Telling Our Families

Telling My Brother, Tia, Gramma Kathy, Aunty Tracy, Mark, Aunty Wendy and cousin, Mikayla

Friday, September 21st

For all of these people we did the same thing..
My mom usually started things off by saying. "We went geocaching today and found this geocache. You aren't suppose to take them but this one was so cool we had to take it and show you."

I didn't catch most of the big moments (would have been too obvious) but I did get Justin and Tia's reaction and Gramma Kathy's.

Yup.. Tia got it! :)

Then they said "We were just talking about this!" 

Apparently they were talking about me getting pregnant. 

Gramma and Addison's turn

Yup... Gramma figured it out! 

Telling the 5K Crew 

Saturday, September 22nd

I had another surprise up my sleeves..

We did a 5K on Saturday, our 2nd annual family 5K.

I told my family and some friends through my outfit..

Here is the only reaction we got on camera, Aunty Jodi's

We were also able to tell Noah's family and some of my high school friends who were also at the race!

Over the course of Saturday and Sunday we told a large portion of my family. We told most of them by showing them the pictures.

It was so fun telling my Great-Grandma she was going to be a Great-Great-Grandma!

Telling Ben's Sisters and our far-away friends and family

Monday, September 24th - Saturday, October 6th

You've probably already seen this one!

For the special people in our life who we couldn't tell in person we sent this silly little video! 

Then after sharing the news with our close family and friends we moved on to sharing our Baby news on Facebook.

Bocce Ball

A bunch of Menominee High School Alumni {plus Ben} got together for an evening of delicious food, yummy drinks and fun games! 

We walked downtown for dinner at The Cottage Bar. Then continued the night with a rousing game of Bocce Ball. 

Justin

Ben

Chelsea

Tia

Lindsey

Jordan

Danny

Me

The beautiful ladies! 

The manly men!

The evening ended with an intense game of Killer Bunnies while everyone sipped some of Ben's homebrew beers and cider. 

A super fun night with some super fun people! 

Some of these guys haven't seen each other in 5 years. Funny how everyone slips back into friendship after so long apart. Thanks for the fun evening everyone! 

Beautiful Soul

Our dear friend, Lauren, has 3 younger siblings. The 2nd oldest Meghan, has been mentioned a couple times on our blog because she is a cancer survivor.

I mentioned her here and here but her battle with cancer took place before I started this blog. I had only met Meghan twice before I found out that she had bone cancer. I took the news quite hard. My friendship with Lauren was growing so I felt extra connected to Meghan and after losing my Uncle, cancer was a sensitive topic for me. 

Meghan is an inspiration - not because she survived cancer but HOW she survived. Her complete trust in God at such a young age inspired me to grow closer to Him. About a week ago Meghan received the surprise of her life when Rob Bliss secretly worked with Meghan's school and others to create a two-story tall volleyball court on Lake Michigan to celebrate her! 

Grab some tissues and check out this beautiful video of a beautiful young woman. If you are interested check out the scholarship page at the bottom to support Meghan's dream of becoming a children's nurse. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiMZiWeSHE8

The college fund has been started here: http://gogetfunding.com/project/meghan-s-scholarship-fundraiser

Thanks for reading! I'm so excited to see what God has in store for Meghan! 

Vacation!

We crammed A LOT into our vacation to Marquette. We arrived in Marquette on Thursday, July 5th and left that Sunday, July 8th. We spent the beginning of the week relaxing and doing a whole lot of NOTHING so we felt refreshed and ready to be extra busy during the second part of our vacation! I took MANY pictures but tried to pick out a few to summarize our visit!

Classic Bridge Photo

We quickly found our way to Lake Superior to dip our toes in the cool water!

Alyssa (Ben's old resident, now our downstairs neighbor) and I 

So happy to be HOME!

The sights of Marquette never get old!

Ben and I tried to visit all our favorite locations: Donckers, Border Grill, Marquette Food Co-Op, NMU, Lil' Presque, Sugarloaf, Presque Isle, etc. 

We made multiple trips to Presque Isle!

We also visited the church we were married in and celebrated 2 years of wedded bliss!

Our pals, Elizabeth and Taylor got married! The boys had a pre-wedding huddle!

I thee wed!

YOU DID IT!!

There was a slight boat malfunction that was corrected with help from some wedding guests. (of course Ben helped too!)

The BEST guest "book." I seriously love this idea!

My old resident, Parker! He was one of my feisty kids when I was a Resident Adviser. Gave me some trouble but turned out alright... :)

Congrats Elizabeth and Taylor!

Their first day as husband and wife was spent rock climbing, cliff jumping and hiking! 

Ben and I left the group for a bit and found "our tree." The photographers took photos here on our wedding day. We have stopped at this tree twice since we left Marquette. 

Two days after the wedding we all got together at the newlywed's home to eat reception leftovers and to play a game. Ben made salsa to contribute to the lunch. 

On our hikes Ben and I found some blueberries! YUM!

Ben and I went for one last hike before we left Marquette. Right before we left we hiked Sugarloaf Mountain. 

Honestly for how busy the trip was, it was PERFECT! We did just about everything we wanted to do and accomplished what we set out to do - celebrate with our dear friends. And we did just that!

Small Group Adventures

Ben and I started attending his family's church when we moved here 13 months ago. Sometime later we were approached by Ben's mom about the possibility of joining a small group bible study. We spoke with a Pastor who suggested we join a group of young people who were led by an energetic couple. We were intrigued and said yes. We met up with two young couples, a single woman and our fearless leaders. We have studied a few different topics, explored a book, and lost one of our couples to a new job but are now taking some time to relax and get to know one another. So far we've gone on two adventures together: BrewFest 2012 and an outdoor concert! 

BrewFest 2012

Kurt and John working on the brew - similar to Two Hearted. 

The final stage for the day. Transferring the beer into this glass container where it will ferment and age. 

Kurt's daughter studied up as her dad made his beer. 

Outdoor Concert

Instead of meeting for our regular small group meeting we attended an outdoor concert and had a picnic! Nothing says summer like big blankets, watermelon, beer/wine and babies!

Such a cutie pie! She was hilarious eating the watermelon and even feed it to me!

Enjoying the beautiful weather and beautiful company!

Kurt and his daughter.

Bonding with Linda.

She was such a good girl!

We've really been enjoying our time with our small group and have enjoyed these extra little adventures together!

Ink

Ben and I got a little crazy and long story short we both are now the proud owners of a tattoo!

Longer version of the story...
After High School I lost touch with one of my good guy friends. After moving back to GR we have rekindled our friendship. Our pal, Jordan, among many talents, does tattoos. Over the course of our get-togethers we started discussing the possibility of Ben getting a tattoo done by Jordan. Now I have a policy when it comes to tattoos. Ben had to want the same tattoo in the same place for a GOOD LONG TIME before I even began to consider the option. Over the course of the last few years Ben has changed his mind numerous times but one idea stuck.

Ben and I searched the internet for ideas and sent a few to Jordan. Jordan combined what we liked from various images and came up with the finished product. A few weeks later Ben was inked!! I FELL IN LOVE with Ben's tattoo and the whole process so a few weeks after Ben got his, I GOT ONE! Ben and I got the same one and we both are so happy we went through with it. 

www.jordanwho.com