Here Comes the Bride... AGAIN!

Yes, it is true. 

Scott's parents got RE-MARRIED last month!!!! It is truly one of those stories that you only hear about through the grapevine about other people... not your own parents! Mike and Marcia are truly two of the most kind and generous people I know, and we are all very excited for their decision to get married and spend the rest of their lives together... again :)

When I was introduced to Scott's family 6 yrs ago, I couldn't believe how well his parents got along considering they had been separated for almost 20 yrs... and I don't think any of us were surprised when they announced their plans to get re-married this year. 

We are all so happy for them and really thankful to have a Dad and Mom/Grandpa and Grandma that love us so much and are so dear to us. It's just extra easy to see them now that they live in the same house again! :) 

On the day of the wedding, I sadly did not have my camera with me and got NO photos. So, below are actually quite a few photos from Grandma Jean's funeral the week before. It was the same group of people... although I am missing all of Grandpa Mike's side of the family that were only able to come to the wedding!!! 

I hope you enjoy getting to see ALL of these family photos though :) Although we were all sad to not have Grandma Jean there with us, we had a great time celebrating Mike and Marcia's marriage vows all over again. We love you Beepa and Grandma Marcia!!! (as my kids would say :) )

The ONE photo I got on the day of the wedding :) 

The week before the wedding:

The Mike Mallon Family :)

Marcia and her brothers. We're not sure what Uncle Eric is doing in the back... but that's not too unusual :)

Siblings by Daycare - Grandma Jean took care of these four every day all day when they were growing up... I think that pretty much makes you siblings, right? :)

The Tupper Grandchildren

Uncle Mike and his Family

Marcia with Jim, Jan (really dear family friends), and Aunt Rhonda

 Uncle Bob and his wife Barbara

 Uncle Scott and his family

 Silly Uncle Eric and Aunt Barb

 Uncle Chris and his...slightly large family :)

Kali May having fun with Grandma

 Aunt Katie and her girls

 The way cool airplane in Grandpa and Grandma's backyard

 Rob and his wife Kristyn :)

Rob's son, Randy :)

 and ME!!!!

Easter 2012

With most of our close by family in Nebraska because of Grandma Jean, we had a smaller than usual Easter celebration, but it was still lots of fun! We decided to dye Easter eggs the Monday before Easter just to make things a little simpler the actual Easter weekend. The kids didn't care about the timing and thought it was great fun:

 Kali May was very careful about her coloring and dying, and very concerned about getting "equal" eggs for everyone to decorate :)

 Caleb was not quite so concerned. He liked to "toss" the eggs into the color cups. No really, TOSS them in.

 Considering the purpose of this creation:

 Is it food? He decided he "didn't like eggs" after this bite of crunchy shell...

On actual Easter morning, we had a little egg hunt. At each egg they found a picture that went along with the story of Easter. Their last egg at the breakfast table had a set of coloring crayons and there was a picture of the tomb with a rock and a figure of Jesus that they could color and then take in and outside of the tomb (you can kind of see it below).

It was so funny trying to tell Kali May the story. The week or two before Easter I kept going over the story and explaining it. We had illustrations, palm branches, donkeys, coloring worksheets, the works :) Kali May totally got it, up until the part where Jesus comes out of the tomb alive. She was VERY convinced that he stayed dead. I thought that the paper example on Easter morning would help her understand and get excited about Him being alive... but it just gave her an opportunity to prove her point. She kept placing "Jesus" nicely inside the tomb, covering him up with the rock, and then saying, "No Mommy, see?"

Since Easter, Kali May has started repeatedly asking where Jesus is, and sometimes TELLS me that Jesus is in Heaven. So between church and the stories, somehow she is warming up to the idea that our Savior is alive and OUT OF THE GRAVE! :)

I forgot to get a good family photo of us (Shame on me!) all dressed up for our Easter church service!!! Our church held an open service on the football field of COC campus complete with a large breakfast and an Easter egg hunt for the kids at the end. Pastor Todd gave a great gospel message and it was so fun getting to worship with our friends and our kids right beside us - usually they are always in Sunday school!


After church we had a couple friends over, as well as a few of Scott's family members that were home from Nebraska. We had a lot of fun eating yummy food and talking, and the kids got their THIRD Easter egg hunt of the day :)

 Our cute little friend Kaylin!

A Plan Forever Altered

^{James 4:13-15} 

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ¹⁴ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “ If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

I am a person who LOVES planning. I love to write out a list before I start my day... whether I follow it or not. I love looking at our calendar filled with plans knowing all the things that I have to look forward to in the coming weeks/months. I really think the planning and expecting part of most events in life is at least half the fun - maybe more. 

This spring and summer were FULL of fun events and expectations for our family. Weddings, birthdays, moving parties, and our new baby were all on the horizon... and there were so many exciting things planned that we actually convinced Scott's Grandma (affectionally known as "Grandma Jean") to come down from Nebraska for a significant portion of that time. 

Grandma Jean is one of those people that has always made life more special just because she was there. I was SOOOO excited to have her here for the whole month of April to watch Scott's parents get RE-MARRIED, and also to have her come stay with us in August and September to help with the new baby. Whenever Grandma Jean would come out, life would just get better for each and every person in the Mallon family, and I couldn't wait. 

I never imagined that God might have other plans, or that any plans could be better than those that were already written down on my calendar for 2012, but He did. The week before Easter, Grandma Jean ended up in the hospital for a quick surgery to repair an issue with her colon. What looked like a "quick" fix, however, quickly grew serious. An infection set in, and due to Grandma's Jean's lungs being very weak from many years of smoking, she was just not able to recover. 

On Good Friday, Grandma Jean passed away. She was 79 years old, and loved dearly by every single person who knew her. I only knew Grandma Jean for a little over five years, but I felt like she was as close to me as my own Grandma would be (both of mine have passed away). And she was quite possibly the most dear person in the world to my husband. Since the day I met Scott, I don't think I have heard a story from his past or a tradition that he wants to have in our family that didn't somehow originate from his Grandma.

I could go on for hours about all the fun things we loved about Grandma Jean... her frank, old-fashioned sense of humor. Her ability to talk (and really listen) to any person until you were sure that you were the most important soul alive. Her simple traditions and love for Christmas that she passed on to every single member of her family. 

We are sad that Grandma Jean is not here with us on earth any longer. We will miss her so much. And her passing was a sharp stabbing reminder to ME that I am helpless and need my Savior. I am not in control of even my plans for tomorrow, and I owe every breathe I have to my gracious and loving Creator who gives and takes away as He sees fit. I am so thankful, truly, that God is in control of every moment. I have true faith that all things that happen are for the good of those who love the Lord, and that His plan, not mine is best. We miss Grandma Jean, but we ultimately pray that as all of her family mourns the loss of their loved one, that they will be drawn to the true Creator. He is the source of all true joy, hope, and healing... even healing of the loss of a wonderful mother, friend, grandmother, and great grandmother. 

I heard this song on the radio recently, and the words hit me as I thought of Grandma's passing and Easter and all the emotions that were caught up in the month of April. The simple words are those that bring great comfort to me, and my prayer is that everyone we knew Grandma Jean would come to know Christ and be able to sing them as well. The song is "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin:

I Will Rise"

There's a peace I've come to know 
Though my heart and flesh may fail 
There's an anchor for my soul 
I can say "It is well" 

Jesus has overcome 
And the grave is overwhelmed 
The victory is won 
He is risen from the dead 

[Chorus:] 
And I will rise when He calls my name 
No more sorrow, no more pain 
I will rise on eagles' wings 
Before my God fall on my knees 
And rise 
I will rise 

There's a day that's drawing near 
When this darkness breaks to light 
And the shadows disappear 
And my faith shall be my eyes

And I hear the voice of many angels sing, 
"Worthy is the Lamb" 
And I hear the cry of every longing heart, 
"Worthy is the Lamb" 

[Chorus:] 
And I will rise when He calls my name 
No more sorrow, no more pain 
I will rise on eagles' wings 
Before my God fall on my knees 
And rise 
I will rise

Surviving Morning Sickness Isn't So Bad

March and April were "survival" months for me... trying to fight morning (aka "all day") sickness and keep up with the house and the kids. There was definitely a much more regular appearance of Dora, Diego, and other such cartoon friends in our house... but even so I think we all managed to survive :)

Here are some random pictures of the fun things we got to do to help pass the time - 

Our good friend Jennifer took us to the zoo! We actually got to go twice in the month of April!

 I attempted to sell a few unused kitchen items on Craigslist. Kali May was sure it would help if she posed in the photos. I didn't actually post the photos of her online for safety reasons... but then, I didn't sell anything either.  I'm pretty sure her cute face would have helped out :)

I guess she thought her decked out teddy bear would help too :)

 CAUGHT!! CHILDREN RUNNING WILD IN MY CLOSET!!!!

 Kali May and I made some pretty yummy pretzels! Notice in the background we were STILL debating on kitchen colors. Since then we have painted... photos to come :)

Caleb is turning in to quite the little kitchen helper as well. He is best at washing dishes... garlic salt is his second specialty.

I have been HORRIBLE about taking baby belly photos... but here is a shot I was trying to take quickly to send to our Grandma Jean who was sick in the hospital. I think I was 18 wks at the time

 TENT BUILDING! This is currently a weekly activity in our house. Scott is so great about taking time to build some pretty elaborate forts in the evenings after work.

 A helpless look from daddy as Caleb does a dive bomb on top of the "roof"...

 DONE! :) note Daddy's feet poking out from the tent - I'm not sure who likes this the most :)

 Cleaning up Grandma and Grandpa B's RV

Eating popsicles on Grandpa B's bike 

This was our pre-pool swimming fun. And notice that after all his excavation work, Scott's grass is growing back nicely!!! We're so thankful for all his hard work and skill so we can play on a nice green lawn :)