One year ago...

I said 'Yes'

It's delightful when your imaginations come true isn't it?

Anne of Green Gables

I love you Jack, with all of my heart.

Navy Pier

Nicole and I headed up to Chicago with the family as well as with Matt's family who were visiting from Canada.

The gardens in Navy Pier are always a treat to walk through or rest on one of the many benches like Matt and Lauren did. :)

 I have come to the belief that Garrett's popcorn is a pretty good imitation of the manna that the children of Israel ate so many years ago. :)

 We went up in the big Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier for the first time and I was quite impressed with the beautiful view of Chicago and the pier.

 My Nicole makes every adventure amazing and fun! Love her so very much!

 No you aren't supposed to stick your camera out of the car, yes I disobeyed the rules for this shot. ;)

 These two can always make each other laugh so easily. :)

 Mom and Dad LaBate were so kind to drive us all up to Chicago in one van so we didn't have to deal with the traffic.

 I love my second family!

 It was good to meet the Morgans and share some time with them.

 The three amigas :)

 The colorful lights as the sun went down were just too much of a temptation for us seeing as we had our good cameras along. :)

gardening, flowers, and such...

Jack and I had so much fun planning our very first garden; and we are looking forward even more to reaping the benefits!! :)

We chose to stick with the basics:  onions, peppers, spinach, lettuce, romaine, tomatoes, and zucchini.

Because we have a problem with rabbits we decided on a raised bed garden and enclosed it with chicken wire. 

My handy husband also built me this planter box using some pallets... :)

We also wanted some fresh herbs so we decided to start off with cilantro, parsley, and basil.

Can't wait to do some cooking with these!!

Don't let the picture below fool you...our bird feeder is never full.  Seems just as soon as I put bird seed in it, we get a tree full of birds stuffing their faces...need to put them birds on a diet! ;)

Are you planting a garden?  What do you plant?  Any helpful tips to share?  :)

Happy Planting!

Happy Mother's Day

How do I even start to put to words how much this godly woman means to me? How does one thank someone for giving them life, for investing hours of prayers, for exercising great patience, for teaching them countless lessons both in actions and in words?

This year I have watched my mother carry secret burdens that she shared with noone, I have seen her go through cancer and come out on top. I have seen her help pack up her middle daughter and send her off to teach hours away from home. I have seen her give of herself countless times as she helped me plan my wedding. 

Mom-

So much of everything I do-I do because of you. You have always been a wonderful example to look to and on this day and every day I celebrate and thank God for giving me a mother like you. I love you.

6 months

A bike ride, a picnic complete with blanket and cold cuts, a walk on a beautiful spring day, lots of pictures, more bike riding, soft serve ice cream cones.  This was the way that Nicole and I spent the first part of our day on this day, our 6 month anniversary.

It's hard to believe that half a year has passed since our wedding day, but I can honestly say that these have been the happiest days of my life.

We are crazy in love with each other and it's amazing how every day we find out just how perfect we are for each other.  Truly God's way is the best way and we are so grateful that he led us together.

We had so much fun this afternoon, we just couldn't wait to post a few pictures. :)

We shot a roll of film on my brother Luke's Pentax K1000 and we can't wait to see if we got any good shots.....now to find a place that still develops film. :)

 

 

For those of you who have wondered how we get pictures with both of us in the shot I posted a few examples below.  Pretty much we turn normal things into tripods. :)

 We used this tree to get the next two pictures.

 And this handy-dandy arbor to get the last one.

 

Looking forward to as many more months as the Lord will gift us!