A Beautiful Day!

Saturday, Jared's brother, Dustin married Amanda.  It was a beautiful ceremony and a great time!  Jared was the best man and Ethan was the ring bearer.  This was his ring bearer debut and he did great!  And, I think he was the cutest little ring bearer I've ever seen!  But I may be biased :).  I sat up close and took a lot of pictures during the wedding.  Here are some of my favorites.

Getting ready with the guys.

During the ceremony.

Eek!!  Isn't this just the cutest?!? 

The guys

Dustin's first look at his bride :)

Mr. and Mrs. Dustin Collier!

Taking a few snapshots behind the photographer!

All the Colliers in attendance.  We're a big clan!

The Mark Collier Family :)

We clean up nicely :)

Reception Fun!

Beautiful flowers by Jody Smalley!

Mother, son dance.

Nora, having a good time at the reception

Ethan and Jared took on the task of decorating the get-away car!

Dustin and his wife, Amanda

It was a beautiful wedding!  We are so happy for this sweet couple!  Thanks for letting us be a part of your day!  Love you!

Busy Week

We just got home from a busy week in Salem.  It was a great, but very tiring, week.  I'm sure my mom is enjoying her quite house, right about now :)!
Ethan and his cousin, Scout, had swim lessons together.  They both had a wonderful time, and both passed to the next level!  Here are a few pictures from their lessons.

Ethan, also, learned to ride a bike without training wheels while at Grandma Terri's.  We didn't help him at all.  He basically just got on and started riding!  The balance bike he has been using for the past 2 years, worked!!  (The only bike we had that fit him was a princess one...he didn't care though!)

This is the only help he had... The first time he got on, Jared helped balance him and as soon as he got his feet on the pedals, off he went!

Like a pro!

Now, we just need to get him a bike for our house.  He wasn't too excited about getting back on his strider today, but he did :).

Finley, Scout and Ethan played a lot together (and sometimes, Nora joined in).  It was a fun time!

There also happened to be a wedding this past week ;).  Jared's brother, Dustin married Amanda on Saturday.  I'll devote a whole post to that soon!  It was a beautiful day and a great time had by all!  We are trying to recover today, hanging out at home!

The " Big Course"

Today was a day Ethan has been waiting for, for over a year. He finally got to play golf on the "big course" (as he calls it). He and Jared played 9 holes with a cart and Ethan was in heaven (as was his daddy, I'm sure)! I should have sent the camera, but I failed. Here are a few (phone) pictures from their first round of golf together!

Ethan's first tee shot!



Big boy, riding in the cart.



Action shot


Jared said he did pretty well, and kept a score card to frame for him :). I foresee lots of father/son golfing in their future.

Photo Friday...Week 39

Nora had pink eye a week or so ago, so these pictures are from then.  Ethan managed to not get it, which I was so happy about!!  She took her eye drops like a champ!

Taking Care of a Sick Child

Sweet Girl

Father's Day 2013

Happy Father's Day to the dads in my life!  My daddy, my father-in-law, my grandpa and the daddy to my kids!  I love you all and thank you for all your support and love for me and our family!  

We have had a wonderful day!  And we tried to make it all about Jared :).  He got his gifts this morning at breakfast.  Ethan picked out 5 things for him at the dollar store; a bucket, a car wash sponge, a tire brush, popcorn bowls and a package of Reese's cups.  And we found "the perfect pancake pan", so we gave that to him too.  I am anxious to see how it works.  (Jared is our pancake chef on Saturday mornings.)  After church, Jared chose Texas Roadhouse for lunch and afterwards, we let him take a nap :).  After naptime, we had some popcorn a little US Open Golf and headed to the pond for some fishing.  See, I told you it was a great day!

Happy Father's Day, Jared.  We love you very much.  Thanks for all you do!

Daddy and his kids

Bouncing Nora to get a smile out of her...

These 2 have a pretty special bond.  I love watching them together.

Now, some fishing pictures.  It was a beautiful day.

He caught several, all by himself!  He's so proud!

Nora would have preferred swimming in the pond.

She was a handful around the water...but still cute!

After getting out of the van, I noticed a particularly loud/angry bird about 2 feet from the front bumper of the car.  Then, I noticed her 4 eggs in the nest of rocks.  We had parked about 2 feet from the eggs and she was letting us know that she was not happy!  

Mama bird chirping and flapping away.

Protecting her babies :)

Photo Friday...Week 38

Going along with the strawberry season post...

Eating a Special Treat Together

Strawberry Shortcake!

Nora enjoyed some, sans strawberries.  She loved the cool whip and cake though!

Love these kids to pieces!!

Summer Fun!

Today was the hottest day of the year, so far.  We hit 95, I think.  We were planning to go to the pool, but when our new neighbors and friends called to see if we wanted to meet at the museum, we changed our plans.  We spent the morning at the children's museum and had a great time!

Pilot Ethan

Lindsey and Ethan on TV.  We could see them on this screen and they didn't know we were watching.  So funny!  Ethan wasn't bored, although he looks it :)

After nap, we went outside for a bit and ended up having a little water fun!

Sarah, Nora, Ethan and Lindsey

Summer is here!

Strawberries

It's strawberry season and I've been busy!  A friend of mine called to see if I was interested in a "flat of strawberries".  Which, turns out is 8 quarts.  I (thankfully) went with the 1/2 flat.

These berries are delicious and have been turned into some delicious creations in the last few days!
Starting with...

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream! Yum!!

Next...Strawberry Jelly.  Check out the cute helper!

Stirring like a pro!

Showing off the finished product

And, finally, tonight for dessert we had some delicious strawberry shortcake!

Homemade shortcake!

Clearly, I'm not a food stager/photographer.  But it was pretty tasty!!

I still have about a quart and a half to use.  I'm open to suggestions :)!