Happy 1st Fathers Day

I wanted to make Dan's 1st Fathers Day really special.  I thought about what I could do and saw this grrrrrreat idea from a friend of mine and just had to do it!  Here is the finished product, aren't they so cute?!!

Homemade shirts (felt iron-on letters)

Early that morning Dan and my dad went and played 9 holes of golf and then met us back in Hampshire before we went up to Rockford.  It was a beautiful afternoon of playing bags, good conversation and good food.  My Mimi and Papa were able to join us too so that was extra special.  Here are a few photos from the fun day:

 We found a coffee mug for my dad that says "Papa Bear"!!  Perfect!

All dads (except Josiah of course!), 2 Grandpa's and 1 Great Grandpa! 

Lovin this pic of my precious boy!

HAPPY 1st FATHERS DAY DANIEL!!!!

You are loved!

4 Years of Wedded Bliss

On June 16, 2007 I made a promise to my best friend.  I made a covenant before God and my family and friends.  I married the love of my life.  It was the best decision I ever made.  Now fast forward 4 years and we are still happily married and fall more in love with each other every day.  The past 4 years have been the best of my life.  I'm sure he can say the same ; )  I am so blessed to be married to such a godly man who takes care of me and our son, who never hangs up the phone without telling me he loves me, who helps me out around the house, who always thinks of ways to make me feel special, who goes to work every day to provide for our family and who loves me for me.  The list goes on and on.  Wow, I'm one lucky girl!  


Celebrating our anniversary this year was a little different, in that we have our 3 month old baby to care for.  Don't get me wrong, I love our son and count it a blessing to be a mom, but I also love my husband and know its important to pour into our marriage.  So my mom and dad came over to watch Josiah while Dan and I went out for the FIRST time alone since March 17th.  It was AMAZING!  We went to PF Changs for dinner and enjoyed great conversations and reminisced on the past 4 years.  I am so in love with my husband!  I'm looking forward to what the LORD has for us as we continue on this journey together.  

HAPPY 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY BABE!

~And the Two shall Become One~

This is the year of weddings for us, 6 to be exact.  I had the joy to be a bridesmaid in 2 of them and we are attending 4 more by years end.  I LOVE weddings!  I LOVE L.O.V.E!  I LOVE looking at the groom's face when he sees his bride for the first time as she walks down the isle towards him. (yes this is a rendition of a line in a movie, which one?  But its true ; )  It is such a precious moment for the 2 of them.  And when I saw Stephen look at his bride, Jenn, as she walked in her all white wedding gown with her veil over her face symbolizing her purity, I couldn't help but tear up.  Everything about this wedding of my dear friend, Jenn and her groom Stephen, was absolutely beautiful.  First of all, it was completely Christ centered and God was glorified.  Praise the LORD!  Secondly, the creativity and thoughtfulness put into both the ceremony and reception was incredible!  Thirdly, the couple themselves are beautiful inside and out.  The day was perfect.  The dress was perfect.  The celebration was perfect.  And the song Stephen wrote and sang to Jenn as a surprise at the reception was perfect.  I hope he records it because it just might be my favorite LOVE song!  I am so happy for Jenn and Stephen and wish them many years of wedded bliss!  Congrats you two love birds!  XoXo

  

My Surprise 25th Birthday Party!

So the months leading up to my 25th birthday I was giving Dan clues as to what he could get me/do for me.  If you had a conversation with me in those few months before June 2nd, you would know that turning 25 was a big deal to me.  A few of my ideas were: Rent a camaro for a day and take me to a few of my favorite places, buy me this Maxi dress from Express that I was just dying to have, Starbucks gift card, throw me a surprise party cuz I've always wanted one, ect.  Well you guessed it, he did all that for me!  (Well except rent a camaro for a day, maybe that will be next year ; )  


My day started off real good.  I met up with my family, minus Sean but plus Cameren, for breakfast at McDonalds.  That was delightful.  Then I met up with Angie and Tehya and Alison and Parker downtown Geneva to walk along 3rd street.  It turned out to be a beautiful day to do this.  We also went to Starbucks, which is a must!  Angie bought be my favorite drink, a cinnamon dolce latte, iced.  Al bought us some cake balls to share, although hers are MUCH better!  Thanks girls!  Then we strolled around until about 4:30 when I said I should get going to be home when Dan got home.  Lo and behold... he was already waiting for Josiah and I when we got there with one of the most beautiful bouquet of flowers ever!  He said he had made dinner reservations at a surprise restaurant for 7pm so we would have to leave soon.  I fed Josiah, freshened up my makeup, and got in the car.  We drove over to the forest preserve across Armytrail because we apparently had some time to kill.  I thought it was somewhat odd, but Dan quickly played it off in saying that it was a beautiful day and he wanted to take a walk.  It was very nice.  We stopped at one of the pier decks overlooking the pretty pond and Dan gave me my birthday card that had a Starbucks gift card in it (of course!) and my two fave candies- skittles and starbursts (which he said were from Josiah! : )  It was around 6:40 when I said can't we be a little early to dinner, I'm starving!  So we got back to the car and he blindfolded me.  He really took me for a loop d loop, I had no idea where we were going until... he turned onto our street, don't ask me how I knew, I just recognized the turn!  We pulled into our driveway and he told me to take off the blind fold.  As I  did the garage door was going up and all I could see were peoples legs and then as it went up all the way, there were all my family and closest friends standing there smiling and saying "Surprise!  Happy Birthday!"  It was Grrrrreat!!  That picture will forever be etched in my mind!  So Dan pulled it off and threw me a wonderful surprise birthday party.  I have such a studly husband!  Here are a few of my favorite pics from the night...

  I love my girlfriends!  (missing Alison here)

Heres a pic of my beautiful flowers!

Parent Palooza/Memorial Day

Time to catch up the bloggie!  Here we go:


Back in October 2010, my girlfriends and I were talking and we came up with a great idea.  We wanted to get all our parents together to meet.  We realized we tell our parents about each other and our small group ALL the time and thought it would be really fun if we all hung out.  We planned it for Memorial Day weekend 2011 and decided to call it "Parent Palooza".  It may sound cheesy, but we liked it! ; )  So we waited 7 months and May 29th finally arrived!  But you all know how FAST 7 months can fly by.  The Knapp's were kind enough to host it and even though it was storming ALL morning... it cleared up by the time we arrived.  Praise the LORD!  Everyone's parents were able to make it, it was a HUGE success!  We enjoyed getting to know each other's parents, eating delicious food and had a bags tournament that was a blast!  We are blessed beyond measure to have such great family's and wonderful friends.  Here are a few pics from the day, even though we took MANY more than this!

Then on Monday, Memorial Day, we had our good and dear friend Nathan Freeman over.  He was visiting for the weekend and it was so great to catch up with him.  Him and Dan played some frisbee golf and then we also played some bags.  Thanks for serving our country Nathan.  May God bless you and keep you.  Here are a few pics from Monday:

1st Mother's Day

I just have to say it:: My husband rocks!  He made me feel SO special this past Sunday, and as you all know, Sunday was Mother's Day... and not just any Mother's Day... my 1st Mother's Day!  Well, the whole weekend was fun.  Let me tell you about it!


We went to church Saturday night as usual and heard a great message from Pastor James out of 1 Samuel 1 titled "A Mother's Heart".  Usually on Mother's Day weekend they recognize the moms in church by having them stand, applaud and the Pastor says a special prayer over them.  This year they added a special touch!  Pastor Jeff gave out 4 gifts:: to the mom who had the most children, the oldest mom, the mom who has been coming to Harvest the longest and.... the mom with the youngest child.  Guess who won the gift for having the youngest child?  Yep, you're right!  ME!!  It was pretty cool!  Josiah, at 7 weeks, was the youngest baby there that night!  And your probably wondering what the gift was... its a small jewelry box with Mother's Day 2011 engraved on it.  Very nice!


Sunday morning I woke up around 7am to feed Josiah and the sun was shining bright, I knew it was going to be a good day!  Dan then watched him while I went back to sleep for 2 more hours, wow did I feel good when I woke up!  And when I did, he had chocolate chip pancakes and my coffee made for me, as well as handpicked red and purple tulips and a homemade card with Josiah's footprints and a sweet poem on it.  So special!  We then got ready for the day and met my dad, mom and brother, Brandon at Randall Oaks so the guys could play some frisbee golf, while my mom, Josiah and I went to the Algonquin commons and shopped. What us women do best! : ) 


Later, we went out to Hampshire for more fun, we had a bbq and watched the Bulls game (too bad they lost that night!)  All in all, it was the BEST first Mother's Day I could've asked for!  Thank you LORD for the blessing of my son, Josiah.  Thank you for my mom who has set such a great example for me of being a godly, loving and caring mom.  I only pray I can be as good of a mom as her! I hope all you mom's had a wonderful and special Mother's Day!

Cheers,
Kate

Resurrection Sunday

Jesus is ALIVE!!  Amen and Amen!  

This year is a year of firsts for our son, and it started out with his 1st Easter.  It was so special to celebrate our risen LORD with Josiah.  We went to our church, Harvest Bible Chapel, on Saturday night with my family for the Easter service.  And wow was it good!  We sang some of my favorite songs of praise to our King and of course the Harvest tradition of cheering and clapping and holding up signs (ex. "Jesus is Alive") after Pastor James says "Christ is Risen!"  BUT this year they added a special touch... they had confetti shot out from these "blowers" into the crowd!  It was so cool!  What a celebration! 

 Family Pic at church

The Confetti aftermath!

On Easter Sunday we woke up and had a relaxing morning at home before we headed out to Hampshire.  We then got to my parents in the afternoon and spent the day with my family, Mom and Dad Haskell and the Carril's, (aka Sean's cute girlfriend and her family!).  Josiah had 3 Easter baskets and 2 gifts to open, wow is he spoiled!  We had an amazing ham dinner with delicious salads and bread and apple pie for dessert.  It was a memorable Resurrection Sunday!

Easter basket from mommy and daddy

Thankful for the cross and for the empty grave!

Kate