Katie & Michael Tie the Knot!

John and I drove to Cleveland for the week of Katie's wedding. We stayed in Abby's awesome new house & helped work on wedding stuff all week...printing programs, putting together wedding favors, wrapping gifts, etc. It was like a little sweat shop in there!

We took some time to visit with friends & made the most of every moment we were there. It was a blast. Katie & Michael had a perfect wedding and one bumpin' reception thanks to Ricky! I was so honored to be part of their special day. These two are so great together & it was a special day for me to be a witness as they committed their lives to one another. I planned on typing more and not having a ton of pictures, but I decided to do the exact opposite. Here are some pics. for you to enjoy!

This deserves a blog of it's own, but since I'm so behind I combined it together. Here is Abby planting flowers before the wedding festivities get started. Her grandmother sent her KY dirt b/c she said it's so much better than TN dirt!!! I knew their family loved KY, but Mrs. Jones took it to a new level! :)

the "magical" dirt ;)

"KY dirt for Abby"

We grabbed dinner one night with Mica, Joe, Kevin, Marissa & baby Ella. Mica, Marissa & I grew up together in Oak Ridge!

she is the cutest thing ever!

Cameron was a trooper printing programs, menu cards, etc for the wedding. She did all the "paper stuff" and it looked amazing!

Patty (katie's mom) and aunt Pam made over 1,000 buckeyes for their wedding favors. Those ladies were in the kitchen for over 8 hrs. baking, rolling & mixing away! Not one peep of complaining either! We put the boxes together & made them look pretty. John helped & was in charge of counting. :)

slavin' away (John, Karen (Michael's mom), Abby & Michael

Michael's dad was a huge help!

This is Tonya doing some wives tale on Arhmin to determine if she is having a baby girl or boy! We all did it and it was hilarious!

All hands on deck!

We stopped one night to view a space station that was orbiting the earth. Astronauts John and Steve made sure we didn't miss a thing!

Sydney is Katie's precious cousin. She is also Abby's secret daughter. She would organize everything....separate the ribbon, alternate colors with the programs. She is very structured & we love her for it.

Is John helping or playing!?

Ironing the table runners & hanging them up! Way to go, Brad!

No one was exempt, even Teddie helped out! She's a trooper!

Cameron was practicing putting hot rollers in my hair. We forgot they were plugged in and they sat there for at least an hour so when we put them in it was burning my scalp. The boys said I was a sissy...they had a contest on who could hold it the longest....I think Brad won.

Like anything could get through that helmet of hair!

ready for the bridesmaid luncheon! Arhmin's mom Suzy did a fantastic job with the luncheon...everything was perfect.

Katie posing.

yum yum we want some!

Cameron and I at the rehearsal.

cuties.

Katie made us each a scrapbook of our friendship with her over the years & wrote a sweet note to each of us. We also got a bag with our name on it and jewelry for the big day!

My bestie!

She would NOT get rid of her gum!

Tonya and Abby waiting for pictures

Kate with the boys

the happy couple!!!!!!

the happy friends!!!!!

taking a peek at some of Paula's shots so far!

Shawn, we are busted for talking during the wedding! :)

Doesn't this look SO SO SO AWESOME! She did a fab. job!

Mr. and Mrs. DelBonis' first dance

Lindsay Sluder made both the bride's and groom's cake! Check her "sugar jane" site out on the side of my blog, she's so talented!

Shawn, Katie, Abby

Ricky is about to get this party started!

get a room ;)

Who could forget the "napkin game." Sadly my camera died after this, but for more on the wedding go to Shawn, Abby or Rachel's blog!

I'll say one more time how honored I was to be a part of this ceremony. Katie has been a great friend in so many ways. We've had a lot of fun together at college, in DZT & working at Lee together and she's always been there for me when things were tough. We've come to know one another so well, that we have an understanding that goes beyond words. Katie & Michael have a deep friendship & have vowed to keep Christ first in their individual lives as well as in their marriage and that tells me they are going to have an unbelievable journey together that is full of happiness and laughter. Congratulations you two!!!!!

July 4th family weekend!!

I flew from Denver CO to Atlanta where my parents picked me up. We then drove down to Anderson SC to meet John at his parent's house! We originally were going to his aunt and uncle's in Johnson City TN, but the plans changed so we rolled with the punch.

The 4th was so great. I love Steve & Janet's house and give Janet a hard time about how sad I'll be if they ever move. It's just so relaxing! We ate a lot, slept in, had somores & stayed up late talking the whole weekend. It was fantastic. Gotta love some family fun.

poppa playing with Jax

Steve & Janet expanded their garden this year.

Julia wanted me to take a pic. of her shirt. She works at the distribution plant here in Anderson & is very proud of her job, as she should be!

we are always hanging around the kitchen like little birds waiting for the cook to drop a crumb!

Raleigh was on chipmunk patrol and was convinced there was one in the kitchen...she wasn't moving.

Tony & Gabriel Moon, good friends of the family.

Steve & Granny

mom testing the water for later...it was 89 degrees!

me & poppa

The morning of the 4th we decided to have a bonfire! We like to do them big! We're actually burning all the trash. Yes, we understand that little fire hose wouldn't really do anything if this got out of hand, but it's there to keep it from spreading across the lawn.

later on we had a real fire to sit around and relax

group shot! notice mom and granny are always cold and therefore always by the fire

fat kid not holding back!

Another added excitement was that the neighbor, Deena, had puppies! They were PRECIOUS and if I didn't already have two dogs, I would have taken one home with me. Their mom is a full registered golden retriever and the dad was a black lab. Guess who they took after!? They are free and still available if anyone wants one! I ended up finding two of them homes.

how can you resist this little guy?

adorable

You can't say "no" to that face

mom with all 9 pups!

getting love from mom

On the way from Anderson to Cleveland my dad and John stopped at a shooting club. It was dad's birthday gift to John. They really had a blast!

Denver, CO

I am a big fat slacker! For the two people that follow my blog, I apologize for just now getting back with the program. I have so much to update on, but I need to go in order so I'll start with Denver!

I haven't been to every state in the US, but I have been to a lot and so far my favorite place ever is CO. I truly love it there. If John and I had family in that direction we would have moved there a long time ago. It's just beautiful! It's clean, it's sunny, it's just plain awesome. I'm glad I get to travel here a few times a year...even if it is for work! Since we can't live there we are going to make it a habit to visit there...A LOT! :)

I met up with Dan and Carol Langer for dinner and had a blast. We met the Langers at our church here in Rochester. Sadly they were just finishing up Dan's fellowship at Mayo soon after we met and moved for him to join a practice in Ft. Collins CO. They were nice enough to drive down to Denver & go out to dinner. We tried this place called "lime" that had really great Mexican food. If time would allow it, I think we could sit there and talk all night. It's so true that time flys when you're having fun. I also want to briefly mention that they met me the very night I called them & got a babysitter for all 3 kids on short notice just to have dinner. Thanks Langers!!!!!

pointing to the sign

we ate down there, the weather was perfect!