Backup Plan

My cousin, Alyssia, got married this past weekend in an outdoor ceremony that was beautiful in so many ways! She had asked Kiptyn to be her ring bearer, which was a good idea, but as the date drew near, I had my doubts! Kiptyn is very much in this "NO, I don't want to do it and NO I don't like it!" phase of life! It's quite a challenge when it comes to food, clothing, using the potty, pictures---I think you get the idea! So, I suggested to my cousin that we dress Kieran up as a back-up ring bearer and she was totally cool with that!

Kiptyn looked so cute all dressed up in his shirt, jeans and John Deere boots (lets not mention the fit that he threw while we were dressing him)!

 

 But, it became clear very early in the game that Kieran would be taking the ring bearer spotlight!

Kieran did awesome with pictures and the whole wedding thing! I had a few bribery items with me in the car and that helped too but it didn't take much to convince him that he could do it and do it well!

 

 Waiting in the wagon with the flowergirl:

 

The day was absolutely beautiful for an outdoor, fall wedding! The wedding was in a park with a long bridge in the background and the trees were starting to change colors and drop some leaves. The decor was simple but perfect and everything went very smoothly!

My mom's side of the family

 

 Evidence that it's a good thing Kiptyn wasn't the ring bearer:

He fell asleep 20 minutes before the ceremony on daddy's shoulder and trust me when I say you do not want to wake this guy from a nap!! His true BEAR side comes out!!

 

 More evidence that we made the right choice by having Kieran do the pictures and ring bearer duties:

Yep, this is a typical family picture for us these days.....oh well...it's only a phase...right?!

 

In all seriousness, it was a great weekend to celebrate Alyssia's marriage to Matt and we had a great time seeing family and hanging out! I wish them only the best in their new marriage to each other and all that God has in store for them!

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday!

Another John Deere Party...

The birthday celebration continued for Kiptyn this past weekend as we celebrated his birthday with my parents and some friends/neighbors! Chuck had to go out of town for 2 weeks--yes, we survived 14 days without him--but just barely!!--so the party was held on Sunday afternoon at our home. We had it outside in the garage and the weather was perfect!

 Try as I may, I thought  I could convince Kiptyn to have something besides John Deere but he insisted on having a John Deere cake! He did let me do cupcakes but they had to have John Deere on them-which wasn't hard as you can see!!

The tables

Kiptyn hid his face when we were singing happy birthday to him!

Blowing out his candles!

My boys!

I guess you can see that Kiptyn had a cupcake with yellow frosting!

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Chloe enjoying the party too!

We're thankful for our friends and neighbors that help us celebrate!

Chloe getting some frosting from grandma!

Trying out the new toys!

 

Birthdays with the Bears!

Last Saturday we celebrated the August/September birthdays with the Bear side of the family!

We decided to do cupcakes this year and each boy had their own "themed" cupcakes. Kiptyn chose John Deere---again!

This picture of the gifts was actually taken by Kieran!

Kiptyn didn't want to open gifts at first--he's in a "No, I don't like it!" phase and that includes anything and everything--even opening presents! He was content to play in his cousin's room instead! But, once he opened the 1st gift, then he was totally okay with this!!

Chloe with her new cousin, Andrew!

 

It was a great, fun filled day! The cousins always wear themselves out playing together and my boys fell asleep in the car on the way home. This weekend we will celebrate with my parents and some neighbors...stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

September 11th is always a bittersweet day. We think about and pray for the families who lost loved ones on that tragic day 11 years ago, but we also rejoice and celebrate Chuck's birthday and his life!

I'm so thankful for the wonderful man that God brought in to my life and for the sweet, loving, caring and awesome daddy that he is to our kids! He is a man with a good work ethic and he works hard for his family everyday! He loves me with a love that sometimes makes me shake my head because I can't believe how he loves me through my struggles and my mistakes! His life truly is a gift and I'm so happy to be on the receiving end of it!!

 

Happy Birthday Chuck! We Love You!

Wordless Wednesday

Family Zoo Day

We took one of our days during the 3-day holiday weekend to attend the zoo as a family. It was very busy and quite hot, but we all had a good time!

Zoo Train!

Petting Zoo

Chloe did great considering the heat and lack of sleep that she got!

What are you lookin at?!

Cooling down in one of the many water sprayer things!

Checking out the gorillas!

We ended the day with a walk through the aquarium!

Barns and Horses

What do you get when you visit Southern Iowa over Labor Day Weekend?

A Country Barn Wedding and Horseback Riding!

 

Chuck's beautiful cousin, Melody, got married over the weekend so we traveled back to Iowa for the celebration. She got married (to Jeff) in a country barn that was recently built for weddings and it was very cool! It was great to see some of Chuck's family that we haven't seen in awhile!

This picture is blurry, but I still think it's cool!

Some of the Bear cousins. These are only 6 of the 16 cousins with 2 more due next year!

A picture with Grandma Bear.

(Kiptyn was NOT doing the picture thing! Surprised? I'm not!)

After the wedding, we visited some friends (who are actually the family of my sister-in-law Rachel) who happened to have their horses out, so the boys got to take their first horseback ride! They loved it! Kieran has been telling lots of people about riding a horse!

A beautiful sunset on our drive home to compliment the good day!