Happy 4th--on the 5th--LOL

Of course my 4th of July posting would be on the 5th--

We had a good time with family--sorta laid back--thankfully!!

I got lots done, so I can feel comfortable leaving for the coast today!

Hannah in her contemplative pose. She is famous for watching everyone else. Kinda like a sponge just soaking in all of life.

But there is no doubting that she has unique style when it comes to clothes! LOL!! Purple sandals, red socks, blue jeans, pink sweatshirt, and green shirt--oh and the red, white and blue beads!! Guess she about covered it-except orange!

Caleb checking out the sparkler competition-- Yes, everything for this boy is a competition! A true Jordan!

I am so very thankful for sweet sleep which is giving me back some energy!! Also for friends and family who willingly jump in to help--especially since I am so terrible at asking for it!!

I did not mention earlier that after a couple of hours of fast pick up at the church--with amazing friends staying to help---I drove off with the hatch open on my van and drove over a mile with out loosing anything out of the back!!! The last things in the van were 4 large glass water pitchers--you know the kind for serving large groups, and they stayed in. God was very gracious to this exhausted mom!!

Then we got home and my 2 wonderful sister-in-laws, 5 nieces and nephews, 1 brother-in-law, my parents-in-law, my 2 sons, my 2 daughters and my husband helped me take on cleaning!! In a couple of hours I had all the dishes washed, coolers cleaned, laundry started, fish bowls cleaned, food put away, strawberries frozen... well you get the idea!! It was heavenly!! Thanks everyone--I would still be working on it without all your help!!

Erinn and Michael Wedding!!

I wanted to get some pictures up of Michael and Erinn's wedding.

Please forgive the quality, better ones coming soon.

David and Erinn--now you can see why Hannah called her dress-fluffely!!!

Kenna, Devynne, Robin and Danielle are very beautiful in blue!!

The unity candle and prayer.

The all important 'Kiss'!!!

Erinn and her husband, Michael!!

Since two of the groomsmen could not attend last minute due to military duty, Drew got the pleasure of escorting two of the lovely bridesmaids back out!!

We will be heading to the coast for a couple of days, I will try to get more posted before then, but definitely no guarantees with tonight being the 4th!

WEDDING #2 TODAY!!!

Thankful.....

We are thankful beyond words that this was the only damage that occured yesterday on Drew's outing!!!

It could have been so much worse!!

Drew asked to borrow my car since his has been loaned out and I was needing to pack it for today's activities, so Erinn kindly loaned him her car.

He was about 2 miles from the house at a stop sign and was waiting to do a left hand turn.

Drew thought the guy coming towards him had his turn signal on, so he went---and the guy was not turning!!!

When they both realized what was happening Drew gunned it and the guy pulling the boat with his 250 Ford pickup slammed his brakes and only bummed the bumpers---rather than a full drivers side collision with his pickup taking out the drivers side in this small Ford Escort!!

It could have been so much worse!!

The guy barely had a scratch on his truck!

Drew is OK!

The car has slight bumper damage!!

We are thankful beyond words!!

God is Good!!

2 days to go!

We were able to get into the church and do some set up today.

Our church meets in a gym, so another local church is allowing us to use their facilities on Saturday.

And we have a memorial service at our church this evening, so we are not able to get the needed tables from there till this evening.

Hence the 'some' set up!

Then we did some of the shopping---here is what $150 worth of fruit looks like, minus some watermelon on the chairs.

We only had the one 'oops' with the watermelon in the forefront.

We are waiting till tomorrow to do the cutting and getting the rest of the food.

So thankful for good help and laughter this morning as we tried to figure out how to arrange things for the reception!!

A New Do---And Life!!

Not been doing much posting---I think the craziness of the last 2 months has caught up and I am finding myself just kinda zoned out! LOL

This morning was hair take out time--

I always love the pictures right after braids out.

I left her 80+ micro braids in for a month---

not such a good idea!!

They started to loc!!

Lost a bit of hair ends to get them out!

We now have quite a few less for wedding #2 on Saturday!

She was allowed in the pool with strict instructions to keep her hair dry!

Next week we head to the coast for 4 days---

any good ideas to keep the sand out of the newly done hair?

We also did VBS last week.

Caleb is in football camp this week.

And both Hannah and Caleb start baseball this week.

Drew is working full time and working around life missing his car.

David is busy with 3 classes this summer.

Erinn is done with work and packing and planning like crazy.

We expect Danielle in tomorrow night for Erinn's wedding, sadly Ryan will not be able to attend with his new job just starting.

Michael will be in on Thursday.

Neither of his groomsmen in the military ended up with time off, so we had some last minute change of plans for the wedding.

We have a living room full of wedding stuff getting boxed to go.

Other than that, life has been pretty NORMAL!!

You know, sometime you just gotta roll with the punches or get knocked out!!

As I have said before...

Life is good, Life is busy, but I wouldn't want to change it for the world!

A Promotion..

A huge congratulations to Michael on his promotion to Sergeant!!


Way to go Michael, we are so proud of you an honored to soon (7 days) have you as our
son-in-law!!


The US Mil*tary is lucky to have men like you in their ranks, as are we having men like you serve our country so faithfully!!

Interesting...

...how my African treasures don't need much to make them happy!!!

With a backyard full of toys...

Caleb is playing drums with a bucket and pot and broken sticks, and using the post beside him for an extra sound!!

Hannah is entertaining herself with an onion stalk and a stick!!

And in case you think this is unusual, let me assure you this is very normal around our house.

One of the things I think our American born children miss is the imagination to make something out of barely anything and actually enjoy it!!

Remember that to over half the kids in the world, this is their only option of toys!!

Cleaning and Cleaning....

my windows that is!!

I guess my mind needed an aimless task in the mist of wedding craziness!!

But they do look good!!

Now back to the steamer and satin and organza!!

Oh yeah and cleaning and prepping 50 or so vases!!

And....well you get the idea!!! LOL

The Big 10!!

My handsome young son is going double digits today!!!

We had a small celebration on Sunday afternoon with some friends from church.

Here are Caleb, Hannah, Tryton, Tanner and Avery the pirates!!

Oh the joy of blowing out birthday candles---see Hannah in the back ground and it is not even her birthday!
Happy Birthday Caleb!! May you continue to grow strong, wise and in good character--May the Lord be you guide every step of the way!!

Topps Soccer Field Day!!!

Topps soccer is a program run in conjunction with the US Youth Soccer Program for kids with disabilities. Yesterday they had a fun field day and also brought in the police and fire department for the kids. Plus they got cool new t-shirts and shoe bags!!

They make playing soccer fun, like soccer bowling and at each individual level.
They also allow siblings to attend!

My beautiful contemplative daughter!!

Learning throw ins--trying to hit the rings.

This sweet young coach tried to teach Hannah to throw in with her whole body leaned back then leaning forward to throw----as you can see, with her motor planning issues, her body is still leaned back and she has thrown the ball!! They were so patient in working with her till she almost had it!!

Caleb of course got the throw ins fast----so this great coach with a cool British accent worked with Caleb on getting the ball up off the ground. They eventually picked up the hoops and had him trying to get them through the hoops. Each child at their own level with their own coaches---COOL!!!

Time for some team game playing!! This also was done with an unusual twist, more than one ball, coaches pretending to get the ball, coaches kicking to kids and missing the balls!!

At one point the action got too much for Hannah, so she went to her 'safety place'. You see her fiddling with her tag, she gets to overwhelmed with action and communication and she goes kinda inside herself, I am thinking as a safety mechanism.

Well this coach saw it and jumped right in literally!!! Yep, he got down on Hannah's level and drew her back in. It was great to watch and made me teary eyed!!

Caleb loved trying on all the fireman equipment!!!

Hannah tired them on too, though I think the jacket weighed almost as much as her!!!

The great helmets!!! Made their heads a little off balance with the weight of them.

Trying out the drivers seat.

And the jump seat.

And best of all the hose!!!

My serious one!

Who definitely does not want to get wet, even though she is using a fire hose!!! LOL

Photo's Are Up!

This photo is from family, but if you go here

you can find the official photos of the wedding. Be sure to click on the slide show!!!

Finishing Strong!!

Have I mentioned how much I love this guy!!!

Today, three weeks after our official graduation, he finished his final class!

After 13 long years of schooling his books are packed and he will be moving on!!

In fact today he received his final packet of information to sign and send out to Washington State.

I will miss him!!

The chaos he brings!!

The noise he instigates!!

The laughter of his strange sense of humor!!

The intensity in everything he does!!

The teasing to keep life light!!

The drive to perform athletically!!

The honor to do the right thing!!

The joy in life!!

The love of Christ that keeps all the above in perspective!!

I will miss him, but I know the world will be a better place because he is out there in it!!

Father God, I pray that you keep him and guide him every step of the way!!

Play Days

We are enjoying more kiddo track and cousin fun around our house. It is a nice down time after the rushing of wedding one!!
Interestingly I have watched Hannah talk and interact in pretend play with her cousin---something we very rarely see!!

And Caleb was voluntarily reading with his cousin--again something very rare!!

Wedding Picture Overload!!

Finally getting a moment to get to some pictures of Danielle and Ryan's wedding up.

They are all out of order, but oh well!

The father-daughter dance.

The Jordan crowd.

Me and my sister, Carol.

Danielle's good friend from Baker days, Jill.

Devynne and Brenna were great helpers with the buffet.

My beautiful daughter!

The guys just hanging out.

My good friend Linda who managed all our food for the day---I woulda been in so much trouble without her!!!

Darryl and Becky, David's parents.

David's brother, Paul, and Grandma Mae.

Danielle and Ryan amidst the crowd at picture time.

The beautiful cake, my mom made.

Hannah, the flower girl, Danielle, the bride, and Caleb, the ring bearer.

Erinn and Drew

Hannah in the midst of lots of flufflies!!

Caleb, practicing using the pillow as a football.

Drew and Ryan

My mom, Marsha, putting the cake together.

Erinn and Danielle