Jenna 7.5

Jenna is 7.5 today! She weighs 52.4 lbs and is 48.5 inches tall. She's grown 0.8 lbs and 1.25 inches since her birthday. This is her 2nd grade picture. She is doing great in school and really likes it. She continues to be a friend to all. She is doing well in her piano lessons and is enjoying learning lots of Christmas songs. I took a little time and learned the duet parts for some of them and we've had a blast playing together. She still has lost just four teeth. She has another one that is very loose and the new tooth has already come in, but she is very anti-losing teeth for some reason.

She loves to read. When we had the first snow of the season, she got into her jammies to sit by the fire with a good book. That's my girl! Her favorite books are any of the Thea or Geronimo Stilton books, Elephant & Piggie Books, Magic Tree House books, Berenstain Bears, and she likes non-fiction animal and craft books. Her school asks that they read for 15 minutes everyday. So, I set a timer, but she almost always will ask to read longer. We've been listening to The Little House on the Prairie series and are currently listening to These Happy Golden Years. She loves these!

Her favorite stuffed friend continues to be Scruffy. Three years ago, she declared one day to be his birthday. I wrote it on the calendar and so, on November 5th, we celebrate Scruffy's birthday. This year, she set up a little table so he could have some friends at his party.

A friend at school taught her how to braid. So, for a week or so, she braided just this little bit of hair all by herself. She can also do a pony tail all by herself. She's mentioned wanting to learn to knit, sew, and make a felt square quilt. 

She's giving us glimpses of being a grown-up girl in her conversation skills, in the way she rallied the little kids for flower girl/ring bearer duties, and in the way she helps around the house and helps/plays with Kellen. She continues to have a quick wit and good sense of humor. She is definitely growing up fast! We love her!

To celebrate her half-birthday, she wanted to go to Sky Zone and jump around. We happened to go at a time when not many people were there. They had a blast! (See video 1089 in "Jenna 2nd Grade 2014-15" folder.)

They tried jumping into the foam pit this time. I love this expression I captured as she realized that she bounced one of the foam squares up onto the trampoline.

Happy kids! 

What we did on our Thanksgiving break

Sunday, November, 23rd, we enjoyed our annual church Thanksgiving meal. Kevin had some work to do on Monday, so the kids and I did laundry and played.

Tuesday, Jenna had a fun playdate with a friend. They were very nice to let Kellen play, too! 

Tuesday evening, we took them to see Big Hero 6. They made masks so they would look like the robot in the movie. So creative!

Wednesday, we went to the North Pole. And, Thursday, we had our Whitelaw family Thanksgiving meal - twice - once for lunch and leftovers for dinner. Yum!

Friday, was another gorgeous day. We went for a hike in Garden of the Gods. Turns out, we took this exact trail 11 months ago on Dec. 28th. Kellen was especially adventurous - wanting to go as high as Daddy.

They liked crawling up into this little niche. 

My guys 

We had lunch at the Trading Post and sadly watched Arkansas get beat. Then, Friday night, these two crazies helped me decorate for Christmas.

And, they (Papa and I helped, too) talked Daddy into putting lights on our house this year! He agreed to doing these three windows from the inside. So fun to have lights for people to see!

Saturday morning, we sadly watched Michigan get beat. Then we took Kellen to Cabelas to see if he could find something he'd like with the gift card that Uncle David gave him as a thanks for being ring bearer. The store is so cool inside with so many animal scenes! The kids liked this one with a red-nosed caribou and a mountain goat wearing a Santa hat.

We had prepped Jenna with the fact that only Kellen would be getting something since it was his money and encouraged her to have a good attitude. She was great! And, it turned out that what he picked was a two gun set, so he very kindly gave one to her. They had a blast! I am so very thankful that they love each other so much and play so well together. We've had a really fun break. It's going to be hard to go back to school on Monday.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! My cousin's daughter made these jar turkeys last year and we were inspired to make some more this year. Jenna is thankful for Scruffy, Jesus, God, a warm house, Mama, Daddy, & Kellen. I wrote a scripture on Kellen's that they both worked on memorizing: "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 107:1" Then on the back of his feathers, I wrote what he's thankful for: Jesus, Bumble, our house, stuffed animals, candy, holidays, family & sister. Pretty good lists! Indeed, we have much to be thankful for!

Kellen and I were able to go to the Thanksgiving party at Jenna's school. They made these cute turkeys out of oreos, a reese's peanut butter cup, a whopper, candy corn, and chocolate icing to stick it all together. So cute!

They also made these really cute crafts. Pipe cleaners, beads, and raffia Indian corn. And a thankful pumpkin. There weren't enough pumpkins for Kellen, so Jenna let him do hers. Here's what he was thankful for that day: whole family, God, Jesus dying on the cross, Ducky stuffed animal, world & sky, food, & clouds.

And here's her Thanksgiving assignment: "Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful. First, I am thankful for turky because it is yummy. Next, I am thankful for the indians because they helped the pilgrims. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to remember all of your blessings." Her turkey cartoon says, "that's my brother!" "fuuf!" "I'm glad we're off the table!"

We had an incredible spread of all my favorites! 

The kids table 

The grown-ups table 

Kevin finished his plate in beast mode! 

It was such a gorgeous day that we went on a hike after we ate. Notice that Jenna and Kellen are wearing shorts!

My little adventurer. He loves to climb up all of the rocks and take the paths less taken. He's known to take a lot of falls, but he's tough and keeps on going. In fact, some were making guesses as to how many times he would fall on our hike. The answer was 3.5 - he caught himself mid-fall on the last one.

David & Katie's Wedding

Thursday evening, November 13, Papa, Mima, and the four of us loaded up for the road trip to the wedding. We stayed overnight in Colby, KS and then made the rest of the trip on Friday.

Friday evening, Nov. 14, was the wedding rehearsal. These two took this cute picture while we were practicing. All the kids did great in the rehearsal!

The wedding party: Leslie (our sister-in-law), Rachel (our cousin), me, Katie, David, Earl (David's Dad), Jeff (David's older brother), Mark (David's younger brother). Tucked in behind is Rick, the preacher of our church where we grew up. He married Kevin and I in this same place 15 years ago.

After the rehearsal, we had rehearsal dinner at Genghis Grill, a favorite after church restaurant of David and Katie. Kellen thought the sauce cups looked good on his ears.

 The flower girls and ring bearer

These second cousins had a great time playing together!

That night, after Jenna's bath, I rolled her wet hair in sponge rollers then she slept in them. In the morning, it looked like this - CURLY!!

Kevin & Jenna thought it was a little much, but I knew it would relax by the wedding.

I love this picture of us at the bridal breakfast for Katie. 

Jenna drew this picture for Katie while we were waiting for our food.

After the breakfast, Mom drove Katie to get her hair done. Then, Leslie went to pick her up. She made this collage of the hair, the grocery bag over her hair to protect it, the pretty sisters, and the bridesmaid bouquet.

Katie texting her groom while Mom inspects her hair.

So pretty!

David had all the guys wear super hero shirts under their tuxes. Batman, Superman, Captain America, The Punisher, little Iron Man, and The Flash. So fun!

This is the one Jill took

Kevin thought he was taking a picture, but instead took a slo motion video. Turns out it's pretty funny! (See video 1069 in "David & Katie's Wedding" folder.)

It was really cold! But we braved it for some nice outdoor photos. The bridesmaids.

Ewww! 

The Floyd gang 

The Keathley gang 

Soon to be Mr. & Mrs.

Final touches

Mom & Daughter

Sisters

The bridal changing room was also one of the church nurseries. The kids had a blast playing while we were getting ready. We had things spread out all over the place. I picked up what I thought were my bra and slip, put them on, but they didn't feel quite right. Then Leslie started getting ready and picked up another bra and slip that looked just like what I had on and said, "Are these yours?" I said, "Yes, they are!" I knew what I had on didn't feel right, turns out it was because I was wearing Leslie's! We had a good laugh out of that one!

Kellen got upset about wearing a boutonniere and you can still see it in his face in this picture. David gave him the very special gift of wearing his Bronze Star medal that he got serving in Iraq. I just love these pictures of David pinning it on . . .

showing how he's wearing one too so they match . . .

and giving a little pep talk and pat on the back. So precious.

My beautiful sister and the full length view of her beautiful dress.

Pretty girls and handsome boy!

smiling

and serious - super cute either way

So lovely

the wedding party all dressed up

And this great one that Jill took

David ready for his bride

The kids did such a great job! Kellen is kind of a wild card - we're never sure what we'll get. The prayers of many were answered - yes. I'm so proud of my children!

So precious! (See video 1094.)

Dad and Katie

The kiss!

Mr. & Mrs. Floyd

They cut the cake with a sword - so cool!

They were nice with the cake.

And pulled this off nicely.

The grooms cake: I can't believe how realistic it looks! Just like David's uniform!

Pictures of the grandparents and parents on their wedding days. Both sets of Maternal Grandparents were married in June, both sets of Paternal Grandparents were married in March, and both sets of parents were married in August.

On a screen behind this table, they played a slide show set to music of David and Katie's growing up pictures. Earl and Betty did a fabulous job of putting the slide show together.

The happy newlyweds

Kellen thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate cover strawberries - can you tell?! Two thumbs up! He loved the punch, too - he must have had at least 4 cups!

Jenna did her best at trying to catch the bouquet.

Kellen was the only single guy around when it came time for the garter.

I wonder what was going through his mind. I'm sure he had no idea what was going on.

A tired boy at the end of a happy day! The next morning at breakfast, he announced loud and clear to everyone in the breakfast room, "I sleeped in mine Daddy's underwear last night!" It was so funny! Now, I'm glad I took this picture to prove that in fact, he did not sleep in his Daddy's underwear. Glad he kept his wild card until after the wedding!

The wedding was beautiful and went off without a hitch. It was great to get to know David's warm and genuine family. David set up a live feed so people who couldn't make it could watch online. So cool to have people joining with them from all over the US. I wish I had taken more pictures and can't wait to see the professional photos. I may have to do another post with some of those.

A few months ago, I started thinking of the possibility that I might have to make a speech at some point as matron of honor. I thought for a while and decided I would say some nice things and then read Colossians 3:12-14. I asked Kevin to read it one night and give me his opinion. He said, "Well, I guess it's ok, but it doesn't really say anything specific about marriage." But, I was not deterred. I thought it was going to be great. I ran it by Leslie for a second opinion, just in case. A few days before the wedding, I had a card out for David and Katie and asked Kevin if he'd like to write something. He agreed and wrote out Colossians 3:12-14. I looked at what he wrote, then looked at him with unbelief and said, "You stole my speech!" He had forgotten that I had asked his opinion about it for my speech! I couldn't believe that then, he had stumbled upon it while doing a "love" search with a concordance. But, still I was not deterred. I wrote it all out on a note card and put it in Kevin's suit jacket - ready to be read. Then, came the wedding ceremony, and our preacher used this same passage, Colossians 3:12-14 as part of the ceremony. I smiled really big, to myself I thought, but Kevin looked knowingly at me and started laughing to himself. So, now, Kevin AND our preacher had stolen my speech. But, I thought, well, I guess this must be an important passage for these two and decided to go forward with reading it anyway. But, the opportunity did not present itself. Then, to top it all off, this same scripture was printed in the Sunday morning bulletin at church the next day! Leslie texted me a picture. So amazing! And funny.

So, David and Katie, congratulations! We are thrilled for you! "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14.