Sometimes you don't know what you need...

until you have it.

We had decided this really wasn't the summer for a vacation. Before Gunga took her turn for the worse, we were thinking that we didn't want to leave her. And then after she died, things were just too crazy, both emotionally and otherwise, to get away. But we decided to attach a few days onto the aforementioned wedding celebration in Nashville in what turned out to be a very good decision.

First we had visits with old friends (the Lacher's) and new friends (the Johnson's). Then, we made a delightful new acquaintance in Franklin, TN. Her name is Sweet Cece's Frozen Yogurt. What a darling place...
The kids are still talking about it.

We spent the night in Sikeston, Missouri at a Drury Inn with a pool...
And a great, hot breakfast too.

The reason we stayed in Sikeston was just so we could eat Lambert's Cafe, the Home of the Throwed Rolls. It's kind of like a Cracker Barrel with down home cookin', but SO much better. Not only do they have 3 or 4 items that are "pass arounds" that they just come around to offer you, but they have a very fun claim to fame. They are not called "the home of the throwed rolls" for nothin'!They literally throw hot rolls across the room for you to catch...

It was definitely worth the price because not only was the food yummy, but it was such a fun experience for the whole family...
Lest you think we only plan our mini-vacations around food, we also visited the St. Louis Gateway Arch...
I have never been motivated to visit , but the middle two were so hyped about it so we gave them their wish. The wait was long, but there is a museum there to pass the time...
Then you board your Mork from Ork tiny little egg spaceship and head up to the top...
I might have been a little wigged out by it all. Which my kids found hilarious. They are sensitive like that. Here they are mocking me...
But, I had to admit it was a really sweet view once you got to the top...

(the shadow of the Arch in on the Mississippi)

Thankfully it was not a windy day. I have heard it sways in the wind and I do not believe my fragile self could have handled that. I was struggling enough to handle the sight of this...

Proving that we do plan our mini-vacations around food afterall, we had to have Imo's Pizza for dinner. We were running way behind schedule, so we had to eat it on the run...
Not exactly travel food but once again, our food choice was totally worth it.

We didn't realize how much our family needed this little getaway. Both the time with family and friends in Nashville and the food-inspired vacation were refreshing and fun in the midst of a summer that has been sad and not what we had been expecting. It wasn't much. There wasn't any of this...
But there was this...
And it was very, very sweet. I'm thankful that God knows what we need and when we need it.

Another one of life's great adventures

That was our family motto growing up. And as a military family, there were plenty of adventures to be off on. Our extended family was off on such an adventure in Nashville a few weeks ago for a very special wedding. My niece, Alyssa, got married to Tim. Alyssa was the first grandchild. I showed her picture off to my high school friends. I had tea parties with her. I played beauty parlor with her. My sisters and I wrote songs and performed Alyssa-inspired musicals. She had us all wrapped around her finger and we were enchanted by her.

As tends to happen, she grew up. But even as adorable as she was as a child, she is even more enchanting as a beautiful and godly young woman. And she was a stunning bride...
Her groom's reaction when she walked down the aisle (and hers as well) was my favorite ever. He was so captivated by her and they were both overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the moment. It was like no one else was in that chapel and they were just caught up in one another's gaze. Our wedding wasn't quite like that since I was kind of caught up in the "everybody's looking at me" thing and Bill just stood frozen with a nervous smile pasted on his face.

Speaking of that day, long before Alyssa was a bride, she was the flower girl in my wedding...
And then my girl was the flower girl in her wedding...
Cousin Sarah says she has already picked out her flower girl...
She is only 17, so we are hoping Lulu will be more like a junior bridesmaid.

Alyssa and Tim were also brave enough to ask Jack to be the ring bearer...
I was a little nervous at the rehearsal since they had these impish grins ...
But they did beautifully on the wedding day. I don't have pictures of that yet because I wanted to be engaged in the wedding and not distracted by my camera. But not surprisingly, I cried happy tears their entire walk down the aisle.

It was a beautiful, classy, Christ-centered day, just like the bride. The entire weekend was so much fun, although it was an emotional moment during the seating of the grandparents as our family was acutely aware of Gunga not being there. But through the sad and joyous times, I am glad we can walk through life together...
And in a way, I think Gunga was there. In fact she may have had, along with Granddaddy, the best seat in the house!

My favorite moment at the reception was Jack slow-dancing with dragging Lulu around the dance floor...
A close second was the brother of the bride, my nehphew Willy, catching the garter...
The whole wedding was a reminder of how time flies. It just so happens that garter-catching boy was one of the ring bearers in our wedding...
Ya gotta love knickers! We actually had Willy the "ring bear" and my other nephew, Josh, as the self-proclaimed "flower boy" because he was scared of the "bear". He also was scared of the photographer. He's at the Air Force Academy now. Not much scares him anymore.

Since the wedding was in Nashville, you had to keep one eye open for someone famous. It just so happened Justin Bieber was at the wedding...

(actually it's Tate getting teased about being a JB look-alike while everyone was dancing to
"One Time")

And there was also an appearance by Dracula...
And how about the beautiful mother of the bride?
I love that sister of mine. Her daughter is classy and elegant in her own right, but she has also had an incredible model of grace in her mother.

I may be biased, but I think my kids have the best cousins in the world...

It was a blessed celebration with family and friends...
And a new adventure has begun for these two...

"Marriage...that bwessed awangement. That dweam within a dweam..."

Tim and Lyss, may all your days be bwessed as you live your lives as man and wife. Marriage is definitely one of life's greatest adventures!

It's Official (officially)

August 3, 2010 was a big day for our family. It was Luci May Rediet's re-adoption day. The day we became "official" in the state of Nebraska and she received a Nebraska birth certificate. It is different in each state and I really didn't know what to expect. I knew it was an important day, but not a huge deal since she has been legally ours for over a year now.

I had planned on us wearing khaki's, polo's and casual skirts until Tate asked if he could wear his suit. Then he asked if Bill would wear his suit and suddenly we looked like we were headed to a big event. It turns out that we were. The first person who saw us asked if we were getting married. Nope. That was taken care of a long time ago. I thought we would walk into an office and sign a few papers. Then a judge would sign a few papers. Then would take a picture and leave. But that's not the way it was.

We were actually early, so we took a few pix to pass the time...

(looking at the Capitol)

(Tate has perfected the "I'm annoyed with your picture-taking" look)

(Jack has perfected the "I'm a charming little rascal" look)

(Lulu saw the boys posing for the pix above and insisted on doing the same pose)

(Look who found his littlest Cinderella)

Then we met the lawyer and walked into a real, live courtroom. The first thing our lawyer said was "Your honor, I would like the court to note that this is the most nicely dressed sibling set I have ever seen." Good call on wardrobe, Tate. Then she told me to take the stand to testify. Testify? WHAT?! We had no idea this was part of the deal.

She asked me some basic questions about Rediet's background and then she asked me to tell the court about the relationship between our biological children and Luci. I got a bit choked up as I described the love between them. She then asked me to talk about my relationship with Luci May. At that point, it was providential that the court keeps kleenex on the stand because I was overcome with emotion. After I answered all of her questions the Judge asked "Do you love her?" I had to laugh and repeated his question incredulously. "Do I love her?!" More tears and then an emphatic "YES!"

Then it was Bill's turn. The lawyer asked him what motivated us to adopt and he got to articulate our foundation being our own adoption by God through faith in Christ. Then came the pronouncement and signing of the official documents. And it was official. Again. After the judge left, our lawyer asked to pray with us. So we gathered around Lulu in that court room and prayed together which was the perfect ending to a beautiful experience...
We were not prepared to answer any questions today. We thought we would be in and out. No big deal. Instead, we testified in court for the first time. And what we testified to was the deep love we have for our daughter and we committed to raise her to the best of our ability. We were in a government building not a church, but we were standing on holy ground. It felt like a very, very big deal.
Because being a family is a big deal. A very, very big deal.