june 19

I’ve been thinking about my dad today. He has been gone 22 years, and I think I will stop counting this year—that’s just too many. June is my favorite month because it’s full of summer, anniversaries, weddings, vacations, family. And this sadder day always slips in among the happy ones.

Here are a few of my favorite photos of him.

my Uncle Brian, my Uncle Paul, and my dad—with the contagious smile.

I’ve always loved this one.

My mom and dad were married 35 years ago on June 10th in Portage, Indiana. He was 20, and she was 21. I’m including the bridesmaid photo, because I just love that smile.

a few years later

me, my dad, and my sister Hannah in our Chicago backyard

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.”  Psalm 73:26

four years

Stephen and I are celebrating four years of married life today! Sometimes I can’t believe that our beautiful June 13th wedding day could be so far away. But then again, with us preparing to move to our third town, with our dog being four, and our baby turning two in a few months, it surely seems accurate that four years have passed.

When I look at these photos, I feel so incredibly blessed that he chose me. He was exactly who I had dreamed of marrying. And he continues to surprise me with a generous and creative love everyday.

And happy anniversary to my grandparents tomorrow, who are still 60 years ahead of us :)

“On my own I’m only half of what I could be,
I can’t do without you.
We are stitched together,
and what love has tethered
I could never undo.”
Dave Barnes, ‘God Gave Me You’

21 months!

^^picking up rocks, throwing them, and saying “no no no” because he knows mama disapproves of throwing.

My favorite thing that Nolan has learned this month has been COLORS. It’s so fun that he will bring me toys and proudly tell me if they are orange or blue or yellow. :)

He likes to take two toys in his hands and have them talk to each other.

He will tell me if things are hot or cold—the car in the summer heat is hot, the candle at church is hot, the sippy cup of milk that he put on his face is cold.

At mealtime prayers, he’s been very good at saying “amen” after we pray. In fact, he has even put his toy trains on a plate and made us pray so he could say “amen.”

He still loves putting buckets and boxes on his head and calling them hats. He also puts them on Ivy’s head and calls them hats.

We have some big adventures coming up this month, and I’m excited to discover more new things with him!

the zoo

On Saturday, my friend Jessica generously invited us to tag along with her to the zoo. Her company was having a free family & friends night, and we were happy to go! Jessica’s mom, Christine, and her sisters Leah and Marissa drove in from Ohio to join us.

The first time Nolan went to the zoo, he was only 12 months-old. He definitely enjoyed it then, but nine months later, he was able to notice many more animals, and make animal sounds to go with them :)

Steve and Jess swinging a happy Nolan.

He was captivated by the elephants.

He loved the giraffes so much that he said bye to them as we walked away.

This used to be the painted dogs exhibit :(

Jess and Steve getting autographs from a Steeler.

Blue lobster?

The penguin area was super crowded, but when I was next to the glass, a penguin swam up to the window and touched its beak right where my hand was. So cool!

He refused dinner earlier, so he shoveled in tons of s’mores goldfish while we were at the aquarium. That’s a marshmallow in his mouth, not a weird tooth, in case you were wondering.

The peacocks roam freely at the zoo—and we noticed this one on the roof of the aquarium.

Cute little swimmer.

The group : Marissa, Christine, Jess, Nolan, me, and Leah. I can’t believe Leah is taller than me—she was just a little girl when I was her counselor at camp!

We had such a great time! Thanks Jess!!

happy 4th birthday, ivy!

Miss Ivy turned four a few days ago!

She was four months old when we adopted her from a shelter, and we doubted that she had a home before us. She and her brother were picked up by a cop car on a country road. After we got rid of her fleas and tapeworm, and after we crate-trained and potty-trained her, she was such a good puppy! We called her our Christmas morning puppy, because everyday she woke up as excited as Christmas morning. :)

Wasn’t she tiny?!

I miss that little puppy sometimes!

She has put us through the ringer with two horrible neck injuries and allergic anaphylaxis (after a vaccine), so we are grateful for every birthday that she has!

We love our big girl. And for her 4th birthday present—we are getting her a real yard! :)

a giant stromboli, decathlon, & zoo | non-stagrams

Our next-door neighbor, Jamie, took us out for a stromboli the other night. He wasn’t joking—the $14 stromboli was enormous. Half of it was enough to feed three adults—and we left the restaurant stuffed!

delicious!

I brought some Duplos to keep him entertained.

Asleep in the car in Grandma’s driveway.

Listening to Bret Michaels sing “Every Rose Has its Thorn” a couple blocks away from his concert. We could hear it really clearly. And the lights behind us are from the church we got married in :)

Hanging out at the state park.

My MOPS group did a fun “decathlon”. There were events at 12 restaurants downtown: shuffleboard, trivia, cornhole, mini golf, bocce ball, name-that-tune, nerf darts, pool, wii boxing, etc.

My friend Amanda and me.

Our team.

Steve texted me this picture while I was at the decathon. It’s a pretty big deal because he was pushing the stroller and walking the dog at the same time. We have never done this before because Ivy is crazy on walks. But I hear it worked!

He can’t get enough of being outside. He brings me his sandals in the morning and says “shoes” in hopes that we’ll go out.

Our cement porch, all torn up. Hopefully they’ll pour the concrete today and we can use it again.

Our Saudi neighbors brought us dinner again. So nice of them!

Nolan’s second trip to the zoo!

Nice tiger sunglasses!

My friend Jessica got us in free to a family night at the zoo with the company she works for. Her sisters Marissa, Leah, and her mom came as well! These photos were from Jess’s phone—I’ll post the ones I took later this week :)

How was your weekend?

Happy Monday!