VBS-Wedding-Move

Last week was pretty packed. It was the week of Vacation Bible School (VBS) at church and the week Mike, Andrew’s best friend and the best man from our wedding, got married. Here’s how the week went down.

Monday: Andrew took Kayley to the zoo for their first big Daddy-Daughter outing. They had a blast as previously mentioned in the last blog post.

I helped out at VBS by helping to lead music and being a “floater.” And for all those wondering, yes a pregnant woman can sing, jump and do all the hand motions. ^_~ I got quite the work out and had fun doing it.

Checking out the birds

Tuesday and Wednesday: Kayley spent both days with the nursery kids at VBS while I yet again helped to lead worship. She even made a cute craft to bring home. Instead of being a “floater” I was actually the story teller for both days and got to teach the kids about Paul’s life from the book of Acts.

I had lots of the little kids randomly put they hand on my tummy to feel the baby, which was super cute. One child asked if I was having a girl or boy. When I told her I was having a girl I overheard a boy say “how can you know that?” I figured I wouldn’t go into explaining all that to the 6 year old when I only had about a minute or less to spare before the next group of kids came to learn about Paul.

I was also touched by how many people (adults and kids) kept checking on me to make sure Cub and I were okay since I was up on my feet a lot and jumping around. Some of the kids were concerned for the baby until it was explained to them that the baby was in water and the jumping around probably felt like they were being rocked. As for the ones concerned for my well being, I assured them that exercising while pregnant is actually really good to do and that I was being careful not to overexert myself. I left out the fact that it’s good to exercise while pregnant because pushing a child out of your body is a lot of effort and it’s good to be fit and build up your stamina for the labor ahead.

Resting with my feet up. Sadly no pics from VBS =(

Thursday: We packed for the wedding and got Kayley packed for spending the next few days with her Maimie. My niece Katie came over to babysit her before my mom was able to pick her up. We left for T-town, got settled into our hotel, got ready for wedding stuff, Andrew went to the wedding rehearsal while I stayed at the hotel to plan for the kid’s program at Fall Conference, we went to rehearsal dinner, and then hung out with Mike.

Watching the glorious sunset from Mike's folk's house

The guys of course had to do a traditional Slurpee run

Friday: Andrew was busy with best man things for the wedding, and I stayed and relaxed at our hotel. Sure I could have gone out and done something, but I hadn’t had a quiet day to me in a long while. So I took advantage of our situation. ^_^ I took a bath, watched HP7 part 1 and 2, read a bit, had my feet up (for they have stated to swell a bit due to pregnancy), and enjoyed some delicious food.

That night it was Mike and Heather’s wedding! And what a lovely wedding it was. We were so happy we could be there to support, encourage and celebrate with them. Andrew and I both enjoyed dancing with the happy couple until I had to watch from the sidelines due to Cub being in a position that made me feel very uncomfortable. But we enjoyed the night and enjoyed seeing how happy Mike and Heather were before, during and after the “I Dos.”

After sending the happy couple on their way we stayed to help clean up before heading back to our hotel. 

Prayer during the ceremony

The happy newlyweds!

The happy couple with their happy parents

Aww, best friends. They were best man at each other's wedding, and both signed the other's wedding certificate as a witness.

The wedding party having fun

WHOOHOOO!

We sent them off with sparklers. Aawww, bring back memories of our wedding and being sent off in the same way. ^_^

Saturday: No toddler around = chance to sleep in. And then we had a very filling breakfast at the hotel. I would be happy to eat there again. ^_^ We took a swim in the pool before checking out and heading to my mom’s new house to not only pick Kayley up, but to help my mom move into her new home, and also celebrate my Aunt Lisa’s birthday. AND!!!! To my surprise (and everyone else’s) my brother Jay was there to help out! My mom and he had secretly planned for him to come up, so I was delighted and surprised to see him. And totally happy that he was able to spend the weekend with Kayley. I love my brother. ^_^

Kayley with her Uncle Jay

I <3 my big brother!

Kayley LOVES her Maimie's new backyard.

So we helped my mom, sister, bro-in-law and nieces move into their new home (well, I mostly ran around with Kayley while Andrew helped with the hard work). We had a great time with family and friends helping out, and a wonderful yummy BBQ to celebrate Lisa’s birthday. 

Uncle Steve cooking on the grill

Time to serve it up!

Kayley playing with her cousin Roland

Sunny weather + BBQ + great fellowship = awesomeness!

And then! My cousin Ira was able to show up to help and he brought actual real props from LOTR and the Hobbit movies! The place he works at as a smith actually helps to create some of the swords and armor for the movies. So Andrew and I were able to hold Sting and wear nazgul gloves! Very cool.

Nazgul armor!

Sting!

I'm pregnant and I have a sword... Don't mess with me!

My cousin, Joel, imagining being a hobbit. Good things the sword didn't start glowing blue.

Check out the craftsmanship

My niece, Sara, being kind of creepy with the Nazgul gloves.

And then after all the weeks excitement, we all went home to sleep so we could get ready for a regular packed Sunday.Kayley had a great time with her family while we were gone. Just like the last time we left her, she didn't really seem to care that we were back... Of course she was excited to see us, she just loves everyone else in our family so much that she didn't miss us too much. 

Kayley blowing kisses to Maimie and thanking her for the fun time she had while her mommy and daddy were away