A Baby is on the way!

This couple is one of the most deserving people to be experiencing the honor of becoming new parents! Their immense love for children and family has always been apparent. They have always been generous in opening their home to family events, driving all over the state for other family functions, giving personalized gifts to each of the numerous nieces and nephews, attending events for godchildren and friends, and so much more. Their journey to having children of their own has been long and difficult, and it gives me immense joy to see this little miracle of God growing in Jeanette's belly now! They are going to be amazing parents.

Jeanette is gorgeous, by the way:


Between the two of them, I'm positive their baby is going to be absolutely beautiful!



Jeanette and, as niece Maggie calls him, "Buzz Buzz" like to cook together, so we thought it would be fun to capture some of their time in the kitchen:



This baby is so showered in love already! They can't wait to meet him/her!


Their session wouldn't have been complete without their other member of the family, Katija:


The little one is due in September! I can't wait to show you more pictures then!

Friends, Family, and Lakes!

I can't believe that summer is wrapping up soon! It's been an absolute whirlwind of fun, jam packed with family and friends. In the past three weeks, we've been to three family reunions! We've enjoyed spending time with our awesome new friends, visited some old ones, and had a blast with other family visits. And it's not over yet!

We spent a couple of days in Mt Pleasant recently with family. We watched some incredible dirt track racing at the Mt Pleasant Speedway with my cousins. I wish I knew how to post the videos I took, because it was so awesome! Then we enjoyed family reunion #1, where we got to see Uncle Frank and Dan's latest inventions (always fascinating!). Last time it was their pop-pop boats, this time Dan was in the process of building a camper from scratch:


And he seriously has every single square inch serving a purpose. It's amazing how he thinks!

We also enjoyed the traditional tractor ride, which Dan improved with "new" (re-purposed) seats, stairs, and a sign:


All-out country style! :)

One of the highlights for me during these last few weeks was spending a day with my college piano professor. She's such a blessing to me! We enjoyed relaxing at her home on a lake, and even ventured out on a paddle-boat ride:


Our cousins from Mt Pleasant came to visit us for a day as well. We enjoyed venturing through IKEA. Ah the joys of big city living! :)

After all of that, Matt spent a weekend golfing 70 holes with his brothers in preparation for their annual golf tournament, which they won for the third time in four years. Congrats guys!

While he was out golfing, I was sailing! As I've mentioned so many times before, I LOVE SAILING! This time, I took my friend, Laree. We had a blast! It was perfect weather, so relaxing, and filled with jokes and laughter.


This is Laree acting like she was going to fall out when we were heeling:


At reunion #3, we played on the beach, ate tons of food, paddle-boated around, and buried Benjamin in the sand:


It has fed my soul to be with family and friends, and around so much water! :)