30th Birthday Party

Stephan turns 30 next week, so we had a little birthday party. I asked people to bring a "30 Thing" --something in the shape of a 30, we had lots of great items: 30 peppermints and 30pins making a 30, fresh flowers, cake, jello, an airplane invented on his birthday, gauze/bandaid wrapped 30 (from a future Dr.), wooden plaque, 30 suckers, and others . . . It was a fun time with family and friends.

Our family with the 30 cake and 30 sign I made. (Notice the size of Briella's drool spot, lovely)

Stephan's sister and family (baby Acacia) with the "30 sucks" pot of suckers

My sister's family (including little Ellie) with Stephan's favorite jello in the shape of a 30, altough it started sliding and it looks almost like a 90 :)

Some of the "30 Things" (sorry it is sideways and I don't know how to change it)

Kitchen Pictures

Before

Working on the kitchen in November . . . Some of these drawers were missing when we moved in, but Stephan's parents, my dad, and Dan (Stephan's brother in law) helped build and install new ones.

After

Stephan and I painted all the cupboards, trim, and walls (with some help from his sister Kimberly and his mom). We love our 'new' kitchen! I don't know if you can open the picture, but if you want to see our cool burnishing, try to open it and zoon in on the wall between the window and microwave . . .

Update on Nieces, etc.

Wow, I am getting slower at this. First, congratulations to my sister Jen's family on the birth of a healthy baby girl, Ellie Grace was born on June 6!! Congratulations to Stephan's sister Luanna and family on the birth of a healthy girl yesterady, Acacia Marie! So including Briella and my sister Mindy's daugther that is 4 girls and 1 boy in one year! Briella will have lots of cousins to play with!
We think Briella is teething and that is why she spends an hour or more talking in bed and is happy to see us come in her room to lay her back down. Rather than sucking on her pipe, she puts it in sideways and chews on it, A LOT. She moves all over the place and 'walks' along the couch, she tries to reach everything and amazes me with how far those hands can get! We had her 9 month pictures taken and should be able to pick them up and send them out soon.
In other news, I am finally playing soccer again! I was able to sub for an indoor team with some friends from church and then they decided to put together a co-ed outdoor team. Our first game was last week . . . I am not able to run for 70 minutes, we are supposed to have girl subs next week, we played one girl down and lost 3-1. It was still a ton of fun and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.
Last week Stephan took his service week and taught 4th grade VBS in the mornings and worked at Love Inc in the afternoons. The week went fast and he had a lot of fun, the kids always love him. He is busy at least one night every week with deacon meetings or visits and enjoys softball on Wednesdays. (Thankfully my soccer games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays so we can watch Briella while the other one plays)

9 Months Old!!

Wow, another month. This week Briella is moving from crawling to sitting on her own, she not only climbs to stand next to the couch, she 'walks' along it and even tries to reach to the next object of furniture to keep moving. She is also learning to stop when we say "No" as she is reaching for things (cords, dirt, books, phones, Tessa's hair, etc.). And she likes to play with her tongue, so that is why I chose the last one :) Enjoy the pictures!