note from my dad

I think my dad is the greatest supporter of my family, life, and career and I wanted to share the sweet email that he sent to me a few days ago with you...

I love you dad! Thanks for always being our #1 fan!

- - -

Now that I have nothing better to do than ponder the universe, I wanted to let you know how happy I am when I take a few minutes to visit your blogs and websites and everything else creative in your life.

I am voting for the photograph as the best invention that mankind has ever created. Better than the computer, penicillin, nuclear energy or any thing yet to be invented.

When I look at those two dimension snippets of time, the images seem to unfold into all the emotions; love and joy, laughter, sadness and melancholy. Photographs are my personal passport to visiting the past. When we look at our pictures of you and Jordy from babies to adults, it is as rewarding as the day they were taken. When we are old(er), we will surround ourselves with photographs and they will give comfort and meaning to our lives.

I vote for the photograph as being the most relevant and important invention of mankind, and you have chosen a great profession.

Congratulations!

Love,

Pops

the beach, the game, the wedding

This is going to be a LONG post, so I am warning you in advance!

We spent Thursday through Monday in Traverse City, Michigan with the Brand Family. We started with a horrible 8 hour drive full of crying, whining, stopping the car, and screaming on Sam's part. She did not enjoy being in the car that long, did not sleep well, and I didn't know if we would ever make it. (Amazingly the trip home only took 6.5 hours and she was perfect thanks to some new toys and a DVD player, which we had for the first trip but wouldn't work for some reason.) Our luck changed when we arrived to check into a FABULOUS condo that Orlie and Kathe (Dan's parents) rented for the weekend. They, along with Jenny (Dan's sister), her husband Scott, their two boys (4 & 1) and us stayed in the condo together. I wish I had taken a photo! It had 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, full kitchen, living room, dining room, laundry room, loft with play area & flat screen, and a porch that was on a path that lead right out to the beach. It was perfect!!! Thank you, Kathe and Orlie, for our fabulous stay!

A few "real" photos that Dan took...

We had two agendas: to get Steve and Krystal married, and to attend the annual Brand Family Reunion, strategically planned for the same weekend. :) Sammi went to the beach for the first time on this trip, and she DID NOT like the sand! I had hopes of taking her to the beach to build sandcastles, but it took her three days to get comfortable enough just to stand on sand in shoes. She is such a girly girl, and does not like to get dirty. She did not like the feel of the sand. We enjoyed walking up and down the beach with her on our shoulders though!

Sammi holding on tight to grandpa!

She finally tried walking...only with shoes on!

Friday evening we attended the rehearsal for Steve (Dan's brother) and Krystal's wedding. We left the kids with extended family and headed out to the end of a peninsula right on the lake to have a four-course filet mignon dinner. YUMMMMMMM!!!

Orlie and Kathe at the rehearsal with Grandma Brand in the second row!

Orlie has 6 siblings, and every year one of them plans the family game for the reunion. Whoever wins plans the game for the following year. The rest of the family is divided up into their teams. This year it was Neal's turn, and he led a game of writing "Wait Wait -- Don't Tell Me!" news stories. Each team wrote two stories and read them aloud along with a real one. Each team had to guess which one was true. It was a lot of fun!

Ryan and Brad, Sammi's cousins, hanging out with her. (Brad's poor ankle is wrapped because he sprained it on the beach! He was a trooper though!)

The Brand Family Game (about 50 people came this year)

Self portrait.

Soooo.....then came the most important event of the weekend! THE WEDDING! My sinus infection last week turned into a terrible cough which kicked in a full gear at the wedding (maybe the heat and stress of chasing Sam)...so my face and nose is red in all the photos! Dan helped a ton, but being the BEST MAN, he had responsibilities most of the night. :) The wedding was a gorgeous outdoor wedding followed by an intimate BEAUTIFUL reception with tons of flowers, individual cakes on each table, an entire DeBrand chocolate table, sincere toasts, laughter, and lots of dancing.

Steve and the groomsmen. (Sammi started signing and loudly saying "Dada, dada!" when Dan walked out!)

Sammi with her Uncle Scott, who helped me tremendously with her during the ceremony!

Sammi and her handsome daddy. :)

Telling me she's with her daddy.

Sammi playing the game where mommy tickles her with strands of her hair.

Dan's speech/toast was SO SWEET and SOOOOO good! He did such a good job and he didn't sound the least bit nervous! I was so proud of him!!!

Steve & Krystal's first dance.

Sam gettin' down on the dance floor with Aunt Krystal!

Brooke, Krystal, Sam, Steve, Dan

Aren't they such a cute couple?!

Dan and his wonderful mama. :) She's the best!

Steve and Krystal are enjoying their honeymoon in Hawaii right now. They sent us a photo of their view from their phone when they arrived. How jealous are we?!?!? :)

We are so happy that their marriage is official, even though Krystal has been part of the family for almost 8 years!!! Congratulations, Steve and Krystal! We can't wait to see you when you get back but we hope your time in Hawaii seems long and relaxing!

1965 "new" beetle

My dad has been on a quest to find an antique Volkswagen Beetle, similar to the one he and my mom used to drive when they were dating. Over the last few weeks he's looked at several and finally had his dream "bug" delivered to Indianapolis tonight. In 1969 my parents drove a green VW Beetle and say they used to sit on the dented trunk with a candle on the top of the car to light their late night conversations while dating. How cute is that?!

So....this "new" Beetle is a 1965 restored car, complete with the engine in the back, "trunk space" (yeah right) in the front, gas cap in the hood, and a LITTLE bit of space to sit inside and drive around! :) It's SO CUTE!!! It's stick shift, so Dan and I will not be driving it anytime soon...but I'm hoping my parents will enjoy it as much as they did 39 years ago. I think we'll get them a new candle as a car-warming gift...

Congratulations, mom and dad!!!

birthdays and reds

Samantha's cousins, Brad and Ryan, have very close birthdays! Ryan and Brad are Dan's sister's kiddos. On Saturday they had a birthday party for them; Brad turned four and Ryan turned one! It's hard for me to believe Ryan is a year old, but even harder to grasp that little Bradley is already FOUR!!! I'm not sure where the time has gone! We went up to Fort Wayne Saturday for their party. (Then we came back so that Dan could go to his brother's bachelor party, but we don't have any photos of that! Ha ha...)

Brad blowing out his candles.

Ryan (Jenny) blowing out his candle!

Brad cut his own piece of cake! Hilarious! That was a full size plate, not a dessert plate!!! It was enormous! SO CUTE!

My brother, Jordie, is marrying his finacee, Ashley this August. My mom's side of the family threw them a shower on Sunday at their favorite place, a Cincinnati Reds game! The new(er) stadium is awesome! It overlooks the river and is beautiful! After the game we went to a restaurant for food and games. It was a ton of fun to have the whole gang there!

My mom, aunt Glenda (barely in the photo), cousin Erika, and her daughter Annika who celebrated her 2nd birthday after the game with a HUGE brownie!

Jordie and Ashley with their neice, Sammi, who was sweating up a storm!

Self portrait. :)

Most of the gang....

My ALWAYS hilarious dad, holding up his sign that he worked so hard on!

And, my dad carrying Samantha to the restaurant after the game.