The Wedding

Looking at these pictures again to add them here makes me smile.

It was such a pretty wedding.  I loved all that Danielle chose & it fit so perfectly in the setting of my parent's house.  And it was just so so so fun to be with family.  We don't get to be with Mom's side enough & I always enjoy the time.  I enjoyed the time with Emily and Jessica.  We got to have a little community living after all being home (without "coworkers" as I like to describe it to Mike, then he tells me "coworkers" are over-rated) with our babies & children. We got to work together on something fun and creative and make "progress" instead of just "maintaining".  We got to be the "florists" for the wedding and I enjoyed putting together the flowers and setting up all that Danielle had prepared & chosen.

 I love, love, love this sign.  It makes me relaxed & thankful just to read it.

 One end of the cute coffee table.

The "in loves", not out laws.  Is SK not the cutest?!

 Handsome Uncle Henry (father of the groom & best man)

 My Mom's side of the family- the Flythes

 the Dennis family

 these two goof balls- never a dull moment with them...

 Maw & Paw with their grandkids (sweet Julia hidden/held by Maw)

 Mom's siblings

 Another reason I love Danielle- she loves Henry almost as much as I do.

 Mike & Ben took selfies with the DSLR- we all love us some Benny!

We love you, J&D!!

Jeff & Danielle's Wedding Rehearsal

Started this a long time ago, but there is so much that could be said ...

My brothers and I had a cousin on each side to round us out to four.  On my Dad's side, it was Holly.  On my Mom's side, it was Jeff.  They each fell perfectly between my two brothers so Holly was the perfect sister to help me against the boys and Jeff was like my third brother, spending endless summer days with us building tree houses and playing at Grandma's house.  There have been beach weeks and college graduations and most recently, he was the 'brother' on the crew that helped Mike move us to our new house when I was 38 1/2 weeks pregnant with Ben.  I have been so anxious for him to meet the right girl... mostly because he is such a good catch!

Well, at the end of May, he tied the knot at my parents house with the perfect girl (that he met soon after my post swooning about him- ha!).  We were especially excited because its where we got married.  And our kids are at the age of thinking about weddings from stories and old enough to remember it.  And they love "Uncle" Jeff.
I had the kids skip school on Friday so we went down Thursday eve.  It was a fun DIY gig that my parents pulled off with the help of the groom and his parents (my mom's brother), their children & spouses.  (Now to give credit where credit is due- my parents are really unbelievable.  They can get some things done and are really amazing, hard working, generous, perfectionists, detail oriented, and hard working.  Did I mention hard working?  Their house & yard looked like the country club.  And they didn't call in the landscaping crew or the house staff.)

Rehearsal Pics:
Paw is exhausted and catches a nap on the swing before festivities begin...

 Mike does a final tour of the yard with me after our day of preparations.
He is appropriately :P wearing the shirt from Henry's business. :)

 Waking Sissy from her afternoon of beauty sleep before the party

Tables are ready!
Wholesale Daisies in Mason Jars.

Burlap on the tables.

 Twelve years later...

 The Handsome Groom...

 Aren't they cute?!

 Parents of the Groom

 Groom's Cake

 And one more cheesy shot for us- Mike's idea.  
We had a pic taken here for our wedding. :)

 

 

Wedding to come... maybe ;)

In the Sunshine & Date Night Conversations

* These pics are deceptive.  It still isn't warm enough for me.  But the sunshine is nice.

The kids, however, really are this good looking.

Mike & I had an at home date night last night.  With a glass of wine & conversation.

We talked about lots of things and then I was telling him that I wish I could have our kids do a personality test so I could really figure them out, and by knowing more of who they are, I could let them be and have more reasonable expectations for them.

In talking about that, we were refreshing our memories on who we test out to be.

I am an ESTJ.  Mike is an INFP.  I had sorta forgotten that we really are perfect opposites.  We talked through each of those, him trying to explain to me the difference in an S & N ;).  Today I read more online about each of us & again, my jaw is on the floor at how spot on it is.  

And this brings to the front of my mind: God's faithfulness to us.  

 We could have stayed perfect opposites.  When we got married, I would have thought of myself as superior.  I think I've mentioned this before.  And a lot of it would have been because I didn't really understand Mike.  I think I would have continued on with that assumption (my greatness, isn't that the nature of an ESTJ), but this thing called STINT happened.  We lived in another country (something I didn't really want to do) and we were removed from so much that year and this great couple came over and counselled us and our team that year.  And they helped us to see each other.  I think that helped me to put words to our differences.  And, further living and parenting with Mike has taken it a step further to cause me to love our differences.  To love and appreciate all of the qualities about Mike that are so opposite me.

* Pics below courtesy of Lily.

The Gospel takes it even a step further.  Mike doesn't just get frustrated with me, he loves me (romans 5:8).  And his love calms me and helps me to not be so fixated on my way.  He helps me to let go of my determination and trust his love.  In the same way, I can trust my Heavenly Father, trust Jesus because I know He loves me and acts in my best interest (romans 8:32).

But he doesn't demand my submission, he earns it.  

Jesus does that too. 

{Lily's first word was "kee" for kitty.  Following suit, Ben's first word is "ta" for cat. He likes her a lot.}

Now, I don't do any of this perfectly.  We would both tell you that.  But it made me smile to think on this through our conversations last night.  And it encourages me to know God's faithfulness to us to bring about His will, despite my determination to bring about my will.  (Although I think my will is much less than it used to be.)

You can pray for Mike.  Because I now realize I am the harder one to live with.  

It also encourages me to think about parenting.  Because I am still VERY MUCH at the beginning phase of that process, not knowing what is going on & most of the time sure my sin is screwing it all up.  I am thankful for a partner who loves and seeks God, knows what Jesus has done for him, what it cost, and is iNtuitive in attempting to understand these kids.

I am thankful that God sanctifies us and is stronger, calls us to follow Him over our personality types and leads us to live in ways that are different than our natural tendencies because He is most trustworthy.

I also think my husband is pretty great.