More Pictures

I couldn't fit all the pictures in the last blog, so here are the rest!




Josh and my brother doing the soldier boy, this was toward the end of the night, so use your imagination!



My brother and mom for thier dance, they looked great.



The bride and groom remained intact after cake cutting and eating.

Mel and Laura (one of the other bridesmaids)

The girls in the limo on the way to the ceremony, they all looked great!

I couldn't fit all the pics in the last blog entry, so here are some more to enjoy.

Ready or not, here come the bride and groom!

So it's official, my brother and his beautiful bride are off the market. Well, I suppose they have been off the market for a while now, but the priest has signed it in ink. I don't know where to begin. It was a fun couple of days helping Katie and Jason prepare and get all the last minute things together. Josh helped Jason get the rehearsal tied up and I helped Katie with the reception hall. The rehearsal was a lot of fun, and the dinner was even better. Katie's Aunt Sue hosted dinner at her house and there were easily 30 people there. I was so proud the way my brother worked to get all that put together on his own, it was simply great. Saturday morning, Katie and I with our moms, her sister, and cousin Maggie put the finishing touches on the reception hall. It was great when we left there, but that night it was so beautiful. The day of the wedding called for rain all day and as we awoke to the day, sunshine everywhere. We were even able to get pictures outside before the ceremony. I can't wait to see the professional shots, but I will add some of those that I was able to snag during the events! Their ceremony was full of tears for me as I watched my big little brother take such a big life step. I cried more at his wedding than my own because I didn't have anything to be stressed out about. It was a 45 minute ceremony and a Catholic Jesuit her father has known for years flew in from D.C. to officiate the wedding. He had the most beautiful homily for my brother and her. Katie was so stunning up on the alter with my handsome brother. Can I mention how easy it was to help this bride get ready. She wouldn't certainly flunk off the show bridezilla. She was cool as a carrot (I don't like cucumbers) and had nothing negative to say about the whole day. I should at this point let everyone know that I did almost have to harm the lady at the Clinique counter where we all had our make-up done, but the crisis was avoided (no thanks to the sales lady). On to the reception. Can I just talk about the food for a minute.....amazing, delicious, and the wedding party got to eat first! It was awesome. Their DJ was great, I don't know who he was, but with the drinks and the DJ at full throttle, we all had a blast. At the end of the night my brother and Katie headed to the airport and to Mexico the next morning. I hope they are having the time of their life and enjoying the first days of their marriage. They are the most fun, fun-loving couple to be around and I wish them love and luck getting through the adventure of life with each other. Here are some candid moments from the weekend. I hope you enjoy!

The future bride and groom opening one of their gifts from Josh and I. I think they liked their new drinking cups.

My brother and I celebrating the new cups. He had the pimp cup and he was letting everyone know that that made me 'da ho.

Mel in make up and hair before we assmebled the dresses at Katie's parent's house.

The bride on her way to get into her gown!

The beautiful bride sipping some wine before the big ceremony! She was stunning.

How Big is Anna?

We are home and recovering from a very long couple of days back in Cincy. We had time to visit with a few friends, family, and of course Anna. The occasion was my little brother's wedding, but there was time with our beautiful niece too. Anna is almost eleven months now and staring her first birthday right in the eye. While home I was able to see my friend Natalie for the first time in almost two years. It's crazy how time gets away from you, but she also got to meet Anna for the first time! They hit it off amazingly well. Anna even broke Nat right in and spit up while Nat was holding her! Anna's Grandma Lynne has bought her this toy with all the farm animals and they make their respective noises. Her favorite is the pig, and Anna is learning how to imitate all the animal sounds. Her biggest trick is asking her how big she is and then she throws her hands in the air. When she does we tell her she is so big and she has the greatest smile with all five of her teeth! My favorite Anna impersonation is when you ask her what a dog says, she doesn't answer, she just moves her lips and gets this inquisitive look. It says, "I know what a doggie says, don't you? Let me show you." Well, I realize I could ramble for a long time about how she is doing, how big she is getting, etc, but I'll let the pictures tell the story. Enjoy.

Anna giggling at her silly Uncle Josh as he plays with her.

Anna loving on her Uncle Josh. Boy does she love her juice and water combo!

Anna has no idea, but in this picture Uncle Josh and Aunt Mel are plotting ways to make her a spoiled brat! We are trying to come up with ways to make life for mommy and daddy harder. This was the day after her mommy and daddy got hitched.

How pretty is this little girl!? Everyone, notice the bow!!!

Hold Your Horses

hi all,
I know there are a bunch of folks out there that are anxiously awaiting pictures and stories from the wedding. I also will be adding plenty of pictures of Anna and stories of our visit with her. Josh and I just arrived in town late last night and were both back to work today. Look for an exciting post in the next day or so. Hope this post finds everyone well.
mel

Meet the Newest Member of Our Family

So by now you have read the title of this post, and 98% of you have a niave, preconcieved idea of what you "think" the title means. You are thinking, "Wow, what a public way to announce such a thing", or "Wholly cow, can it really be true", or "There is no way"....etc. Well, in usual fashion Josh and I love to dissapoint! So NO we are not expecting, NO I am not pregnant, and we are not even thinking about it right now. Sorry to all of you reading who just got this rush of adrenaline and then the let down of your day, but we do what we can. So the title is to introduce Charlie. Charlie is the resident preying mantis that has been hanging around our back deck now for several weeks. He is there when we wake up and there when we turn in for the evening. Josh and I have recently named him Charlie and added him to our list of "family" members. We have concluded that there must be some massive food source for him on or around our back deck because he is there everyday. A few days ago he went missing and I was sure it had gotten to cold for him or he became someone else's lunch or dinner. But alas........today on my way in from changing the oil on my truck, there he was! Green this time as apposed to his usual brown on the recycle bin or deck wood, but there none the less. So today I decided to introduce him with a picture. I also will attach a new picutre of Carson. He is loving the window weather! I'm not sure he would love the idea of another family member, but we are keeping mum about Charlie with him. As I write this post, I realize how ashamed I am that the newest post we have in two weeks is about a silly preying mantis in our back yard, but I suppose that is better than a bunch of babbling or no post at all! Josh was home in Cincinnati this past weekend because his Aunt Peggy is in hospice care and not doing well. She is currently getting morphine around the clock for pain management. At the same time, his grandmother was admitted to the hospital for low hemoglobin (low blood count) and needed four units of blood. For you non-medical folks, that is just about 1.5 liters of blood, or A WHOLE LOT They diagnosed her with diverticulitis and she will follow up with her GI specialist next week. We hope the symptoms will remain under control for her so that she can get through the grieving process of her oldest daughter dying. I am helping some of my great friends throw Mary Jane's baby shower this Sunday and have been helping get the finishing touches ready on that. I have four short shifts left before I head home for the wedding, and Josh and I are getting very excited about it. This weekend we plan on carving our pumpkins and posting pictures for the offical vote. We hope this post finds everyone

well, and look for an update sometime soon with carved pumpkins!

Here he is. This is Charlie. He is scoping out the roof of the back deck.

Here is our beautiful boy Carson. Just a lazy afternoon looking out into the backyard. He could have been dreaming about being a jungle cat?

The Pumpkins Square Off!

So for the first time at the pumpkin patch even I was sweating. This year has remained unseasonably warm here and the best weekend for us to pick pumpkins meant it was almost 80 degrees outside! Josh was almost complaining because he says it's a cool weather activity. I was mum because I would jump at the chance to do any activity of the year when it was 80 degreees outside. That all said, we headed out to Eckert's in Belleville Illinois on Saturday afternoon. To say they were packed would be an understatement. There were people everywhere, but the good news, the patch was still overflowing with pumpkins. I have felt kind of crummy since this past monday with migraines and a sinus infection, so the trip was short and to the point. We also purchased some spring flower bulbs that we plan to plant this wednesday. Can't wait to see what they will look like next year! I will include a preview of the pumpkins that will be carved soon. We will leave it up to your imagination to know who picked which pumpkin until after they are carved. (Note: Carson did not make it to the patch in person, but has successfully picked his pumpkin as well. That will explain the three pumpkins in the photo.) I should also insert a short note about that fact that the Bengals have fallen to 0-5 and our kicker (future hall of famer Shane Graham #17) has more offensive points than the rest of the team! I knew I had his jersey for more than a namesake. Katie had her third and final bridal shower this weekend and the wedding is coming up in just three short weeks. It's so hard to believe. Can't wait to get home and see everyone. I have eight shifts left before I leave and really need the break! Well, Sunday Night Football in America is about to start and I have an apple crisp in the oven that is almost done, yummy. Hope everyone is well and keep an eye out for the vote for the carved pumpkins soon!

p.s. Josh and I have spent a lot of time contemplating retirement in the past three weeks and it is a lot tougher than I ever imagined.





























Here they are!!! Three pumpkins for three different carvers. The stickers indicate that there was no cheating. We actually walked out into the patch and selected these ourselves! Can't wait to you see the carved products!