Today we celebrate 10 years of Marriage! We're incredibly blessed, and all the glory goes to God.

I John 4:7-19

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

¹³We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. ¹⁶And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. ¹⁷In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. ¹⁸There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹We love because he first loved us.

Leaving in the morning tomorrow for our anniversary trip to Amish Country! I'm very excited to get away and spend some (quiet) time together. I"m also nervous and sad about leaving the kids. I know it'll be good for us, and I need this break, but it's still scary to leave your babies!

Last week was a busy one! Saturday night we came home from the lake and got ready for Sunday. Sunday was Esther's baby dedication followed by the church picnic. Mom stayed to visit awhile and then I did some major trimming of all of our bushes. Monday Gary had church meetings, Tuesday was a run to Sam's Club and then my Bible Study. Wednesday, I woke up with poison ivy. :( That night we traveled to calling hours for the father of our friend Tom. This was a very emotional time for all of us. We took the kids which was difficult, but also a good learning opportunity for Tyler. He didn't ask many questions, and since he didn't know the gentleman, it was not something he dwelled on. It was good practice at traveling, sitting quietly, and then traveling home. They did a very good job of behaving and I was very proud of them all! I"m thankful they were so helpful to allow us to go and support Toma nd Connie and Mary Jane. We had a bit of car trouble, but arrived home safely thanks to a very generous good samaratin and his car expert friend! Thursday came with another evening meeting for Gary keeping him away from home. I"m drawing a blank on what we did Friday. Saturday morning Gary helped some friends of ours move (I stayed home with the kids) and then we tackled more yard work. All week I've worked on cleaning and other organization projects so I continued with that. And playing with the kids of course. :) Sunday we had church, then the planning meeting was here at our house. It was so fun! I love that the kids can go upstairs and I know they aren't breaking other people's things and we can eat and talk in relative peace. I think we're getting settled enough to finally start having people over regularly. :) That afternoon we napped and then headed over to the Haywood's for an Open House/Pool Party/Birthday party. THe kids had a blast in the pool with Pops and Daddy and playing with Marta of course. She and Tyler are still the best of friends! Caleb and Esther seem to have bonded as well. :) Monday we got our grocery shopping done and hair cuts, and last night we had the Haywoods/Miranda's over for dinner and for the kids to play. Us ladies went to Bible Study and Gary watched our three kids and Marta. From the sounds of it they were really good, and he had fun. I am really enjoying this study we are doing and I"m excited about it. {Annointed, Transformed, Redeemed: A Study of the Life of David}

Today I"m finishing up getting the house relatively "in order" for the grandparents to come stay with the kids while we go away. I need to pack too! :)

Josh and Lia's professional wedding pictures are up! Take some time to check them out, they are AMAZING! A day filled with that kind of love and fun (not to mention such a good looking couple and group of friends!) was sure to get great photos, but add in Hooman's amazing talent and these pix are stunning!!

~Josh and Lia Bush~

Relaxing @ the Lake

Ahhhh....

Sitting at my dad's with the windows open, kids are sleeping, listening to the waves and the Tribe (winning BTW). Good times. We got to have dinner with Dad, Uncle Joshua and Aunt Shannon. We had awesome Lake Erie Perch... too much! :) Dad and I thought we'd take the kids for a walk on the beach (his apartment is on the lake), by the time we came back both the kids had stripped down and were soaked completely and covered in sand. Baths, Ice Cream and Blues Clues later- sleep! Tomorrow we'll be here for the whole day and the kids are very excited. Grace didn't even put a toe in the water at the Ocean this year, but she's dying to get "all the way" into the lake. It should be a very fun, and exhausting day.

Sunday Esther will be dedicated to the Lord at church. I"m excited but it's not lost on me the seriousness of this. I know it's a formality, it's making public something we feel and commit to every day... it's just hard. You KNOW they belong in God's hands but in our humanness we just want to hang on and hold them close...keep them as our own. They aren't our own so there is really no "keeping"... I don't know how to put it, but it's emotional.

Speaking of emotion, geez this Lebron Circus has been a disaster. "It's not what you say, it's how you say it." You want to go, bye- you'd probably even have our blessing for the most part, but to make a spectacle of yourself and our city? No thanks. Then, bless his heart, Mr Gilbert tries to rally the troops not to leave with Bron by bashing him.... eh... not so classy either... pointed, and mostly true, but not so classy. That's my take. Everyone feels entitled to do what "makes them happy", fine. Try that. True happiness will not come with a ring- THAT I can guarantee. I tell Tyler all the time- Life is not about you, and it's not about what you want. I'm sad for Lebron- the guy needed a strong man in his life, or more strong men maybe, to tell him he's just a person. Yes he's talented, but he's a person. He's not a king, he's not a savior. Only ONE gets those titles.

On to better things. :) Last weekend, our family weekend was FABULOUS!!! We left Friday morning pretty early and headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo! It was amazing- they had all the animals the kids wanted to see this year that neither Akron, nor Cleveland, had. We took our time, saw the whole thing and skipped naps. I predicted we'd end up at the Aquarium at the hottest part of the day, and everyone else in the world would be there too b/c of the air. I was not wrong! It also happened to be nap time, and a holiday weekend where there were (I assume) more people than usual. It was still fun and we had a great time. We left and checked into our hotel. Yup! We got a hotel room! Thanks to Grandma Sandra's Christmas present of a zoo membership, what would have been a $50 admission was FREE!!! So we figured we'd check it out, and there are cheap rooms out there! It had a pool so after McDonalds in the room (We're so cool) we went swimming. Our little Grace girl who's afraid of water has now become a mermaid. She LOVED it and they both had to practically be dragged back to the room. Grace just sat contentedly in her seat and watched laughing and clapping. We had baths, watched a show and then put the kids to bed. Gary tried watching a little TV but the overtired little guys were very distracted, and he was exhausted, so he went to bed. I read for about a half hour, and then went to sleep too- the last time I looked at the clock it was 9:40. Ahhh... (The Tribe Wins!) Saturday we had breakfast at the hotel and checked out. Then we headed to Target to wander around a bit. We forgot the overtired kids would only want to look at toys, toys we were certainly not buying, so that was a bust. The Zoo had effectively advertised Eat N Park's 99cent kids meals so we headed there for lunch. It took just the right amount of time to get us to 1:00 so we could head to the Kelloggs. Faith's birthday party was a blast! Jackie always makes a big deal out of it and it's so fun. All of Faith's cousins were there (two were celebrating their birthdays as well) so the kids had a blast running around with other kids. They also loved the games and food and cake of course. We stayed and visited all the way till 10 for fireworks. The kids loved that too. Then we headed for home. The kids talked about the trip the ENTIRE way home which meant it was well past midnight before they went to bed/sleep. Sunday we had church. I was in nursery with the girls, and Gary volunteered in Tyler's class (they had 22 that week!) and then we headed to the Bush's for a 4th of July cookout with them and Pap. The kids enjoyed another full day outside, this time with squirt guns! We also had lot of Pap's onion bread. YUM-O! My favorite! The kids napped, for a very long time, so we decided to stay for fireworks in Alliance too. We found a spot in a parking lot on State Street and watched from there, getting home very late again. It was worth it!

We're very blessed to have so many wonderful opportunities to spend time as a family, with extended family and friends. We're enjoying our summer and pray you are too!

OBX Vacation~ Bush Wedding ~ June 2010

**Please note that I'm recording this for me and the kids to remember the day. Please, of you are just stopping by to see what's going on in our lives, don't feel like you need to read this. **

Saturday, June 19th, was an amazing day. It's amazing it's already been almost a month now! We got up and had breakfast together and began some packing. We usually spend a good amount of time cleaning and packing the last full day of our trip. We knew we'd be leaving about 7AM on Sunday so packing had to happen sometime. While cleaning was going on I was attempting to get our stuff organized, and out of the way. This of course put a lot of it IN our room, which is also where we all needed to be getting ready for the day.

Gary, his dad, and Tyler all went to the groomsman's house late in the morning to get ready there. They then were riding the limo bus to the church. Gary was the best man, Tyler the ring bearer, and Mr. Bush a groomsman. I needed to take Grace, the flower girl, to the bridesmaids house because Lia wanted to see her in her dress and have some photos taken of the two of them. It was so fun to be in the house full of girls getting ready for the wedding! I thought we'd be there 20 minutes tops, but it was close to, maybe more than two hours! Lia had gotten a halo of flowers for Grace's hair and I'd planed to have it back off of her head, and then curl the back, or leave it straight. I didn't do anything with her hair because I just wasn't sure what the flowers would look like and how her hair would need to be to secure them. We got there as the girls were all doing their hair and Lia was having hers done, and her makeup.

I'm a wedding freak as some of you know- obsessed. Being there for that was just so amazing. I was able to watch the girls come in and out and see Lia and burst in to tears. I was able to observe as her mom lovingly steamed her dress and hung it on the door. Watch as her dad made sure everything was assembled and ready to be taken to the different sites. And watch her dad just look at her as dad's do when their little girls become brides. I was able to watch the photographer capture moments that most people miss. I was able to watch Lia's sister do her makeup, and her friend do her hair... it was just amazing to see it all come together. To see all these gorgeous women, especially Lia, become even more beautiful. Lia was so relaxed and I really think she was trying to just be in the moment. Lia, if you ever read this, thank you for letting us be a part of that. The most fun part was seeing my little girl Grace, in her flower girl dress, trying to play in the shower as we waited for Lia's hair to be done. :) One of the girls curled Grace's hair which was so fun for her. Finally, when Lia was ready and the photographer captured a few very sweet photos of Lia and Grace.

We then rushed back to the house so we could get everyone ready. Grace finished some lunch to hold her over, we fed Esther and my mom and I somehow got us all ready to go. In fact, mostly my mom got the girls ready. She straightened my hair while I fed Esther her bottle, then she curled Grace's hair and got both girls dressed while I laid everything out, packed food and bottles for Esther for the day, and got dressed and put my makeup on. We were about 500 feet down the road when Grace fell asleep in her seat. Mom and I got to visit the whole way to the church, and then when we got there, everything was a whirlwind.

As always, Gary in his tux took my breath away. The sight of my sweet Tyler in his tux made me cry. He was quite tired and crabby and collapsed into tears several times within minutes of my arrival. Gary was in Best Man mode and barely stopped to say hi to me. I soon realized that I couldn't sit with my mom and just let Gary and "whoever" take care of the kids. I probably could have, but with them being tired and the wedding SO close, I didn't want to take any chances of them melting down. The girls were doing finishing touches, the guys were wandering around trying to keep Josh away from Lia. The fathers prayed for and over both bride and groom seperately, the girls prayed, the guys prayed, the parents hugged and greeted family... I sat with the kids reading them books and getting them drinks, and panicking when Tyler's boutonniere broke. :) My mom stayed in the church with Esther and before I knew it, the mom's were going down the aisle! I asked the kids to stay with the girls and Sue and I went up stairs to sit. At that point though, Sue asked me to have the girls come upstairs. The way the church was laid out they had to walk outside. I ushered the kids inside and then suddenly, Val (Lia's sister, the Maid of Honor) had to go in and someone needed to hold the dress! Lia and I were outside and I wish I could say I said something encouraging or special to her before she went in to be escorted by her father down the aisle. I don't remember what I said, but I know it wasn't anything special. :( Sorry Lia! Suddenly, Sue was opening the door and there was her father and then I was fixing her dress and down she went! I stood back to the side so as not to be in any pictures and then slipped down the side aisle to the front where I was supposed to be. I missed the whole processional and thankfully, even though I wasn't there waiting for them as promised, the kids did a fabulous job. At least that's what I"m told...

Two of the groomsman played/sang the processoinal and a unity candle song. Val and I read scripture, Pastor Dan did a great service and Josh and Lia gave roses to thier mothers and grandparents. Grace wanted to color and chit-chat through the whole ceremony and she dropped her basket of flowers 3 times, Tyler kicked it over at least once. They both wanted what the other had and papers and books were flying all over the floor. Esther made herself known too, but not enough to have to be taken out. Thank goodness my mom was there to hold her! I feel so badly that the kids were being disruptive because I fear they distracted Stephanie. *sigh* However, I wills say- we all knew going into this that anything could happen! They are 5 and 3! :)

Soon it was time for the kids to follow Mr and Mrs Josh Bush back down the aisle!!! It was a beautiful ceremony. So intimate and special and such a tribute to Love that comes only through Christ. I had many "favorite" parts. One was during the song for the unity candle. Josh and Lia went forward and just stood praying together before lighting it and giving of the roses. It was such a sweet moment between them and the Lord, but we each got to witness it. After the recessional we all stood outside and that was magical too. The sun was bright, and you could see the ocean from the church. We were surrounded by friends and family and then out they ran as we threw rose petals and blew bubbles.

They took a short ride in the limo bus while we got the rose petals cleaned up and assembled back inside the church. At every wedding the Kandray family always gets a big family photo of everyone there. I think we had 41 this time? After a few more photos in the church the kids began to melt down so I let them play in the nursery downstairs. When it was time to leave we loaded in the van (Gary went with the bridal party for pictures on the dunes, and apparently, ice cream!) with my mom and headed to the reception site. We decided to stop and get a snack at McDonald's. I know it's not real food but it's amazing how a couple nuggets and fries really help a kid get moving again!

We sat a little in the car and then got out to go get some photos on the beach- the kids with me and the kids with my mom. When the bridal party arrived they did some photos on the beach as well.

Lia had this GREAT idea of having the kids hold a photo frame and Josh and Lia stand behind them so that they were "in" the frame as the photo was being taken. Their FABULOUS PHOTOGRAPHER has already posted this photo to Lia on Facebook and it is AMAZING! He has posted a few on his facebook page as well. You've GOT to check it out. I cannot say enough good things about Hooman. He was amazing. He was so kind and willing to do anything it took- to capture every special moment!! It was fun to get to know him and see him work. He TRULY loves what he does and he's extremely talented! See for yourself- check out the above links, especially the BLOG! (*If you search for "Bush" in the blog you can see the engagement photos as well!)

After pictures it was time to party, and let me tell you- these two, and their bazillion friends, love to PARTY! They did a dance for the grand entrance that was awesome. I wish I knew how to get the video off of my video camera and onto here! So cool. The meal was awesome, the dances were so special and Gary did a perfect job on his speech. Val's was perfect too- I love what she said. It was just the perfect day. I hope it was for Josh and Lia too. It was fun to get to see family and I wish I'd have gotten to visit with them more. There's just so much to say about such a fabulous day... I could go on but I've been composing this for two days, over numerous sittings and even more interruptions! It'll be another hour at least to download all the photos so I'll close here.

Josh and Lia~ we love you so much!

JULY!?!?!

How can that be!? Summer's half over already! I know you are anxiously awaiting pictures of the Bush Wedding, but today is busy with laundry, covering my baby with kisses, and packing for our suprise weekend trip! I"m so excited! Gary's been putting in an annoyingly insane amount of unpaid hours at work so to make it up to us he came home Monday with the idea of making this weekend a little bit of a family vacation. I'm still so much in shock I'm having a hard time motivating myself to pack! It promises to be fun though, and we'll get to see the Kelloggs for Faith's birthday party. We're so blessed to get to spend her special day with her!

Esther is crawling all over the place now. She seems to preferr army crawling but it depends on what outfit she's wearing I've had to move around some furniture and find the baby gate! Grace is totally potty trained at home now. It's probably time to start letting her wear underpants out and about but I'm waiting just a few more days, for my own sanity. :) She was having a hard time with not being allowed to get up from bed to go when she needed to so I've put her in *gasp* pull ups. We'll test it out this weekend at home and on our little trip and see how she does. She's so independant! If she'd tell me when she needs to go, I wouldn't worry about it but usually I ask her if she needs to go only to find out she's already gone twice herself. She doesn't even ask for her M&M rewards anymore! My baby girl is growing up too fast! I'm thankful I didn't push her a year ago though. :) Tyler still has a love/hate relationship with learning. He's improving greatly on his reading and writing skills. His comprehension and retention are astounding. I suspect he'll be a student like his daddy- everything will come fairly easy and he'll only do what he absolutely has to do to get by. :) Mommy will just have to accept that's how he was made!

Praying everyone has a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend.

Be smart.

Be safe.

Remember freedom is not free.

Wishing a very Happy Birthday to Faith Kellogg!

She's a blessing in so many lives, as are her amazing parents. Learn how the Kellogg family is a true testament of God's goodness and faithfulness. Read their blog. He allows things in our lives that seem bad- so that the good can shine more brightly! We love you!