A Sweet New Hutch

by Steph // Monday, August 26, 2024 // Comments off

You might remember me telling you all about a hutch that Scottie and Addie helped me buy when we went to a thrift store called The Big Red Shed one Saturday in April.

I only chose it because Scottie said he could fix it up for me!

I knew it was not sturdy enough the way it was.

Here is the way it looked when we brought it home, minus the plastic “glass” that had been in the upper doors.

On Mother’s Day weekend, Scottie basically rebuilt the inside of that hutch!

He put in much better shelving throughout and it made a huge difference.

It is sturdy now!!

I loved the color that the inside (and actually the outside!) of the hutch was painted, so Blake took a drawer to have the inside paint color matched.

Even though we got the same color, I re-painted the entire inside of the hutch to give it a fresh, clean look!

Such a pretty light blue color!!

Blake then took the plastic “glass” that was slid into the upper doors of the hutch and got real glass cut to fit those openings.

This also was a great addition to the finished look!

Here is a before and after photo!

Finding solutions to our small spaces here is one of my favorite things.

I also work hard to make sure we only keep things that we actually use or need – in the kitchen or else where in our home!

This hutch gets used hard and I just love having it!

The smaller cabinet that was in that corner is now in our downstairs bathroom serving a great purpose there!

Well, typing this post has me wanting to paint something, ha, ha!

Good thing I do not have a second of time for that right now!!

Anyone out there like to go to thrift stores and find great treasures too??

I love a good thrift find when it is so very useful, don’t you?!

Sunday Family Day!

by Steph // Tuesday, August 13, 2024 // Comments off

Sundays.

Such a favorite day!

I get to be with my people!!

And we have had BEAUTIFUL weather for our Sunday family days this summer!

Once my brother, sister and I were grown, my Mom and Dad used to make Sundays a family day too!

We would go to their house for dinner, go for walks, go and get ice cream, and play games.

Our big kids, especially Kayla, remember those times.

I hope our grand children always remember Sunday family day too!

We have settled into a routine of having lunch together after church on Sundays and then spending the whole day together.

If evening comes and everyone is still here, we put pop some popcorn and set out some snacks!

I would keep feeding them all night long and breakfast too if they would stay, ha, ha!

I think this photo of Chad shows my feelings about family day perfectly!!!

This was the first Sunday of May, and a gorgeous day!

When I saw the weather forecast, I asked my hubby if he would grill lunch for us, and he is always happy to use his blackstone!!

So we had burgers with the fixings, salads and cookies for dessert.

It was a HIT!!

We brought the picnic tables out front to be in the shade.

I have dreams of our deck space being something better – time will tell – but it is in the full sun all day long and it makes it hard to enjoy it!

Just look at all of these sweet faces!!!

We were just missing the soon to be bride and groom who were on a zoom call with the DJ for their wedding making plans with him!!

We had the best day just BEING together!

Sundays keep us connected and truly bring our dreams to LIFE!!!

Sometimes we have business to attend to – like hair trials for the upcoming wedding!!

I sometimes make a list in my phone for Sundays of all the things I need to ask Kayla!!

Now I will be doing that for Kamryn and Addie Mae too!!!

I feel like when our day ends like this, it is just the Lord saying “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:23)

What a kiss from God these skies are!!

This past Sunday I had to cancel family day because of my health – but guess what?

Grant and Kamryn hung out here with us, Scottie and Addie stopped in and brought me flowers, and Kay showed up with some kiddos in tow to bring me soup and a treat.

Goodness, I don’t deserve ANY of them!!

I LOVE SUNDAYS!!!

I would encourage you to think of a good tradition to start and JUST DO IT!!

Maybe it could be Sunday Family Day for you too!!!

Grant and Kamryn’s WEDDING DAY!!!!

by Steph // Monday, August 12, 2024 // Comments off

Well, this will be a fun post to write!!
It is loonnnggg overdue!!
Sorry about that!

First up on the week of the wedding was picking up the guys suits!

We did that on Thursday evening.

My guys looked GOOD!!

Friday evening was the rehearsal at the venue!

Grant and Kamryn got married at the most beautiful venue called “Celebrations” in La Crosse!

It was SO amazing there in EVERY way!!

The rehearsal went smoothly and all of the “kinks” were worked out!

The anticipation for the next day was BUILDING!!!

Blake and I hosted the rehearsal dinner at The Charmant in downtown La Crosse.

It is such a beautiful place!

We had our own room – actually we had the entire downstairs area!

It was beautiful and the food was delicious!

I might be biased about the food because it was all gluten and dairy free!

We had a bride and her mother-in-law to keep safe – and The Charmant did an amazing job doing so.

SO thankful for the care they gave us!

The next morning, Addie, Eliza and I headed to the best salon in town to get our hair done!

Salon Kayla!!

I appreciate Kayla doing this for us SO much, especially when it was SO early, and she had a lot of people to get ready too!

Then us girls were off to the venue!

I was bursting with excitement!!!

Everything was BEAUTIFUL, including the WEATHER!!

We seriously could not have asked for better weather – it was UNBELIEVABLE!!!

We headed to the bridal suite where everyone was getting ready.

Such a special thing to be a part of!

Everyone looked SO special and wonderful – but our bride??

SHE WAS STUNNING.

Kamryn is the most beautiful woman, and even more so on the inside.

I LOVE HER TO PIECES!!!

Pretty soon it was time for Grant and Kamryn’s first look so we headed to the balcony to peek at them!!

I got to see my guys – and WOW!

Glad I am married to that handsome guy in the middle here!!

David and Kayla and the cutest grandchildren on the planet had arrived too.

They seriously were trying to steal the show they were so cute!!!

It was time for some photos before guests started arriving!

Look at this beautiful outdoor space for photos!!!

Just like that it was time to hide the wedding party while us parents greeted the guests as they arrived!!

It all seemed to be going SO FAST.

Goodness, I just want to do it ALL again!

And then it was time to line up for the ceremony!!

I am so thankful for all of these photos I have – my children and sons-in-law did a great job getting all of these for me!

I only took a few of the photos in this whole post!!

The ceremony was so very beautiful and God honoring.

Kamryn surprised EVERYONE, including her groom, when a song that she had recorded herself singing was playing as she walked down the aisle with her Dad.

Once everyone realized it was her beautiful voice, there was not a dry eye – one of my favorite memories was seeing Grant’s face as he realized who was singing.

Such a precious sweet memory!

Another favorite memory was listening to Grant and Kamryn’s hand written vows.

SO so precious!!

By this time I needed some tissues, but my clutch had not made it to my seat like it was supposed to!

Kayla to the rescue – she literally gave me the bow off of Saige’s head to use to wipe my runny nose – such a funny memory!!!

After the beautiful ceremony, there was a snack and mocktail hour while some more photos were taken, and then it was time for the reception.

What a BEAUTIFUL venue for it all!

It was seriously so incredibly lovely.

Every single thing.

Before dinner was served, they had what was called The Grand March!

The DJ was introducing the wedding party to the reception, and then the bride and groom, of course!

Kamryn had told everyone at the rehearsal dinner the night before that they needed to do something fun as they were introduced – so they all started planning their entrance.

Little did I know that someone had told my husband, the father of the groom, also the best man, to “just act old like you are!”

Well, then they came up with the idea to bring A WALKER to the wedding the next day to do just that – act old.

Just so you know there was a whole lot of “don’t tell Mom! don’t tell Mom!” going on – and I am SO glad no one told me!!

I probably would have said “Babe, do you think that is appropriate? Are you sure you should do that?” but instead I watched this all go down without knowing and I WAS DYING WITH LAUGHTER!!!

After Kamryn’s poor sister helped my old husband through the door and down some stairs with his walker they finished their entrance with a dance!

PERFECTION.

It was SO so funny!!

Grant and Kamryn’s entrance was epic too – Grant JUMPED OVER THE TOP OF KAMRYN and landed at the bottom of the stairs!!!

I kid you not!!!

Ok -this is the only (close up) photo I have of the bride and groom!

I am not ok with that!!

But thankful I asked them to smile while they were trying to eat so I at least have this!

One of my best friends made the trip to be with us, and my brother did too!!!

Meant so much to us to have them there!!

Truly unbelievable that my brother could make the trip, and we are SO thankful!!

The dinner was lovely.

After dinner was over, the FUN began!!

There was Grant and Kamryn’s first dance!

They are so very perfect together in every way!

Then there was the mother and son dance!

Grant had us dance to a song by Caleb Beachy called “I Love This Dance.”

Goodness, I listened to that song constantly the whole week before the wedding so I would not listen to it while we danced – the words made me sob every time!!

Well, that plan didn’t work – Grant and I didn’t hear the words, but chatted and cried the whole time we danced – and kind of remembered our twirls.

What a privilege to be this young man’s mama.

Such a GIFT.

A gift I am not worthy of.

There were many other fun things at the reception – one was called “Photo Rush” – where each table was called to the dance floor by number to get a photo with Grant and Kamryn!

It was fast and so so very neat!!!!

I wish I had a photo of it!!

There was a car decorating moment, dancing, walking tacos for snack late in the night, outdoor games on the lawn, and just SO many people who stayed and enjoyed every minute of it!!