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

Walt Disney World 2012

This past April Team Ketelsen and the Marrahs (Stefani's Parents) went to Orlando, FL to visit "The Happiest Place on Earth". This was made possible by a generous gift from friends of ours. We had an amazing time.

The first leg of our journey to Disneyworld was spent in St. Louis. We had to leave earlier than expected. Stefani's friend, Carolyn's, dad passed away just five months after her mom. The memorial service was held a few days before our flight to Orlando out of St. Louis. 

We left for WDW on Sunday. Instead of staying "on property" like we normally do we stayed at a timeshare resort that someone gifted us a week of. We a two bedroom, 2 bath, and full kitchen condo. We used the kitchen to make breakfast almost every morning. 

We happened to be there for Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival. There were impressive topiaries of Disney characters all over the park.

Sorcerer Mickey from Fantasia.

Bambi, Flower, and Thumper from Bambi.

Stefani thought it would be fun to try on the various Mickey Ears WDW had to offer. If you can't tell these are Ears representing Canada, eh.

We caught the Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom.

Classic Castle Picture.

Team Ketelsen at Epcot.

The Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom.

Stefani and Kelly (Mom) on the Monorail.

Joshua and Ted (Dad) on the Monorail.

Waiting for the Monorail. Awww.

Classic Castle picture at night.

As you can see a great time was had by all. We can't wait to go back!

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani

To check out what Stefani ate head over to the food blog Ketelsens in the Kitchen.

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.