Memorial Day!!

I love Memorial Day for a few reasons....1) I think it is great that we can set aside a day to remember the men and women who are and who have served our country. They have sacrificed so much so we can enjoy our barbeque's, time with our families while there are away from theirs...they have done a lot for our country and I am so grateful for them. 2) Last year I started a tradition of hanging out with my sister and her friends Lisa and Scott over at their house. We grill, have munchies and usually sit around and chat. Me, I run around the yard taking pictures of the kids. After a crazy busy weekend at work, it was a much needed break! Here are a few pictures of our night! :)

I know the story behind these shoes, but it is still a cool shot! :)

Cooper! Scott & Lisa's horse...I mean dog!! :)

Poor Bailey was not having a good night...

Miss Hanna

I just love this shot of Bailey!

I think this picture means she is going to be t-r-o-u-b-l-e when she gets older! :)

I ♥ faces: Silhouettes!

So I recently came across this amazing blog called I ♥ faces! There is so much great information and cool tips on the site, I could be on there all day! They do weekly contests, so I thought I would give it a try! Here is my entry for silhouettes!!

Sneak of Memorial Day!

I took over 100 pictures of our Memorial Day festivities, but here is one of my favorites from the day!! I will post the rest tomorrow....after a good nights rest! :)

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday weekend!

~ashley~

Bailey's Preschool Graduation!

Last week Thursday, little Bailey Jo graduated from Preschool!! It was soo cute! All the little kids came in waving at their families, they sang a few songs and then got their diplomas! After the ceremony, we celebrated with ice cream and taking pictures!! My two favorite things!! :) I had tons of fun chasing the kids around, taking pictures of them with thier friends, teachers, and families! :) Here are just a few of them....

A week of (are you ready...) A Wedding, Dutch Dancers, Graduation, A Not so Suprise Suprise Party, Riverbank, & Mothers Day! :)

Like the title?! I thought it was catchy! :) Well as you can tell I have had a very busy (and a little stressful) week!! As much fun as this week was, I am glad it is over and now I can relax!! Lets start with the wedding:

My best friend Michelle was married last Saturday to a great guy named Bret! Michelle was gorgeous, Bret looked very handsome, and the wedding was great and so much fun! The only glitch of the day was a not so hot Maid of Honor Speech given by yours truly (I will just blame the mic :) but otherwise it was the perfect day! I am super excited to see the pictures taken by Kristen of K.Holly Photography!! (www.khollystudios.com/blog) She is an amazing wedding photographer in Grand Rapids and her work...incredible! Although my pictures do not compare to Kristen's here are a few of mine from the day:

On Tuesday this week my husband Harry and I headed to Holland for Tulip Time! Neither one of us is Dutch, but I find the whole 'dressing up as Dutch people, wearing wooden shoes, the tulips, and the junk food trailers' oh so much fun! Harry and I had dinner at 84 East and then went to watch some Dutch dancing! After all the fun and pictures, we finished our night at Cold Stone! :)

And on Friday my awesome husband had his RN pinning ceremony!! Harry graduated from Lansing Community Colleges' Paramedic to RN Fast Track Program. After 9 grueling months of school he is finally done and I have a husband again!! He really has accomplished more than I could ever imagine and I am so proud of him :) Up next....medical school!! haha, Ok, maybe a summer of no studying, no tests, no care plans, lots of golf and vacations first! :)

On Friday night after the pinning ceremony, a drive back from Lansing, and a little nap, Harry and I headed to his not-so-suprise-suprise graduation party! I had a little glitch in the planning earlier in the week, so I had to tell Harry about it. We still had a great time with both of our families, our friends Joe, Courtney, Jeff & Myssee! We had a great dinner at Carrabbas and Harry's mom provided at wonderful Cold Stone chocolate ice cream cake for dessert! :)

On Saturday morning I ran in the 5/3rd Riverbank Run!! Harry was orginally going to work 0000-0600 on Saturday morning, but he got someone to cover so he could come watch me run!! awww :) What a great husband! We arrived downtown around 7am (and I normally am just going to bed at that time!) Harry dropped me off near the starting line and was waiting for me at the finish! I had never run in a road race before and it definitely was a learning experience: don't wear a thermal shirt that keeps in the heat when running 3.12 miles! I got a little overheated at about the 2 mile mark and felt pretty sick. I managed to cross the finish line at 29:42!!! I was not running for time, but I thought that it was amazing I could run 3.12 miles in under 30 minutes! I am hoping to run more outside this year so I can run in more races! :)

And on Sunday we celebrated our mom! We had a nice dinner made by Boston Market at my sisters house this afternoon. My brother and sister in law Shari decided to bring the newest member of their family; Tom the duck! He was so cute and the kids (and even the adults) were pretty consumed with him all day! After dinner, gifts, and dessert, Logan and Bailey brought Tom in the house because it was pretty chilly outside! They started calling him 'Quacky' and put him in a box to feed him! It was such a fun afternoon!!

Well that was our week in a nutshell! This week should be a little less exciting, and I will be sure to post more often instead of 10 events all at once! :) Happy Monday

~ashley~