O.H.I.O.

I always come to my Monday weekend update blogs a little overwhelmed. I know a few people out there like to read it (ok, just my mom), but I always feel like I'm just dumping a load of [crappy] pictures and a laundry list of what our weekend entailed. And don't worry, I'm getting ready to do that again, I just wanted to let you know that I don't necessarily think it's the best way to do things... but here I go anyway!

We got into town late Thursday night with a sleepy doggy. Unfortunately he slept the whole ride up and was wide awake when we were ready to crash.

Friday morning David bribed me and Sara with pancakes for breakfast so we could all hang out together, and we had a great time! Sara has lived in Thailand for almost 2 years, but we happened to be in town while she was around for her spring break. I LOVE this girl and it was so fun catching up and hanging out. I'm glad she'll be home for good in June so we'll get to see her more often!

David didn't get to see Sara last summer when she was in town (I did, though :)), so he was really excited to hang out with her this time. They have been friends since elementary aged Sunday school, and I'm so thankful!

(Just a random picture... though it's gross of me, David's hot and it was a beautiful day.)

As I mentioned earlier, the reason for our trip was Mattearley's wedding. We had SUCH a blast spending time with Matt and his entire family. We felt so loved and included as a literal part of their family. His parents raved about David and really blessed us with their kind words. So many people in Matt's family have been praying specifically for Dave (as Matt's roommate) for years and years, and we shed a few grateful tears as we were reminded of God's grace in our lives!

The afternoon of the wedding we spent playing putt-putt with the Earleys (yep, me, Dave, Matt & his parents hit the course!), and it was SO fun. I usually hate putt-putt, but this time it was actually enjoyable. I played better than I typically do, and even beat David on the back 9 and lost only to him! It was kind of a joke though because I probably would have done just as well with a blindfold on. I executed no skill whatsoever, just got lucky about 12/18 holes.

On to some wedding pictures...

David and Matt's dad

Arrington has a little girl, Stevie, who is precious. She loves Dave and now me too! She had some serious energy and insisted we only take silly pictures.

It was cool to have all of the Marines there in their dress blues. They did the sword thingy (Dad- what's it called??) on Matt & Arrington's way out of the ceremony. (Isn't her dress beautiful??)

Another perk to the Earley wedding was getting to hang out with our good friend, Jordan! I was so thankful he was there since David had to sit with the wedding party at the reception.

(slouchy mcsloucherton, I know...)

One of the sweetest parts of the reception (other than David's fabulous speech! seriously, he was awesome!) was Matt's dance with Stevie. She was working on a final meltdown, but calmed a bit for this precious moment. Matt is such a wonderful daddy, and it really has been special to watch him love this little girl.

The rest of our weekend (of BEAUTIFUL weather) included playing with Brianna, riding the 4-wheeler, letting Harley roam at his leisure and get disgustingly dirty, eating Skyline, painting pottery, watching Miami baseball (ie- teaching Brianna how to trash talk), walking uptown, eating ice cream and sitting on the porch enjoying family. It was perfect.

...I guess in retrospect, I'm glad to be chronicling life. Granted, life for us right now isn't anything spectacular or particularly noteworthy, but it is our life and we love it. We are so incredibly blessed and keeping up with this blog is a way for me to be reminded of that. Plus, even if I don't maintain this forever (which is likely), I really think I'll be glad to have a record of this time and these events in our lives.