On Friday night we had an engagement party for Keegan and Carissa. Sarah, Debbie, and I prepared the backyard shelter and had a catered dinner. We all celebrated well! Now we're ready for the wedding in April!

Everyone was asked to write advice for their engagement, and also one line of a poem. We put all the lines together to make a comedic poem about Keegan and Carissa.

Aaron thought very hard about his addition to the poem.

We had a stray cat coming around that night, it was our party mascot

At the beginning of the Labor Day weekend in September, we took V and K to Busch Gardens for the Sesame Street Forest of Fun. It's a section of the park just for little ones, all decked out with Sesame Street characters. They loved it! We will be better to take them next summer...they were a little young this time because of naps, etc. But it was a great trip for our little family of four.
We got to the hotel in Williamsburg pretty late on Friday night, but we set up their pack-n-plays quickly and turned the lights out. Getting them to fall asleep when we were all in one room together was a little tricky, but Vivian was so funny..."No, Kate, don't talk! Only sleep! It's okay, Kate, don't cry, it's okay"
We got to the park on Saturday as soon as it opened, and left around 1. They slept all the way home.

There are going to be a lot of these "finally" posts because I have so much to catch up on!
On the Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend, we went out to the lake to play! We rode the boat a lot, went out to eat, got ice cream cones, and played with our babies. Papa and Gramme were there, and Joey and Sierra brought one of their dogs on Monday for a couple of hours. I don't have time to edit these pictures or pick the best ones, so here are all of them, lots of repeats...sorry!

Last weekend Aaron and I made a getaway to Charleston, SC for a wedding weekend for my friend Megan and her groom Todd. Megan and I were best friends in Middle School and High School. She helped me move out my dorky stage and I will be forever grateful :). We went to different colleges but have seen each other several times a year since then. The awesome part about being in the wedding was that the celebrating lasted all weekend...we got there Friday evening and all the events started Saturday morning.
Aaron and I stayed at a resort in Isle of Palms and it was definitely a short vacation for us. We missed our girls but knew they were in good hands (Papa and Gramme). Enjoy the pictures! I tried to tell more details about the weekend in the captions.

As a mom it's easy to find myself swelling with pride about how fast Vivian and Kate learn things. They're small children, of course they are going to learn fast! But I get excited when I see them catch on to new things. A couple of weeks ago, Vivian and I were talking on a car ride about an Easter book she was reading. She told me about the pictures she was seeing, "Jesus carry the cross, up the hill, he die on the cross for sins, Jesus said 'No sin!', so I introduced some new things to her and she was repeating everything I said. Just as my pride grew, she brought me back to reality..."Jesus carry the cross, Calvary, I want to listen to Donald Duck music right now, Mommy!"
:) There's no room for pride in mothering!

In the middle of September we had a very special guest at our house. My friend Molly came to Salem on Tuesday the 21st, all the way from Alabama! She stayed with us until Thursday afternoon. It was a huge treat for me...to have a conversation companion, an extra set of hands to help with the girls, and an encouragement for my faith for three days!

Molly and I met in Spain in 2003 and spent almost everyday together for 4 months. We have kept in touch through phone calls and blogs, but have not seen each other since our wedding day in December 2004. It was an awesome reunion. God has given us a lot of commonalities and likeness of mind and heart that make it easy for us to remain close friends. Here we are in Florence, Italy in 2003. Yes, I had gained some weight during those 4 months...they serve a lot of carbs and dessert in Europe!
Molly joined us at the park on her last day here. We were able to catch up on so many parts of our lives while she was visiting. We haven't been to the park since that morning, maybe it was our last park day for the summer.

Vivian and Kate played well with Molly. After the 2nd morning, they were expecting her to be around.

My sweetheart

Molly and her husband Nate live in Alabama. Right now they are in Birmingham, but they are moving to Montgomery for his new job as soon as they sell their house. Molly teaches Spanish online.

On Tuesday night after dinner, Aaron stayed home while just us ladies went out to get dessert and catch up. Wednesday and Thursday we stuck to the normal weekly routine and Molly was so gracious to go along with us!

We had a lot of fun and I am very thankful that she was willing to make the trip. Prayerfully it will not be another 6 years before we see each other again!