Cousins

Emily was a great big cousin to little Max! She loved holding him and feeding him every chance she got. Neal is ready to have her come babysit when she gets older! Emily has such a gentle spirit, it was nice to see here interacting with Max. Hopefully we will have the chance to see him again soon!

Little Max

One of the big reasons to head home for Christmas was getting to meet my new nephew Max. He was born on October 21st and Neal and Paul were able to bring him home in November. It was my first chance to meet him and it was love at first sight! What a great little guy! Nana and Papa saw him last month, but had a great time spoiling their 1st grandson while he was visiting over Christmas!

Visit from Santa

Emily was with us for Christmas this year and we had the chance to head up to Washington for 5 days. We stayed at Cassy's parent's house and had the yearly visit from Santa!

*Pictures L to R(top to bottom): Neal (brother) holding Max, Scott (brother), Kevin, Cassy and Emily.

School Christmas program

On December 19th Emily had her 3rd grade Christmas concert at school. She got to be a part of a small group singing at the beginning of one of the songs. (She as pretty excited about that.) She did a really nice job too!

Children's Program at church

Emily was in the children's muscial at church on December 9th. She was excited to be one of the angels singing about Jesus' birth. All the kids did a great job! I think that Emily will be doing a lot more drama in the years to come.

Holiday Parade

Emily participated in the Meridian Holiday parade again this year on the first weekend of December with her Brownie Troop. It was so cold outside! She had a great time though waving to everyone along the parade route.

Halloween

Emily went Trunk-or-treating as a cowgirl this year. She loves being a cowgirl and riding horses so this was an easy costume for her! She also designed her own pumpkin (although Mom had to take out the guts!).

October Days in McCall

The first Thursday and Friday in October are holidays for us. So we headed up to Kevin's parent's cabin in McCall. Emily was happy to get to bring her buddy Madi with us for the trip. They had a great time playing and keeping each other entertained.

More October Days

More pictures from our trip to McCall. It was CHILLY but beautiful while we were there.

Emily's Riding Lessons

Emily has been taking riding lessons at a local stable for the last few weeks. She has one lesson left to go. She is doing really well and loves going!Along with riding lessons, Emily is taking violin (actually fiddle) lessons once a week, Caravans (church scouting program), Girl Scouts (but that is on hold for now!!), and Upwards Basketball will begin in January! The Mama Taxi is getting tired!

Emily-1st Day pics

These are pics from Emily's first day of 3rd grade. She is still at Discovery and has Mrs. Johnson. She really likes her teacher again this year. Emily is getting (well continues to be...) very tall! She turned 8 this summer and is really into reading "Geronimo Stilton" books. Instead of going to bed, it is usually...just one more page!

Our hotel

We stayed at the Secrets Capri Resort just outside of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. It was so beautiful there! After our first day we weren't sure how we were going to leave at the end of the week!

We spent time in the pool everyday. Kevin enjoyed playing volleyball in the pool and I liked just laying by the pool reading a book.


When we arrived, this is how we found our room. There were rose pedals on the bed, champagne chilling, and a beautiful flower arrangement waiting in our room.













The view from our room was really nice!
We had our own balcony that overlooked a grove of trees and the ocean.

The Beach

When we arrived, Kevin went straight for the water! It was really warm and we liked being on the beach. We even had the chance to swim around a large school of white angel fish.







I enjoyed walking on the white sandy beach.
It was relaxing to lay in the shade of the palm trees and listen to the waves.

The last night of our trip, we had dinner served to us on the beach.

It was beautiful to watch the sunset and we ended our dinner by candlelight.

Excursions

We went to Chichen Itza to visit the ruins on our first excursion. It was amazing to see what still remains at the site. We were disappointed not to be able to climb up to the top of the ruins, but still enjoyed our day there.




Cassy from the top of the observatory at the ruins.








Kevin was standing in front of the ball court area.








Okay...so I can't figure out how to turn this picture!! But, this was taken on a different day when we headed to the island of Cosumel to go snorkling. We saw some beautiful fish that day including rainbow parrot fish and a barracuda!

Dinners

This was taken on our first night heading to dinner at the Italian restraunt at our hotel. The dinner was wonderful and Kevin even had a chance to try out some of his spanish on our waiter!

This was later in the week when we went to some seafood/steak. We sat on a balcony overlooking the ocean.
Kevin laughed at me for taking pictures of the food, but it was all so beautiful, you almost hated to eat it...almost.

The vows

I, Kevin, choose you, Cassy, as my best friend and the love of my life. I promise you my deepest love, my fullest devotion, my most tender care. Through the pressures of the present and the uncertainties of the future, I promise to be faithful to you. I promise to love you, to commit to you, and to support you. I pledge to respect your unique talents and abilities and to lend you strength for all of your dreams. You have shown me what love feels like and for that I thank you. You are everything I need, and at this moment I know all of my prayers have been answered and that all of my dreams have come true. I praise God for you, Cassy, for all of your love and constant friendship. I know that our love is heaven sent and I promise to be here for ever and always. From this day forward, you shall not walk alone. My heart will be your shelter, and my arms will be your home. As I have given you my hand to hold, so I give you my life to keep.

Blessing of the Hands-Exchanging of Rings

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever.

These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other.

These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind.

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow, and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.

These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.

These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.

And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

The Sand Ceremony

Kevin and Cassy, today you are making a life-long commitment to share the rest of your lives with each other.

Your relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand; one, representing you, Kevin and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other representing you, Cassy, and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be.

Each one holds its own unique beauty, strength, and character. They can stand on their own and be whole, without the need of anything else. When the two are blended together they represent an entirely new and extraordinary love relationship. Each grain of sand brings to the mixture a lasting beauty that forever enriches the combination.

As you each hold your sand the separate containers of sand represent your lives to this moment; individual and unique. As you now combine your sand together, your lives also join together as one.

The life that each of you have experienced until now, individually, will hereafter be inseparably united, for the two shall become one. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be.