The Big Wedding Kicks Off the Summer

The highlight of this summer happened on June 18 when Brian and Nichole were married. We arrived in St. Joseph on Wednesday and proceeded to prepare for the big day. We had a wonderful time for a few days being together. Thursday found us girls at the nail salon getting our toes and fingers ready.

It was a moment of relaxation before the real activity began.

After leaving the nail place we took off for Sam's club to buy the food for the groom's dinner. The dinner took place at the fire hall and was a delicious spread of steak with hash brown casserole, home grown corn, mushrooms, salad, and bread with strawberry cheesecake for dessert. It was yummy!! We all took a guess at how much it was going to cost and were pleasantly surprised when the estimates were high. Yeah for saving money.

Friday came and it was filled all day long with decorating either one place or the other. Starting at the fire hall, moving on to the reception, and lastly decorating the church just before the rehearsal.

The big day dawned and the weather was great for taking outdoor pictures, everyone was beautifully adorned and the end result was that a new family had been created.

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Brian Arms.

A Winter Get Away

Anyone who lives in place which experiences all four seasons knows that the winter season sometimes seems to drag on and on and we yearn for the day to be outside again and enjoy the sunshine and shirt sleeves. For a few years now we have talked about a winter vacation to a warm place so we decided to go to Arizona for a week. We had been there a few years ago and knew of some things we wanted to do and we could see Mark and Lavonna, Joseph and David all at the same time.

Our first full day there was Valentine's day. The day started out with breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

We drove to Tucson and went to the Desert Museum. Not much was blooming in the desert but we were able to see the raptor exhibit which was pretty cool. These are pictures of the Harris Hawks. They actually flew so close to us that they brushed the top of Dan's hat.

A few plants were just starting to bloom.

We attended a dinner theatre one night and enjoyed My Fair Lady along with a delicious meal. Another night we saw Hello Dolly which is one of my favorites.

Playing Rook is also an "Arms' family must" so we got a few games in. We played nice and both teams won a few.

We enjoyed the outdoors many days sitting by the pool and of course had some good food too. Spinoto's pizza was at the top of my list as well as Cheesecake factory. You can't go there without getting cheesecake. A trip to IKEA was enjoyed by Lavonna and I without the guys - much more fun that way. It was a restful and fun week.

We arrived back home just before a major snowstorm hit our area - reality has set in real fast. It was fun though while it lasted and we are looking forward to our own spring and summer. God is good to promise that spring and summer will always follow winter.

Christmas 2010

Celebrating Christmas was a very special event. Here are some pictures to remind us of the time we enjoyed as a family. The celebration included a delicious meal, a play with the whole family acting out the story of the birth of Christ, playing in the snow, opening gifts, and eating way too much. Without Christ we would not have Christmas nor would we be able to have a personal relationship with God. Thank you God for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank you Jesus for being made flesh and coming as a baby and dying for my sins  on the cross.