catching up on their rest.  :)  They are making great memories, and we are so happy that Grandpa and Grandma are allowing them these opportunities! 
Hopefully we will be able to catch up with photos from the end-of-year school activities.  The computer that holds our photos decided to be difficult, and we are still trying to recover everything.  The kids had a really good school year, and at least two of them will probably be ready to go back by mid-July, but we are trying to have enough planned activities/chores/challenges to keep them from getting "bored" (which is a word that is completely banned from our home!).
Happy Tuesday!

April Showers Bring...

Mother's Day...Mommy's Birthday...National Teacher's Week!  Wow...what a cool month!  :)  The first weekend of May began with the kids spending Friday evening with one of their favorite sitters while mom and dad enjoyed a date.  We have told ourselves that "alone" time has to be more of a priortity, but reality controls us at this point, and those times are fairly few and far between. 

Since time was limited, we spent the evening in Findlay, and enjoyed some shopping and a late dinner at Outback.  It is our favorite steakhouse within a 45 minute drive, and Findlay has some different shopping options, so it was a fun night.  In all honesty, we could probably sit in the van in our own garage, and as long as it was quiet and we could have a conversation, it would be a great date!  :)

On Saturday, we celebrated my 35th birthday with my family.  Greg grilled a mean pile of chicken, the kids had a grand time playing together (when they weren't fighting...lol), and we had a really nice evening together.

Sunday, of course, was Mother's Day, and my family spoiled me!  Ryan had spent some time on a special woodworking project, and when he brought it out, a few tears were shed.  It is definitely a precious treasure that I will never let go of!


Beautiful cherry shelf from my oldest boy

 My kids knew I had been wanting a ball glove, so they found me one trimmed in pink.

From Evan, Kait, and Alli

Mother's Day 2011 was wonderful!

Catching Up!

Our family enjoyed a few days together during this year's spring break. We attended IHC, and then stayed an extra night for another visit to the Creation Museum. It was a rare and beautiful spring day (at least for this spring!) and we had a lot of fun.
Just before leaving Cincinnati, our transmission seemed to lose a gear. It actually happened as we were turning onto Young St. after climbing Dorchester. We had that sickening $1200 feeling in the pit of the stomach, after wondering for some time about how long our transmission would last.
We drove back home at 45 mph. Talk about getting weird looks on I-75!
It ended up that the transmission was ok, and we only needed to have a part replaced. :)
Here are a few pics from the week. We weren't too camera happy..

Alli and Aubrey entertaining each other at IHC

Daddy's Girl

The Gang

Ryan had fun manning the camera...lots of dinosaur pics!

Kait loves animals

Mommy has been given lots of fresh bouquets this spring! 

A Mother's Love

There's no power like it on this earth

No treasure equal to its worth

The gift of a mother's love.

~Brickman~

To our wonderful moms, Ruth and Alberta.  Thank you for everything.  We rise and call you blessed!