"Alive Again"

I have been eagerly hoping that this song currently playing, "Alive Again" by Matt Maher would make it to the music Website that I use for this blog.
This Album isn't even out yet and I have heard this track on the radio a few times already. I even posted the acoustic version on Facebook because I love it so much. I always love to hear such powerful songs on KLOVE in the morning on my way to work. They seem to give me a great pick me up before I start my day. I might be in trouble though if they decide to play Matthew West's song "The Motions" back to back with Matt Mahers song " Alive Again". If I were driving, I'm sure I would have to pull over.

Congratulations Dan and April !!!

This past weekend Jonathan and I, along with many others from our family, headed out to Columbiana, Ohio (eastern Ohio) for the wedding of my step-brother Dan and his new wife April. They finally tied the knot on Saturday after being together for several years. We are all very happy for them. I am particularly happy to have yet another great sister added to our family to help keep these rambunctious guys in line.
I feel our family has truly been blessed. God has provided each of us with a perfect spouse that only HE could find. We are all blessed to have spouses that have brought out the best in us.
Below are some pictures of our great weekend.
Above, Dan manning the grill for the rehearsal dinner.

some of the other great food for dinner. yes, that is about 20-30 pounds of potato salad!

The beautiful bride April, just before she walked down the aisle.

This is the Jr. groomsman Noah and the Jr. bridesmaid, Erin

Sorry, I couldn't take any pictures during the ceremony since Jonathan and I were actually in the wedding.

Above is my favorite picture. This is the bride and groom singing to each other during there first dance together.

The Maid of Honor, Amanda giving her speech.

Best man, Chris "toph" giving his speech.

Jonathan and I in our wedding duds. I had to get at least one shot. We haven't been this dressed up since our wedding day.

I caught Terrance and Catrina goofing off. That is new baby Zander in her arms.

This is Flower Girl Abby cutting a rug along with Dabne.

Love this one too! this is Jonathan and I with my Dad, Nick, Betsy and Max.

That's us again

This is Morgan. He is all business when it comes to his cake!

This is only one half of the cookie bar!!

Some of the girls were ready to dance!!

Camping, Richmond style

This past weekend, Jonathan and I went camping at the KOA in Richmond, Indiana. We were looking for a weekend away without the long drive.
The first place we looked was a bit out of our budget this time which lead us to Richmond. About $40 cheaper and about 1/3 the size. It was small but comfy and ended up being exactly what we needed. The only downfall was the weather which kept us from being able to swim.

The view from our camp sight. All the tent sights were around the pond which is very different from most campgrounds.

Our first time out using our tent. Jonathan did a great job. I was the lovely assistant.

We had a tent site with electric hook up. We took advantage of this with our electric griddle. We had 2 mornings of really yummy breakfasts.

The final product. MMMMM I think it was one of my best. Not sure why I don't use our griddle more often.

Jonathan's brother Steve was headed into town for a visit on Saturday. We invited him and the kids to stop by the campground for a lunch of Smokies over the fire. Pretty sure they liked that.

Daniel with his mega deformed marshmallow. This is what happens after you let it burn too long. He went to grab it off the stick and it pretty much dropped to the ground in ashes.

Jonathan and I stopping on our hike for a quick picture.

A New Door

Since Jonathan is now laid off again, he has been doing a few things around the yard and house. One if his "to do" jobs was to put in a new storm door for our front door. Since the side garage door was warping, we took the old front storm door and put it in as the side door. We then bought a new front door. When we were making our selection at Menard's this past weekend, we had to think of the cat. We opted for one that goes to the floor so Mr. Pepper the cat could see out side for the first time without having to hop on the coffee table.

As you can see, he has adjusted well. I think he has claimed this spot as his own. We now have to step over him at the door.

Max's 1st Birthday

Today we celebrated My nephew Max's 1st birthday. It was a great but HOT day to celebrate with our family along with my sister-in-laws family at her parents house.
There were hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill along with a buffet of other beautiful foods.
Max was adorable as usual but maybe a bit overwhelmed with so many people. He had a great day and made out like a bandit with his Birthday presents.
Below are some of the great pics I got today.
This is Max greeting every one as they came through the door for the party. That's Mommy behind him getting one heck of a workout today chasing him up and down the steps.

Max just kick'in it in his swing.

He loooooves his swing.

Grandma getting her hugs in.

It's time for presents!!

Hey look what I got!! My best friend Sully has one of these too!! cool!!

Hey! look what my Aunt Sommer and Uncle Jonathan got me!! It's an Elmo airplane riding toy. Complete with a spinning propeller that lights up and lots of sound effects that mom will just LOOOOVE!!

Cool! my very own cake to dive into.

Wait a minute, what's all over me?? get it off!! GET IT OFF OF MEEE!!!

Max's really cute cake

And to finish the day, my favorite, Homemade Vanilla Ice cream. Ahhh. the best.

This is just a cool picture that I had to share. While we were on I-70 heading home from the party, we passed a caravan of Indy Car racing rigs. We saw a rig for each: Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Hideki Matoh and Marco Andretti. And of course since they were really hauling, I asked Jonathan to go 80 MPH so I could get this shot above. (The things they do for us. Thanks Babe) I couldn't miss this shot of my Girl, Danica.

Roxbury Weekend

This past weekend I experienced another first. It was my first time going to a Roxbury Camp Meeting in PA. It was a perfect opportunity to go and meet up with Jonathan's PA family, since we haven't seen them in about a year.

I guess I still think of my self as a new believer (relatively speaking). The camp meeting was a new and enjoyable experience for me. It was awesome to be in a room filled with people who actually want to be there. People Who are passionate about the Lord and want to to serve Him. We got to see 3 different speakers while we were there, all where different and inspirational. I even got to go to my first Spanish speaking with English translation service, which was very interesting. My absolute favorite is always the music. It's amazing what 1000 people sound like when they come together and sing. I am normally a bit shy singing out in our home church. But at Roxbury, everyone is singing so loud, that I could sing as loud and as off key as I wanted to and no one could hear me (except for God and maybe Jonathan). Even when Jonathan gets to sing as loud as he wants, can hold a right good tune. I was the most moved when we all sang Days of Elijah. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a single person sitting in there seat.

I am definitely looking forward to our next opportunity to go to Roxbury Camp.

A big thanks goes to Jonathan's Uncle Allen. His generosity was greatly appreciated.

Jonathan's parents standing with his Grandmother, Uncle Titus and Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Allen and his lady friend, Phyllis.

I thought this shot looked kinda futuristic. Jonathan took this one when we were driving through one of the tunnels

A great shot of a beautiful sky with the wind turbines in the background.

Man, I just love PA!!

Moon gazing

After Jonathan and I got home, Jonathan said he wanted to get the telescope out tonight.
This would be the first time that we have used it for more then watching the sheriff when he pulls people over on St Rt 49. LOL!!
It ended up being a great night. We watched the Crescent Moon go from white to yellow. Also, I had no idea that we would actually be able to see the craters on the moon as well as we could. I had myself a bit creeped out thinking I might see something move up there.
I can now hardly wait for the next full moon!! Should be pretty awesome.

Tomato Plant?

We seem to have a mystery plant growing in our garden. I have noticed that smaller versions of this plant have been popping up in our garden. Well, this one popped in just the right place. Just to be curious, I decided to let it grow since it had plenty of room. The bigger it got, the more it started to look like a tomato plant. After looking at the plant today, I am more convinced that this is indeed a tomato plant.

Due to my lack of gardening knowledge, I have felt for the past year and a half like I have been wing'in it. Just sticking seeds and plants in the ground and hoping they would grow.

I now have a new first in my gardening experience. I was at work yesterday when the light bulb went off with my answer to the mystery tomato plant.

It seems that the rotten/yucky Roma tomatoes from last year, that got tossed back into the garden as compost, are now actually starting to grow on there own in my garden. Some of the many weeds that I have been pulling are actually tomato plants. I'm sure most of you seasoned gardeners are aware of this possibility, but it is a total surprise to me. I wasn't even thinking that this could happen when we were throwing last years tomatoes back into the garden.

So now, it seems I have a third kind of tomato growing in my garden this year.

Is anyone going to need some tomatoes this year???

Garden Check

Below are some pictures of this years garden. This year, Jonathan expanded it for me buy 10 feet towards the house. This also means that I am now unable to get the whole garden in one picture when it is ll grown up. This years count is: 1 row of peas (which we are currently battling the barn bunny for) 7 1/2 tows of corn, 2 Big Beef Tomato plants, 1 Joe Petersheim tomato plant (talk to Jonathan's mother on that one) an 1 Green Pepper plant.
a great shot of the peas and the early corn just getting there silks.

Picture of the late corn, tomato plants and the pepper plant. Also my sad attempt of planting marigolds along the perimeter.

A great picture of or peppers. Looks like this could be our first pick of the season!

Maybe I will plan a pepper recipe this weekend!

It's Been 2 Years already!!

This is a very big day for Jonathan and I. It's our 2 year wedding anniversary. It's just another day for most, but to us, it's a very important day.

I can't believe it's been 2 years already!!

Even though I tell my husband I love him every day, today it means so much more. It's hard to believe that two people that have very different back grounds with very different upbringings could be a likely match. Once again, proof that only God would pair up this match to form a great team. He obviously knew what the other needed when he paired us up.

I guess now we are no longer considered "The Newlyweds" and now slowly moving into "the old married couple" category.

I know that I have posted this picture above before, but to me, as goofy as it is, it's a great description of our lives. It's a picture of me being out of my element, and still having complete trust in my husband to get us through the ride. And I'm sure that God has something to do with that too.

So, to my husband, I am playing our wedding song on this blog. I know that you were never crazy about this song because you thought it was over played, but to me, it was perfect for our perfect day.

Just when I think I couldn't possibly love you any more then I do, my heart continues to grow with each day. I so look forward to our many more adventures together.

Happy Anniversary Babe.