Wedding Season Begins

We have a lot of weddings to go to this summer and this past weekend kicked off the start of these weddings.  One of my best friends from college married the love of her life.  I am so happy for them!  Their wedding was so beautiful and we all kept talking about how it was soooo Martha.  Every detailed fit Martha's style and personality perfectly.  I also loved getting to hang out with all of my college friends once again.  We laughed so much and did lots of reminiscing of our days in the APT C.

Bridal Luncheon that Morning at Martha's new Sister in Law's house

Adorable way to do a guestbook!  I was told that Martha painted this tree. Every guest at the wedding stamped their fingerprints for the petals and wrote their names in the petals.

The truck you see in the background is the Taco Truck!  They served tacos for the reception and they were wonderful.

I lose it at every wedding when the father walks his daughter down the aisle.  I just can't handle it... Im pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that my father and I have always had such a special relationship and it reminds me of that special moment when he gave me away.  Also seeing the dad place the hand of his daughter into the hand of her husband gets me too.  Just that imagery of how life will never be the same she is literally being given away to another.  Wow the responsibilities of husbands!

They were so sweet throughout the whole ceremony.  Kyle had a huge smile on his face and Martha cried during the vows.  It was precious!

At one point during the wedding their families gathered around the couple to pray for them as Brandon Heath's "Love Never Fails" was played and sang.  This was one of my favorite moments of the ceremony.

Mr. and Mrs. Kyle Willis

After the ceremony Martha and Kyle went into the loft of this barn to have some time together and wave at their guests.  It was too cute!

Before the reception we had to do a photo shoot!  Ha ha!  We decided we looked like a girl band except no one can play instruments or sing.

Josh and Jackie Smith

Aaron and Ashley Grant

While at the wedding we were able to get to know some of Marthas good friends from Nashville.  It was such a pleasure meeting Whitney Nall and Trish Squittieri.  They were the kind of people I know I could be great friends with if only there wasn't distance between us:(  

 

Finally a picture of all of APT C.   We had decided its been probably 3 years since we have all been together in the same place

We decided to make it official by singing the AOPi song for Kyle but what we didn't realize was that there were only 6 of us and none of us can really sing so lets just say it wasn't pretty but we got a good laugh however I think we might have scared Kyle a bit.

We all had a blast dancing and it was fun watching Martha and Kyle let loose after a long day

AOPi alpha O number one sorority!

Sparklers!

Congratulations Martha and Kyle, we feel so blessed to have been a part of your special day!

A Proud Sister

My brother graduated from college over the weekend!  Yay I was so proud of him, not just for his accomplishment of graduating from college which is awesome but also for the man that he has become.  He will go on to continue his studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  I can't wait to see all the doors that God is going to open for him now that he has graduated.  I can remember being nervous about him starting college as a freshmen and being influenced by the world in negative ways but instead I watched him get plugged in to a church, go on Campus Outreach Orlando project, share his faith on campus, be discipled by mature men in the faith, and serve along side me in the youth group at Hardin Baptist Church.  To say I am proud is a huge understatement.

All the preachers that have influenced and discipled Logan throughout his years.  From left: Chris Lawrence (College pastor at Hardin Baptist Church, Bro. Wayne Garvey (Pastor at Marion United Methodist Church, Logan, Bro. Ricky Cunningham (Pastor at Hardin Baptist Church), Kory Cunningham (Brother in Law and Youth Pastor at Hardin Baptist Church)

Our Parents, these 2 played the most important role in raising this man up to be who he is today.  I see bits and pieces of both of them in his personality.

We celebrated Logan's big day by going to Patti's with our family and close friends.  Logan delivered a speech thanking everyone for all they had done for him over the years.  It was precious!  

He is an awesome "Unc too"

And doesn't mind sharing the spotlight with Crider from time to time...

During Logan's speech Crider raided the stash of carrots on the buffet table and proceeded to hand them out to everyone.

From live eye news broadcasts in our parents basement, to dances performed for Danda and Mamaw, to being the Crittenden County Cheerleaders #1 fan, to dinners after long days of college classes, and babysitting my boys I sure am one lucky girl to have a brother like him.  I love you Logan!

Girls Trip

I just got back from a girls trip.  Other than when I was in high school, I realized I have never really taken just a girls trip.  It was so much fun.  My mother in law had the idea for us to take Kiki to florida for her 30th birthday.  So it was me, Kiki, Celisa, Amy (Kory's Aunt, and Gran (Kory's Grandma, Celisa's Mom).  We had a great time and it was so relaxing for all of us.  All we did was lay out, eat and shop.  No kids were allowed ha ha!

These pictures are from the 2nd night we went to eat.  We ate at a cute little Italian restaurant called Onano's.  It was wonderful and we felt like we were in Italy.  I just love this picture of Celisa and her mom laughing I just think it is sooo cute. I know its blurry because it was dark but I just love both of their faces.  It really captures how most of our dinners were with all of us cracking up over something that was said.  Needless to say we went home with a lot of inside jokes.

We had to take a short boat ride to the beach from the place where we were staying.  The beach was absolutely beautiful.

On the last night of the trip we ate at one of my favorite restaurants in Destin called Pompano Joe's.  I just love the atmosphere and the food was great too.  I had crab legs, a must for me when I go on a beach vacation.

It was such an amazing trip and I really hope that Kiki had the best 30th birthday ever.  Although the trip was wonderful I sure was ready to get back home to hug and kiss my boys.  We returned on Mother's Day and I came home to a perfectly clean house, a reorganized laundry room, a new microwave, and adorable hand made mother's day cards.  My husband is amazing!  

The Grants

We had such a fun weekend!  Aaron and Ashley Grant came to visit.  Ashley and I became instant friends our freshmen year in college and have remained very close even after graduation, marriage, babies and distance apart.  They have 2 precious daughters who are the same ages as Crider and Finley!  This made for a very interesting weekend having 4 children between us.  On Saturday we had a party for Ashley and Aaron where we invited everyone who was close to them during their time in Murray.  I took a lot of pictures but they mainly turned out to all be of our 2 oldest kids Crider and Riley.  They were so fun together.

 

All Crider wanted to do was wrestle and Riley wasn't so sure about it

 

 

Caleb and Kayla Staley spent the day with us on Saturday.  At lunchtime Caleb, Aaron and Kory took the toddlers to the cow show that was in town while Kayla, Ashley and myself all went to Dumplins with the babies.  When we returned home we were so surprised to see that the boys had successfully put all 3 toddlers down for their naps.  We were able to put the babies to bed too and all of us adults had some time to chat while the babies all slept.  And of course we played a little bit too ha!

 

After nap time the toddlers decided to do some swingin

After the party that night we decided it would be easiest if we just threw some of the kids in the bath together.  Im sure this picture will resurface one day and embarrass these boys.

Elijah Stanger, Owen Staley and Crider Cunningham

Tickle Time

As we were giving them a bath we couldn't help but talk about how different each one of these boys are, they are all so special in their own little way.  Also Kayla couldn't help but see her future of how bathtime will always look at her house.  She is expecting twin boys and the blonde one belongs to her too.  There is nothing quite like having great friends to share a weekend with and to see our kids all playing together was a blessing to us all as well.