Reids

I'm also grateful for all these new people in our lives.  I'm glad that we can all be in different points of our lives and still be connected.  We all have our own individual ups and downs and we've certainly encountered those ups and downs collectively.  But  this right here is what's important.  This is what matters.  Our love, our friendship, our support, our laughs and our tears...those are the driving points of a family.  Let's make sure to work to keep those connections strong...putting aside trivial differences for the big picture.  And really, aren't they trivial?  We have one maker to thank for giving us this life and this family and only to Him do we answer.

xoxo forever to all of you

rehearsal dinner

5 Year Old Party!

Beach Theme Games:   Melinda and her family came, so I was so fortunate to have her help during all this.  In fact, her big role was photographer.  Thanks bunches Melinda!

kiss the frog
Addison requested this from the very beginning.  We used it last year and she associates this with parties.  Since frogs are an aquatic animal, it fit in well with our theme. 

musical beach towels (with beach boys music)
this was the perfect game for 5 year olds.  Melinda's girls were so kind to play and be the first to get out.  They did fantastic role-modeling and there wasn't drama for future girls who got out.

relay race (beach ball between partners, no hands, no arms)
A lot of fun...they were giggling for this.  We did two rounds before venturing to the next game. 

water balloon toss
Learned my lesson.  Five year olds can't toss and catch very well.  They still got giggles...especially when Melinda and Annika showed us their skills and backed up a few times to get some decent distance.  Afterwards, we moved on to the finale on the other side of the yard.

aquatic obstacle course
The girls were a great audience as I explained the various steps:

1. rocket down the slip-n-slide

2. ride the car through the sprinkler to the mini pool (with Annika's help)

3. sit in the ring and spin around (with Mykala's help)

4. go down the slide

5. jump in the pool

Then the girls enjoyed some swim time before cake.

I thought watermelon was needed for the beach so I made a watermelon cake.  I made a poke-cake and used watermelon jello to flavor the cake and the frosting and attempted to make a watermelon appearance.  Cake decoration is not my forte.



My Mom's Birthday!!

Hats off to my mom.  She's my role-model. She's my friend.  She's our mom and gives us unconditional love.  Let me tell you about her:

She's fantastic. She's a caregiver.  She is always looking out to be a mom.  She's a natural.  Of course, she had 5 kids and I sometimes feel overwhelmed with two...so I always ponder about her life and management of a family of 7.  She did it seamlessly...or so it seems in my memory.   And they all started with "M"...except my dad...but even the animals!  And she always knew and continues to know each and every one of us and the necesarry information that our lives revolve around.  She knows our friends names and the going-ons in their lives, she remembers our colleagues names and the background info about them, our bosses names and attitudes (because that's certainly what we share about them!).  But more than anything, my mom listens to us, she loves us, she doesn't judge us and she's proud of us.  She's steadfast in her Christianity and shows that in all of her decisions in life.  She's honest, she's calm, she's peaceful...don't expect too much affection from this woman, but expect her full support and love.  She loves every family member that she has 100% whether it be by blood or not.  She knows the value of family.  She adores her grandchildren and counts them as her blessings.  I want to be like my mom because I couldn't imagine being a different mom. Mom - thanks for giving us such a wonderful life and family.  Happy Birthday!!!   xoxo









Mom, Melanie, Melinda, Meredith, Madelyn 

The Wedding

You remember the announcement for my sister Melinda's wedding, right? 
Well, the wedding was wonderful. 
It was sweet and simple and full of family and close friends. 
Melinda was radiant and Brian was beaming.

The NewlyWeds

Congratulations are in order!

My sister Melinda has recently become engaged.  In a very Melinda-like fashion, the proposal was sweet and put her on her mini-pedestal that she so desires and deserves.  Melinda and Brian have been together for-E-ver and they will now be getting married in the very-near future.  They've got no reason to hold off on their marriage, their courtship has been long enough!


Let me tell you about this sweet proposal!  Melinda received a beautiful bouquet of flowers at work...this ended up being clue #1.  The card in the flowers simply stated "Will" and was followed by another card given to her at their rendezvous later that day where her beau was a no-show!  The waiter (an acquaintance of theirs) handed her one of the restaurant's cards with the "U" circled.  He also delivered her the message that Brian would meet her at his house instead...so off she went to meet up with Mr. Secrecy!  They took a little walk at his house where he has some land and she was greeted with writing on a rock to reveal the end of this little proposal:  

And she has accepted...FINALLY!!!  Melin - we are super happy for you and your new life!

In fact, Delilah has asked me numerous times if "Min had her wedding yet?"  Wait til we start talking about how pretty you're going to look in your wedding dress...Addison will be all over that!

LOBSTERFEST!?!

What a surprise that we had Lobsterfest this weekend at Lockhaven. It was a last minute change, but it was fun! We got to see people that we haven't seen in a while:

Our Aunt Meredith and Aunt Melinda



Aunt Melin's BF Brian and our Uncle Michael & Aunt Khanchi

Thanks for all the kisses that everyone gave us. Glad we got to entertain everyone for a bit. It was fun showing off our walking skills (or attempts) and going for a dip with our clothes on. And we got to play in the ball pit...we love that!!

PS - Sorry to anyone who couldn't sleep because of us. We weren't used to the surroundings and screaming seemed to be the solution. Mommy and Daddy explained to us blah, blah, blah. Screaming = response and attention.