another bestie married!

off soon to gabby & jp's wedding with the girls & cannot believe its already here!!!  love our bestie garter so much & so happy to have started this tradition with our friends! don't worry ali poole, your strip is already made and ready for tacking on too! ;-)

one amazing vacation

after an amazing week at the beach with joe's family (aunt jean & ann hughtson of course as well as 1st cousins catherine, mary russell, john, & abby, and aunt marnie & uncle john) we are back to spending time with friends in town for gabby's wedding...up at the river tonight and so excited for some serious bonding. 

seaside and surrounding areas are amazing and a great getaway for the july 4th holiday. making time for family is often times the hardest to do because you feel as if they are always around but for us at least we are normally spending a quick visit here and a weekend there which made our 6 days at the beach even more enjoyable.

for those of you who didn't know me as a child, i saved everything (i mean everything) "for my children."  there are countless boxes at my parents house that say "DADDY & MOMMY DO NOT THROW AWAY--FOR MY CHILDREN" and contain little knickknacks, mementos from my childhood (swim team ribbons--even the 8th place ones, report cards, art projects, my "Pop-Pop box"), high school love letters, and more that i wanted to save for my children at some point to see. i have yet to sort through them entirely, but i know when i do, they will create a barrel of laughs.  in the mean time i've kept a running list if you can imagine of fun, tender, thoughtful things that have occurred throughout life milestones of mine. a big fan of paying it forward, i have been sure to remember the thoughtful things that special people in my life have done for me and want to ensure that i am increasingly thoughtful for them as well. 

i've always been fond of my husbands mother, ruth, who is certainly the most consistently put together woman i can think of. for me, i have an extremely rare/amazing relationship with my own mother which creates even bigger shoes for my mother-in-law to fill in my mind. in a moment on tuesday night which i am sure i will remember forever, as we are taking family photos and having a pre-dinner cocktail dinner, ruth gives me a side hug and tells me just how happy she really is to have me as part of her family. i know she's told me that before but for some reason it didn't seem to ever feel like that & what a special moment it was for me. i am writing that down on the list for a very far moment from now to make someone feel that special at least once. 

so thankful for this & my countless other blessings...much love to all, including my other mother ruth

rollin' on the river

sid's shoes are ready and so are the rest of us! the girls & their boys (in town for gabby's wedding saturday) are headed to the river for the next two days so we can go tubing, relax on the porch, and have some fun!