Sisters

My sisters and I threw a Bridal Shower for Brooke. I will share more about the shower tomorrow, but I wanted to post a quick picture of my sisters before I go to bed.  I really cherish my sisters and I love each of them in a different way.  To view more pictures of the shower click here.  

Hoehne

I woke up this morning thinking "Brookie and Trever are getting married in 3 months and 2 days!" I have had the privilege of watching them go from friends, through "the red zone", dating and now engaged.  My sister Brooke has been such an example to me in so many different areas of her life.  She really loves Trever and she is going to be a great wife.   Trever has always loved Brooke and sacrificed so much to show her that.  God has been the center of their relationship and it is good to see them finally getting close to being Mr. and Mrs. Trever Hoehne!  

Congratulations Brooke and Trev!  You are on the count down!

uno and smores

This weekend was absolutely beautiful! The weather was so warm and the sky was so clear. You could actually see San Clemente Island which is just a little bit off the coast. The sun was glistening on the water and the ocean breeze was just perfect. It is on such warm and relaxing weekends I am reminded of my childhood. I have fond memories of playing games with my sisters during the summer time. Often our family would have another family over for dinner and games. As an adult I still love to continue this in my own home. This weekend we had some of our favorite friends over...the Giaretta family.
Brian and Amy are from Chicago and moved here 3 years ago. They are a part of our small group at church and we have been friends with them since we moved here to San Clemente. Brian serves in the Marines and they live on the base here in San Clemente on Camp Pendleton. Our town is filled with military personnel which really gives us a sense of patriotism and respect for the men and women serving our country. Whenever I see a man with the "high and tight" hair cut I am always reminded of the sacrifice our military make to protect our country's freedom.

One of my favorite things about the Giaretta's is their recent addition to the family...Olivia Joy. She was born in September and she really is a dream baby. She rarely cries and she is always so happy and easy going. Both Travis and I can't resist grabbing her away from her parents whenever she is in sight.

So, after church they came over for lunch and we barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers. We played yahtzee and uno. It is amazing how long a game of uno can go and of course, the girls were better at both games (although the boys would say this is disputable).

Below Trav and Brian are trying to look tough, although they were losing to us girls (again this is disputable).

Gunner was obsessed with baby Olivia. He just wanted to be close to her. It was so cute because she would laugh out loud when he would lick her hands, her toes, and occasionally her face. He would get close to her and she would immediately close her eyes preparing for the incoming kiss...and then she would start laughing. Amy and I were both glad Olivia wasn't afraid of Gunner and he was gentle with her.

After our rousing game of uno, we decided to head to the beach for pizza, a bonfire, and some smores. There is a cute pizza place across from the pier. So while the guys built the fire, Amy and I grabbed some pizza. After dinner we finished off the night with delicious fire roasted smores. It was altogether a wonderful day and we are so thankful to have such great friends!

the sweetness of friendship

So, I have been getting a little slack for starting a blog and not blogging.  Thanks to "anonymous"  I was reminded to be a good blogger one must blog often, write short blogs and always include a picture.  Here it goes...

I was going through a few pictures to see what I could post for the picture of the day.  I came across a few pictures of some of my sweetness and most cherished friends.  For the past 2 years we have established a girls weekend which takes place once a year.  We all look forward to it each year.  See the thing is we spent so much time together in college and we may have even taken it for granted.  We lived together, shopped together, cried together, shared clothes, watched each other date, watched some get married, and now we are seeing little ones being born.  Now that we all are living our lives in different places doing different things we often miss our time together.  So we really cherish our girls' weekend which consists of talking, crying, laughing, chocolate, starbucks, and a moment to dress up.  Hopefully, we will still maintain this tradition even when we are older. I love these girls for many reasons, but one of the reasons I love them is for their genuine love for Christ. I hope you all reading this have been blessed to have such friends.

I love you...Amy, Shannon, Sarah, Emily, Michelle and Marcella (and of course, Natalie who couldn't make it)