Hat Race

Instead of having a dollar dance, (where people pay $$ to dance with the bride or groom for part of a song, thus providing the newlyweds with spending money for their honeymoon) Sara and Jared opted to have a hat race. As you can see, they each wore a stylish hat and raced around the hall collecting money from people. They placed a small bet before they began.

The winner: Sara
Her prize: back rubs for a week


As you can see, Sara grabbed and stuffed money anywhere she could.

Too Cute!

My cousin, Sara, got married this past Saturday. I have TONS of pictures from the reception! But because I don't feel like going through them all this morning, (we have to get around and go to the dentist pretty soon) I thought I'd just post the good ones of the other happy couple.

Ryan Ickes took this one from across the table. It's my favorite! Notice that we kind of match, but not really. And notice that my husband was the only one, over the age of 10, at the wedding without a tie!

Here is the first picture Braden took of us.


As he tried to correct his beheading, he just kept taking pictures. Even when we weren't looking at him. There is a lot of power in a camera, especially when you are eight yrs. old, and Mom almost never lets you touch it.


Doesn't it look like he's yelling at me when we should be dancing?


He really was yelling at me, kind of. He was putting off so much heat, and it seemed like the song was never going to end. Plus, the way my shirt was made prevented me from putting my arms any higher than his elbows. JON'S REALLY TALL! I even had heels on! So I may have been complaining and he may have been threatening to never ask me to dance again.


On a side note: I opted for the shirt with pants because of the MANY bruises on my legs. It was a bit disgusting and I wanted to save others from the sight. :)

Side note #2: Our first dance EVER was the anniversary dance at this wedding! We've only been to 2 other weddings together. Both of those we left before the dancing had begun. And we didn't have our own wedding, so.......... WOW!

Side note #3: Any suggestions on what I should do with my hair? I'm trying to let it grow out. We'll see how that goes!

Ouch!

Here's a cute picture of my snobby little one. She stole a bone from Raider and then laid like this, half in her kennel, so that he couldn't take it back. Despite the 5-6 other bones in the house, they only want the one the other has....... Just like kids!

Here are Dallas and Daddy hanging out. Dallas likes to get right in your face and make you pet her!


And finally the OUCH! Brady's bike got mad at him on Tuesday and threw him off. He had tire marks on his left knee and this on his right thigh. He was a trooper though. He got back up and rode a little further before deciding he wanted to go home. And he only shed a few tears.

Tourney Champs

They won! 2-1 (Yes, that was the final score!) They ended their season as League Runners-Up and Tourney Champs! (Again!)

Way to go Rivercats!!!

Here is Brady clapping for the Express as they get their trophies and medals.

Brady and Cade clapping for their teammates as they get their trophies and medals.


Last but not least, Brady Van Cleave.......


The champion Rivercats


My little champion!

More Baseball

Monday night we went to our first Ft. Wayne Wizards game. They got slaughtered! Jon was tempted to warm up and pitch for them. But the boys enjoy baseball and I got a whole bag of cotton candy all for me!!

A view from our seats. Thanks Dad!

Braden and Ryan. Weirdos!


Can you see the shirt? "You can't spell AWESOME without ME"

Look carefully and you'll see (from right to left) Digger, Ryan reaching towards Digger, Brady watching and smiling, and a police officer!!
"No, I've never seen these boys before, Officer. They aren't with us!"
When Brady saw the cop, he ran back to our seats and left Ryan all by himself. He didn't get arrested or in trouble :)

And later they all became friends!

Foul Ball!

Jon's job throughout the night, as you can see, was protecting me. He made sure I wasn't accidentally killed by a foul ball. He did a great job! I'm still here!

Ryan was lucky! He went and sat farther up in the stands and ended up bringing home a souvenir!

What a Game!!!!

Last night was Brady's first tournament game. He had an AWESOME game!!! His best ever! They won big. His first at bat, he had a triple with 3 RBIs . (The dugout was cheering his name as he stepped to the plate!) He had a double with 1 RBI during his next at bat. And he was the lead off batter in his last at bat and got on first.

All of his hits were grounders? ground balls? Whichever wording is correct..... So Dad wants to continue to work on his swing. But he was on FIRE!!! He also had a big game at first base. He made a great double play! He caught the ball to get the batter out and then tagged the runner as he tried to return to first. He had another great catch later in the game. Also several outs at first from balls teammates threw to him. We were very proud of his all-star effort!

Here are Brady and Daddy are during warm-ups.

Daddy coaching him on his form.


Another shot during warm-ups.


Running the bases after the game. Brady's on the left in the back of the pack.


The team and coaches after the game.


They now play for the championship this Saturday at 11:30!

Oh, and Jon's game was cancelled for some reason which is why he was able to be at Brady's game.