Beautiful Kids in fancy dresses....

It amazed me today just how much my daughters and niece LOVE to dance. They loved every aspect of my Dad's wedding - the fancy dresses, someone doing their hair, the make-up, the limo, and ESPECIALLY the dancing. Rolling on the floor, cartwheels, twirling, and simply dancing like EVERYONE was watching and they totally did not care what anyone thought? Why can we not hold that happy attitude in our hearts as grown-ups? Doing what you love, having fun, and having no care if you ruin your fancy dress, rip your tights, or people think you are a little insane! Watching their joy and feeling the support of our closest and truest friends made me feel surrounded by blessings today as my handsome Dad married Jean and took an official stand on choosing LIFE over DEATH. He did not chose to be at this place in this moment in time - but he stood as a shining example of a man who lost almost everything and decided to enjoy to the best of his ability every moment he has left on earth. I love him so much it actually hurt my heart (which is exactly what my Mom said it feels like to be a grandparent). Parts of the day were incredibly hard as people would imagine, but I wish they could feel a bit of the pride I had for my siblings, my Mom's mom, my Mom's brother and his entire family, my Mom's best friend and her family and my parent's closest friends. They were there in memory of the wonderful life we all had and to honor my amazing Mom and also to support my Dad and share in his celebration of making a choice we really need to be proud of. I pray he is safe and happy on his honeymoon. I love that man.
Shannon and I took SO MANY photos - here is just a sampling. You can go to www.kristiandneil.com/wedding and Shannon's awesome husband made it link to the 180 (out of like 1800 we took) we have posted in an album on Shutterfly.
Hug your family tightly today. As tight as you can. Because it all could change tomorrow, and your perspective could be entirely different. Enjoy every moment as it happens. So many people danced and lived in the moment on Friday at the wedding, and I am grateful they are our friends.

JOY surrounding us every day

Here are some amazing fun photos of life. We love it all and are grateful for every day we are all here together and for every memory. From MisMatched socks (Kalli's trademark) to out of control bubbles in the tub to so many other every day moments, we love it all and are happy to be together every day. We love funny teeth, BIG frogs in the pond behind our house, movie night on the air mattress, photos taken at twilight, funny faces, good friends and just really everything we do every day. Enjoy every moment and take tons of photos.

"Will Nana be sad in heaven?"

That is what my wise-old soul 6-year old daughter asked me tonight. She was sending a balloon up to Heaven to my Mom and she asked me if Nana would be sad in Heaven this week watching Papa Marry someone other than her (my dad is getting married on Friday - my wonderful Mom passed away in an accident two years and 5 months ago). I told her that Nana would be very grateful that Papa was not lonely anymore and she said "Yeah, I know, but I bet she will still be kind of sad." And there you have it, a taste of what this week will be like for our family.....

Today was an AMAZING day filled with love and laughter as we visited The Beckham family who is in Chicago for my Dad's wedding AND we played softball tonight with my Mom's brother and his family from Colorado there to watch us. I was told how well behaved my children were (which fills be to the brim with pride and gratitude) and a Mom told me she and other moms were in the stands tonight talking about what good, fun, happy coaches Mari and I are for our softball team. I am so happy they think that and they even asked if they could get their daughters on our team next year.

So, amidst a week of happy and challenging moments, I have found SO MUCH JOY. I was given a photo of my Mom today that I have never seen before. She looks so happy and so real in the photo. It was a very kind and thoughtful present. This next couple of days is going to be a challenge, and we will all have very different lives than any of us anticpated in my family.... but, we will still be surrounded with JOY daily, and I pray we always know to look for it.

Here are just a few JOYFUL photos that I stole from Shannon's site.

Milkshake Mix Off

Auntie Shannon surprised me with a new blender that I totally needed, and we christened it tonight with a Milkshake Mix Off. It made me count my blessings... my children totally ROCK, I have such a cool best friend, I finally have a blender that chops ice, and we do lots of fun things that will become traditions that we do over and over.... How did I get so lucky?

Our New Aussie Friends

We were so lucky and blessed to host two amazing women from Australia in our home. Cathy and Natalie were fun house guests who truly loved our children. It was so fun watching them dance and sing and play with them. The girls loves teaching them the happy dance and Kalli LOVED all Natalie's shoes! It was cool to see our kids learn about another country. I always want them to realize just how big and wonderful our world really is. Natalie paid our family a huge compliment when she told us she has always wanted to have kids, now she just wants to have OUR kids because they are so kind and funny and well behaved. She called them her "chicken chops" which I totally loved. We hope they enjoyed touring the US a little and arrived safely back home in Australia.

Life is busy and GOOD

Here are Kalli and Kaya and our dear friends the Steinhardt kids. Sydney and Anthony were SO NICE to the girls when they watched them while the rest of us walked or ran the mini marathon. It was a great day with great friends....

It has been so fun coaching Kalli's instructional softball league. The kids are good listeners and strong little players. I love that Kalli always looks a little different and more spunky than everyone else.

We also are preparing to lose the first tooth in our family which is QUITE the big deal. We took some final photos of Kalli's mouth with all teeth in it - of course, now Kaya thinks she is losing her teeth, too. Ahhhh, we just LOVE spring and everything that comes with it.

We are off to INDY to walk/run in the annual mini-marathon. Kalli's real birthday was fun with family at the mall as well we her dress fitting for Papa Vern's wedding. Her and Kaya look like living dolls in their dresses. We brought MONSTER cookies to her class. She wore mismatched socks and her Hannah Wig to school. She LOVED opening all the surprises from Mimi and Papa (Kaya loved her Pooping on the potty surprises, too!) We ended her fifth year with a birthday bake-off between her and her sissy - it was a BIG MESS but super fun, too.
I tried three times to upload photos - the the site was busy.... will post awesome photos later....
Have a great weekend. Enjoy every moment!