Monday, July 28, 2014

Harper Lucille

Harper and I enjoyed a few fun photo sessions while she was here. 
She's the perfect subject. 

Those sweet baby lips. 

 And cheeks. 
 


Her eyes...come on. 

Really Aunt Becky?! 

I'm quite bored with you. 

And downright annoyed. 

Alright, I know, I'm cute. 

Fare well

Jordan's youngest sister, Kylie is moving to Colorado this week. 
We've known it was coming...but kind of never thought it would happen?

Grandma Cindy hosted a going away party for them yesterday. 
The kids made all the signs and Lauren and Avery helped decorate and set-up.


As always, Cindy knows how to put on a party. 

All Eleven. 

Pinata fun for the BIG kids - 8-12

Smashed it to bits and then used it as a costume for awhile. 


Pinata fun for the LITTLE kids - 19months-6
(They didn't pose nearly as well...thanks for the effort Adrian)

Too cute. 

Serious work. 

Jordan and Kai had a frisbee spinning trick. 

And Jordan got to help him with the pinata.
too cute. 

Saying goodbye is hard but we are happy they are living somewhere that will be so totally fun to visit!

Friends

Having good girl friends has become more important to me the older I get. 
And I kind of have the best.
We were missing a few this night but still had a blast and made it out past midnight! 
Woo-hoo! 


County Fair

The fair was here last week and these pics are too cute not to share. 

The bucket cows are always a favorite. 

Sweetness. 

A big sweet corn feed just screams IOWA! 

We pose with corn here...its not just for eating.

Week with family

The week after the wedding some family had to depart. 
But Nick, Robert and Jordan and their families stayed with us. 
(Christina and Amy Jo even made a flying trip here to join the fun)

It was a fantastic week and I went into a bit of a depression when it ended. 

We cuddled. 

Played Pepper. 

Went fishing, played endless games of baseball and basketball, 
watched movies and just enjoyed each other. 

One of the best parts was heading up to NE Iowa to the place where our great grandparents, grandparents and parents were all born and where our parents met and fell in love and started our family. 

My dad's brother, Roger and a few cousins came with us and Roger gave us a great tour of Earle family history. 
We saw the gravesites of our great, great, great, great grandpa. 
And lots more recent. 
It was so great (ha) having Roger there to tell the stories we did not know. 
To hear which of our family had fought in which wars and even which one was part of a lynching crew who took the law into their own hands after their friend and town sheriff was killed!


Then we all spent time doing more of the fun stuff at our house. 
We barely let this one leave. 


 Robert tried convincing us that a new sandwich should be hamburgers topped with ice cream. 
Cause people like hamburgers and milk shakes together. 
So one night he ate ice cream on his tofu dog. 
Gross. 

The weather was chilly. 
But perfect for a fire! 

Tori enjoyed reading to Haper. 


Sullivan got bored one day and was pouting. 
After awhile I noticed he was missing. 
Can I just say that these kids of mine have the BEST aunts and uncles?!


It was pretty much a perfect week...just missing some key players! 

Olivia's Wedding

Way back on July 11th my niece Olivia got married. 
We've been looking forward to it for what seems like ages. 
My kids were ALL in the wedding. 
And we were excited to celebrate with Livvy and see family. 

(Side note...my pictures are less than perfect..keeping 5 kids clean, well behaved and picture ready by myself was a huge undertaking! Just keeping all this wrinkle free was enough.)

This post will be a hodge podge of all sorts of wedding chaos and 
fun and cuteness and the gorgeous bride. 

Stacie was so awesome to help me with Lauren and Avery's hair and make-up



The finished products were gorgeous! 

And suddenly super old. 

I could handle Contessa's hair on my own. 
She was the perfect flower girl...and quite adorable. 

I bobbed Torrance's hair off the week of the wedding. 
And LOVED it. 
She really wanted to be the perfect flower girl...and she tried. 
But in the end, my momma's girl was found at the back of the church in a lake of tears after getting 1/2 way down the aisle. 
Its ok peanut trust me. 
(her mother suffered this same shyness syndrome as a flower girl back in the day)
 


His hair wasn't a concern...his personality was. 
(love him)


The wait between getting ready and the actual ceremony is somewhat torturous! 
Wild. 

I tried to get some pics of the kids in their wedding attire.
Smile Tess! 


My brothers tried to help. 

It didn't help.  

She thought she was the princess.  

 That's enough!  



He was about done by this point. 

Awww. 

Somehow he's still single?!

After that I lost control and we just had fun waiting for pictures and the ceremony. 

Avery got to meet Adele for the first time. 
She was in love. 


And we all met Harper (or Harpert as Torrance calls her).
Jordan is a baby thief. 

She put up with us all so well!

Avery basically refused to give Harper up for the week they were here. 

I kind of like him.


Joe, Amy, Joshua, Hudson and Adele.
Adele was very bored with this. 

So Josh tried to liven things up. 

This picture makes me so so happy.  

Memorial Table. 
I wont try to hide it. 
Not having mom and dad there was beyond hard. 
Having one of their grandkids getting married, meeting new members of the family - both big and small - it feels so bittersweet now instead of just sweet. 
Their absence was glaring. 

Livvy was the most gorgeous bride. 

And the most laid back...just chatting it up with some flower girls. 


 Weird...my brother, father of the bride. 




CEREMONY
(I was at the back of the church bribing Tori at this point...)

Candle lighters...nothing besides candles started on fire...phew!

He was bribed a little too...he really did not want to offer his arm 'Mom! Its weird!'
But he did it. 

 Perfect Tess! 

(It should be remembered that before Livvy and Mitch were even out of the auditorium Robert had taken Sullivan's shoe and thrown it on the stage...wouldn't be an Earle wedding without something to embarrass us all.)

THE PARTY!
I took this picture the day before during decorating so the table is not complete. 
But the decor was perfect...rustic and simple and beautiful. 
Livvy used old plates, cups ect from family and thrift stores. 
It was perfect. 
And these plates were my mom's...and my grandma's before her. 
I could hardly bear it. 

Father-Daughter dance. 
I cant even imagine this. 
Nick said, 'You know its a lot different being the man walking the bride down the aisle than it is being the man standing there waiting at the end of the aisle. 
I dont even want to think about it. 


Sullivan was so excited to dance. 
Robert was so good to him. 
ALL WEEK. 


Junior High could be rough...


Actually no. 
His confidence is second to none. 
He'll do just fine. 

Dancing princesses. 

He just stole babies through the party. 

Cute. 
(this picture does Stacie no justice. She was perfect.)

Blurry, but he's too cute. 

More cuteness. 

 Congrats Livvy & Mitch!
Thanks for the awesome day!