The Wedding - FINALLY!!

My brother, Mark, and his fiance, Cyndi, are finally married! Friday, August 13th, 2010, they got married at The Little Brown Church in Nashua at a 3 p.m. ceremony. It was small, but great!My sister and I took our girls to get their hair done. This is my niece, Kendall, getting beautified!

Madison's hair after it was finished! Very elegant! Her hair is so thick, but it ended up staying the best over the entire day.

Laci sitting very still for the girl doing her hair. Her hair is fine, but when it got all curled, it seemed like she had so much hair!

I even took Olivia. The gal who does my hair, did Olivia's in a ponytail, with some curl! It didn't look at all like this by the time the wedding started. Thank goodness she didn't charge me for the little she did to it! It was a bit of a challenge to do the little she did also, but when she was done, Olivia told her "thank you" and she was very grateful!

Laci (5), Madison (7), and Kendall (3) - princesses!

After the ceremony! From L-R: my sister, Cathy; my mom, Cheryll; my new sister-in-law, Cyndi; my brother, Mark; me!

It was very emotional - my brother didn't get to see Cyndi until she walked down the aisle and he was in tears. Also, we all were thinking of someone who was missing in person, but there in spirit, my dad!

My family - Terry, me, Madison, Laci, and Olivia. Yes, we are all standing on the same level, and yes, Madison is almost as tall as me already. My girls definitely get their height from their daddy!

My sister's family - Cathy, her husband Doug, her stepdaughter Amanda, and her daughter Kendall

Madison at the dance - full of energy!

This is at the dance - Kendall is on the left and Olivia is on the right. Olivia is going to be 2 in September and Kendall will be 3 1/2 then. Olivia is almost as tall as Kendall now and they wear the same shoe size. So much for sharing clothes and shoes, Kendall is just very petite!

Laci dancing with her dad!

What does the ______ say??, Olivia???

This video is from awhile ago, but so cute. She doesn't stay put too long, so you hear the horse as she is getting up to leave the room. (Dad also enters the room at the end - he does exist!) Olivia makes many other animal noises and talks a lot.

I love to hear many of the things she says. She says "Auntie", but many times tries to say Cathy, which comes out sounding like "Faffy". Cathy tries to get her to only say "Auntie" and to which Olivia responds with "Faffy". She likes to challenge constantly - a little spitfire!!

Some other things she says - "Madi", "Laci" which sounds like "sissy", "please", "pretty please", and "thank you". Sometimes after you say "you're welcome" to her, she keeps repeating "thank you" over and over!!!

Where has the summer gone??

Our summer has been full of pictures and I have tried to include several.
We haven't done much this summer, but it sure has gone fast. Short trip to Des Moines, Farmer's Days, and several weddings (some of which are coming up yet). Lily Marie Flower Even, our English Bulldog! She is well over 50 lbs. now. She really is a good dog. This is about the best picture I have gotten of her lately. She slobbers all over my kitchen floor (thank goodness it is tile), but most of the time she really is good and listens well for a puppy.

We went to Des Moines the end of June. It was one day at Adventureland and another day at the zoo. This is the first day of the trip - the girls on the ladybugs, which was one of their mommy's favorite rides when she was little too.

The girls on a truck at Adventureland. Madison went on the Tornado with me one time. She said she liked it, but didn't want to go again. Her eyes were bigger than her head after the first big hill, I think. Laci and Madison went on the Log Ride with me also. They liked it and we didn't even get very wet. I know that is the point for some people, but I really hate being soaking wet for the rest of the day.

At the zoo, Madison and Laci got their faces painted. Madison has a pegasus with green wings.

Laci got a pegasus also, but with pink wings.

Look at this pose! It was great going to the zoo. We had been there before when Madison and Laci were younger, but for Olivia, it was her first zoo trip. She really enjoyed it. The other cool thing about the zoo in Des Moines is that our daycare provider's daughter is a zookeeper there. We got to see her and watch her feed the monkeys. We also learned a bit more about the monkeys because she answered our questions and just told us some cool things about them that you don't get from the signs posted around the zoo.

Our annual trip to the Farmer's Day carnival. I think this is the last year for the boats for Madison, her knees are almost up to her chin! Kendall, my niece, is in the back seat with Laci. Olivia and Madison in front. Growing up so fast - last year, Olivia was an innocent bystander!

Olivia got french braids one night at Terry's parents from her Aunt Dawn. So cute, but it didn't last through the night like Madison and Laci's did.

Finally, some pictures from the shower/bachelorette party my sister and I threw for our soon to be sister-in-law, Cyndi. My brother is finally getting married.

Here is my brother, Cyndi, and a gal, Nikki, from the shower. Mark came after we were done with the shower to take all of the gifts home.

Cyndi and my sister starting off the night at Bucketz for the bachelorette portion of the evening.

On the home front, our house is still on the market. We have dropped the price some. Currently, we are hoping that if we get an offer on our current house, we can build a new one. It needs to happen soon!!

Other exciting news is that Terry has moved to 1st shift - YEAH!!! Much easier to be at home during the summer without having to keep everyone quiet while he is trying to sleep!