14

Fourteen??

Fourteen!?!?!

Last week we celebrated Joe's 14th birthday.  Holy moly, FOURTEEN??

 

Joe and I are now the same height, yet his feet are larger than mine by nearly 3 sizes :)

His voice is now deeper, his shoulders are growing broad, he will begin 8th grade next week... It's happening, folks.  Joe is growing up!

 

Joe invited some of his friends to join us at Aunt Merry's for a day of birthday fun- it has become his annual party, which is cool because Merry's house has so many fun things to do, so there is minimal pressure to entertain the boys.  They played wiffle ball, football, they swam, they ate, they shot a bb gun, they stood in a tight circle and talked (this must be a teenager thing) (and I say that as though I've never been a teenager nor have I ever observed teenage behavior) (gosh I'm getting old!).

Can you spot the biggest kid of all?

 

Max loves helping Merry around the property. He helped gather wood for a fire.

 

 

 It was a happy birthday for Joe :)  He even said it was his best birthday yet!

The Final Days of Vacation

 

We ate Schulzie's bread pudding at Venice Beach. Delicious!

 

We played at Muscle Beach...

We walked around Santa Monica...

 

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on a double-date with my parents, who celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary...

 

 

I went to a baby shower for my friend Amy, who is great-with-child :)

 

 

We hung out with the Newlyweds after they returned from their honeymoon...

 

 

 We visited with family...

 

 

And we survived a heat wave!

 

 

Disneyland 2012

After the wedding was over and we'd eaten our share of leftover wedding cake, we extended our road trip further south to the Happiest Place on Earth.  Disneyland!

The newest attraction at Disney's California Adventure is Cars Land, and if you've seen the movie Cars 1,001 times like we have, you will appreciate that Cars Land is the exact replica of Radiator Springs.  Max, our resident Lightning McQueen fan, was wowed for sure, but I suspect that I enjoyed it even more than he did :)  It was so awesome!

McQueen crusied down the street

Mater was hanging out at the Cozy Cone

Our crew

Buzz Lightyear!!!



The scary ferris wheel

Meeting Rapunzel was a highlight.  She was very kind and made Lucy pinky swear that they'd be best friends forever

Cooling off in the river rapids ride

Max was soaked!!

Ice cream break in the shade in Radiator Springs

The Jungle Crusie

Though we had such a great time, there were a couple of elements that were out of our control.
1. The heat. It was 106 degrees during the day- too hot!
2. The earthquake. There was a 4.4 earthquake on our first night in Anaheim, with over 30 aftershocks, so several rides at the park were closed throughout the next day to be checked for damage. 

Two summers ago, we spent five days at Disneyland, and I thought I'd mastered the experience at that time.  I even blogged here about my lessons learned.  Well, here were the mistakes that I made on this trip.
1. Our lovely hotel of choice, the Sheraton Park Hotel, was within reasonable walking distance to Disneyland- 2 city blocks.  No problem!....  unless you are Max or Lucy....  who begged to be carried.... in the 106 degree heat...   to and from Disneyland...  two round trips daily....  Um, so, by the third day my dad sprung for bus passes.
2. We didn't have the car space to bring a stroller, and I honestly, naively, didn't think we needed one.  Ha! After transporting Max and Lucy from the hotel to the park, they then requested to be carried around the park and held while waiting in lines.  Did I mention it was HOT???  Um, so, by day two we rented Disneyland strollers for each of the little people and everyone was much happier.
3. I only packed flip flops.  Imagine dirty feet, one nasty blister, and ugly, chipped toe nail polish.  Oh, and sore feet from so much walking!

Other than those problems, we had a magical time, and "It's a Small World" is still stuck in my head :)

Wedding Day!!!

The day had finally arrived!  The wedding day!

Start to finish, August 3rd was a celebration.  We took a ton of pictures, of course, and as I look at them I will always remember what a wonderful day it was for our whole family, and, yes, especially for Aaron and Molly. :)

So, get comfy...

~Captivate Salon~

~On Our Way!~

~Ready & Waiting~

~Meanwhile...~

~Showtime!~

Brady stopped to wave and give high fives

My sweet sis cried the whole way down the aisle :)

~The Kiss~

"I Feel Good" played as they danced down the aisle. 

~The Reception~

~Time to Dance~

"I Won't Give Up On Us" by Jason Mraz

(My toast)

When I think of Molly, I think of her as the eternal little sister- the blonde girl with the bob haircut, the family’s mascot, the one who from birth was dragged to all of our sporting events and school functions, the one who is always smiling and could spend a whole day watching classic musicals.  Maybe this is how you think of her too.  Our baby!  While Molly played with Barbies, I was chasing boys.  When Molly’s attention turned to boys, I was having babies.  Now that Molly has become a wife, she is catching up to me a bit, and I am so thrilled for her to begin this next chapter of her life.  Sis, tonight I see you as a grown woman- well, a grown woman in a sweet-little-sister-kind-of-way J

For a girl who has always believed in fairy tales, Molly’s dreams have come true in finding Aaron, her Prince Charming.  Molly gave her heart to God many years ago, and she has completely trusted that He would bring her a dreamy companion someday. The Bible says that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”, and Aaron, you are immeasurably more than any of us could ask or imagine for Molly. 

And while the “someday” came early for you two, the Bible also says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”  Molly and Aaron, what a godly example you have been to everyone who knows you.  My prayer for your life is that you will be blessed richly for seeking God’s will and obeying His word. 

And Aaron, Molly isn’t the only one who loves you- I think it is safe for me to speak for the rest of our family when I say that we are smitten and we welcome you into our big, crazy family with open arms, looking forward to years of ping pong battles, card games, and any game with strategy really, because, as you know, it is all about the strategy!  I hope that my sons Joe and Max will grow up to be like you.  And Molly, I hope that Lucy will grow up to be like you. And that she gets your long, pretty legs J

So, I raise a toast to my baby sis and her groom.