Precious Love

We spent this past weekend celebrating love.

One of Josh's childhood best friends got married to the love of his life. Josh was asked to be a groomsmen, and got to go on a fun white water rafting trip for the bachelor party last week.

We went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on Friday. I was blown away at how beautiful their venue was, as I'd never even heard of it before. The restaurant the rehearsal dinner was at was really nice and located in a really cool building. We had a great time that evening laughing, eating and drinking with some good friends. The food was phenomenal! I didn't hear anyone complain about anything they ordered. It was really, really good. It also happened to be the restaurant that our soon-to-be married friends went to on their first date. So it was a pretty special night for all of us.

Me and my handsome date at the rehearsal dinner 

The groom-to-be saying a few words

The groom's dad gave the most precious speech at the rehearsal dinner. My favorite thing that he said was, "What started as a twinkle in your eye has become more than a best friend. This is your life partner and by looking upward you are welded in a bond that many people will never experience". It definitely made a lot of us a little teary eyed.

We snuck in a few pictures before the ceremony started

The following day, the boys had to be at the venue early for pictures, so I rode to the wedding later with some of the ladies. The ceremony itself was incredibly precious. Seeing our friend crying as his wife-to-be walked down the aisle to him was so sweet. It is very obvious how much they love each other.

3/4 of dot35 

dot35 wives!

This was the first wedding that I've been to that the dates of the wedding party got to sit at the head table with them. It was a nice surprise. We had a really yummy dinner and then toasts. I cracked up and cried a lot during the toasts.

 Toast time

 Brothers

Sisters

The first dance was precious. They had obviously practiced a little routine together and it was really sweet. I had to stop myself from bawling during the father/daughter dance when Butterfly Kisses came on. It's been a long time since I've heard that song and it just was a little overwhelming to watch this beautiful girl dancing with her daddy to that song. And the mother/son dance was also very precious.

First dance

Father/daughter dance

 Mother/son dance

We had a lot of fun dancing. All of the husbands danced with their wives (woohoo!) and we had a couple of huge groups dancing during certain songs. The bride and groom left the venue in-between two lines of sparklers. It was so fun.

 dot35

 dot35 wives in order of marriage (from left to right: last to first)

All the boys and their wives 

The boys helped load some stuff up and then we went out for drinks and snacks. It was a very full weekend, but it was a really fun one. This best friend of Josh's was the last in his group of friends to get married. I'm sure I've mentioned dot35 before on this blog, but it's what they've called themselves ever since jr. high. It was really fun to officially welcome the last dot35 wife into the fold. And even though they will be living out of state for awhile, we are really excited that the group is now complete.

I love these girls so much

It's amazing to me that my husband has had such a solid group of guy friends that have walked through life with him, in all sorts of different stages, for the past 17 years (or more). I am so thankful for who these men have been and will hopefully continue to be in his life. And I'm thankful for their wives and what they've already been in my life.

Cheers to our newly married friends!

Life is Beautiful

This past month has been full of so much goodness.

I've been spending a lot of time with my friend who was overseas. We've been able to get together weekly since she's been back here. It's been a lot of fun being able to catch up with her, as well as to get to know my goddaughter better. Josh and I went out to dinner with the two of them last week and had such a good time.

Our littlest dinner date...our gorgeous goddaughter  

My oldest friend and her beautiful daughter...I'm so excited to meet my nephew (who's hiding in this picture) in about a month or so!

We saw SpiderMan and X-Men with some friends.

Josh went on a short guys' retreat and I spent the evening with some beautiful young women. We ate pizza, hung out in the spa, watched The Pirate Fairy movie, and talked about Jesus. It was such a fun night.

We celebrated Mother's Day and my dad's birthday with my family. We were able to spend the whole day with my parents, and my sister and her husband. It was a really fun day.

My book club friends and I decided to start reading Harry Potter together, as one of us has never read it before! As my friend Megh and I are in love with all things Harry Potter, we decided we had to read it together. It's been so fun being able to re-read the books and to chat about them.

I went to a bridal shower for the fiance of one of Josh's best friends (the last of dot35 to get married). It was a lot of fun.

We also went to a wedding reception/open house for our friends that got married a couple of months ago. They had a very small ceremony and decided to do a little party to celebrate with those they weren't able to invite to the wedding.

I just love this kid

My oldest niece turned 7! Even though we weren't able to celebrate with her, we were able to chat with her on FaceTime on her birthday. I can't believe she is already that old! It seems like just yesterday we were heading to see her after they brought her home from the hospital.

A collage I made of my niece for her birthday

I had a fun wine night with the friends I went wine tasting with in January. We have decided to try and make our wine nights a more regular occurrence. It's just a fun evening of eating, sipping a little wine, and diving into each other's lives. I'm really enjoying our evenings together.

We went to a two-year-old's birthday party. I can't believe how quickly these kids grow up. I went to see this little beauty in the hospital after she was born. And her first birthday seems like it was just a month or two ago. It's crazy how fast time flies...

We celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday with a fun night of Mexican food and the Bachelorette. And a little bit of wine and milkshakes from Sonic. It was a good night.

This girl loves Uncle Josh. And loves playing on his iPad with him

I went dancing with some friends at our favorite place. We always have a lot of fun dancing to some of our favorite (and even a few of our not-so-favorite) songs.

And this past weekend, our friends from CO flew in to celebrate the graduation of an awesome young man that Josh and I have had the privilege of knowing for the past seven and a half years. It's hard to believe he'll be heading off to college in a few months!

I went over on Saturday morning and stole my CO bestie so we could grab breakfast together. It was such a good start to the day. We seriously have the best conversations and she always challenges me and encourages me in such amazing ways. We then went to that young man's graduation party. It was so fun to be reunited together with some friends we haven't seen in a while or don't get to see in the same capacity anymore. Josh and I spent most of the day over there with them and then went out with our friends from CO. We laughed and had some more good conversations and laughed some more. Our friendship with them is so easy and we are so grateful for them.

 I made sure we took this picture, especially since we didn't take a lot of pictures when we went to CO this year...and we took no pictures with John!

Today my book club friends and I were able to get together in person, as my CO bestie is a part of our club (and happens to be the one that is reading Harry Potter for the first time!). We met up in a Starbucks and talked Harry Potter for almost two hours...and then kept the party going with lunch. Our friends had to fly back home today, which is always so bittersweet for me, but I am so thankful we were able to spend so much time together. There's never enough time, but the time that we do have together is so sweet.

My BCB. Otherwise known as my CA bestie and my CO bestie. I love these girls so very much

And tonight we celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday. It was a really fun evening spent with both sides of the family (his and mine).

A couple of not-so-fun things happened this month as well:

My grandma had to have brain surgery, as she had some complications from a bad fall earlier this year. Thankfully she made it through just fine and is at home recovering. It was definitely a scary couple of days, though.

I also tried something this month to try and help with my pain issues. As hopeful as I was that it would make a difference, it really just made me miserable and jacked me up a bit. It was a two-week thing and I've been done with it for over two weeks now...and I'm just now starting to feel more like myself again. I'm glad I tried it, to rule out one more thing on this journey, but I really wish it wouldn't have been so awful...and that it would have helped!

Overall, this past month was a really good one. The rest of June is pretty busy and crazy...but it's also going to be a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to all we have planned.