September 2013

"Do you remember the 21st night of September?"

Name that Band....

Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with the 21st of September.

It seemed like once Labor Day hit up here, Autumn showed up. It has been cool ever since. Which I love! Autumn also means apple season. I know everyone seems to love pumpkin in the fall, but I love apples. 

Josh and I made our annual trip to Mackinac Island this month. A member gave us ferry tickets, so we were able to go and make a day of it. The free ferry tickets allowed us to finally pay to walk the grounds of the Grand Hotel. I can see why they have a fee. That place was hopping for it being the "off season".

Stain glass window at the Little Stone Church. Name that flower...

Me picking some important guy's nose.

The Grand Hotel's porch.

Panorama of the Grand Hotel that Joshua took.

The flowers we really liked.

My cheesecake on a stick from Sanders.

The next day I was off to St. Louis. My BFF, Carolyn, was preparing to move to Charleston, South Carolina. Her and her husband, Jason, had dreamed of moving there and decided life is too short to wait. Jason found a job and everything else fell into place. I mostly, helped wrangle her kids while she packed. We also just had some good old BFF time. One night I watched their kids and Noah, her 4 year old said the sweetest and most random thing to me.

Noah: I love you.
Me: You love me? I love you, too.
Noah: When I move to the beach you will be sad, but I will be in your heart. 

He pretty much summed it up. Noah and Nora have been in my heart from day one. 

We also celebrated Nora's 2nd birthday. I love watching her grow. She is getting such the personality. 

Nora relaxing in her chair eating an apple.

Noah asked me to take his picture and this is the pose he gave me.

This girl loves to climb. And eat apples.

Another picture request from Noah.

We also had an OB appointment this month. We heard T-Rex's heartbeat and he/she kicking me. On October 10th we have the anatomy ultrasound and gender reveal. And the half way point of the pregnancy. Woo hoo!

God's Blessings,
Stefani and Joshua

2013 January through April

First, let's stop pretending that one day Joshua will write a blog post. We all know who the blogger is on Team Ketelsen.  

January
As you can imagine we looked forward to the New Year. 2012 was not kind to us. We headed to Ohio and rang in the new year with the Ketelsens. We had champagne and toasted to a less stinky year ahead. We were also able to visit with Joshua's family from western New York and San Fransisco who made the trek to Ohio, too.

I hit my very first deer in January. I was driving Joshua to his physical. (He had to fast. Hungry Joshua + driving a long distance = Stefani drives to appointment.) On the way a silly deer ran out and thump he/she went. The car did a 180 and into a frozen marsh. A salt truck stopped and called the police and tow truck for us. The tow truck got us out of the marsh and back on the road. Needless to say, we did not make it to the doctor. We went to breakfast instead. 

February
I made a trip to St. Louis. I was able to visit with family and friends. I met my "niece", Emily, for the first time. 

Isn't she adorable? Sleeping beauty!

Emily and I. Her Aunt Carolyn (my BFF) took this picture.
 
While I was there I also went to my "niece", Alyssa's 6th birthday party. I am not old enough for her to be this old!

What a little lady!

February was the beginning of Lent. Which is always busy. This year seemed to go much smoother and Joshua was way less stressed. It was a combination of experience and a well written Lenten series he purchased. 

March
Joshua turned 31 this year. I made him a minion cake (from Despicable Me).

On March 9th I began the epic journey to my 30th Birthday. My parents sent me a box with 30 gifts and I was instructed to open one per day until my birthday. I posted every present I received on Instagram (pwsak) and Facebook. It was so much fun and made turning the dreaded 3-0 not so terrible.

Then there was Easter. The Super Bowl of the Church Year. We glided through Holy Week and Easter without too many hitches.

April
On April 1st, Joshua had his wisdom teeth removed. The operation went smoothly and he recovered nicely. For the most part, he is back to eating normally.

During his recovery, I spearheaded the remodeling of his office at church. A fresh coat of paint was put on the walls. I had some Confirmation students help with the painting. The old carpet was removed and new carpet laid down. We had previously purchased new reception room chairs to replace the rocker and metal folding chair. Along with a new lamp. It looks more inviting and professional. Next order of business is a new shelving system for his books. (A pastor with books, what?!)

New carpet and fresh paint on the walls.

It has been a busy year with no signs of slowing down. 

God's Blessings, 

Joshua and Stefani 

St. Louis Vacation October/November 2012

Joshua was asked by Stefani's godmother to officiate her 25th anniversary vow renewal. So, we decided to make a week of it.
We thought it would be fun to go Trick or Treating with the Stringfellows, since we were in town for Halloween. Noah went as a tiger and Nora went as a butterfly. Noah was really shy, which is not like him at all. He did ask for candy for his sister a couple times. Which was nice, because he still isn't too keen on her being around. 

He was far too busy looking at the TV to care that Aunt Stefani was taking a picture.

Again, no paying any attention to the camera.

Nora, the butterfly. She had antennas to complete the look.

The butterfly is trying to fly away.

Alyssa had to come over and show us her outfit. I believe she was Rapunzel, the Tangled version.

The next day we decided to go to the Zoo with Stefani's parents. They had recently opened a new sea lion exhibit and we want to check it out. Since we went the day after Halloween they still had their Boo at the Zoo decor out.

 The sea lions' new home from above.

 Love the new digs.

If you look closely there is a little fellow swimming.

The tunnel where the sea lions swim around you. 

Hello!

A view of the outside from the tunnel.

 This little guy was right by the glass. 

 I had to resit petting him. He was so close

 I think he wanted to come back Up North with us.

Side Note: Right before we walked into Penguin and Puffin Coast we ran into Alyssa and her grandparents (Kay). I knew she was going to be there, but randomly finding her was fun. We actually saw her again The River's Edge.

 Stefani and her Mom, Kelly. Stefani was trying to be grumpy since she lost her head.

Happy Skeleton!

Joshua and Ted. Dad was much happier about losing his head.

Stefani and her Dad, Ted, going batty.

The next big event was Stefani's godmother's vow renewal. Kathy and Randy decided to have a 25th anniversary party and have a short vow renewal. They asked Joshua to officiate. Stefani was their original flower girl and played a roll as well.

Aww...aren't we precious?

The cake.

 

The renewal.

Kelly giving her little speech.
I would like to share a quote that I think sums up the marriage of Kathy and Randy.

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.” 

I wish you 25 more years of weirdness. 

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Stefani giving her little speech.
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At your wedding I was five. The only thing I knew about love or marriage, then was that Ken was Barbie's boyfriend. Then I grew up and found the love of my life. And I realized the amazing examples of marriage I had around me. I had my parents, who have been married for 30 years. Both sets of grandparents who have been married for 50 plus years. And I have Aunt Kathy and Uncle Randy, who are here today celebrating 25 years of marriage.

In this day in age it is diffcult to find couples who are truly in it for the “long haul”. Who take their vows seriously. Kathy and Randy are two of those people who have stuck by each other during the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have heard that people told you your marriage wouldn't last. Well, shame on them and way to prove them wrong! It is really easy let others make you doubt your love and the commitment you made to each other. At the end of the day they are not in this marriage. The vows you made are between the two of you and God. Thank you for teaching me that important lesson.

I wish you 25 more years together. 

Since Stefani's parents just celebrated their 30th Anniversary there was a special dance for them and other anniversary couples.

Stefani and Lydia. Lydia is Stefani's godmother's daughter and Stefani's mom's goddaughter. So, we are godsisters.

Stefani and her godmomma, Kathy.

Joshua and Stefani cutting a rug.

Stefani and her Dad, Ted.

The party was so much fun! We really enjoyed ourselves. 

These pictures only show a fraction of what we did, but we thought we would bore you with all the details. We came back feeling much more refreshed.

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani

Vacation 2011

We decided last year that we wanted to vacation in St. Louis. We don't get to travel there together very often. It is the city where it all began. 

Stefani's parents spent the first day of vacation with us. Our first order of business was to meet Carolyn's new baby, Nora. (Carolyn is Stefani's best friend and was her matron of honor.) Nora is absolutely beautiful! We also got to a hang out with Nora's big brother, Noah. Who also has "Aunt" Stefani wrapped around his finger. After visiting with the Stringfellows we had lunch and did a little shopping.

She loves her "Aunt" Stef already.

Stefani's dad playing with Noah.

On our second day we went to Waffle House for breakfast. We then headed to Goeke's to buy spices. We headed downtown to Concordia Publishing House. After shopping at CPH we headed to Schlafly for their brewery tour and to eat lunch. Once we were finished drinking free beer and eating yummy food, we walked around the Seminary campus. We did quite a bit of reminiscing. When the reminiscing was over we headed to the St. Louis Art Museum. Everything at the museum is free on Fridays. We couldn't resist checking out Monet's Water Lilies exhibit. Art museums in Kansas City and Cleveland got together with the St. Louis museum and decided to show the three Water Lilies panels together for the first time in thirty years. If you have a chance to see it, go. Seeing them together as they were meant to be was just awe inspiring. 

 Yum, beer!

The beer Joshua had a lunch.

There were no pictures inside the exhibit, but there was nothing about taking pictures of the outside of the exhibit. 


On Saturday we attended the wedding of Katie and Rob. Katie is Carolyn's older sister. We were happy to a part of their special day.

All dressed up for a wedding!

The sanctuary. 

Stefani and Carolyn, Best Friends Forever!

Stefani did not take this picture. She "borrowed" it from Carolyn and Katie's cousin. We think it captures Noah's handsomeness very well. Has Stefani mentioned how much she loves this kid?

First dance as husband and wife. 

Nora all dressed up for Aunt Katie's wedding. She is just beautiful! 

Stefani, Carolyn, Nora, and Katie, the bride. 

The bride and Stefani.


Sunday, Stefani's parents hosted a family brunch. We were able to visit with Stefani's grandparents (Marrah), grandma (Gavisk), Great-Uncle Gilbert, and Aunt Annette. It was nice to see everyone. Joshua doesn't get a chance to see much of Stefani's family unless they come "up north" to visit. 


Monday, we headed to the zoo. Luckily, we got our visit in before the rain hit. That evening we headed to dinner with the Stringfellows (Carolyn, Jason, Noah, and Nora) and Converses (Christine, Bobby, and Alyssa). We had a great time visiting with Stefani's friends. 

Yes, that is a baby elephant.

Hello penguin!

There's a baby giraffe. Adorable!


Tuesday, we did some last minute "big city" shopping. Then we spent the rest of the day lounging and packing up to head home.


Wednesday we head back to NoMi (Stefani's clever name for Northern Michigan). It wasn't an easy drive. It rained the entire drive. Along with high wind gusts (up to 50 mph). We were very thankful when we arrived home in one piece.