Ryan's surprise 30th birthday party

I mentioned in my last post that we had a fun filled 3 days, the wedding being the first day. Well the next day after the wedding, I held a triple birthday party for Blake who turned 7; Ryan, who turned 30; and my sister Sue, who turned 42. The party was awesome! I mainly threw it for Ryan, because 30 was a big number, and he had NO idea I was doing that! It was incredibly hard to keep it from him. I did the party in a 60's and 70's theme, because those were the decades Sue and Ryan were born in. We all went to church, and after church, Ryan went up to his family's house for lunch while I "spent time alone with my sister", which I did, just getting ready for the party. Then Ryan decided to come home and go swimming in the pool. His family tried their hardest to keep him there, but he insisted on going home. I was working at the church to get this all together, I told him that me and Peggy were still spending time together, and he was starting to get mad at me for ignoring him all day, LOL. He was getting more and more angry with me, but I knew he would forgive me ;) We finally got everything ready right when it started, and I told Ryan that there was an ice cream get-together at the church at 6:30 (which there was) I wanted him to show up at 6:15 so we could all yell "SURPRISE!!" So we had a nice crowd, and sure enough, at 6:15, he walked in and we yelled. There was a smile from EAR TO EAR on his face. I honestly thought he would figure things out, but somehow I pulled it off!!! It was so fun seeing all my efforts worked! Then as soon as he walked in and we yelled at him, I made him put on this hilarious purple velvet outfit with zebra print trim and a HUGE zebra hat! It was totally 70's and looked so funny! He did put it on, but only for a few minutes to take some pictures, because it was so hot. Gabriel was very entertaining! Lee kept getting a drink of tea, and Gabriel kept trying to steal it from Lee by giving him a kiss, so I had to snap a picture of it! Gabriel is so cute!And here is little Madison, she is getting so big, and she is so sweet! My sister peggy fell in love with Madison and Gabriel!

I served some finger foods, cake and homemade ice cream. Then Ryan, Sue, and Blake opened cards and presents, and everyone eventually went home. It was so much fun! I couldn't have done it without everyone's help (being sneaky). THANK YOU EVERYONE (You know who you are ;) It was a big success, and yes Ryan DID forgive me for ignoring him!

Shane and Courtney's wedding

Hello, hello :) A lot has happened in the last 3 days, but I'll just have to do one blog at a time, I first of all wanted to show everyone pictures from my nephew (and new niece's) wedding. Then I will post another blog tomorrow on the other things :)

Shane and Courtney had a perfect, BEAUTIFUL wedding. Everything went very well, and they are such a happy couple. It was sad not having Steve in the ceremony but there were a couple things done that gave tribute to Steve. First of all, they had an 8x10 picture of Steve at the alter, which I thought was so sweet. But the sweetest things were, Shane walked out of the dressing room into the ceremony with the minister, and then left the minister at the alter, and walked down to the end of the aisle, and walked his mother down the aisle (Steve's wife) and by the way, that brought out major tears to EVERYONE'S eyes. It was so sweet. THEN, when Shane and Sue got to the front of the aisle, Sue went up and lit her side of the unity candle, and ALL of the groomsmen put toothpicks in their mouths because Steve ALWAYS (except for when he was sleeping) had a toothpick in his mouth. That was his trademark. Anyway, they all did it at the same time while Sue was lighting her candle, and then they took it out to continue the ceremony. I couldn't have thought of a better way to pay Steve tribute. I just can't describe how thoughtful and sweet those gestures were, especially for Sue, and Steve's mother and sisters.

Then Courtney came down the aisle, and was she ever beautiful! The ceremony was perfect. The reception was also nice. The decorations were gorgeous. Courtney's family did an excellent job on everything! They put a lot of work into it, and they had so many neat ideas! I know that they are going to have a happy marriage, they are crazy about each other! It was just a perfect day, and everything went great!

My sister, Sue with her children and their spouses

My family

Shane and Blake, they were so handsome!

Courtney and Taylor, both were so beautiful!

Fun 3 weeks ahead!

Hello again! My move has slown down, but my life has definitely not... Before I get started, if anyone wants to mute my wedding music, just go to the slide show, and in the top left corner, there is a volume logo, and just click it, and it mutes.

Well, there are 2 more days of school for my children. And of course those 2 days are going to be nothing but fun. Last week, Taylor went to the Oklahoma Science Museum, and Ryan was able to go with her. They both had a nice time. Then Blake went (without a parent) to a place called "Jump-In", which is a place that has a lot of inflatable jumping equipment, and obstacle courses, etc... Then today, Taylor got to go on another field trip to a really fun place called Incredible Pizza. It is a pizza/pasta buffet with tons of things to do inside (like bumper cars, go carts, mini-golf, and lots of arcade games. So they have had a lot of fun in the last 2 weeks. Tomorrow they have a picnic at a local park, and then Thursday is it, the last day!!! AND... my sister, Sue, and her daughters are coming to visit on Thursday! They will be here all weekend, and then sometime in the next week, we are going to go to Arkansas to see some of my Dad's family. Then, on the 29th, we will be heading to the panhandle for my nephew's rehearsal dinner, then the following day is the big day for Shane and Courtney! I'm very excited. There is also a little sadness, that Steve didn't make it to see Shane get married. 3 DAYS before Steve passed away, he was fitted for his tuxedo for Shane's wedding. So that is going to be hard for everyone, just not having him to share the joy.

We will return home after the wedding, then the next day (31st) I have something very big planned, but I can't go into details, but I PROMISE that I will post about it shortly after ;) Then on June 1st, which is Blake's birthday, my whole family are all going to Frontier City, which is an amusement park in Oklahoma City. That is going to be a BLAST! Then, June 3rd is my sister Sue, and Ryan's birthday, then the 9th is mine. My sister, Peggy will be staying around for a week to two weeks after the wedding, and she will also be going to Arkansas, and I may go with her also, so I may be making 2 trips down to see my Dad's family. I know I'm rambling on and on, but now you see what the next 3 weeks are going to be for me, busy, but FUN!!!

Our 10th anniversary

I honestly can't believe that today is our 10th anniversary. It seems like it should be like our 5th, but certainly not our 10th. Time has really flown! Last year, Mary posted a blog about her 10th anniversary and posted some pictures from her wedding day, and I loved that idea, and decided to do the same thing. I decided it would be fun to make a slideshow of our wedding day :) Ryan and I are going to go out to eat somewhere in Oklahoma City and then go see "17 Again". We would have LOVED to went back to Dallas, but don't have the money at the moment. This day in age, I feel very thankful to have made it to our 10th anniversary. Most marriages are over by then. I am looking forward to more milestones in our marriage (our 25th, etc...) I love my husband and definitely look forward to many more years with him :)

My countdown has begun!

Life is finally starting to get better for us. We are officially moved into our new place, however I still have a lot of unpacking to do. We have been without our van for about one month. Ryan's uncle has agreed to help us put a new transmission in it, so Ryan is staying with his aunt and uncle and going to work on it with him, so I'm hopeful that we will have our van back very soon. I'm very happy about that, plus I'm so glad that this move is basically over. Those were 2 things that have been driving me crazy for a while!
This coming Friday is Ryan and I's 10th anniversary! I can't believe it is already here. I'm hoping we can go out to eat, if nothing else.
I am getting very excited because in 3 weeks, my sister, Sue, and her daughter(or daughters) are coming to spend a little time with me, and a few others before her son's wedding on May 30th. Then after the wedding, Sue, my mom, and my other sister Peggy (and her kids) are going to be coming to spend time with me. So I will basically have my family on and off for about 3 weeks! I am so happy about that. I get to missing my family so bad! Everyone is wanting to go down to Arkansas (where my Dad's family is from), and I'm also looking forward to that. It is going to be so nice having company!
Then after everyone leaves, there is a BIG possibility that my whole family will be going to Colorado for a month or so. My mom and sister (Sue) both have cherry orchards and it looks like they will both have a harvest. So they will REALLY NEED our help (even Taylor and Blake's). Ryan hasn't been able to find work, so this would be good for us, we can all work, and earn money, while helping my mom and sister out.
So that is basically what is going on in my life right now. It sounds like my life isn't going to slow down much for a while, but I'll be busy in a totally different way, not moving :P

It's nice to put faces with names, so I thought I would do that... Left to right: Sue, Me, my Mom, and Peggy

Left to right: Shane (the groom to be), Sue, Steve (Sue's husband who recently passed away), Savanna, Trevor (Vanna's husband), Jeremy (Steph's husband) & Stephanie

Peggy, Danny, and Kayla