September 2009

I need to catch up on some updates! Here's a few highlights of what happened with our family over the month of September:

Ethan was delighted to go back to school. Unfortunately I didn't check my camera battery the night before, so I was greeted with a dead battery when I went to take his first day of school picture. I snapped a few with my cell phone, but can't seem to get them loaded to my computer from my cell. So, I have a few from the open house that we went to later that day.


He loves first grade and really enjoys going to school all day. I'm getting used to packing lunches every day, but have to admit that I'm thankful for hot lunch days! He had the typical "I'm exhausted from being in school all day" mood swings, but we expected that! We love his teacher and Ethan seems to respond to her really well. He is reading more and more each day and he loves to read anything in sight--and to anyone! I caught him kindly reading to Micah and Colin one day. I love it!


Micah and I are getting used to being home with just each other for a majority of the day. I think he likes it a lot--and I love rest time when I can steal a few moments of "me" time! We play a lot of games, trains, cars, and run errands. The day goes by quickly!

At the end of the month, we welcomed a new nephew/cousin into the family. Alexander Joseph was born on the 29th to Jason's sister Merridith and her husband, James. The boys love to look at him and talk to him! He's a precious little guy and I've made sure I had my share of cuddle time!



I had a big milestone in September, too. I turned 30! I've decided that's not really very old at all. Though sometimes I do feel old. :) We celebrated my big day quietly at home. My favorite present was one I couldn't talk about with anyone except Jason...the week of my birthday we found out that we were expecting another little one in May! We are incredibly blessed and are excited to meet our new little one!

Anniversary Trip

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Enough of you are on my case that I felt I should finally blog. Everyone that asks for posts should at least comment to prove you read when I do post! :) I have a lot of pictures that are fun to post, so I'll catch up and work my way through them. We've been busy over the last two months!

At the end of May, Jason and I took a short trip to celebrate our 10th anniversary. It was wonderful to get away together. We loaded up our bikes and headed to a lovely lake shore town. When we arrived and unloaded our bikes, we were met with this bank of clouds:


Thankfully the clouds didn't hold too much rain and we only had to wait in the van for a little while! We unloaded again and spent the afternoon biking and hiking and just enjoyed the scenery.


We spent so much time biking that I ended up with a major cramp in my leg. I guess someone needs more exercise! In my defense, I don't often bike two miles through sand covered trails. Thankfully an Aleve and a good night's sleep helped and we biked more the next day!


We wandered through a park and down a pier while we waited for the sun to set on the lake. Unfortunately, the gnats were so bad that we had to retreat to the van and watch the sunset from there! We had gnats all over out clothes and had to cover our mouths so the wouldn't fly in. I tried to take good pictures of the sunset, but I wasn't willing to open the van window for a better shot so they weren't all that clear. I did manage a nice self-portrait on the pier where the gnats were not as thick.


I enjoyed hanging out with my hubby--we tried out little restaurants and wandered down trails because we felt like it. I'm looking forward to the next time we can get away together!

1 day...to 10 years!

Ten years ago today we were working through all the final details at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding rehearsal. We really had no idea what the next ten years would bring, but how quickly the time passed!

The next "item" I picked that's been around for the 10 years of our marriage is us. Jason and Janna, Janna and Jason, Mr. and Mrs. (well, I can't say that I felt like a "Mrs." for all ten years, but I guess I technically was!)


My darling husband has been by my side for the last ten years...or maybe I've been by his side...or maybe just a nice mixture of both! :)


He very rarely will take picture with me, but since I had this post in mind for a while I made sure we snapped some photos together over the past few months. I love the above picture because Jason's smile is so genuine and I'm laughing. A great combo in my opinion!

The picture below is not what many would choose as their favorite, simply because you can tell that Jason's talking. But, I love this picture the most because it is a reflection of so many times in our life--Jason's saying something out of the side of his mouth that makes me smile.

I love this man. I can't think of anyone I'd rather hang around with for 10 years.

Stick around for tomorrow's post. I'm going to try and post a wedding picture of the two kids that got married that day. Well, only if Jason helps me. It's sure handy to be married to him!

Chicago

Jason and I took off the Friday after Thanksgiving for a weekend away. His parents generously took care of the kids so we could have a chance to go away...something that we haven't done together in about 5 years!

We spent Friday wandering around downtown Chicago. Our main mission was to go to the Lego Store for a Christmas present for Ethan (shhh...don't tell!). Since it was "black Friday", there were TONS of people on the Magnificent Mile. I haven't seen that many people, well, ever. It was just the two of us, so it was relatively easy to manuever through the crowds (plus it was a great excuse to hold my husband's hand!). We enjoyed sightseeing, people watching, and just plain wandering around without having to worry about naps and meal times. It was great to dine out and stay in the wondeful hotel room that our brother-in-law got us a niftly little deal on (you know I love my deals!).

Saturday morning we went to a wonderful bagel place. Let me tell you, fresh bagels, toasted, with a little honey butter and a cup of hot chocolate was a lovely way to start the day. I could get used to that part of city life! We then spent a few hours just wandering and enjoying being together. We walked the streets, the parks, Navy Pier, and more streets until we finally had to go back to the hotel room to warm up.

After we thawed, we hopped in the car again and headed to the next city so we could get ready for Suzanne's wedding (the real reason for the weekend away!). We enjoyed the lovely ceremony and had fun hanging out at the reception. We finally took pictures there, so you get to see us all dressed up instead of bundled up!

It was a wonderful trip...full of lots of fun, rest, and time away with my awesome husband!

Toothbrush conversations

Odd title, right? I thought I would give you a glimpse into one of the conversations that Jason and I had a few nights ago. We were getting ready for bed and we were both brushing our teeth. For some reason, that particular moment was when we talked about our schedules for the next day. It was a different schedule than usual, so it involved some discussion to coordinate picking up the boys and switching vehicles. What made this discussion unique was that we were able to carry on this conversation and figure out the details...while still brushing our teeth. With our toothbrushes in our mouths, and none of the foamy toothpaste out of our mouths, we were able to understand each other. Some of the conversation happened via hand gestures, but most of it was mumbled phrases around a toothbrush. I found it to be so odd that we could understand each other. I ended up laughing like crazy.

The point of this post? (Other than a discussion about dental hygiene and grossing people out by talking about toothpaste foam...) As of today, Jason and I have been married for nine years. Our relationship has grown and changed over the years...and we've developed some unique ways to communicate. Toothbrushing conversations would be included here.

Has it been an easy nine years? Maybe a few of them could be considered easy, but in order for our relationship to be what it is today, we've had to go through hard times. Is God still working in our marriage? I can only hope so, because He's given us something incredible with what He's done so far.

We're celebrating quietly this year, with a simple dessert...OK, maybe two...at home and some time spent with Ethan and Micah at the park (I'm becoming quite a baseball player; I hit a home run at the ball diamond). Basically we took the opportunity to enjoy the blessings that surround us.

On this day, where we celebrate our marriage, I will definitely tell Jason how much I love and appreciate him...without my toothbrush in my mouth.

"My faithfulness and enduring love"

Eight years ago today I married my best friend.

"I pledge you my faithfulness and enduring love." Thank you, Lord, for faithfulness and enduring love.

"I promise to love and care for you in sickness and in health." Thank you, Lord, for what we've learned through sickness and health.

"I promise to share times of laughter and tears." Thank you, Lord, for how our marriage has grown through laughter and tears.

"Above all, I promise to build with you a home where God is the foundation." Thank you, Lord, that we can work each day to do this.

Wow, eight years. It seems so long, but at the same time not long at all! I think about the words we spoke in our vows and how I really had no idea how the words would apply in our married life. Eight years of learning, and I pray for so many more. I love you, Jason.