Celebrating 10

Since January 1st of this year Troy and our family have been apart.  What started off as a short term situation ended in a 6 month interesting trip to get us into the same city.  Our vacation this summer and this celebration of 10 years of marriage are all just so sweet for getting our family back together and working seamlessly again.  Our night out was a gift from the Schenk's including the set-up of the babysitter.  Troy and I so badly need the time out and away from the kids to just be alone with no conversation about finding a rental and what's next on the trail of getting back into the same city.  On this night we got to reflect and talk a little about our thoughts on future.  Most of these have been talked about a lot.  We thought about choosing a place we had never been to but when it came down to the final decision all we want was our favorite.  We loved our food and then headed out for frozen yogurt.

In Canton I barely touched ice cream.  I am an ice cream snob.  It has to be my favorite or it's just not worth it.  But one idea is frozen yogurt.  I love cake batter ice cream when I can top it my self.  Now you must be aware the cup gets quick drop of ice cream and then filled with cookie dough and reese's cup.  So really it's not about the ice cream at all it is about the toppings, the ice cream is just the excuse. My heart is all about Cincinnati ice cream my favorite and the only time I can't say no.

I thought the writing on the tables was a clever idea!

Let's just say our 10 years have been wonderful.  Filled with lots of love and fun times.  Filled with challenges and strengthening of our faith.  We have lived in 3 different states, 6 different places we called home,  3 pregnancies, and 2 beautiful children.  We started in Illinois and it only seems right we are here again. 

OBX

The Schenk Family had our second family vacation in about 3 years ago.  I am not sure you could call it a true tradition yet but we are headed in that direction and since we all seem to love them I don't think it will be too hard to get everyone to continue.  We were thankful for time with our family with no pending things and the time with family who love each other dearly.  We spent the early days running the kids tired from the ocean to the pool.  Families took turns preparing meals at night & headed out a few times to eat out, yum!  There was lots of water volleyball, shell collecting, guys playing boards games, very fun girls time, and of course the nights full of laughter at the family games we played.  It was a successful week with great conversations, laughter, family time, and of course food.

10 Years

I thought I would do a big post but I think this post will be a story of pictures...

they meet...

in the back corner you will see a guy, Troy, in a 

red sweatshirt he was my powder puff coach and 

I thought he was scary.

first fancy date...

jr/sr downtown

engagement...

candle lighting was in johnson hall

 my bachlorette party...

girls went out for a night of laughs and pranks;)

getting ready...

 my favorite picture...

 we finally did it...

our first dance of many!

July 4th

During all the unpacking came the 4th and we were excited about all the happenings we had heard about for the little community we live in.  It started off with the bike parade which felt more like a race. Lots of kids participate and parents even pulled some of the younger kids in wagons.  Gracie loved it! She has cheered me on in running events and she loved that one of us were at each corner yelling good job or go gracie!  This maybe the start of more events where we can cheer her on she really loved it.

 the bikes all lined up for the race

 all ready

 and she's off

 after the parade everyone headed down to the little beach for BBQ and swiming

 the local fire dept brought the truck for the kids to see

nolan scoped out the truck, he loved it

the fire dept then shot water over the lake and 

the kids went crazy trying to swim/run thru it.

happy 4th

Mommy Date

Gracie and I love our little dates.  This specific one had been a plan since I saw the Monster's Inc preview.  Gracie went once a long time ago to see Kung Fu Panda which she watched some but I wanted to take her to her first official movie on I knew she would love.  She loved it and laugh out load a lot.  It was just s funny to watch how great she thought it was.  Even more interesting was that over 10 years ago I attended the same theatre with friends not ever thinking one day my daughter and I would be in the same theatre.  Anyway we then headed to the mall to take in the Disney Store, both of our favorite places to go, besides out for ice cream or Target.  It was a fun time and she was a sleep in the car before we got home.  I think movie date nights be something new to add.

Sylvan Lake

The best thing about July is having daddy home.  We lucked out and got a rental in a great location with a private lake complete with sand toys and a park right next to us.  We will take advantage of the amenities all summer.

 my kids already love the beach

 the kids trying to splash daddy

nolan is obsessed with trucks!

Best thing about this trip to the beach I got 

to relax while troy ran around after them

sweet friendship

Our Happenings

life in pictures...

 nolan is ready for a bigger car

 gracie is making new friends and loving it

 nolan loves dry out meal!

Boys & Trucks

can you find Nolan?

A Break...

In the midst of chaos I had to find away for the kids to not feel the confusion and given them some normal good fun.  So, we went down to the lake for a swim.  I was a little nervous having two in the water at once which would be normal but then ad my water fear and I was a little like a bobble head doll with my head nodding back and forth trying to make sure both kids had their head above water. And my no fear Nolan was not trying to dive off the pier.  After about 10 minutes we figured out the rules for each kid and the safety areas and it was pretty smooth sailing.  Gracie made a friend, surprise, and Nolan just enjoyed poring water over his head.

Welcome to Chaos...

I mean Illinois. Yes, our first few days to Illinois cannot be described as anything else except chaos.  The truck arrived and it was unloaded.  As we got to literally the last foot of the truck we found our mattress had been soaked, it had wet stains, and mold growing up it.  The contents that surrounded this area happened to be Gracie's dresser which I loved, our box spring for both queen bed sets, book shelf, and boxes.  Two of which contained shoes, Gracie's baby shoes and Nolan's shoes.  There were a number of other boxes that were moldy but nothing as bad as the shoes and mattress.  I hoped I could just wash some of the shoes and salvage a few memories but there was no way.  I still have documents sitting in the garage that will have to be copied and thrown out. Once the boxes were in the house we noticed these bugs everywhere, it turned out they were spring tail bugs nothing as harmful as bed bugs but still gross, they came from the boxes in the truck, they feed on mold and like water.

The next couple of weeks we slept in hotel rooms, slept on blow-up mattresses, and got things back to some sort of order.  Slowly things are getting back to what I can call normal.

 the happy moment when our stuff arrived

 when the craziness began

one of nolan's shoes covered in black and white mold

we had to document everything with pictures

Last Happening in Cincinnati {part 2)

This one get's its own post.  I absolutely love to go camping and I really think it is best with friends.  Our camping buddies moved out of canton a while ago so we have not been camping in sometime but for our last weekend with Troy in Cincinnati we camped out.  We had a full day of out door fun

we took a long bike ride with the kids and had a 

picnic lunch at a park and then headed back

 we then set-up the tent

 the kids could play all day in the tent

 we roast nathan's hotdogs(the best) for dinner over the fire

and then finished the night off with smores and talking

around the fire pit.

 nolan loved the marshmellows

 and he loved the smore....on his head;)

 my worrier did not enjoy getting to close to the fire so 

she stayed back and kept Carson company, there is

a lot of love there!