Weddings, Retching, Strep and Spring Break

As you may have guessed, Gerrit and I attended a wedding! It was for a co-worker of mine who I just love. We get along very well and I was honored to be invited. Her day was BEAUTIFUL and so was she.

Gerrit and I ready for the wedding. I think Gerrit is laughing.

The Bride and I. She's great!

She and I were both para's for Mr. C, who is with us in this picture. We took it for the kids in our class so that they could see the Bride all dressed up. And so that they would know we have a life outside of school...shocking!

These are the shoes I wore. I think I need to burn them because I love them so much.

Warning: If you are sensitive to grossness, don't read this. About the "retching." Gerrit had food poisoning last week due to eating at a beloved restaurant which shall go unnamed. I'll leave most of that to your imagination. But I'm sure whatever you're imagining is true. In all the time we've been together, I had never heard Gerrit throw up before. That was a happier, more innocent time in my life. It was as if the man were puking up his soul and I was helpless to stop it. I prayed my little heart out for him with white knuckled clasped hands (but only when they weren't plugging my ears). He's made a full recovery (it's a miracle!), but we won't be eating there for a while.

Yesterday, the first official day of my Spring Break, doctors confirmed what I already knew: that I have strep throat. Germs love me. I get everything. I laid on the couch for about 2 days. Which may sound wonderful (even to me at times), but it wasn't. With the unusually sore throat and high fever, it had been kicking my butt. But praise God for medicine, because I'm already feeling better. I can actually sit upright for more than a couple minutes now!

How is your week going?

And the Oscar Goes to....

....Adam and Maria's Party! Our dear friends hosted a red-carpet event (seriously, they had a red-carpet!) in honor of the Academy Awards. We got all dolled up and ate fancy snacks! It was a great excuse to wear old prom and bridesmaid dresses. Maria and I also got to wear our wedding tiaras. How many chances do you get to do that? Joan Rivers would have a few things to say, I'm sure.

The hosts: Adam and Maria

Gerrit and I

Matt had tiara envy, so I let him borrow mine for a while. His girlfriend, Emily, approved.

Adam and Maria made some amazing food. My favorite were the little smokies wrapped in bacon. I made a fruit pizza (that I'm pretty proud of) and here's how it turned out:

I enjoyed the show, but it got a bit long for me. All I really wanted to see were Best Actor/Actress and Best Picture. But I feel asleep around 10:15 and missed all of those! Oh well. Did you watch the Oscars?

And A Happy New Year

Better late than never! On New Years Day, Gerrit and I headed to see his family to celebrate Christmas with them. As usual, I had a bad cold and was medicating myself day and night. So, my memory is a bit foggy on all that went on! I know we had fun and got LOTS of presents. Here are some pictures:

Gwen's Masterpiece: The Tree!

Okay, so we attempted several family pictures. This is the least awkward one I could find on my camera. We had to adjust our positions a lot. The camera's were too zoomed or not zoomed enough. Then we had trouble all looking at the same time. I mean, you'd have thought we were trying to get a good shot of 50 people at once. But we made a memory!

In an attempt to kick up the awkward factor, we decided to snap pictures of each other WAYTOOCLOSE. And here's what we came up with:

Gerrit

Cassie
Darcy
Ahna
EdWhether you like it or not, I bet you feel closer to each one of us!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

.....and home for Christmas I was! We beat the snow and traffic on our way "Up North" and were snowed in for the rest of the days we spent there. Seriously, I didn't leave the neighborhood. We made our own fun by playing Rock Band, sledding, and having a little family Christmas program (my mom insisted!). Here are some picture highlights:

Dad, Gerrit, Greg, and Owen playing Rock Band. Owen was an essential part of the band.

Mom and Dad with the grandkids. Everyone was looking slightly dishevelled on Christmas Eve.

Mom teaching Aubrey to knit.

Jozie, Sophie and Aubrey

Christmas morning! It's finally here!My sister Courtney and her family: husband Paul, Jozie and Aubrey.My sister Carey and her family: husband Greg, Sophie and Owen. Me and Gerrit. The funny thing is....we're not really sledding........but we do have fun. We hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We love you all!

Kid Quote of the Day

Pre-Information: I'm a Para in Mr. Carlson's EBD classroom. We took the kids to the gym and on the way out....

8 year-old girl: Are you like Mr. Carlson's girlfriend and is he your boyfriend? (side note: this little girl has asked other male and female co-workers the same question.)

Me: No. Mr. Carlson is married to a woman who isn't me and I am married to a man (that I love) that isn't him.

8 year-old girl: That's really gross.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Immediately following Thanksgiving, Gerrit and I got to work on Christmas decorations and shopping. After fiddling with lights and decorations for way too long, we learned that we shouldn't decorate the same item together. Making a home beautiful can bring out the "uglies" in people. :) We were laughing at our "holiday spirit" by the end.

Here's our little tree. That actually is all of it (propped up on box). This year, Gerrit had some childhood ornaments to share. I used to decorate this tree when I was little. Hopefully, someday our kids will do the same.

This is the Nativity set my parents gave us as a wedding gift a couple years ago. They brought it back from a trip to Israel. It's from Bethlehem! This is the first year we've had a place to put it.

Last night as I was wrapping presents, I wanted to watch a holiday movie. I searched our OnDemand movies and found....MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS! I was so happy. It's not totally a holiday movie, but it is where Judy Garland sang the original "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and I love it. I used to watch it over and over when I was really little. I would just yell, "Meet Louie! Meet Louie!" and my mom would know I wanted to watch it.I hope the start of your holiday season has been lovely and that the "uglies" stay away from the festivities!

Gobble, Gobble

Happy Late Thanksgiving to all! Gerrit and I had a great Thanksgiving with his family. It all seemed to go so fast, but we managed to squeeze the fun into the days we had. There were about 25 family members and friends over for lunch on Thanksgiving day.

This is the "kids table." There was actually only one kid under the age of 20, but we were the youngsters at this gathering.

Gerrit and I had to leave on Thanksgiving evening so that Gerrit could work on Black Friday. Ick.

Here are the hosts! Gerrit's parents: Gwen and Ed. They always make sure everyone is comfortable and well-fed. :) Thank you! We love you!