PICTURES

Pin It A few fall family pictures.

Whoa... it has gotten away from me

Pin It Whoops... it has been almost two months. I hate it when I look at other peoples blogs and they keep not updating it. I am so sorry.
I have been draggin my feet because Justin takes the camera to work everyday and gets back so late that I don't have time to post pics. So just words today and hopefully pics soon.
The boys are doing fabulous... such a source of joy in our lives. Justin is getting very busy at the farm with Christmas just around the corner. Tree season is in full swing. In a few weeks he will leave at around 4:45 and come home at midnight. We are so thankful to see him at 8 or 9 most nights. We still have time for a glass of wine, a quick catch up on his day, and then to bed.
We are in our house and feeling like a king and queen. It is so beautiful and perfect for our family. We welcome any visitors at any time. One of the many delights in my house is a new stove my hubby bought me. It is deluxo and I have been baking up a storm, a new found joy.
Christ is working my heart is a huge way. Challenging me to be stronger in my faith and look at the needs of others. What an AWESOME God we serve. I have been having great and consistant time with him in the morning and it has been the highlight of my day. Please pray for protection over that time for me.
We love you all.

Our Little Golfer

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Moving

Pin It We are mid-move and I am trying to have a GREAT attitude. It is a little streeful, but we are plugging away. We are going to put all new flooring in our new house so we will be staying at my mom and dad's for a while. Justin is going to be gone every weekend so I will be doing most of the painting and moving in myself. However, I am very thankful. We are going to have a great spot once we get in there. I will post picture soon.

Trip to PA

Pin It Last weekend Justin, Jackson and I went to Pennslyvania. Justin had a convention to attend and Jackson and I caught up on some bonding time with eachother. We stayed at a beautiful spot right on Lake Erie. What a blast. I love spending time with my hubby.

Jackson and I ready to walk downtown for dinner

We ate at an old firehouse. It had a old school trampoline hanging on the wall... with a big target it the middle. So fun.

Moving Day

Pin It It is very bitter-sweet. My sister Julia, myself and our husbands have lived together for almost a year and we are parting ways next weekend. I am excited be in our own space again, but today I am mourning the loss of my sisters companionship. Julia has watched my boys, cooked me dinner, chatted over coffee during a slow morning, and slapped my hand when I ate too many goodies after dinnner. Now she will be 15 minutes away! I hardly know what to do without her. Eventhough there have been days I want to kill her cat, kill her dogs, and only have my husband to blame for the dirty footprints in the entryway, the good well outweighed the bad.
So Julia I will miss laughing with you, cleaning with you, dreaming with you, cooking with you, putting the smack-down with you, gardening (or lack thereof) with you, and being challenged by you.
Visit me often.

The Boys and Their Dad

Pin It We have been on the road the last couple of weekends, but amazingly it seems as though we are able to spend more quality time as a family. The boys have loved hanging out in the hotel room and especially all the time with their dad. Justin is such a great dad and the boys love to talk and play with him.
Here are a few pics of all my men.


Jackson posing

Spencer trying his dads shoes on for size

Dad and Spence in the pool

Jackson and dad sleeping in

Dad getting Spence ready for bed

Wedding

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It is the day after our last VanderWeide wedding. A special thanks to my parents who successfully married off and paid for 6 girls weddings.

We had a blast and it was one of the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to. Maria looked beautiful, the weather held up, and there was flowers everywhere. However, I am feeling the exhaustion creeping up.

We felt a little extra pressure for our entertainment piece because it was the last wedding. I think we pulled it off. We did an 80's number to "Pop goes my heart" from the Music and Lyrics movie. Justin was one of the main dancers with my brother-in-law-David. To top it all off we used my mom and dad as the grand finale. Here are a few pics. Very Scary!

The gorgeous Barn
More flowers

As always, A family pic

The sisters as backup dancers

My hot hubby

David and Justin in tighter pants then ever should be worn by a man

My mom....

and dad as the grand finale

Happy Birthday!!

Pin It It is my WONDERFUL husband's birthday today!!!! He is 26. I am so thankful for him and I want to make this day really special. He started his day meeting with his bible study group. Then the boys and I brought him lunch and card. Tonight I am making chicken Alfredo and we are opening gifts before he goes to praise team practice. Tomorrow we are going out to a new sushi restaurant in Traverse City with my sister Sarah and her husband Chris. The guys birthdays are 3 days apart and they both love sushi.
Babe - I love you and I am so thankful God chose you for me. I could not have asked for a better husband. You are the best.
I will post some birthday pics soon.

Pics of the Boys

Pin It I need to get some professional photos done, but it is a little hard with the closeness in the boys ages. Spence is not to pumped to be holding his little brother... and I am a little scared. I decided a few pictures at home would be my best bet for now. Check out our little cuties!

A Day in the Sun

Pin It Just a few cute pics of our "Little Bubba" on the beach this summer. He is so much fun.

Birthday

Pin It We have decided to celebrate all the grand kids birthdays on the 4th of July since #10 was just born and life is getting pretty busy. Here is a peek at our first annual.

Birthday cakes for all the cousins

Cautious at first

"Is Nana going to stop me?"

"I'm going for it"

"and now I will help John Paul out"

THE FOURTH OF JULY!

Pin It We are privileged enough to spend the fourth of July in Lake City with both of our families. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we took both the boys to the parade. We headed over to my family's for all the nieces and nephews birthday parties (pictures to be posted later) and then went back to Bartlett's for the fireworks. Justin had the whole week off after the fourth and we pulled a camper into Justin's parents driveway ( a little trashy, but very cheap and easy!). We had a great week and hope to make a tradition of it. Here are some pics.



Headed to the parade

The Bartlett clan who made it up for the 4th. Thanks for coming everyone! We love seeing you.

Justin's buddy Keith with Jackson. He is a natural.

Spence with his parade candy.

Spencer and his cousin Aletta, both with suckers.

Our Little Girl

Pin It Since we have two boys we decided we better see what it would be like if we had a girl. We also tried it out on my two nephews.



Spencer

Baby David

John Paul

A Day with the Grandparents!

Pin It It was Grandpa Bartlett's birthday on Monday and Justin and I went to see him and Grandma in Traverse City. Justin's other Grandma was there as well so we got to spend time with both in one visit.
I just have to say... Grandparents are such a blessing. They have so much to teach us and they love us so much. I want my kids to spend as much time as possible with their Grandparents and Great-Grandparents. I want to be more honoring of my elders and let them know how important they are to our family. That was what I was challenged with by our visit.

Justin and Grandpa Bartlett

Grandma Eaves and the boys

Grandma Bartlett and Jackson

One wedding down

Pin It Before I begin... a slight side note. My "delete" button is right next to the "enter" button on my keyboard. I have deleted these top two pictures twice... it is hard to put into words my frustration.
Anyway, we had a wedding last weekend. My baby sister. What a beautiful day. She could not have married a better man. He is sweet, loves the Lord and loves to hang out with our family. Every time Justin and I go to a wedding it does something special for our marriage. It is a little reminder of the vows we took to each other and the sweetness of the Lord's plan for marriage. Here are a few pictures from the special day.



My oldest sister and her family
(Sarah, Chris, Emma, John Paul, Elijah and Steven)

The next sister (Scott, Laura, Mateo, and Ellie)

The bride and groom with my parents

All the nieces and nephews

The new Bartlett Family Picture

The Beautiful Bride

Memorial Day

Pin It We had a great memorial day last week. We planted our community garden with David and Julia and the boys mowed the lawn. We headed over to my mom and dad's at 3:00 to help with wedding prep, which was s blast because all of my sisters and there families where there. It was just nice to have a morning at home with my husband and boys. Julia and David and Justin and I had a picnic outside by our garden and life just felt slow for a minute. I love that feeling.

My husband multitasking... smoking a cigar while mowing the lawn

Justin and David standing proud by their garden

1 year old!

Pin It Where does time go? Spencer was a year old on Friday. We had a party with the grandparents and my oldest sister Sarah and her husband Chris. Their son John Paul is 9 days younger then Spence. They love to play together and I am anticipating all the adventures they will have as they grow up.



"Yes, I'm the birthday boy"

Spence dug into his cake and ice cream

Spence and John Paul with their favorite toys... Tupperware.

Attempting to get a good picture with the boys

The most recent family picture. Spence was pumped about it.